FFS

Re-upping this - important point in a good thread. A lot of people seem to think that 'changing the regulatory environment' is like switching from Windows to Apple in terms of increasing housebuilding and lowering prices, and not a thing that takes ages if you just leave it to its own thing.

This summer, Andrew Milne - a City of London solicitor - bought up hundreds of freeholds in west Sheffield. Then the letters started to arrive. They included threats of high court action and offers to sell the freeholds - for £25,000. Read today's story: www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...

Seems like a thing the government *should* maybe consider stepping in to address - not to bail out the company but to support the pipeline by protecting frontline workers - given how close this is to a key priority

This is not good www.constructionenquirer.com/2025/11/04/b...

No reason other than might be of interest: Planning application (listed building consent) for the refurbishment of an Eaton Square house by an investment company controlled by the founder of Inditex (Zara etc) idoxpa.westminster.gov.uk/online-appli... (design and access statement has photos/CGIs)

Important piece by @resi-analyst.bsky.social this. Successive governments seem not to have understood that your regulatory framework over the longterm shapes who your market participants *are*. If want short-term (i.e. over the next 5-10 years) benefits of planning reform, need to be more active.

My latest for the FT New homes: even if you build them, there’s no one to buy them www.ft.com/content/9080...

New homes: even if you build them, there’s no one to buy them on.ft.com/3Levumr | opinion

Example of the current challenges in London development: Developer completed this mixed use site in Nine Elms with 22 flats (2beds from £760k) last month. Normally they'd all be sold by now but haven't, so developer needs a £16.7m loan to keep selling. bridgingandcommercial.co.uk/article/2180...

I think this is the weirdest story I've ever reported. www.londoncentric.media/p/terry-ball...

There's a lot of people out there (apparently incl. Gov) that don't realise we can have a massive number of people that need new homes but, at the same time, a problem where there's very limited demand for new homes because prices and rates are too high while construction viability is squeezed.

Reducing the affordable housing on new developments in London might improve their viability on paper but it's unlikely to reduce the price developers charge for their market homes. Demand is constrained at current prices, so there will still be a limit to how many they can sell and hence get built.

London set to loosen planning rules in drive to boost housebuilding on.ft.com/42NFr06

Homelessness stats just out show another new record in households (132k) and children (172k) living in temporary accommodation. Up 7.5% in last year www.gov.uk/government/s...

Saturday night at the Rec.

A quick £15.75m bridging loan arranged between exchange and completion on a £22.5m house in Chelsea (another reminder that these markets are more debt dependent than the agents might tell you) bridgingandcommercial.co.uk/article/2179...

One of the many depressing things this year was realising that there is no clear strategy across the whole of government and not just with housing. (1.5m new homes is a target, not a strategy)

As I wrote back in Feb, the government's focus on building homes with no apparent strategy beyond "planning reform" is dangerous and their ongoing failure to hit their stupid 1.5m target makes is more likely they'll be stuck with only the bad options to choose from. builtplace.com/still-search...

MHCLG SoS in his “build baby build” cap at conference

Locations of proposed new towns

I’m immensely grateful to the New Towns Taskforce, under the expert leadership of its Chair, Sir Michael Lyons, and Deputy Chair, Dame Kate Barker, for producing such a considered and comprehensive set of final recommendations 👇🏻 www.gov.uk/government/p...

Yet another UK data source that is not currently fit for purpose. The VOA Council Tax stock of properties data is usually a great leading indicator for net additions and useful for local level housing stock detail but changes to their systems means there's a bigger backlog of new homes to be added.

The UK establishment has already permissioned a dangerous shift in political norms - shadow cabinet ministers turning up at protests outside asylum hotels FGS. This is not a time to triangulate. It is a time to oppose, full-throated, the enfranchisement of the radical right. To redraw boundaries.

FFS: Ministers tell Environment Agency to wave planning applications through “One agency source said the staff from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) were “pushing development at any cost”.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

FFS: Ministers tell Environment Agency to wave planning applications through “One agency source said the staff from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) were “pushing development at any cost”.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

As I wrote back in Feb, the government's focus on building homes with no apparent strategy beyond "planning reform" is dangerous and their ongoing failure to hit their stupid 1.5m target makes is more likely they'll be stuck with only the bad options to choose from. builtplace.com/still-search...

MHCLG estimating that "196,500 net additional homes have been delivered in England between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025". The numbers are heading in the wrong direction for the government to get anywhere near their 1.5m target and they'll be lucky to hit 1m at this rate.

The Waitrose effect was invented by a former colleague when a journalist phoned up late on a Friday needing something quick. At the insistence of their boss, the analyst did similar to the initial analysis in this blog and it has taken on a life of its own - much to their annoyance.

Private Eye

Annual % change in Rightmove asking prices turns negative with -0.1% fall in August/September.

An utterly inadequate government led by utterly inadequate people.

Average monthly direct debit for mortgages was over £1,000 for the first time in August (£1,002.27) www.ons.gov.uk/economy/econ...

FFS "The Housing Secretary has identified that there are believed to be up to 1.4million homes that have been granted permission but have not yet been built. He believes these projects are the key to reaching the 1.5million homes target by the end of this parliament."

FFS "The Housing Secretary has identified that there are believed to be up to 1.4million homes that have been granted permission but have not yet been built. He believes these projects are the key to reaching the 1.5million homes target by the end of this parliament."

Here's something a bit different. We've been reporting from Edinburgh to try to get to the bottom of a mystery in London. Princes Street is the Scottish capital's most famous shopping street — and it's gaining the *exact same* tatty gift shops as London. www.londoncentric.media/p/edinburgh-...

My latest for the FT: Why Gen X was London’s luckiest property generation on.ft.com/3HZ0MfS

Labour's new build policies have been focussed on planning reform (important over the longer-term) but the more immediate problem is a crisis in demand. You can plan as many homes as you like but they won't get built if no one can buy them. My latest market commentary builtplace.com/market-comme...

I get it. It's daunting to learn from scratch players, teams, tactics. But with the World Cup on the horizon, there has never been a better time to get your head around Canada being better than South Africa. We present, A Guide to Women's Rugby for fans of the Men's Game- youtu.be/HkOECTLYqkA?...

Hollow Knight: Silksong will be available September 4 on all platforms and day one on Xbox Game Pass! Watch the release trailer: youtu.be/6XGeJwsUP9c

Last few days to apply for possibly the best job in UK housing, as head of strategy and policy at the Greater London Authority glacareers.engageats.co.uk/Vacancies/W/...

What is the point of owning a mansion in Mayfair? London’s luxury property market has bigger problems than the ‘exodus’ of wealthy non-doms My latest article for the FT: on.ft.com/4lTCOBf

Eg size of new build homes in England (it's not 76m²)

Big increase in new property listings on Rightmove in June/July as measured by their index sample size. Similar to the number of new listings when the market reopened in 2020 - though the latest data covers a slightly longer time period than normal so might be a factor (8/6/25-12/7/25)

The Scottish Landlord Register shows the number of landlords has been gradually falling since 2017 but the number of registered properties had been recovering back to slightly below 2017 levels (-3%), and is relatively unchanged over last 9 months. Suggests an ongoing consolidation in the sector.

The mortgage guarantee scheme, if it can reduce the relative cost and increase the availability of higher loan-to-value mortgages, is a useful policy tool. The challenge is getting lenders to actually use it. Last version only accounted for 1.4% of mortgage completions.

"The 43-year-old also co-owned the 52 Degrees North nightclub in Birmingham for ten years, which, he says, was good grounding for the house building sector" www.insidermedia.com/news/midland...

They're paying a handy extra £100m for affordable housing but not admitting they broke competition law on.ft.com/3GdPpzS

Son was bouldering at Stanage over the weekend, so now we’re watching The Real Thing for the first time (& enjoying the mid 1990s vibes!). m.youtube.com/watch?v=brbx...

Took a photo of a similar sign that day. I’d finished uni, so friend and I were travelling to Ireland for the Oxegen festival. We were flying from one of the north London airports (Stansted?). I’d wanted to get tube then train but my friend persuaded me to get the coach instead.