Can the government tax its way to a building boom? Opinion Labour have big plans for house building and infrastructure so what can we expect on property taxes in the Budget? Tim Sarson has the answers Cut through the post-election chatter about black holes and freebies and there is one theme that keeps coming up as a top political priority. Building things. I can’t remember a [...]
The Debate: Should London’s suburbs be spikier? Opinion A housing crisis and London’s relatively flat skyline have prompted calls for building taller (or ‘spikier’) in the suburbs. Growth bros on Twitter are desperate for London to “densify”, i.e. cram more buildings into a smaller space by building taller structures or extending current buildings upwards. Yet London’s outer regions are typically flat with parks, [...]
We need more new towns like Brent Cross – but we need them in the right places Opinion Brent Cross is London's newest park town. Its proximity to London has been crucial to making it a success, writes Tom Goodall
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Overlooking the role of migrant workers will be the death of our housebuilding ambitions August 17, 2024 Labour’s pledge to get Britain building again is encouraging, but we can’t reach their targets without construction workers – and, crucially, immigration, writes Haman Manak Out of all the sectors addressed in Labour’s early days of government, housebuilding has been one of the big winners. Starmer and co have promised to build 1.5m homes over [...]
Lifting the ban on onshore wind was step one. Now Britain must move faster August 6, 2024 Labour’s reversal of the de facto ban on onshore wind is encouraging, but Britain must do more to get building again, writes John Caudwell One of Labour’s first acts in government was to lift the de facto ban on onshore wind. This change in planning policy means that onshore wind projects no longer need to [...]
Labour’s mutant algorithm will put houses in places that need them least August 5, 2024 Why has Labour reduced building targets in areas where the housing crisis is most acute – like London – while blanketing more affordable places, like Burnley, with new development? It all comes down to the algorithm, explains Josh Coupland On Tuesday, newly crowned yimby queen, Angela Rayner announced a raft of measures to get Britain [...]
Rayner must defy her own backbenchers and build, baby, build July 31, 2024 Angela Rayner has clearly been reading City A.M.. In a statement to the House of Commons yesterday the housing secretary outlined plans to build 370,000 homes a year, in a clear victory for our Build, Baby, Build campaign. The challenge now is to realise that ambition in bricks and mortar. It is encouraging, then, that [...]