Courtroom challenges to planning decisions to be limited, No10 announce January 23, 2025 Courtroom challenges to infrastructure planning decisions are set to be limited, No10 has announced in what they framed as a bid for growth. Attempts to challenge major infrastructure schemes via the judicial system, such as nuclear plants, train lines and windfarms, will be restricted, Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed. The Prime Minister said the measure, [...]
Taylor Wimpey: Housebuilder holds guidance but warns of cost pressures January 16, 2025 Taylor Wimpey has said it’s on track to meet its profit target for the year, but echoing a similar warning from rivals Persimmon and Vistry, said rising costs could be a headwind to growth in 2025. The FTSE 100 firm expects an operating profit of £416m for 2024, down from £470.2m the year prior, according [...]
Does Britain care more about bats than people? December 19, 2024 For each animal saved by the £100m the government spent on a ‘bat tunnel’ for HS2 we could have stopped 76 children dying of malaria. The affair illustrates the state’s total inability to consider trade-offs, says Samuel Hughes Last month saw much discussion of the £100m ‘bat tunnel’ built for HS2. There are several morals [...]
Fresh legal twist in Wimbledon expansion saga December 11, 2024 Wimbledon chiefs have begun a legal process in a bid to see off any lingering threat of a challenge to their £200m expansion plans for the world famous tennis club. Opponents of the scheme want to use an obscure law to quash the planning permission finally granted last month, three years after the plans were [...]
All hail Rayner, destroyer of NIMBYs December 10, 2024 Since Christmas is a time for hope, it’s worth appreciating the good news when we see it. The business community’s frustrations with Labour are well documented and easy to understand, but even its fiercest critics tend to concede that one area stands out as a bright spot in an economic landscape marred by tax increases: [...]
Newts can’t be ‘more protected than people who need housing’, Rayner says December 8, 2024 Angela Rayner has said the UK should not be in a situation where “newts are more protected than people” who need housing, ahead of a government shake-up of planning. The deputy Prime Minister suggested protecting the country’s wildlife should not always be prioritised over building new homes, after Sir Keir Starmer last week reiterated his [...]
Keir Starmer: Planning regime ‘suffocating aspirations of working families’ December 6, 2024 Writing in the Times, Starmer said the planning system had become "increasingly ruinous" and was "suffocating the aspirations of working families".
Planning reforms have had ‘profound and hugely positive impact’, Berkeley says December 6, 2024 FTSE 100 house builder Berkeley said it was on track to meet its profit targets in 2025 as it announced a new investment strategy to help capitalise on the government’s planning reforms. The government has committed to building 1.5m new homes over the course of the parliament. To meet its target, ministers are consulting on [...]
Housing crisis ‘hampers growth’ but minister vows 1.5m target on track November 20, 2024 The UK’s housing crisis “hampers economic growth and productivity”, the housing minister has said, as he insisted the target of 1.5m new homes can be achieved. Labour pledged in its manifesto ahead of the election to deliver the 1.5m net additional dwellings over the course of the Parliament, ending in 2029. It came in response [...]
Crest Nicholson: Housebuilder pivots away from low-margin affordable homes November 20, 2024 Housebuilder Crest Nicholson has said it will trade away from low-margin sites – like affordable homes – as it looks to shore up its balance sheet after a tough year. Crest told markets this morning, it built 1,873 homes in the year ended October 31, of which 45 per cent were affordable – just under the [...]