Involve the Community

The BPF hope to cut down on the number of developers submitting failed applications because they fail to involve the community in their planning.

By the end of 2006, all authorities are obliged to have local development frameworks, which include a statement of community involvement (SCI).

BPF director of regeneration and development Faraz Baber warned: "Developers are at risk of not being prepared for this major change in emphasis. Community is now pivotal and if they don't tick all the boxes in the SCI's, applications will fail."

High Street slowdown hits retail property

It appears that the slowdown in Britain's retail sector is now starting to have a dramatic effect on the retail property market.

According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), confidence in the retail sector is now at its lowest since the beginning of the Iraq war with 38% of chartered surveyors expecting a further downturn in demand.

RICS economist Milan Khatri said: "The retail property sector has keenly felt the impact of the slowdown in house prices and weaker consumer spending. However, other parts of the service sector have continued to grow and this is supporting investment in both office and industrial floor space."

However demand for property within the office sector is holding up.

The RICS report reveals that 25% of chartered surveyors are seeing a rise in office demand in Central London, mainly due to sustained growth in business and financial services' activity, compared to 46% seeing a fall for retail premises.