Maria Shahid

London

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Features Writer at The Law Society Gazette

Journalist (editorial and content): legal, property, lifestyle. Freelance @lawsocgazette @theipaper @insidehousing. previously loads of others. Solicitor (np).

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Articles

I started taking Mounjaro in my 50s – it worked, but left me exhausted

2 days ago | msn.com | Maria Shahid

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
I started taking Mounjaro at 50 – it worked, but left me exhausted

2 days ago | msn.com | Maria Shahid

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
I started taking Mounjaro at 50 to lose weight - it worked, but I'm exhausted

2 days ago | inews.co.uk | Maria Shahid

My weight has always been the one thing I had felt in control of, since I was a teenager. All it took was a little willpower, even after two pregnancies, and the pounds generally dropped relatively easily. But something changed in my late 40s. The Covid lockdown meant that, despite my best efforts, my lifestyle was less active. And then I went through the menopause and became a carer to an elderly mother, all within the space of a few years.
I didn't pay into a pension for 20 years - now, at 54, I'm terrified

1 month ago | inews.co.uk | Maria Shahid

I’m about to turn 55 and have only just started paying into a pension again – after a 20-year gap. It’s embarrassing to admit to friends and family. I know a lot about investing through my job as a business journalist, and I’ve worked through two pregnancies and went back to work pretty swiftly after them.
At 54, I'm caring for grown-up kids and mum in a four-bed house - I feel trapped

2 months ago | inews.co.uk | Maria Shahid

When we first bought our terraced house in a London suburb in the late noughties, we had just upsized from a two-bedroom flat. We’d welcomed our first baby and the flat felt cramped and pokey. By comparison, the new home with four bedrooms, two (ish) reception rooms, spread across three floors, felt cavernous. The perfect place to raise a family. But, fast forward 20 years, and we are still here.
Commercial property: Common ground

2 months ago | lawgazette.co.uk | Maria Shahid

The unstable commercial policies of the Trump White House are pushing investor interest in UK commercial property and housing developments. But the interest is at the top end of the market, and comes with a sustained focus on any building’s environmental credentials. Clients wrongfooted by higher-than-expected interest rates and a sluggish transactions market are more willing to litigate, while insolvency instructions are rising.
Residential property: Common ground

Mar 17, 2025 | lawgazette.co.uk | Maria Shahid

Sweeping reforms to leasehold and digitisation of the property buying process descend on a residential conveyancing sector that struggles to retain and replace its lawyers. Maria Shahid reportsLow margins, risk and highly pressurised transactions continue to preoccupy lawyers and law firms involved in residential conveyancing. The upshot, some allege, is a tentative approach from junior practitioners to advice, leading to delays and complications.
Regeneration: Best laid plans | Law Gazette

Jan 27, 2025 | lawgazette.co.uk | Maria Shahid

Ambitious reforms of planning law seek to boost economic growth, alleviate the housing crisis and foster investment. Will they succeed? Maria Shahid reportsRegeneration is the political holy grail for both central and local government. Done right, it promises that strategic planning can effect a change in physical space that provides housing, pulls in private investment, improves infrastructure and facilities, and boosts business and social activities.
CMA chair ousting met with concern by competition law experts

Jan 22, 2025 | techmonitor.ai | Maria Shahid

The resignation of the chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Marcus Bokkerink, confirmed by government ministers on Tuesday evening, was greeted with optimism by business leaders – though an outspoken minority criticised the government for being too interventionist.
Climate litigation: A change in the weather

Nov 5, 2024 | lawgazette.co.uk | Maria Shahid

The dominoes are starting to fall in international climate litigation, as England and Wales establishes itself as the lead jurisdiction. Maria Shahid reports London’s courts are the focus of strategic litigation that aims to use the law to force action on the climate emergency. There is a perception that our courts are increasingly open to roles as a forum for litigating responsibility for the planet’s future.