LocalGov elections: Being vigilant ahead of the local elections
Ahead of the local elections next month, Owen Prendeville, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), offers tips for protecting against cyber attacks.
The separation of planning and landowning powers
02/01/2024 Gemma Duncan and William Murrin, Sharpe Pritchard, discuss planning and landowning powers and the implications of a recent High Court judgement. |
Councils fear parks services will be ‘seriously affected’ by cuts
19/04/2023 Many councils are expecting cuts in their budgets for parks despite growing numbers of people using them, according to a new survey. |
Grant councils power to fight ‘exploitative lets’, think tank says
23/02/2023 Councils should be given more powers to set the rules about who can buy properties as one measure to tackle ‘exploitative lets’, think tank says. |
Warrington tops list of areas with most contaminated land
07/02/2023 Warrington has topped a list of the 10 council areas with the most contaminated land, new research reveals. |
Councils reducing allotment sizes as demand rises
26/09/2022 Two-thirds of local authorities have reduced the size of their allotments as more people apply for a plot of land. |
Council adopts land transfer policy to ‘kick-start a grassroots revolution’
24/06/2022 Liverpool council is set to launch a radical new scheme that will make council land available to voluntary groups in order to encourage local regeneration. |
First Welsh council joins digital Local Land Charges register
19/05/2022 Swansea has become the first Welsh local authority to move its local land charges to a digital register. |
Budget 2021: £24bn multi-year housing settlement
27/10/2021 The chancellor has today announced £11.5bn to build up to 180,000 new affordable homes, calling it the largest cash injection in more than a decade. |
The Brownfield Land Release Fund
21/10/2021 To what extent does this early initiative of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities deliver on the ‘levelling up’ agenda? Lawrence Turner reports. |
Shortage of land holding back new homes, small builders warn
20/10/2021 A lack of land is the main barrier preventing more homes from being built, small builders have warned in a new survey. |
Homes England launches £20bn dynamic purchasing system
07/09/2021 Councils and housing associations will find it easier to build houses thanks to reforms in the way Homes England procures housebuilders and disposes of land. |
Councils to set priorities for First Homes scheme
04/06/2021 Councils will be able to set a ‘local connection test’ to give priority to people such as key workers. |
Funding boost to unlock surplus land for housing
10/09/2020 The Government has announced a £30m fund to help release surplus public sector land for new housing. |
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Reforms to fast-track local plans
06/08/2020 Councils will face sanctions unless they draw-up local plans within 30 months under government proposals to overhaul the planning system. |
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MPs call for 90,000 new social homes every year
27/07/2020 An extra £10bn in grant funding is required to deliver the number of social homes needed to meet demand, MPs have said today. |
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Selling off government car parks could deliver 110,000 new homes, study finds
15/07/2020 Public sector owned car parks have the potential to deliver more than 110,000 new homes while maintaining parking services, a new study has revealed. |
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Selling public land has created ‘minuscule’ amount of affordable housing, think tank says
18/02/2020 The Government has sold enough public land for developers to build 131,000 homes, but only 2.6% of those homes will be for social rent, think tank reveals. |
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Whitehall ‘failing’ to meet target for land sales
24/07/2019 MPs have accused the Government of failing to meet its target for selling land to make way for new homes. |
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Councils build ‘highest number’ of houses since 1990
25/06/2019 Over 13,000 new houses were delivered by local authorities last year, town planners have calculated – the highest number since 1990. |
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Labour considers abolishing council tax for renters
04/06/2019 Labour Party is considering proposals to replace council tax with a ‘progressive property tax’, which would be payable by property owners rather than tenants. |
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Court orders new age travellers to leave ski park
06/03/2019 New age travellers living near an abandoned ski park in Sheffield have been ordered to leave to make way for a multi-million pound extreme sports site. |
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Council spent £4m clearing illegal traveller site
16/10/2018 The local authority responsible for removing the illegal Dale Farm traveller encampment is seeking to recover the over £4m of costs incurred by the action. |
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Brokenshire unveils £1.9bn to overcome building barriers
17/09/2018 The Government has announced nearly £2bn investment to help unlock development and overcome barriers to building new homes. |
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Councils should benefit from land value ‘uplift’, MPs say
13/09/2018 Increases in land value that result from policy decisions should be shared with councils and should not just go into the pockets of developers, MPs say. |
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Liverpool transfers land charges data to ‘national register’
03/09/2018 Liverpool City Council has become the second local authority to migrate its local land charges data to a new national register. |
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Freeze price of land to deliver affordable housing, think tank says
28/08/2018 The Government should limit the ‘windfall gains’ of landowners by freezing the price of land newly designated for housing, a progressive think tank says. |
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Land compensation rules ‘barrier’ to development, think tank says
16/04/2018 A change in the UK’s land compensation rules could lead to local authorities having an extra £9.3bn to invest in infrastructure, think tank says. |
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Cheshire East refers land purchase to police
07/03/2018 Cheshire East Council have referred two new matters of concern to the local police after an assessment flagged concerns over the purchase of a plot of land. |
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First councils submit land charges data to new register
02/03/2018 The first group of local authorities have started providing records for the launch of a new national Local Land Charges (LLC) register. |
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Doctor Who costs Cardiff taxpayers £1m
23/02/2018 Cardiff taxpayers are over £1m out of pocket as a Doctor Who exhibition fails to attract visitors. |
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Finding land for development
20/12/2017 Stefan Webb explains how data platforms can improve the speed, quality and cost of planning. |
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Government’s ‘pre-occupation’ with housing costs business
04/12/2017 The Government’s focus on new homes is leading to increased pressure on the availability of employment land and premises, businesses say. |
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Whitehall’s failure to prioritise local housing needs perpetuates crisis, report warns
20/09/2017 Government’s ‘failure’ to prioritise local housing needs over market demand will perpetuate housing crisis and use up space in the countryside, report claims. |
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Council installs security measures to stop ‘unauthorised incursions’ on land
15/08/2017 Reading Council has announced it will be undertaking work to install security measures to prevent ‘unauthorised incursions’ on public land. |
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Council announces ‘stopping sites’ for Gypsy and Traveller families
27/07/2017 Leeds Council has introduced a scheme designed to help Gypsy and Traveller families set up camp on ‘appropriate sites’. |
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The cost of glyphosate-based weed killers
26/07/2017 While some councils may be banning the use of glyphosate-based herbicides, others still advocate their use to control weeds. William Eichler investigates. |
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Land banking punishes working families, campaigners say
07/07/2017 Nearly one in three houses that have been given the go ahead never get built, according to homelessness campaigners. |
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Council allocates £30,000 to evict squatter
09/06/2017 A district council has decided to take ‘tough action’ to remove a man living on an unauthorised residential plot of land. |
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Holyrood records decrease in derelict and urban vacant land
26/04/2017 The total amount of derelict and urban vacant land in Scotland has decreased by 2%, according to the Scottish government. |
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Everton FC agrees new stadium deal with Liverpool council
24/03/2017 Liverpool City Council is set to agree the principles of an ‘innovative finance model’ with a Premier League football club in order to build a new stadium. |
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Campaigners propose new Government department to co-ordinate land use
06/03/2017 The Government should create a ‘Department of Land Use’ in order to allow for a nationally co-ordinated approach to land use, campaigners argue. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.
