Blanchard Consultancy – the independent construction consultant

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is top of the European "gazumping league" and one in three buyers have seen the purchase of a new home fall through, a study on Friday said.
The report by life insurance firm Scottish Widows said 3.3 million buyers (37 percent) in Britain had been victims of "gazumping" -- where a house seller accepts an offer only to subsequently then agree a higher bid from a second buyer.

Even though different rules in Scotland make gazumping impossible there, that figure still puts Britain ahead of European countries such as France, Spain and Germany.

"As a nation we are obsessed with property, and gazumping is a problem that hits us hard, especially when you compare it to our European neighbours," said Murdo McHardy, of Scottish Widows Bank.

On top of gazumping, other factors such as financial problems or a change of heart following a survey, meant that 8.7 million Britons had seen a house purchase fall through, the report said.

It added that Britons also spent little time assessing a future home before buying.

More than a third viewed a future property just once with 66 percent spending less than 30 minutes checking out a possible purchase.

"Spending relatively little time on the property hunt doesn't seem to reflect the fact that for many of us it is the biggest financial commitment we're ever likely to make," McHardy said.

LONDON (Reuters) - House prices rose at their fastest pace in almost two years in the three months to February and are likely to keep rising in the months ahead, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said on Thursday.
The RICS said its house prices balances jumped to +17 in the three months to February from +9 in January.

That was the highest since June 2004, when house price rises were in double digits, and marked the fourth straight month of increase.

The report also showed that surveyors were their most confident in 22 months that prices would keep going up, even though there was unlikely to be a repeat of last August's Bank of England interest rate cut which had helped reignite housing demand.

RICS said house prices in London rose at their sharpest pace in almost 3-1/2 years, with demand for properties so strong that some agents were able to invite prospective buyers to submit sealed bids on properties in order to attract the best price.

"Traditionally, where London goes the rest of the market follows and agents will be hoping this is the starting gun on wider, firmer housing market growth as buyers begin to compete more aggressively for the homes they want," said RICS spokesman James Scott-Lee.

The ratio of completed sales compared with the stock of available property rose to 35 percent in February from 34 percent in January -- the highest since October 2004, signalling the balance of power in the market was becoming more neutral after a year in which buyers had the upper hand, RICS said.

Meanwhile, completed sales were broadly stable at 24.8 per surveyor, while stocks of unsold property fell slightly to 71.9 from 72.4 in January.

"With available property in short supply, sellers are retaining a strong position if their pricing is realistic," RICS' Scott-Lee said.

Extending your house
You need to apply for planning permission to extend or add to your house in the following circumstances.

You want to build an addition which would be nearer to any highway than the nearest part of the "original house'', unless there would be at least 20 metres between your house (as extended) and the highway. The term ''highway'' here includes all roads, footpaths, bridleways and byways if they are public rights of way. (There are special rules for porches, see Section C.)
More than half the area of land around the ''original house'' would be covered by additions or other buildings.
The term ''original house'' means the house as it was first built or as it stood on 1 July 1948 (if it was built before that date). Although you may not have built an extension to the house, a previous owner may have done so.

You will also need to apply for planning permission if the extension or addition exceeds the following limits on height or volume.

Height limits for extensions
You will need to apply for planning permission before building an extension to your house if:

the extension is higher than the highest part of the roof of the ''original house''; or
any part of the extension is more than 4 metres high and is within 2 metres of the boundary of your property. (Loft conversions and dormers have separate rules, explained below.)
You should measure the height of buildings from the ground level immediately next to it. If the ground is uneven, you should measure from the highest part of the surface, unless you are calculating volume.

Volume limits for extensions
You will need to apply for planning permission before building an extension if:

for a terrace house (including an end of terrace house) or any house in a Conservation Area, a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Broads - the volume of the ''original house'' would be increased by more than 10% or 50 cubic metres (whichever is the greater);
for any other kind of house outside those areas, the volume of the ''original house'' would be increased by more than 15% or 70 cubic metres (whichever is the greater); and
in any case, the volume of the ''original house'' would be increased by more than 115 cubic metres.
Volume is calculated from the external dimensions of the entire structure of the extension.

In the following circumstances, the volume of other buildings which belong to your house (such as a garage or shed) will count against the volume allowances. In some cases, this can include buildings which were built at the same time as the house or existed on 1 July 1948.

If an extension to your house comes within 5 metres of another building belonging to your house, the volume of that building counts against the allowance for additions and extensions.
Any building which has been added to your property and which is more than 10 cubic metres in volume and which is within 5 metres of your house is treated as an extension of the house and so reduces the allowance for further extensions.
If you live in a Conservation Area, a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Broads, all additional buildings which are more than 10 cubic metres in volume, wherever they are in relation to the house, are treated as extensions of the house and reduce the allowance for further extensions.
If any of these cases apply, the volume of the building concerned will be deducted from your volume limit for extensions and additions to your house. For example, if your volume limit is 50 cubic metres and a building of 15 cubic metres in volume is treated as an extension to the house, then your volume limit for extensions would be reduced to 35 cubic metres.

Limits for roof extensions, loft conversions and dormer windows
You do not normally need to apply for planning permission to re-roof your house (see Section G) or to insert roof lights or skylights.

However, there are some special rules which govern extensions to the roof. You will need to apply for planning permission if you live in a Conservation Area, a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Broads and you want to build an extension to the roof of your house or any kind of addition which would materially alter the shape of the roof.

Outside those areas, you need to apply for planning permission if any of the following is true:

the work would make some part of the house higher than the highest part of the existing roof.
the dormer or other addition you want to build would extend beyond the plane of any existing roof slope facing a highway.
a roof extension would add more than 40 cubic metres to the volume of a terraced house or more than 50 cubic metres to any other kind of house.
Note: additional volume created by any extension - and that includes roof extensions - will count against the total volume limit for your house. So you will also need to apply for planning permission before building a roof extension if:
for a terrace house, the volume of the ''original house'' would be increased by more than 10% or 50 cubic metres (whichever is the greater);
for any other kind of house, the volume of the "original house'' would be increased by more than 15% or 70 cubic metres (whichever is the greater);
the volume of the ''original house'' would be increased by more than 115 cubic metres.

Extracted from the ODPM website