‘Prohibitive building costs’ stunting UK growth projects – Deloitte February 4, 2025 “Prohibitive costs” involved in construction projects in major UK cities led to a sharp decline in the number of new developments breaking ground in 2024, according to a new report from Deloitte. Deloitte’s latest Regional Crane Surveys, which covers the central areas of Belfast, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, has revealed the number of new starts [...]
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 [...]
Lessons from the Gulag? Enemies of the people had entrepreneurial spirit January 8, 2025 A study mapping the link between gulags and regional growth in Russia can teach us something about reviving our own left behind towns.
Persimmon boss warns triple Budget hit will add billions for housebuilders December 16, 2024 Persimmon chief executive Dean Finch has warned that higher costs from new levies will add around £40m in annual costs and add “billions” in expenses across the housebuilding sector. He claimed that the taxes would hurt the government’s ambitious target of building 1.5m homes by 2029, telling The Times that there was a “disconnect” between [...]
JCB issues warning despite sales hitting £6.5bn and profit surge amid housebuilding struggles September 23, 2024 JCB reported a steep 44.5 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £805.8m, despite wider struggles in the UK housebuilding market.
Construction sector ‘turns a corner’ as housebuilding jumps September 5, 2024 Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the recovery in housebuilding was the "most notable development" in August.
Grenfell: Barratt says fixing widespread cladding issues will take up to five years September 4, 2024 Barratt has said there is a shortage of qualified fire engineers who are able to refit buildings to reliable safety standards in light of the Grenfell tower disaster. “We recognise that this will take another three to five years to work through to resolution,” chief executive David Thomas said in the company’s full-year results. “There [...]
Crest Nicholson shares slump as Bellway walks away from £720m takeover August 13, 2024 London-listed housebuilder Bellway has announced it will not make a firm offer to buy rival Crest Nicholson with the company stating that its “strong balance sheet” and land bank would be sufficient to fuel growth independently. Following the announcement Crest Nicholson’s shares slumped by just over 16 per cent to 221p per share. Bellway first [...]
Ibstock profit slashed as ‘exceptionally wet weather’ hits construction industry August 7, 2024 Sales and profit at building supplies company Ibstock has continued to fall as “exceptionally wet weather” badly affected the construction industry. The London-listed firm, which is headquartered in Leicestershire, saw its revenue drop 20 per cent to £178m in the first six months of 2024, down from £223m last year. Ibstock said this decrease was [...]
Taylor Wimpey: Housebuilder suffers dent to profit ahead of planning reform July 31, 2024 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey suffered a dent to revenue and profit in a set of half year results in which it hailed the new government's "recognition" of planning laws as being a "major barrier" to housebuilding.