Government ministers have welcomed proposals to boost the private rented sector by easing planning restrictions and encouraging investment. Housing Minister Grant Shapps says the report compiled by Sir Adrian Montague provides a blueprint for building more good quality homes. Most of the private sector in the UK is managed by individual landlords. This is likely
The law offers employers some protection against libel claims arising out of references they provide for employees. This was illustrated in a recent case before the High Court. It involved a laboratory assistant, Mr Bol Thour, who had worked for the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead. He applied for a job at St Bart’s Hospital,
A property developer has won his appeal to quash a decision by a planning inspector in a case involving the proposed construction of six houses. The dispute arose after the developer decided to shut down a pig rearing unit and demolish an old farm house. He said he had done so because the council had
Employees who become ill during their holidays from work will be allowed to reclaim the time back at a later date, following a ruling by the European Court of Justice. The decision was made in a case brought by Spanish trade unions against a group of department stores. The Court said that the timing of
More than £100m is being made available to help smaller building firms restart stalled housing developments. The money is on offer through the Get Britain Building fund, which was introduced last year to help firms resume work on projects that had ground to a halt through lack of funding. Previously, firms had to have plans
The number of County Court Judgments (CCJs) against businesses rose by nearly 10% in the first three months of this year. The Registry Trust, which compiles the figures, says there were 34,602 CCJs against businesses in England and Wales in the first quarter. That was a rise of 9.8% on the final quarter of 2011.
Do you have an elderly relative living in care or receiving care in the home? Does their main or primary need for care relate to their health? If so, they may be entitled to NHS Continuing Healthcare, a package of care funded solely by the NHS. Where a person qualifies for this type of funding,
Employers need to be careful what they say to staff during informal meetings, as one firm found to its cost recently. The firm, which carried out services for a large banking group, was about to be taken over. During an informal meeting with staff broadcast over the internet, it announced that a “guaranteed” minimum bonus
Government departments have identified enough publicly owned land to build more than 102,000 homes. This puts them well ahead of the Prime Minister’s target of releasing suitable land for 100,000 homes by 2015. The surplus public land includes empty offices and unused storage space at sites across the country. The Homes and Communities Agency must
Landlords risk losing hundreds of thousands of pounds if they fail to consult tenants properly over service charges. In a recent case, Daejan Investments Ltd had to forfeit £270,000. Now Stenau Properties Ltd have fallen into the same trap. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires that landlords go through a thorough consultation process before