Views sought on Jersey planning service reforms
Officials said the consultation was setting out a number of possible options within three key themes - permitted development rights, the appeals system and how the Island Plan was developed and revised.Environment Minister Deputy Steve Luce said the consultation was an opportunity to explore how the rules could be simplified and improve decision making."Islanders rightly expect a planning system that is clear, consistent and capable of responding to change," he said.
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The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Landlords must lose the fight over Scotland's rent controls
Last year, the government declared a national housing emergency, recognising record levels of homelessness, the toll high rents are taking on tenants, social housing waiting lists of nearly a quarter of a million across Scotland, and disrepair rampant across our housing stock. Yet as Professor Duncan Maclennan points out, the 'housing emergency' is a misnomer. Read More: This so-called emergency did not happen overnight; it has been created by design through the privatisation of our housing stock and unregulated growth of the private rented sector. Scotland's tenants have faced the hard end of these economic decisions for decades, and bold structural solutions are urgently needed in response. Tenants don't have time to wait. Rent controls, as outlined in the Housing Bill, are an important first step towards ending decades of housing misery. Robust, universal rent controls which have the ability to bring rents down could begin to transform our housing system by making private rented accommodation more affordable and disincentivizing exploitative landlordism overall. It's important to state that forms of rent control seen in recent temporary measures have included too many loopholes for landlords to exploit. Any exemptions to upcoming rent controls would create a multi-tier system, leaving thousands of tenants open to unregulated rents and undermining future policy efforts. The current consultation on rent controls has laid bare the Government's intention to appease landlords by introducing significant exemptions to rent controls. Ruth Gilbert, national campaign chair of Living Rent (Image: Newsquest) At this last hurdle rent controls are under threat. Since the government first committed to rent controls, the landlord and developer lobbies have eroded support for proper regulation of the private rented sector among politicians. The constant barrage of criticism - combined with empty threats of a mass exodus of landlords - have pushed a pliant government into conceding to appease the market at the expense of tenants. The most egregious exemption proposals concern 'build to rent' developments. The government has proposed a suite of amendments designed to encourage these sorts of developments, but this dangerous trend towards large-scale private developments is not something they should sensibly support. Build to rent properties are expensive, and beyond the reach of most tenants. Anyone who has walked through either Glasgow or Edinburgh recently will have seen these buildings springing up alongside billboards that promise convenient locations, fun perks, and luxury accommodation. Worryingly, this is just the start of the build to rent boom, over 3,800 units have been built, and there are 12,767 still in the pipeline. This explosion of the sector should highlight that it does not need any further government incentives. Indeed, across the UK the industry received over £1bn in investment from North America in the last quarter of 2024 alone. Developers' push for exemptions only highlights the business model they are touting. The bill, as introduced, already allows for above inflation rent increases, and so lobbyists' greedy demands for more exposes a model that is more concerned with creating dividends for overseas investors than delivering on the needs of Scotland's people. The government is deeply misguided if it thinks that expensive, luxury accommodation is going to fix our housing emergency. These are development sites which can and should be used for much-needed and genuinely affordable housing for social rent. Also proposed for exemption are mid-market properties. Mid-market tenants are some of the most vulnerable in our housing system. Apparently designated for tenants with low to middle incomes, mid-market properties exist to ensure that those unable to afford rents in the private sector and who cannot access social housing are able to better afford their housing costs. By threatening to exclude mid-market tenants from rent controls, this will see mid-market landlords able to increase rent however high they like with tenants left with no recourse to challenge it. For example, this summer at Water Row mid-market development in Govan, tenants were hit with a 10.6% rent increase after being given a rent increase of 39% before they had even moved in. The rent increase was delivered despite a previous commitment to keep rent below the local housing allowance. However, tenants had no legal recourse to challenge. It was only through Living Rent members organising together and fighting back did the landlord eventually concede and cancel the rent increase. This government needs to stop listening to the empty threats of landlords and legislate to protect those who have been most impacted by decades of mismanaged housing policy. Scotland's tenants need universal and comprehensive rent controls that bring rents down. Anything short of this will ruin the housing bill, undermine the possibility of a more just housing system for years to come, and damage the wavering trust that Scotland's tenants have that politicians will take the urgent action needed to end the national housing emergency. Ruth Gilbert is the national campaign chair of Living Rent
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Liberal and Labor leaders court crossbench after snap Tasmanian election delivers another hung parliament
Tasmania's premier and opposition leader have both reached out to independent MPs in the hope of forming government, after the Labor party lost ground in an early election it brought on. Saturday's snap poll, 16 months after the last election, returned another hung parliament with the Liberals so far securing 14 seats and Labor nine, as counting continued. Both parties will be short of the 18 seats required for majority, with the Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff, declaring victory on election night and saying he would try to form a minority government. Rockliff on Sunday told reporters he'd reached out to potential crossbench collaborators. 'My view is that the crossbench, in the cold, hard light of day, will recognise the party – being the Liberal party – with the most number of seats are able to, of course, form a cabinet,' the premier said. 'What Tasmanians clearly voted for yesterday was an end to the political games. They expect a parliament to work together and they expect the parliament to last four years.' Labor under Dean Winter suffered a 3% swing against it to the Liberals. It was Labor's worst vote in Tasmania in more than a century with the party securing 26% of the vote with three-quarters of the ballots counted. However, Winter hasn't ruled out trying to form government if the Liberals are unable to get a left-leaning independent crossbench onside. 'I've spoken to a number of members of the crossbench and offered Labor will try and work differently and collaboratively,' the opposition leader said. 'I won't go into the details of any of the conversations but we'll treat people with respect. I think that's what the crossbench is looking for and it's also what Tasmanians are looking for.' Winter reiterated on Sunday that he would not 'do a deal' with the Greens. Labor would need support from the minor party, which holds five seats, to govern. Winter said he would not compromise on Labor policy, including support for a $945m stadium which is opposed by the Greens and three crossbench independents. One of those independents, a re-elected Kristie Johnston, said she wouldn't enter into a formal deal for confidence and supply with either major party and would provide support on merit. 'They need to negotiate and respect the views of parliament,' she said. Sign up to Morning Mail Our Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion It could take weeks for the final outcome in four remaining undecided seats, meaning a formal minority agreement might take even longer. Rockliff would need to work with independents to govern, including two, Johnston and the re-elected Craig Garland, who voted for June's no-confidence motion against him. The June vote, which triggered the election, lashed ballooning debt under the Liberals and a bungled Bass Strait ferry delivery. The state Greens leader, Rosalie Woodruff, kept the door ajar for a Labor alliance, calling on Winter to 'have a conversation'. A drawn-out post-election scenario would delay the parliamentary approval process for the new stadium, a condition of Tasmania's AFL licence. The project is supported by the Liberals and Labor but opposed by the Greens, Garland, Johnston and the third elected independent Peter George. The new parliament will be very similar to the previous one that included 14 Liberals, 10 Labor MPS, five Greens, five independents and one Jacqui Lambie Network member.
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Flats plan held up by cricket balls can go ahead
A major housing scheme paused over fears about future residents being hit by cricket balls from a nearby club has finally been given the were granted permission in 2021 to convert Aire Valley House, at Crossflatts near Bingley, into 139 flats - once Sport England was satisfied people would not be struck by balls hit by batsmen at Crossflatts Cricket planning wrangle was highlighted by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in March when he was discussing his push to shake up the planning England said it was now satisfied with "ball stop mitigation" plans for the site, including netting, and Bradford Council has said the scheme can be completed. Following submission of the initial plans, the sporting body warned that a risk assessment had underestimated the power of some of the players' shots, according to the Local Democracy Reporting the organisation has now said that high fencing proposed between the cricket ground and the flats would be sufficient to protect residents and the property."The applicant has now provided a plan showing the location and specification of the proposed ball stop mitigation," Sport England said in a letter to the council."This also includes details of how the ball-stop mitigation will be managed and maintained."The fence, if properly maintained, would "be enough to prevent injury to people or property", the organisation said. The prime minister used the delay to the scheme as an example of how bureaucracy can hold up development. During a speech in Hull in March he said: "There's an office conversion in Bingley, which as you know, is in Yorkshire. That is an office conversion that will create 139 homes."But now the future of that is uncertain because the regulator was not properly consulted on the power of cricket balls."That's 139 homes. Now, just think of the people, the families, the individuals who want those homes, to buy those homes to make their life and now they're held up." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
