Are NIMBYs or migration driving the UK’s housing shortage? Opinion NIMBYs and rising migration have both been blamed for the UK's housing shortage. What's the actual problem, asks Ben Hopkinson.
These are the two things holding back housebuilding Opinion Falling consumer confidence and severe development unviability are hindering housebuilding. We need a comprehensive strategy including regulatory freezes, a shared equity scheme, and planning reforms to tackle the housing crisis, says Gavin Barwell Everybody knows there is a housing crisis – it has been building for the last 50 years. The victims are all around [...]
Bellway warns revived Help to Buy scheme could slow housing market Property Bellway has warned the government’s revival of the Help to Buy scheme could further slow the housing market in the near term by encouraging housebuyers to delay decisions. The FTSE 250 housebuilder said Labour’s new equity loan scheme, Your First Home, is a “welcome development” but cautioned it will not immediately solve the UK’s housing [...]
Housebuilders pull out of London over Labour planning ‘nightmare’ October 8, 2026 Top housebuilders have begun to pull out of London citing a “nightmare” of planning objections that have made developments unviable. Listed housebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley Group both said that the costs of navigating the huge complexities of red tape and planning processes in the capital are making them less willing to continue investing. This [...]
Thousands of Lifetime ISA savers slammed with multiple withdrawal penalties October 8, 2026 Thousands of Brits who saved into a Lifetime ISA were hit with multiple withdrawal penalties in a single tax year, as calls for the government to ensure the replacement product is fit for purpose grows. Roughly 45,000 savers were penalised for unauthorised withdrawals from Lifetime ISAs (LISA) in the 2024/25 tax year, according to an [...]
Interest rate fears dampen UK house buying demand October 8, 2026 Brits held off inquiring about buying new homes last month as fears over higher mortgage rates dampened the market. Housing demand dropped in September, according to a survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which found that 22 per cent of property professionals saw buyer inquiries fall last month. That figure was up [...]
House prices fall faster in London as property market stays ‘subdued’ October 7, 2026 House prices in London fell at a faster rate last month, as homeowners in the capital continue to bear the brunt of the property market slowdown caused by the Iran war. The average house price in London fell by 2.2 per cent to £531,548 in the year to September, according to the Lloyds house price [...]
James Cleverly: I will fight Labour’s anti-London ‘mansion tax’ October 1, 2026 London will be hit the hardest if Andy Burnham lowers the threshold for the ‘mansion tax’ to £1.5m – which only gets you a flat or an ordinary terraced house in many parts of the capital, says James Cleverly Andy Burnham’s Family Homes Tax is yet another attack on London. Last year, Rachel Reeves announced [...]
Why Burnham’s housing revolution won’t work October 1, 2026 Despite giving a passionate defence of everything home ownership can give to a family, Burnham’s actual policies do alarmingly little.
The Building Safety Levy will cost eight times more in London than County Durham September 25, 2026 The new Building Safety Levy, introduced to pay for historic fire safety defects, will make many new developments unviable, especially in London where they are needed most, says Mark Holloway The introduction of the Building Safety Levy (BSL) marks a shift in how the government funds the remediation of historic building safety defects. Due to [...]