Small businesses ditch green agenda as ‘survival’ becomes priority Business Small businesses are ditching green finance initiatives as “ensuring survival” becomes a bigger focus for firms amid the pressures of rising costs. The latest business growth tracker from Natwest showed prioritising of sustainability was at an all time low among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by the end of 2025. Just 30 per cent of [...]
Housebuilding around train stations to be given default green light Property Planning proposals for homes around train stations will be given an automatic green light in the latest Government drive to speed up housebuilding. Housebuilders will be encouraged to build more homes within a 15-minute walk of transport links, and councils in England will also now be required to tell the government when they intend to [...]
Government risks missing both housing and nature targets, MPs find Property The Government risks missing both its housing and nature targets under its proposed reforms, a cross-party group of MPs has warned in a new report. The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) found that the measures outlined in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is currently passing through the final stages in Parliament, are not enough to [...]
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 [...]
Green belt homes ‘needed’ to solve housing crisis, Sadiq Khan says May 15, 2025 London is suffering a chronic housing shortage. Lacklustre rates of housebuilding have helped push up the cost of a home to well beyond the reach of ordinary Londoners. The price of an average terrace house in Camden has roughly tripled compared to twenty years ago to more than £1.5m today, Land Registry data shows, while [...]
The Debate: Should we build on the green belt? May 14, 2025 As Sadiq Khan commits to releasing parts of the green belt, we get two experts to make the case for and against in this week's Debate.
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 [...]
Government ‘grey belt’ reform is ‘somewhat rushed and incoherent’ February 5, 2025 In a letter to Angela Rayner, Lord Daniel Moylan, chair of the Built Environment Committee, raised a number of concerns with the government's so-called 'grey belt' policy.
Heathrow expansion will test whether Labour are serious about growth January 29, 2025 Keir Starmer’s Damascene conversion to a third runway at Heathrow, which he previously voted against, is welcome. But if he’s serious he will need to take decisive steps to curb the blockers’ tactics – in particular, by reforming judicial review, says Sir Simon Clarke “Congratulations to the climate campaigners. There is no more important challenge [...]
Building on the green belt won’t fix the housing crisis September 5, 2024 Labour’s plans to relax protection for the green belt will incentivise developers to build expensive houses for commuters while leaving city centre brownfield sites to rot, says Sam Fowles Labour has put solving the housing crisis front and centre, promising to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of the parliament. But its key [...]