Aim High When Buying a Leicester Property

It can often to pay to think ahead when viewing Leicester properties, especially if you’re a developer looking to make money or a domestic buyer who wants a long-term return on your investment.

This could mean thinking about ways you could alter the layout of the property to maximise on the space already available, or you might want to visualise how you could extend in order to add appeal and value to the place.

The latter may also become easier to accomplish in the future as speculation grows that Chancellor Philip Hammond could relax planning laws when he announces his autumn Budget. These moves could help address Britain’s housing shortage and also spell good news for Leicester’s homeowners and investors who want to extend their properties upwards rather than outwards.

Housing providers are supporting the calls for the law to be relaxed to allow developers to go upwards without the need for planning permission, and a ‘build up not out’ initiative is being championed by Conservative MP John Penrose.

If brought in, the changes would allow properties to be extended upwards to the height of the neighbourhood’s tallest building or surrounding trees without the need to get involved in any drawn-out applications for planning permission.

Thinking of built-up environments, Penrose believes that the changes would allow for the creation of mansion blocks instead of towers and remove the need to build homes on Green Belt land. The changes should also make it easier to develop properties and enhance the appeal in homes where people most want to live.

The British Property Federation’s chief executive, Melanie Leech, said that the ‘build up not out’ initiative was a good example of the ‘bold new ideas’ needed to enhance property supply in the UK and said it would encourage Britain’s local authorities to use creative thinking to find effective property solutions in their areas.

Mr Penrose first submitted his policy to Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary, to be published in a housing white paper released in February. Since then, he has held many meetings in a bid to amass support amongst fellow MPs.

A spokesman for the Treasury said that the Chancellor was considering a range of different options for his Budget and that any specific policy would be ‘pure speculation’ at this time. The autumn Budget will be revealed on November 22, 2017.

Are you looking to buy or sell property in Leicester? Call us today at our office at Hinckley Road 01162 544 555, or Queens Road 01162 544 543.