More space for worship advised

New housing developments should have a specific area set aside to create facilities for faith communities, according to a newly-published report.

Construction companies should be told that they must set aside half a hectare (1.23 acres) of empty land in developments to enable faith communities to erect their own buildings, said Cambridgeshire Horizons, the organisation which produced the report “Building for Faith in the Future” and which is responsible for identifying new communities in the East Anglian county.

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A £100,000 row — over 4m of land

A dispute between two Sephardi families over a patch of land in North-West London ended up in the Court of Appeal this week.

Freddy Ezekiel and his son Mark are seeking to reverse a judgment made against them earlier this year over a site in Hendon which they agreed to buy from brothers David and Haim Kohali for £300,000 nine years ago.

But the judges were clearly exercised by cost of the one-day appeal, along with a previous eight-day trial. "It's not sensible litigation," said Lord Justice Mummery during Tuesday's hearing.

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Saul Magrill is 94 and still hot property in the business world

Surely, 94-year-old Saul Magrill is the oldest man in property? Cardiff-based Mr Magrill, who started his career 77 years ago, still works part-time as a commercial property consultant at Chris John & Partners.

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Outcry as Defence Ministry authorises 20 new houses in the West Bank

Settlers in the Jordan Valley are unfazed by the international outcry against the Defence Ministry's decision to authorise the building of 20 houses at a West Bank settlement.

In an unusually harsh statement, Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband has described it as "a real obstacle to peace" and complained directly to Jerusalem. The US State Department and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also condemned the planned expansion at Maskiot, in the Jordan Valley.

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So who are the settlers?

"We are not settlers," was the blunt response of the press officer for the Beitar Illit local council, when asked to comment on the town's status.

"This is just the place where the government decided to build new housing for the Charedi community. We would have gone wherever they would have given us land."

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£40m Leeds plan is hit by credit crunch

Association chairman Arnold Zermansky told its annual meeting that uncertainty in the housing market had prompted some revision of the plans.

Chief executive Sheila Saunders pointed out that "in the current financial climate, no scheme would go ahead without government subsidy".

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Crunch counselling from a property pro

As the UK property market continues to fall foul of the credit crunch, one of the industry’s most influential agents has some advice: brace yourself, be patient — and take a longer holiday.

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The city sale of the century

Strictly Orthodox property developer Eliasz Englander had a problem. His firm, Citywise, is developing a 106,000 ft scheme at 1 Southampton Row in central London. He needed to put a tower crane on the site, but was informed by builders Bovis the crane had to be erected on Saturday to prevent traffic disruption.

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Developer named Yorkshire Property Personality of the Year

A 61-year-old property developer and director of leading northern developers St James Securities has been named as Yorkshire Property Personality of the Year. Roland Stross, a sponsor of the Marjorie and Arnold Ziff Centre, said: “It is extremely humbling to receive such an award from one’s peers.” More than 800 property professionals attended the awards ceremony held at Rudding Park Hotel, Harrogate.

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John Burns is a big deal in property

Property crisis? Not for industry chief John Burns, the managing director of Derwent London, a property development and investment company. Last week, Mr Burns, 64, was credited with doing the “deal of the year” at the Norwood property awards.

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