Industry hits out at rumours as No 10 denies plan to abolish stamp duty and council tax Politics Andy Burnham is “not considering” scrapping stamp duty and council tax, Downing Street has said, as the government moves to pour cold water on rumours of major tax changes that had spooked property sector leaders. Business chiefs condemned the government over the danger of property tax speculation after reports over the weekend suggested that Burnham [...]
Top-end priced UK properties may take four times longer to leave market Property Property sellers in Britain asking for too high a price who have to reduce it to make a sale take four times as long to sell than those listing an accurate initial asking price. According to new research from estate agent Savills, 33 per cent of sales required the asking price to be slashed to [...]
Housebuilder hits a wall: How did Vistry become the UK’s most shorted stock? Property Vistry, the “nation’s favourite housebuilder,” has become the UK’s most shorted stock. From a shift to a bold new model to hopes that it can fuel Burnham’s housing vision, Felix Armstrong unpicks the firm’s recent history Back in 2024, Vistry boss Greg Fitzgerald was brimming with optimism. The housebuilder’s ambitious switch from a private market [...]
Stop recycling Angela Rayner and reform planning instead July 21, 2026 Angela Rayner is back as housing minister but still nothing substantial has changed in housing policy, says Duncan Kreeger Angela Rayner has returned to the housing brief. Fine, I suppose – she’s paid her stamp duty bill now at least. But if Andy Burnham wants us to have hope that the country might actually build [...]
Sadiq Khan’s London plan is not nearly ambitious enough July 20, 2026 London isn’t building and the draft London Plan put forward by the Mayor last week will do very little to change that, says Sam Dumitriu It is unwise to take on additional responsibilities when you are failing to fulfill those you already have. As Mayor of London, one of the soon-to-be Lord Khan of Tooting’s [...]
Crest Nicholson shares slump as lender talks drag on July 16, 2026 Crest Nicholson shares dropped after the housebuilder posted a £35m loss and told investors it is still locked in talks with its lenders. The London-listed firm had delayed the publication of its results in the hopes of seeking emergency permission from its creditors to loosen the terms of its debt, but said on Thursday that [...]
Barratt Redrow urges Burnham to slash tax to boost housebuilders July 15, 2026 Barratt Redrow has called on Prime Minister-to-be Andy Burnham to cut taxes to encourage housebuilding and remove “barriers to home ownership”. The FTSE 100 housebuilder urged the government to address “the increasing regulatory and tax burdens that are constraining viability” to “unlock higher levels of housing delivery, including affordable housing”. Burnham has pledged to back [...]
London doesn’t need more social housing, it needs more housing full stop July 9, 2026 Andy Burnham’s plan for a huge social housebuilding programme will be expensive and won’t solve the root cause of the housing crisis: we just haven’t built enough houses, says Emma Revell Andy Burnham isn’t letting a little thing like constitutional reality get in the way of starting his premiership with some big announcements. The de [...]
Vistry angers market with £30m loss as new boss faces turbulent start July 8, 2026 Vistry has attracted the ire of shareholders and analysts after it revealed a £30m first-half loss, as the firm stutters under its new chief executive. The FTSE 250 housebuilder delivered an unscheduled update to shareholders this morning, revealing that chief financial officer Tim Lawlor will quit in October after being headhunted by a “large privately-owned [...]
Would a Burnham premiership deepen the North-South housing divide? July 2, 2026 The UK housing market remained subdued in June, as fallout from the Iran war and long-running cost and regulatory issues continued to plague the sector, but as we enter what promises to be a sizzling summer all eyes are on a possible recovery. Specifically, Manchester – from where the King in the North has emerged [...]