Government slashes red tape to tackle housing crisis May 28, 2025 The government will slash red tape to get more construction by smaller building firms off the ground, and to “get working people on the housing ladder,” Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has said as Labour looks to promote its pro-business credentials. A relaxation of environmental protections is expected, including Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements which [...]
Labour’s tax policies are hitting the companies they need to build homes May 23, 2025 Construction plant-hire companies are fundamental to delivering the government’s pledge to build 1.5m homes, but they tend to be family businesses – the very kind that are being worst hit by changes to NICs and Business Property Relief, says Steven Mulholland The latest Homes England figures might look promising – more homes completed, more sites started, and [...]
Paris vs London: which city comes out on top? May 22, 2025 Our front page story yesterday on Paris surging ahead of London in the rankings of tech sector hotspots got people talking, reigniting an ancient debate over the relationship – and rivalry – that exists between these two mighty capitals. Credit where it’s due; Paris has patiently built a deep and high-value tech sector. But it’s [...]
Support for local housebuilding plummets since election May 20, 2025 Brits’ support for housebuilding in their local area has fallen since the general election in a risk to the government’s lofty construction goals, according to new data. Net support has dropped by 11 percentage points, with renters’ backing for new housing near where they live falling by 14 percentage points, according to new research by [...]
The West Midlands is leading the way on new housing May 20, 2025 The West Midlands is pioneering a new, collaborative approach to housing and infrastructure growth by uniting public and private sectors to unlock investment and accelerate development, says Richard Parker As leaders from across the UK’s built environment gather at the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF), I want to share some early thinking [...]
Safe as houses? Landsec bets on build-to-rent May 16, 2025 Property investment group Land Securities – known as Landsec – has turned away from offices and towards housebuilding in a major pivot. It said long-term demographic trends made housing a better bet than the cyclical office market, which is set to slow from its current high growth rate as supply constraints ease The company’s chief [...]
Sadiq Khan’s green belt U-turn is an admission of failure on housing May 15, 2025 Sadiq Khan is spinning his plan to build on London’s green belt as a “radical change of approach”, but it’s nothing of the sort. It will have a very limited impact on housing starts during this mayoral term and may only add to the political heat around house building, says James Ford Margaret Thatcher famously [...]
Building on the green belt won’t solve London’s housing crisis May 13, 2025 The Mayor’s plan to release green belt land for development is a good start, but if we really want to fix London’s housing crisis we need to build more and higher in the centre, says Joe Hill London’s success isn’t inevitable. It’s based on people wanting to live and work here, and there being enough [...]
Rightmove: Lower mortgages and browsing Brits boost property portal May 9, 2025 Property platform Rightmove has benefitted from a more optimistic housing market as mortgage rates fall, with buyer demand and property listings both up. The FTSE100 company, which is home to over 80 per cent of all consumer time spent on UK property portals, said new property listings rose nine per cent in the first four [...]
To be the party of opportunity, Conservatives must be the party of YIMBYs May 7, 2025 Britain’s housing shortage is now so severe that even if we hit Labour’s now abandoned building target, it would still take half a century to close the gap, says Sir Simon Clarke Last night I was delighted to launch Conservative YIMBY (“Yes In My Back Yard”), a campaign group which aims to transform Conservative attitudes [...]