Rise in numbers of residential rental properties

The number of residential properties in the private rented sector has risen again this year.  Approximately 17%, or nearly 1-in-6 of all British houses now belong to the private rental sector, reflecting an increase of 229,000 properties on last year.

Despite mortgage difficulties the opportunity to secure bricks and mortar investments remains as quintessentially British as drinking tea.  The rise continues, fuelled by a combination of landlords buying property with cash and buy-to-let mortgages, people letting out homes they have inherited and homeowners deciding to let their property and, in some cases move into private rented accommodation themselves.

National Planning Policy Framework

The Planning Minister, Greg Clark has published the draft National Planning Policy Framework for consultation.  Key objectives of the reforms are to make the planning system less complex and more accessible, and to promote sustainable growth.  As well as discussing sustainable growth the consultation document addresses its brief under three headings: Planning for Prosperity, covering business and economic development, transport and communications; Planning for People, covering housing and Green Belt issues and Planning for Places addressing climate change and the natural environment.

 

The consultation is open until 17th October 2011 and the government is holding a series of public planning reform events during September in London, Leeds, Birmingham and Bristol.

PFI to cost additional £20 Billion

The much maligned Private Finance Initiative scheme is under further attack as it is revealed existing schemes will cost and additional £20 Billion to finance.  The money is to cover the extra borrowing costs for the current 700 schemes to run hospitals, schools, prisons and other public sector projects, currently valued at £53 Billion.

The Treasury is at odds with the Commons public accounts committee, insisting that PFI was only used where it proivides best value for money, a message that the public accounts committee spokesman, MP Richard Bacon, does not believe reflect the current situation.

Norwich's Westlegate House goes to Soho

An important development in the commercial property marketplace in Norwich has taken place this week with the announcement of the sale of Westlegate House.  The 11 storey tower building, considered by some to be the ugliest building in Norwich (rather harsh) has, however, stood empty for the past 15 years and this has done nothing to enhance its aesthetic appeal.  The property was on the market for £1 million, and unconfirmed reports suggest it was acquired for a lesser sum than this.

The tower has been bought by Norwich based FW Properties and London based Soho Estates, though a newly created joint venture vehicle called Westlegate Developments Limited.  This is an interesting acquisition for Soho estates, not only due to the nature of the building itself, but also as it represents their first foray outside the capital.  Famed for their ownership of Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, Soho Estates is Chaired by former Mayorial candidate for London, Steven Norris.  The deal also represents the first acquisition made by FW Properties, which is run by Ian Fox and Julian Wells and based in Prince of Wales Road.

The redevelopment proposals for this building will generate great interest in a number of areas of the local community.  The City Council has planned for some time to improve the general appeal of the area, removing traffic flow from the vicinity being one of the objectives.  The Norwich Society has strong views on the proximity and design of the tower in relation to the adjacent All Saint's Church and a thatched cottage, concerns that were presumably not uppermost in the mind of the City's planners, when the design was approved without discussion in 1959.

As a spokesman for the Norwich Society says, we await further developments with bated breath....