Everyone likes a river view, but building near water can have unexpected challenges! Even when the river itself is out of sight, any development on a flood plain can have potential environmental impacts on drainage and flooding – an increasing concern in the context of climate emergency. A failure to obtain planning permission for development … Read more
The success of large-scale development projects depends greatly on the parties maintaining a good commercial relationship. Whilst claims and disputes are often inevitable in relation to construction works, early and amicable settlement can be instrumental in sustaining those relationships and ensuring the successful delivery of a project. So when should a party start to think … Read more
Readers of this blog may be interested to know that the Herbert Smith Freehills construction and infrastructure team has launched a new blog of its own – Construction Notes. Construction Notes will include articles and updates on the latest developments in the construction sector, from both a contentious and non-contentious perspective, from HSF’s industry experts … Read more
Making amendments to details submitted as reserved matters on large development schemes can pose difficulties – until now there has been no specific authority that non-material amendments could be made to reserved matters approvals (RMAs), although it has frequently been done in practice. A recent Court of Appeal decision, R (on the application of Fulford … Read more
“Large amounts don’t grow on trees. You’ve got to pick-a-pocket or two.” On 1 September 2019, the CIL Regulations will be amended – yet again. Among the various technical changes is the removal of Regulation 123, which currently prevents local planning authorities using more than five section 106 obligations to fund a single infrastructure project. … Read more
After a bumpy start but ahead of schedule, the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission (or the “BBBBC”) this week published its Interim Report. Set up by the government in November 2018, the BBBBC has been tasked with “[tackling] the challenge of poor-quality design and build of homes and places” and finding a way of ensuring … Read more
Given the complexity of issues and the amounts that are typically involved in construction disputes – particularly those arising from large-scale development projects – preparing early and properly for a potential construction dispute is an important process, but one which can be time-consuming and expensive. Preparing for a potential construction dispute where a formal dispute … Read more
Often in Central London, development is to be carried out in the vicinity of a disused burial ground. A recent example of this involved minor works and the location of a temporary building on top of a disused Church of England burial ground, assumed to be consecrated land. The site, therefore, was subject to Ecclesiastical Law … Read more
