London needs more office space to remain Europe’s HQ April 4, 2025 Offices are integral to London’s offer as a global city, but cost pressures and green regulations are strangling the development pipeline, says Paul Williams We all want the UK to succeed, we all want communities across the UK to thrive – and growth in London is essential for the UK as a whole to prosper. [...]
Spring Statement 2025: Housing reform to pave way for GDP growth March 26, 2025 The government’s changes to housebuilding will result in a £6.8bn boost to GDP by 2029, according to OBR figures included in the Spring Statement. Chancellor Rachel Reeves called the forecast the “biggest ever” positive growth impact that the OBR has projected from a non-fiscal government policy. Changes to the UK’s housebuilding market were a cornerstone [...]
Planning bill will ‘avoid bat tunnels’, housing minister claims March 11, 2025 The government hopes its planning reforms will “avoid bat tunnels”, the housing minister has said. It comes as Labour unveiled major changes to the UK’s planning permissions system – as part of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill – with measures to overhaul how developers meet environmental obligations, replacing site-specific schemes with a general fund. Speaking [...]
The UK needs a rules-based zoning system for planning February 28, 2025 Under the discretionary planning system created in 1947, no part of England has ever been able to harness private sector development to meet housing targets at the scale we now need. It’s time for a radical overhaul, says Andrew Carter The government has rightly made improving workers’ take-home pay a measure of success for this [...]
Taylor Wimpey: ‘The scene is set for recovery’ February 27, 2025 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has said government planning reforms are set to deliver a “step change” in the industry. The company made the comments alongside its 2024 results. Taylor built 10,593 homes in the year ended December 31, down slightly from 10,848 homes in 2023. Revenue fell 3.2 per cent, to £3.4bn, while operating profit fell [...]
Checkatrade CEO: ‘My plan to get Britain growing again’ February 20, 2025 The chief executive of Checkatrade has revealed what he would like the government to change in order to boost British businesses and get the country growing again. Speaking during an up-coming episode of Morning Wire’s Boardroom Uncovered interview series, Jambu Palaniappan argued Labour should reform the rules around planning permission to made it easier for [...]
New towns: Why Starmer needs to avoid being a cowboy builder… February 18, 2025 Promises can be a tricky thing in politics. Just look at the flack Nick Clegg received for pledging to scrap tuition fees, and then, well, not. Similarly, putting Partygate aside, I suspect Boris Johnson isn’t exactly fondly remembered as PM by those voters living in areas promised one of his 40 new hospitals. While some [...]
Housebuilding: Starmer to reveal vision for new towns across UK February 13, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer will reveal the government’s vision for new towns to be built across the UK. The Prime Minister is expected to unveil the government’s plans for the next generation of communities, including homes, doctors’ surgeries, schools, nurseries and public transport, at a visit to a new housing development on Thursday. Over 100 proposals [...]
Property experts warn ‘more needs to be done’ on £350m housing funding February 12, 2025 A £350m investment into affordable and social housing by the government has been welcomed but property experts warn “more needs to be done”. Housing secretary Angela Rayner has insisted the government “can’t afford not to” hit its 1.5m housebuilding targets, as officials unveiled an extra £300m in funding for the affordable homes programme, which they [...]
Bellway: Housebuilder in recovery as share price ‘at odds’ with performance February 11, 2025 Housebuilder Bellway reported strong growth in home completions over the last six months, which analysts have said could be a sign the wider homebuilding sector is set for a recovery. The company reported an 11.9 per cent uptick in housing completions in the six months ended 31 January, with more than 4,500 properties completed with [...]