Wednesday November 26, 2008 at 3:07pm
Having previously advised that now is the time to renogotiate your lease, the GMB union has announced that MFI is attempting to do just that by asking its landlords to agree a rent free period to stave off administration. It will be interesting to see whether MFI is successful but it is another example of a major retailer seeking to renegotiate terms with its landlord.
If you are considering renegotiating your lease then now is the time to take advantage of Cousins Business Law's free lea....
(read more...)Monday November 24, 2008 at 5:33pm
Here is the relevant extract from today's Pre-Budget Report:
The Government is temporarily increasing the threshold at which an empty property becomes liable for business rates. For financial year 2009-10, empty properties with a rateable value of less than £15,000 will be exempt from business rates, exempting an estimated 70 per cent of empty properties. This one year relief for lower-value properties is best targeted at helping small businesses manage short-term pressures due to di....
(read more...)Friday November 21, 2008 at 12:58pm
If you currently own a development site with planning permission that is about to expire then you could be faced with a number of problems.
The first problem is that if the planning permission expires without the development being commenced then you will be the proud owner of a site you cannot develop without re-applying for planning consent. If planning policy has changed in the meantime you may find your application is refused.
The solution to this problem is to ensure you have carried....
(read more...)Tuesday November 18, 2008 at 10:01am
The latest Government figures on
insolvency (published 7th November 2008) show an alarming increase in the number of business failures. There were 4,001 compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 10.5% on last quarter and a 26.3% increase on the same period last year. Add this to the 27,087 personal insolvencies in the same period and you can see the recession in the UK is really starting to bite. Even if your industry sector ....
(read more...)Monday November 17, 2008 at 9:13am
Since 10th November the Land Registry have provided a new service. Anyone can now make a search of the Land Registry's index of proprietors against his or her own name, a company name, or the name of some other person in whose property the searcher can satisfy the Registrar that they are interested generally.
Whether you are a developer looking to discover the extent of your competitors' landbanks or are trying to establish whether someone has sufficient property assets to be worth suing,....
(read more...)Wednesday November 12, 2008 at 11:55am
The reporting of house prices has become something of an obsession in the media. A wide variety of views are aired most of which have proved to be wildly inaccurate with the benefit of hindsight. One statistic that looks likely to revert to its long-term trend is the relationship between average house prices and average annual earnings. The credit orgy of the last ten years is now over and with lenders now returning to the prudent lending practices of previous decades it is not....
(read more...)Monday November 10, 2008 at 10:23am
If you are a property developer and you've never seen your lawyer in his wellies then it might be time to consider changing your lawyer.
Visiting a development site is the only way a lawyer can identify certain potential legal problems. If you've just bought a site that your lawyer hasn't visited then ask them the following questions: 1. How do they know there are no discrepancies between the title deeds and the physical boundaries on site? 2. How do they know whether there is any evidence on s....
(read more...)Friday November 7, 2008 at 10:06am
A lot of articles have been written recently about the Revenue’s view on the VAT treatment of a house-builder who, in the current climate, alters the nature of its business from the sale of houses (which are zero-rated supplies of new dwellings), to the short-term letting of houses (which are exempt supplies). Although a change from taxable to partially exempt supplies can affect a housebuilder’s VAT recovery position, the Revenue allows the application of a de minimis rule to a....
(read more...)Monday November 3, 2008 at 1:02pm
The House of Lords has just overturned the case I referred to in my blog last week meaning that a landlord only needs to serve the guarantor with notice within six months of a rent review being decided. The same rule would also apply to a service charge where the final figure for payment is only decided after the service charge payment date.
It's good to see that the Law Lords had regard to "some remarkably silly consequences" of the decisions of the lower courts.
Steven Petty,....
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