Kent Police rated outstanding

LOCAL NEWS: KENT POLICE RATED OUTSTANDING - reports Kent Online Who knew? http://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/kent-police-rated-outstanding-90749/

London grinds to a halt as 8,000-strong black cab protest stops traffic | News |...

BREAKING NEWS: If you are expecting friends and family back from London today they may be delayed. A black cabbies protest has brought the city to a standstill http://www.londonlovesbusiness.com/business-news/london-transport/london-grinds-to-a-halt-as-8000-strong-black-cab-protest-stops-traffic/11845.article?utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=17719-324805-10%2F02%2F2016+London+newsletter

Landlords launch legal challenge to tax change - FTAdviser.com

LANDLORD NEWS: HMRC DUE TO REPLY TO LANDLORDS LEGAL CHALLENGE OVER TAX CHANGE TODAY - reports FT. Legal experts claim government reforms of buy-to-let constitute an unlawful use of state aid http://www.ftadviser.com/2016/02/09/ifa-industry/tax-planning/landlords-launch-legal-challenge-to-tax-change-5BGtNuRIL5k5KBacOu9I3H/article.html

Timeline Photos

LANDLORD NEWS: ANYONE OFFERING SCHEMES TO BEAT NEW 3% STAMP DUTY IS TALKING NONSENSE SAYS TREASURY Landlords are being advised to avoid firms offering schemes promising to help them sidestep the new Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge. After 1 April anyone purchasing a buy-to-let property or second home for more than £40,000 must pay an addition 3% Stamp Duty. A number of firms have promoted schemes claiming to help landlords get around paying the additional charge. But in a meeting with David Smith, policy director for the Residential Landlords Association, the Treasury made it clear that the new rules will be incredibly restrictive and confirmed that no additional guidance will be made available until after the budget. It was also revealed that the ’15 property rule’ – which would see investors buying 15 or more properties exempt from the 3% levy – would only apply to those buying all 15 on one contract and in a single transaction. David Smith said: “Landlords should be very careful about making plans for their property purchases until after the budget. “Any property purchases must be completed before April 1 if the buyers want to avoid paying the new levels of Stamp Duty Land Tax. “The Treasury has made it abundantly clear that anyone offering schemes to get around the changes is talking nonsense.”

Martin Co Tonbridge

TONBRIDGE NEWS FREE MICROCHIP FOR YOUR FOUR-LEGGED FRIEND Tenants and residents in the Tonbridge and Malling area who own dogs are being offered the chance to microchip their pets for free at special events throughout the borough. Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council has teamed up with the Dogs Trust, Circle Housing Russet and Ward Security to highlight the importance of responsible dog care and ownership in support of the Dog Trust's national campaign 'Stay Together Forever for Free'. Unlike dog tags and collars, which can fall off or be removed, microchipping is a more permanent form of identifying a dog. From the 6 April 2016, all dogs must be microchipped and registered to an approved database by the time they are eight weeks old. For every dog that is currently not microchipped, owners will have until 6 April to get them microchipped and registered on an approved database. The free microchipping events will take place at the following venues: Snodland – Wednesday 10 February, 12noon – 2pm Nevill Park, off Saltings Road, Snodland, Kent, ME6 5JB (limited parking available) Hadlow – Wednesday 17 February, 12noon – 2pm Williams Field, Marshall Gardens, Hadlow, Kent, TN11 0HQ (parking available) North Tonbridge - Wednesday 24 February, 12noon – 2pm Tonbridge Farm Sportsground, TN10 7JF (parking available) Burham - Wednesday 2 March, 12noon – 2pm Burham Recreation Ground next to Village Hall, Rochester Road ME1 3SH (parking available) Wrotham – Wednesday 9 March, 12noon – 2pm Wrotham Recreation Ground, Old London Road TN15 7DL (parking available) For further information on the 'Stay Together Forever for Free' campaign visit www.dogstrust.org.uk

Tonbridge father killed after arm stabbing

TONBRIDGE NEWS: MURDER TRIAL UPDATE http://www.courier.co.uk/Tonbridge-father-killed-arm-stabbing/story-28673676-detail/story.html

LANDLORD NEWS: LANDLORD CONFIDENCE NOW WORSE THAN DURING FINANCIAL CRASH - claims NLA CEO Landlords’ confidence in the buy-to-let sector has collapsed to an all-time low and is now ‘worse than levels witnessed during the financial crash’, claimed the the CEO of the National Landlords Association (NLA) during a recent presentation. Richard Lambert, told delegates at the Building Societies Association’s (BSA) annual meeting for mortgage professionals that confidence in landlords’ business expectations has tumbled by more than a third over the past year – down from 67% to an all-time low of 43%. The current level of confidence in the buy-to-let sector is now five per cent lower than levels witnessed after the financial crash in 2007. Lambert claimed the actions taken by the Chancellor in last year’s Summer Budget and Autumn Statements has led the NLA to reverse its previous prediction of the continued growth of the private rented sector (PRS) by another million more households over the next five years. It now forecasts that, if landlords follow through on their intentions, there will be a dramatic sell-off of 500,000 properties in the next 12 months, followed by another 100,000 sold each year to 2021. The net effect will be that the PRS will be smaller by up to 136,000 properties. Lambert explained how findings from the latest NLA Quarterly Landlord Panel survey, show that: • The proportion of landlords looking to sell in next 12 months has more than doubled since July 2015 (up from seven per cent to 19 per cent). • Over the next few years 28% of landlords don’t plan purchase any more properties; 10% plan to reduce their portfolio; 5% plan to sell up completely. Lambert said: “Two speeches from the Chancellor in 2015 have led to a crisis in confidence greater than when all but a few BTL products were immediately withdrawn from the market following the 2007 financial crash. “Up to half a million properties could come onto the market as a result of the Summer Budget and Autumn Statement, which the Chancellor will no doubt deem a success. “But there is no guarantee that these will be the one or two-bedroom flats or small houses that will appeal to first time buyers, especially as landlords are more likely to offload less desirable stock in less desirable areas. “We’ve always said that Mr Osborne is blinded to the impact of his decisions by his commitment to homeownership. He may have intended to focus on the small-scale part-time investor, but it’s the larger and more professional landlords who will be hit worst by cuts to mortgage tax relief and increases to stamp duty, and who appear most likely to leave the sector. “What happens to the people these landlords house if they still can’t buy and there are fewer and fewer properties available to rent?”

TONBRIDGE NEWS TONBRIDGE MURDER TRIAL - MOTHER SAYS SON WAS NOT BULLIED BY FATHER - report from Kent Online http://www.kentonline.co.uk/tonbridge/news/murder-trial-latest-father-was-70180/

Judicial Review of Clause 24

LANDLORD NEWS: LANDLORDS CHALLENGE GOVERNMENT OVER BUY-TO-LET ‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND’ TAX GRAB A legal campaign to fight punitive tax relief changes for buy-to-let landlords has progressed to the next stage. Two landlords, Steve Bolton and Chris Cooper, are set to challenge the Government in court on behalf of hundreds of supporters. Legal opinion from law firm Omnia Strategy LLP, led by Cherie Blair MBE QC, has confirmed that the campaign has a ‘reasonable chance of success’. Following a successful fundraising stage, where the target of £50,000 was raised in a matter of days via the Crowd Justice website, the legal team has now issued a Pre-Action Protocol Letter to HMRC. The letter calls for a Judicial Review of the Government’s policy change announced in the Summer Budget 2015 which restricts buy-to-let mortgage interest tax relief from April 2017. The Government must respond to the letter by Wednesday 10 February. The new policy (Section 24 of the Finance Act 2015) will prevent landlords with mortgages from offsetting mortgage interest costs against rental profit before calculating tax, which overturns a fundamental business principle where income less costs equals profit. This will result in some landlords who finance their business with mortgages paying tax despite making no profit on their letting business. The legal challenge seeks to overturn what has been dubbed the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ tax by landlords because of its 'absurd nature and separation from real life'. The challenge has the backing of both private landlords and key industry stakeholders. The legal challenge is being made against the new policy on the basis that it breaches the European Convention on Human Rights, and it constitutes unlawful grant of State aid to corporate landlords and to the owners of commercially let holiday homes contrary to articles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Despite being introduced with the aim of creating a level playing field in the property market between homeowners and landlords, the policy does not do this. In the most part, homeowners do not generate taxable income from their homes, nor do they pay capital gains tax on the sale of their home. In addition, the Government has decided to exclude the most wealthy property landlords, who are able to make cash-only purchases, as well as institutions, corporations and overseas landlords, and those who own commercially let holiday homes, all of whom are unaffected by the change. Furthermore, it is claimed the tax discriminates against landlords with mortgages by making them the only type of business where the cost of funding the capital of their business is not tax allowable, a point made by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. As a result, some landlords will be liable to pay tax on an economic loss and could have effective tax rates of over 100%. There are also likely to be consequences for tenants, such as rent increases, evictions and reduced supply of rental homes. For further details of the campaign, please visit: https://www.crowdjustice.co.uk/case/clause24/

DESTROYED: Tonbridge brickworks bulldozed by A21 roadworkers

TONBRIDGE NEWS 'AN ACT OF VANDALISM' - Courier reports on how a historic site has been bulldozed http://www.courier.co.uk/DESTROYED-Tonbridge-brickworks-bulldozed-A21/story-28609372-detail/story.html

LANDLORD & TENANT NEWS: NOT ENOUGH FUNDS TO FIGHT CRIMINAL ACTIVITY IN RENTAL MARKET The funds being made available to tackle criminal landlords are not enough, says the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) The organisation issued the warning following confirmation of the 48 councils that are to share in the Government’s £5 million fund to tackle criminal activity in the rental market. The RLA does support the efforts to root out criminal landlords but does not think the funds are sufficient to tackle the minority of landlords who cause misery for their tenants. It is also warning that the funds could be wasted by local authorities because of a system that fails to free up local authorities to target the hard to find criminals. Professor Michael Ball of Reading University has also previously warned that the costs of enforcement were being borne by good landlords at the expense of criminals. The RLA says a scheme being used in Liverpool would be a better option. A recently announced partnership between the RLA, Liverpool Council and other industry bodies will enable the council to target the hard to find criminals, giving good landlords a more cost effective option of robust self-regulation. The scheme is known as co-regulation. To support this, the RLA is calling on the Government to use the Housing and Planning Bill, currently going through Parliament, to compel councils to ask tenants for details of their landlord on council tax registration forms. This would make it much harder for criminal landlords to evade scrutiny. Alan Ward, Chairman of the Residential Landlords Association said: “Without fundamental changes to the way that regulations are enforced, local authorities will fail to find and prosecute the criminals who pretend to be landlords. “Though a minority, they cause misery for tenants and have no place in a modern rental market.”

Sevenoaks' new grammar to be co-ed from 2018

TONBRIDGE NEWS: TONBRIDGE GRAMMAR SCHOOL'S ANNEX TO BE CO-ED - reports Sevenoaks Chronicle http://www.sevenoakschronicle.co.uk/Sevenoaks-new-grammar-ed-2018/story-28613928-detail/story.html