Pensioners and the politics of perceptions September 12, 2024 The furore over winter fuel payments is driven by the false idea that pensioners are uniformly old, frail and poor. But in politics, feelings often matter as much as facts, says John Oxley This week’s tussle over the winter fuel allowance has highlighted one of the problems of our politics – how much of it [...]
Epwin expects demand for building products to ‘remain subdued’ in 2024 September 11, 2024 Building products supplier Epwin has posted a slide in revenue for the first half of 2024 and said demand would likely "remain subdued" through the rest of the year.
Right to Buy isn’t to blame for depleted social housing stock September 10, 2024 Right to Buy created a generation of homeowners and enabled mass transfer of capital wealth from the state to the people. No wonder Labour want to abolish it, says Emma Revell Imagine you could introduce a policy which could create more than 2m new homeowners over the next 40 years. Would you do it? Or [...]
Government won’t hit 1.5m housebuilding target, Hill Group boss says September 8, 2024 The new government has pledged to build the equivalent of 300,000 homes per year in its first term, a figure not achieved for over half a century.
Renters rights bill must protect ‘workable’ grounds for possession, landlords warn September 6, 2024 Plans to reform renters rights must protect “clear, comprehensive and workable” grounds for possession, a landlords body has warned. The government could reportedly bring forward its new Renters Rights Bill, which was announced in the King’s Speech, as soon as next week, according to Sky News. And renters rights campaigners have urged ministers to fulfil [...]
UK house prices: ‘Only the Autumn Budget could derail this train’ September 6, 2024 UK house prices grew at their fastest annual rate since November 2022, although analysts have already started to warn about the effects of a potentially bruising Autumn budget. Prices rose by 4.3 per cent year on year and 0.3 per cent month on month, taking the price of the average property in the UK to £292,505, [...]
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 [...]
Grenfell: Firms involved to be barred from public contracts, Starmer vows September 4, 2024 Companies involved in the failings that led to the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy will no longer be awarded government contracts, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The Prime Minister apologised for the disaster – which saw 72 people die in the tower block blaze in June 2017 – in a grave statement to the House of [...]
House prices dip unexpectedly as interest rates continue to dampen demand August 30, 2024 House prices dipped unexpectedly for the first time since April this month, but a closely watched survey today suggests that the outlook for the property market is likely to strengthen as interest rates are reined in. In its closely watched house price index today, mortgage lender Nationwide said British house prices slipped by 0.2 per [...]
Build, Baby, Build: The Apprenticeship Levy is a tax by another name August 23, 2024 SME house builders need to attract young talent more than ever, but the inflexible Apprenticeship Levy is standing in the way, says Rowland Thomas The new Labour Government’s pro-development approach and commitment to getting Britain back building has been largely welcomed by the housebuilding industry. However, even if the Government delivers on its promise to [...]