Planning Applications UP

Planning applications submitted in the UK are up January – March 2011 from same period last year after a dip in October – Decemeber 2010.

Also interesting to note is approvals are down. This would perhaps represent the increase in complexity and and changes in the planning policy and local authorities. Areas of complicity could be changes in Permitted Development Act in 2008. Also changes to Environmental Agency flood risk requirements.

Other possible factors;

Developers looking to increase density to recoup cost of land from the height of the market.

Lack of clear and quality pre application advice from local authorities

We suggest getting good advice from your architect and planning consultants early in any project to manage expectations and achieve best development potential coupled with the best process possible.

New Interior Furniture Showroom comes to Stanmore

Mac and Mac Contemporary Furniture showroom has come to stanmore on the high street. YOOP welcomes a high quality furniture shop with its designer furniture for the home and office.

We quite like the magis me too puzzle carpet children’s toy by s. pakhalé

Cash & Carry Family Business Celebrates 35 years!

Dhamecha Cash & Carry Group celebrated its 35 years of successful business. Five hundred guests filled London Marriott Hotel to help Dhamecha celebrate in style. Food from around the world was mixed with stilt walkers, belly dancers and a snake charmer.

YOOP Architects are proud to have worked on many of their cash & carry sites and congratulate them on their success, we look forward to continuing our good reltionship.

Cost Benefit of Home Improvements

When homeowners are looking to undertake works on their properties they always ask how much it will cost. Just as important is how much value will it create.
Here is a quick summary as reported in the Financial Times July 16, 2011.

Loft Cost £30-50k Value £60-70k
New Bathroom Cost £3-5k Value £4-7k
New Garden Room Cost £10-20k Value £20-30k
New Kitchen Cost Cost £20-30k Value £25-30k
Kitchen Extension Cost £30-50k Value £75-100k
New Kitchen Cost £20-30k Value £25-30k

So the biggest winners are if you actually add space, ie the rear extension and loft, which seems to have a value of twice what you spend.
The surprise is the garden room. These can be achieved under permitted development, so you can just do it. These rooms become hobby rooms, play rooms or just storage to free your house from clutter. For any further advice on the above, call Gordon 02089546291 ge@yooparchitects.co.uk

New Website & Blog Location

The Blog has moved to our updated website also.

www.yooparchitects.co.uk

Affordable Housing Scheme in for Planning

Affordable Housing Scheme is Now in for Planning.

The new build scheme in Harrow of 10 flats and 4 houses is now in for planning.

The scheme will incorporate Lifetime Homes, sustainable principles and will regenerate a site that currently occupies a vacant building that attracts much anti social behaviour.

Permitted Development iPhone App Coming Soon

First Look!

A new iphone is close to completion. The app will advise home owners on how to maximise the size of their home without the need of planning consent, and its legal! DesiHouse developed by YOOP Architects should be availible soon on the itune app store.

see the website

See our previous blog on permitted development

Quality Foods opens their latest and largest supermarket to date.

The new Quality Foods supermarket in Hayes is setting the standard for Asia food shopping.

Further to their short listing of 'Best National Food Retailer Award at the World Food Awards 2010', Quality Foods has established a further exemplar store.

Located close to the M4, off the A312 Hayes by pass, it avoids the high traffic volumes of in town Southall. The store offers easy access and safe parking for over 150 cars, motorbikes and bicycles, they even have 2 charging point for electric cars, which all help to bring back stress free and relaxed shopping.

With over 4000sqm of shopping floor, wide aisles and plenty of light and space to choose from the vast selection of products and over 10 check outs responding to a more customer focused shopping experience.

The store was previously a B&Q Warehouse and had been vacant for over 5 years. Planning consultant Alex Abbott of CGMS, had been perusing an application for a change of use which the local authority had been strongly resisting for over the past year. Finally consent was granted with over 30 conditions which were discharged by YOOP Architects and CgMs planning consultants. A major part of the project was the installation of a new external canopy to cover the fresh fruit and vegetable sales area. This canopy covers over 800 sqm of floor space with the structural works undertaken by Structural Engineers, Whitehouse Design.

The principle contractor, Vascroft Contractors over saw the whole project, along with DGT who supplied and erected the steel work for the new external canopy, Control Electrical and Watch Dog looked after all the electrical services, fire control and security, while Butler & Young were appointed as the building control inspectors.

YOOP Architects would like to congratulate Quality Foods and all involved.

Budget, Budget, Budget!

I attended a network meeting on Thursday where an accountant delivered a great breakdown of the Budget, Selwyn Foreman of Bradley Forman Accountants kindly shared his speech for our blog.

A 10 minute 2010 budget speech

I’ve got 8 minutes plus questions to explain the new Chancellor’s 60 minutes and make sense of it.
Chancellor George Osborne has delivered his first Budget of the new coalition government - outlining plans to ''balance the books' by 2016.
He said tough decisions had been ''unavoidable''.
Key tax changes include: a rise in the main rate of VAT from 17.5% to 20% from January 2011; Capital Gains Tax for higher rate taxpayers will go up from midnight to 28%.
Mr Osborne stressed that he wanted to help those on lower incomes. From April 2011 the personal income tax allowance will go up by £1,000 to £7,475.
A major shake up in benefits has also been announced. Tax credits will be reduced for families earning over £40,000 next year; child benefit will be frozen for the next three years. A maximum limit of £400 a week will be introduced on Housing Benefit.
On pensions: From 2011 the Government will accelerate the increase in state pension age to 66.
There were also measures aimed at helping business. Corporation tax will be cut next year to 27% and by 1% annually for the next three years.
The level at which the higher rate of tax starts to apply has been lowered by £1,500 and will now be levied on any income above £42,375, as opposed to £43,875 previously.
Taking into account the £1,000 rise in the personal tax-free allowance, the basic-rate tax band has shrunk by a total of £2,500. This means that £34,900 of a person’s income is now taxed at 20 per cent, as opposed to £37,400 previously. This means the estimated three million existing higher rate taxpayers will also be worse off as a result of the changes, which will take effect from the start of the 2011-2012 tax year.
The new thresholds will be frozen for three years.
Losers
PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS
There will be a two-year pay freeze for public sector workers earning more than £21,000, although the 1.7 million lowest paid will get a flat £250 pay rise each year. Limits will be put on the salaries of the highest paid public sector workers.
FAMILIES
Child tax credits will be withdrawn for families earning more than £40,000 a year, rather than £50,000, while child benefit will be frozen for the next three years.
The baby element of the tax credit – known as Sure Start, which is a one-off payment to help towards the costs of a new baby – will be abolished.
The health in pregnancy grant of £150 will be scrapped from April 2011. The Government said it expected lone parents to look for work when their youngest child goes to school.
VAT
The main rate of VAT will rise from 17.5pc to 20pc from January 4 2011. This will generate more than £13bn of extra revenues. Food and children's clothing will remain exempt.
INVESTORS
From midnight, higher-rate taxpayers will see the rate of capital gains tax rise to 28pc from 18pc, while the annual exemption of £10,100 will remain in place. Basic-rate taxpayers will continue to pay CGT at a rate of 18pc.
THOSE ON HOUSING BENEFITS
Housing benefit is to be cut by £1.8bn by the end of this parliament. The measures include benefit being limited to a maximum of £400 per week for a four-bedroom or larger house.
THOSE ON DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE
A medical assessment for new and existing claimants will be introduced to ensure that only those who need it can claim it. Three times as many claim as when the benefit was introduced 18 years ago. It costs £11bn a year.
Winners
INCOME TAX PAYERS
Around 880,000 workers will no longer pay income tax after the Chancellor raised the personal allowance by £1,000 to £7,475 from £6,475. Basic-rate taxpayers will be £170 a year better off as a result. Those earning more than £40,000 will not benefit because they will be hit by a rise in National Insurance contributions, a Labour policy that Mr Osborne has decided to retain.
INVESTORS
Investors who are basic-rate taxpayers can breathe a sigh of relief: the Chancellor has watered down his plans to raise capital gains tax to 40pc or even 50pc. Basic-rate taxpayers will continue to pay CGT at 18pc and the annual exemption of £10,100 will remain. Higher-rate taxpayers will pay 28pc. Mr Osborne said the Treasury believed that any greater increase in CGT would have led to a fall in revenues.
DRINKERS
There will be no new increases in duties on alcohol, while the proposed 10pc rise in duty on cider will now not be introduced.
DRIVERS
Fuel duty is to be frozen.
ENTREPRENEURS
Anyone who sets up a new business outsideLondon, the South East and the east ofEngland will be exempt from £5,000 of National Insurance contributions for each of the first 10 employees they hire.
PENSIONERS
Increases to the basic state pension will be in line with earnings from April 2011. Pensions will rise by at least 2.5pc every year.
SMOKERS
There will be no rise in tobacco duty.

Budget day is steeped in political tradition and symbolism. Here are some of the quirky and interesting reasons to see more behind the day than perhaps meets the eye:
• Since May 1997, Chancellor's have delivered two big economic speeches a year. The main Budget in the Spring (usually March or April) and the less significant pre-Budget report in the Autumn (usually November).
• The word 'budget' is derived from an old French word 'bourgette' which means 'little bag'.
• The 'Budget box', or 'Gladstone box' as it is known, in its traditional scarlet leather with satin lining, has been used to carry the Chancellor's speech to the House of Commons from Number 11 (the Chancellor's residence on Downing Street) since 1860.
• The tradition was broken by James Callaghan in 1965 and 1966, when he used a brown case bearing the monogram 'EIIR'.
George Osborne used the old briefcase box for the last time on Tuesday.
• There is only one Chancellor who has failed to deliver his speech. The Tory Chancellor, Tory Iain Macleod, who died soon after his appointment in 1970.
• In a quirky piece of history, Chancellors are allowed to lubricate their vocal chords with alcoholic drinks during the speech; no other member may do this.
• When Norman Lamont was Chancellor in the early 1990s, the famous red briefcase contained a bottle of whisky. The speech was carried separately.
• Chancellors who have drunk alcohol when giving the speech include Winston Churchill, Hugh Dalton and Selwyn Lloyd.
• Gordon Brown opted for Scottish mineral water.
• One of the best Budget lines goes to Derick Heathcoat-Amery: "There are three things not worth running for - a bus, a woman or a new economic panacea. If you wait a bit, another one will come along."
• In 1986, Nigel Lawson's speech was suspended after the Scottish Nationalists intervened and caused furore in the House of Commons.
• In Chancellor R A Butler's 1953 Budget, he announced that the sugar ration would be increased from 10oz to 12oz a week so that the nation would have enough to make celebratory cakes for the Queen's Coronation that year.
• The longest Budget speech was delivered by William Gladstone on 13 April 1853 and lasted four hours and forty five minutes.
• Benjamin Disraeli is said to hold the record for the shortest speech, at 45 minutes in 1867.
Osborne said he would be reducing the small companies’ corporation tax rate by 1% to 20%.
Cider increase to be reversed.
Lloyd George's voice ran out of steam after the first three-and-a-half hours of his 1909 People's Budget, arguably the most unpopular budget speech in history. He was allowed 30 minutes to refresh his dulcet Welsh vocal cords. In the first instance this Budget was thrown out by the Lords, after having endured 549 divisions which occupied 90 hours of voting time.

Compiled by
Selwyn Foreman - Bradley Foreman Accountants Limited
07958 127 925
24th June 2010

Selwyn is an accountant of high standing and provides specialist accounting services to the media industry as well as general

More information on Bradley Foreman Accountants

GP Surgery Final Pictures

Final pictures of the surgery fully functional.

Pictures courtesy of Construction Element

Shop Signage - Are you getting your message across?

Have you seen your shop sign lately, looking a bit tired? Maybe its time for a change.

A new shop sign can be one of the first and easiest steps to re-branding and giving your premises a face lift.

In most cases a new shop sign will require planning consent from the local authority. The main issue to consider when considering a new sign are, colour, size location and luminance.

Most local authorities will have produced a guidance document laying out their preferences of colours and type of signage. For example, for internally illuminated shop front signs or, fascia signs most local authorities will require that only part of the fascia is illuminated, this could be the letters themselves or the logo, but not the whole face. There will also be a limit on the amount of illumination, this will be measured in Candelas or Lux per msq.

The location can also be a major factor, to the acceptable size and position of a sign. Currently YOOP are proposing an illuminated shop sign consisting of individually letter of up to 1.8m in height to an industrial type building located next to a major dual carriageway which would regarded as acceptable in this context. On the other hand an illuminated sign to a high street bank branch in a conservation area in Kensington & Chelsea, opposite a Royal Park had to meet strict criteria, the overall size, luminance levels and hours of use, by working closely with the planners the application for a new sign was approved and the sign installed. In some cases such as listed building the proposed signage has to be sensitive to the building, this can mean the sign has to be externally illuminated with spot or trough lighting.

Another important aspect to consider is obtaining Landlords consent. If you are not the freeholder of the property, in most cases you will be required to obtain consent from the Landlord.

At YOOP we can deal with all these matters for you from design, to landlords consent to planning applications and working with the suppliers.

YOOP work closely with a number of signage manufacturers such as the team at SSW Signs in Park Royal who are highly experienced in the supply and installation of all types of signage systems .

Quality Foods - New Retail Superstore

Quality Foods are to open their fourth and newest retail super store in Hayes West London specialising in fresh fruit and veg and ethnic foods direct to the public.

Located on the site of the old B&Q warehouse on the Hayes Bridge, the site has been derelict for a number of years and somewhat the victim of vandalism.

YOOP have been appointed as project

Architects for the reinstatement works to the new Quality Foods super st

ore.

The site is now being extensively refurbished by the Contractor, Vascroft Contractors Ltd. All the services are being brought up to date to meet the current building regulation standards, a new ceiling system to reduce heating requirements a new durable Terrazzo floor, new shelving and racking and display systems and a redesigned car park with bike stands, ample disabled parking and even charge points for electric cars.

The clients aim is to create a one stop shop for all your food shopping needs, quick access, easy parking, fast service.

As well as the internal layout design, YOOP are overseeing the discharge of a host of planning conditions with planning consultants CgMs, new shop signage, building regulation approval as well as acting as CDM Coordinators and as usual all building control matters are being dealt with by Butler & Young Ltd.

Insulation & Ventilation for a Healthy Home

Now that things are heating up insulating your home or office can keep you cool in the summer, warm in the winter and save money on resources.

Summer is a good time to install insulation, your more likely to be out and about, the day is longer for working. Loft insulation can cost just a few hundred pounds and save almost as much in your first year with a typical payback of two years.

Insulating walls can also be achieved with insulated plasterboard on the inside of properties that has solid walls or flat blocks that

suffers condensation on walls. The condensation is usually all the air moisture condensing on the coldest parts of your home. Which is typically windows but can also be parts of walls. Other methods of filling empty cavity walls are common and achieve good results.

Moisture within the home can also be an issue. Having a healthy environment means a moisture level from 50-70%. More than this can promote mould growth. The moisture is created by breathing, cooking, drying clothes etc. With air tight windows and minimal ventilation in winter this soon creates a home with a high moisture content. Quite a common sight in winter is open windows to alleviate the moisture proble

m but also this increases heating bills. A solution to this is heat recover ventilation

.

Heat recover ventilation is a vent which brings fresh air from out side but is pre heated by air from inside. This reduces the moisture content of your home with out losing the heat.

Energy Saver Trust for More Info

Example of Heat Recover Unit - Single Room

Inheritance Tax, New Government & You

An early casualty of the new coalition government is the Conservatives’ planned increase in the inheritance tax nil-rate band to £1 million. Instead, the current exemption of £325,000 will remain in place for the lifetime of the current parliament.

Where the value of an estate exceeds the nil-rate band, the excess is chargeable to inheritance tax (‘IHT’) at 40%. As house prices are starting to rise more families are being caught in the IHT net.

There are many options available to mitigate one’s IHT liability. The first step is to make a will to ensure that your estate does not face an unnecessarily large IHT bill. There are also reliefs which can be used in one’s lifetime. If a gift is made and the donor outlives it by 7 years (and does not take any benefit from it) the value of the gift is outside of their estate for IHT.

The 7 year rule does not apply in all circumstances. For example, up to £3,000 can be given away in any one tax year and the donor need not survive by 7 years for it to be IHT free. Further, excess income can be given away and is immediately exempt from IHT if it can be shown that the money gifted did not materially affect the donor’s standard of living. It is imperative that the donor does not derive any benefit from such gifts for them to be effective for IHT.

As with any advice of this nature, professional guidance should always be obtained. For more information please contact Geoff Dennis of Brightstone Law LLP on 020 8731 3080 or email: gd@brightstonelaw.co.uk.

THE ELECTION: A SPLIT DECISION THE POTENTIAL EFFECT ON THE PROPERTY INDUSTRY AND CLIENTS OF ONE WEST END LAW FIRM

Without doubt a feeling of confidence in the new coalition will be the best prospect for the property industry as a whole and we expect the same to be true for our clients.

Uncertainty creates a state of stasis where clients hold back from buying; lenders don’t lend; the public sector freezes up and money becomes more expensive. The hung parliament was in danger of exacerbating this and the swift conclusion will be well received.

The effects of the election result on this firm’s law practice and our clients attitudes to the new Government remain to be seen. Our principle business is in the property sector which has enjoyed resurgence of late and whether this continues will depend in part upon the confidence that this coalition Government can engender in business, investors and end users alike, as well as the effect on lending that their policies for the reform of the banks may have. Many of the Government’s first policies will reflect the fragile state of the economy and an emergency budget, expected within the first 50 days, will signal their intentions for the duration of the Parliament to come.

Whilst the Liberal Democrats have dropped their proposals for a “mansion tax” on properties costing more than £2 million, Capital Gains Tax paid on “non business” assets such as shares and second homes (currently at a flat rate of 18%) is likely to rise close to the 40% rate of Income Tax. This is of course set against the proposal to raise the Income Tax exemption to £10,000, the Liberal Democrat election proposal. The Conservative proposal to scrap HIPS may also have an impact on the residential property market.

Many of the Government’s forthcoming policies will influence property development, in particular regeneration and planning. The planning system at present is widely perceived to actively prevent developers from meeting consumer demand for property, which is at variance with the aggressive housing targets that the outgoing Labour Government set. A simplification of the procedure would undoubtedly lead to a greater appetite for developments to be advanced.

The role of the banks will equally be important, not less as a result of the Taxpayer now owning £150 billion worth of property through the state owned banks. The argument for the return of empty rates relief will no doubt also be strongly made in the coming months.

Day to day we have heard commentary from some clients that they are keen to understand the future implications of Government policy before committing to long term projects. The CGT rise in particular could lead to a flood of property onto the market, as buy-to-let investors look to avoid the rise, the expectation that such properties will fall within the definition of “non-business” assets. The scrapping of HIPS could also give a fillip to prices, as may the suggestion that VAT is likely to rise. Foreign investors are equally looking for signs of stability before committing to investing in the UK.

We expect that now the new Con/Lib Government has been formed clients will continue their business activities, some of which may have been put on hold during the election process, confident that there is a Government in place that will support business in general, with a view to returning the economy to strength.

Written by Daniel Abrahams, Partner at Philip Ross Solicitors.

13^th May 2010

http://www.philipross.co.uk/

Contact: jane.fisher@philipross.co.uk