Caviar for breakfast, lunch and dinner: On board the world’s only luxury icebreaker with Alain Ducasse
City chairman: Britain’s growth ambitions need a planning system that can keep up Opinion Protecting heritage does not always mean preventing change, writes Chris Hayward ahead of the publication of the City Plan 2040.
Housebuilders pull out of London over Labour planning ‘nightmare’ Property 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 [...]
The Building Safety Levy will cost eight times more in London than County Durham Opinion 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 [...]
Sadiq Khan’s plan for London housing is detached from reality September 21, 2026 Sadiq Khan’s draft London plan will not deliver the housing or infrastructure London badly needs, says Thomas Turrell “Reality can be whatever I want it to be”. The words spoken by Thanos as he claimed the reality stone in‘Avengers: Infinity War. This quote seems to have formed the foundation of Sadiq Khan’s approach to the [...]
Branding on City skyscrapers? We should let our history do the talking September 15, 2026 The City of London has one of the most forward-looking planning departments in the country. They might not always get it right – and they certainly can’t please all of the people all of the time – but when it comes to the big picture I think they make the right calls. As a local [...]
Paragon MD: Planning system is quashing UK developers’ ambition September 3, 2026 We dig into the memory bank of the City's great and good. Today, Neal Moy, MD at Paragon Development Finance, takes us through his career.
Burnham to hand mayors power to overrule local councils’ planning decisions August 23, 2026 Andy Burnham will give mayors across the UK new powers to overrule planning decisions made by local councils and to greenlight large-scale developments. The prime minister will unveil proposals this week to give regional mayors in 13 areas including Manchester, Liverpool, and the West Midlands, powers to take over planning decisions as well as direct [...]
New planning rules ‘could blight high streets with empty pubs’ August 18, 2026 Angela Rayner’s attempt to stop pubs being redeveloped into offices and housing could “blight high streets” with empty venues, property experts have warned. The housing secretary has unveiled reforms to planning rules which mean that developers can only turn a pub into housing or an office if there is no reasonable prospect that it can [...]
Let them build homes near stations, but let them be beautiful too August 18, 2026 Rules to allow thousands of new homes near stations is cause for celebration, but the government must avoid creating 'anywhere developments'.
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 [...]