There are no incentives to buy or move home, Rachel Reeves warned Property Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned there are no incentives for people to buy or move home and that the Labour government needs to take action to ‘tackle the malaise’ in the building materials industry. John Newcomb, CEO of national trade body BMF (Builders Merchants Federation), added that “immediate intervention is now needed to thwart [...]
House builder blames ‘broken planning system’ and interest rates for loss Property In independent house builder has blamed the “broken planning system” and high interest rates putting off first time buyers for it falling into the red. Cheshire-based Eccleston Homes has reported a pre-tax loss of £1.2m for the 12 months to 31 October, 2024, down from the £2m profit it achieved in the prior year. New [...]
Labour has given in to the blockers on planning reform Opinion Labour has watered down its Planning and Infrastructure Bill, putting new housebuilding – and Britain’s growth prospects – at risk, writes Will Prescott The Starmer Government often boasts that it is on the side of the “builders not the blockers”. Unfortunately, the recent watering down of its key Planning and Infrastructure Bill risks calling that [...]
Safe as houses: Value of 1m UK homes has increased by half since pandemic July 17, 2025 Around one million UK houses have risen in value by more than 50 per cent since 2020, according to new research. House prices have increased by a fifth (20 per cent) on average since 2020, according to Zoopla. The property platform attributed house price growth to pandemic and lifestyle-led changes in buyer requirements that have [...]
Government warned over demand for landlords to retrofit homes June 5, 2025 Government plans to improve the energy efficiency of private rented housing are “unachievable” due to a shortage of skilled workers, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has warned. Under current proposals by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), which are aimed at keeping homes warm and energy bills low, landlords have until [...]
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 [...]
‘Prohibitive building costs’ stunting UK growth projects – Deloitte February 4, 2025 “Prohibitive costs” involved in construction projects in major UK cities led to a sharp decline in the number of new developments breaking ground in 2024, according to a new report from Deloitte. Deloitte’s latest Regional Crane Surveys, which covers the central areas of Belfast, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, has revealed the number of new starts [...]
London house prices rise by just £600 as worst borough revealed January 14, 2025 The London borough where more houses fell in value than almost any other area in the UK in 2024 has been revealed. According to new data released by Zoopla, the value of 72 per cent of houses in Kensington and Chelsea fell by at least one per cent last year. A total of 73,200 homes [...]
Property analysts forecast strong spring as stamp duty deadline looms January 10, 2025 Activity in the UK’s property market closely followed government policies on tax last year, something set to continue as the reality of the stamp duty deadline sinks in for first-time buyers. Real estate experts have predicted a burst of activity in early spring ahead of the end of stamp duty relief for first homes, which [...]
Slump in housebuilding casts doubt on government’s new homes pledge December 5, 2024 Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said housebuilding was suffering from a "sustained downturn".
