Latest news with #housebuilders
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Khan under pressure after slump in London's new homes
Sir Sadiq Khan is facing calls to water down his affordable housing targets amid a slump in the number of new homes in London. Figures from the National House Building Council (NHBC) showed that just 904 new homes were registered in London in the second quarter, down by 59pc from the same period last year. That marks the weakest second-quarter performance for at least 15 years. Registrations stood at just under 7,000 in the same period a decade ago. The NHBC blamed mounting costs required to fix fire safety defects on high-rise buildings after new laws came into effect to prevent a Grenfell-style cladding disaster. It also cited a depressed level of activity from housing associations. However, developers are understood to be concerned that the Mayor of London's strict affordable homes quotas are fuelling the problem and are lobbying Sir Sadiq to water down the targets. The Mayor has set private housebuilders a target of ensuring 35pc of homes within each development are affordable, which in itself was a climbdown from an initial manifesto pledge of 50pc. Housebuilders say the 35pc target is too high and makes it difficult to turn a profit. Housebuilders argue that overly ambitious and inflexible targets have stymied building, with many developments not getting off the ground at all. Bosses are understood to be pushing for the affordability quota to be lowered to 25pc, according to sources close to the situation. One source said: 'If the Mayor continues to insist on 35pc, he'll get 35pc of nothing, so surely it's better to get a lower percentage of something.' Developers are also frustrated with a rule that means the Mayor can take the majority of profits made at developments where less than 35pc of homes are affordable. Affordable home starts last year were at their second-lowest level since 2008. Construction began on 3,991 affordable homes in the year ending March 2025, showing improvement from the previous year's record low of 2,358, but still well below average. In 2023, Sir Sadiq promised a 'golden era of council housebuilding' after being handed £4bn by the previous Conservative government for his affordable homes programme. This was topped up with £100m from Rachel Reeves in last year's Budget and another £60m earlier this year. But the Mayor has come under fire for the sluggish progress, with Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow housing secretary, branding the pace of construction 'catastrophic'. Official figures show work began on just work began on just 1,100 new homes in London during the first three months of the year. Sir Sadiq has an overarching target to build 88,000 homes a year in the capital.
The Independent
16-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
The £200 billion landbank that could boost the UK's housing supply
West One Loans is a Business Reporter client How UK housebuilders are tapping into land to accelerate homebuilding amid rising demand, improved mortgage affordability and government pressure for delivery. The nation's biggest housebuilders have been using their landbanks, worth a combined value of £200 billion, to deliver more homes to market in the face of growing buyer demand spurred by improving market confidence and greater mortgage affordability. West One Loans, a leading provider of property finance and specialist mortgages, has analysed the latest company reports for eight of the nation's biggest housebuilders, to see which currently boasts the strongest pipeline with respect to their individual landbanks and the value of these plots in the current market. The government has been vocal in its demands for the nation's housebuilders to 'roll up their sleeves' to help achieve the ambitious target of 1.5 million new homes by 2029. So much so, it recently announced tough new rules forcing developers to commit to delivery time frames for planning permission, with those caught slacking risking losing their land to local authorities. However, the latest analysis by West One Loans shows that the majority of the nation's major housebuilders are already rising to the challenge, having reduced their landbank pipelines as a result of delivering more homes. The analysis shows that, across eight of the nation's biggest housebuilders, some 488,620 landbank plots were recorded within 2024 reports. Based on the current average UK new-build house price of £406,390, this means the total pipeline of these eight developers alone is worth an estimated £198.6 billion. Bellway currently boasts the most robust pipeline, with 95,292 landbank plots reported in its 2024 figures, holding an estimated market value of £38.7 billion. Persimmon ranks second, with 82,084 plots in its pipeline, worth an estimated £33.4 billion, whilst Taylor Wimpey sits third at £32 billion in market value across 78,626 landbank plots. However, while these developers have maintained a robust pipeline of plots, further analysis by West One Loans shows that there has been an increase in development activity on landbanks, no doubt driven by improving market conditions and increasing buyer demand as a result of a stabilising mortgage market. Across all eight major housebuilders, total landbank volumes have fallen by 3.6 per cent over the last year. In fact, all but one of the developers analysed by West One Loans has reduced the size of its landbank. Vestry Group has broken the most ground in this respect, with a -7.9 per cent year on year reduction in landbank volume. Berkeley Group has seen a -6.8 per cent reduction, while Crest Nicholson has seen an annual drop of -6 per cent. Only Miller Homes has seen an increase in this respect, although it's a marginal one, with its landbank volumes up by 0.1 per cent on an annual basis. 'It's clear that, while many of the nation's developers have been sure to maintain a robust pipeline of landbank plots, they have also been pushing forward and breaking ground in order to bring more homes to market to meet growing demand,' says Co-Head of Short-Term Finance at West One Loans, Thomas Cantor. 'This is despite the fact that the current landscape still presents a range of challenges. But, as interest rates have stabilised, we've seen more housebuilders turn to the specialist finance sector to help them facilitate their ambitions 'This has largely taken the form of a greater reliance on bridging in order to help part fund their initial project, as well as utilising development finance in order to exit existing builds in order to push forward with the next. 'We've seen numerous examples over the past 12 months where developers have utilised us to help them in both instances and, finding a finance specialist that can do so will ensure a far smoother process throughout.' Data tables and sources Data on landbank volumes sourced from each of the eight housebuilders individual company reports for 2024 - sourced within the data tables linked below.
Telegraph
09-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Britain's biggest housebuilders pay £100m over collusion claims
Seven of Britain's biggest housebuilders have offered to pay £100m towards affordable homes to avoid a decision by a watchdog on whether they breached competition laws. The developers have offered to pay the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after it discovered evidence last year suggesting that 'commercially sensitive' information was being shared between the competitors. That information included pricing, property viewings and incentives offered to house buyers, such as kitchen upgrades and stamp duty contributions. If the CMA accepts the payment, it will drop its investigation without reaching a decision on whether there was any wrongdoing. The £100m would be channelled into funding pots for affordable homes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and is the biggest payment that has been offered to the CMA to date. The builders – Barratt Redrow, Bellway, Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry – have also agreed to legally binding commitments to work with the Home Builders Federation and Homes for Scotland to develop industry guidance on information sharing. Under the package, Barratt Redrow has agreed to pay £29m, while Taylor Wimpey would pay £15.8m and Persimmon £15.2m. Bellway has offered to contribute £13.5m, and Vistry would pay £12.8m. The CMA has begun a consultation on whether to accept the payment, a process ending on July 24. Anti-competitive behaviour crackdown Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said the payment would 'go to the people who need it the most'. 'We don't have to reach a conclusion in this case that there has been an infringement,' she said. When asked whether people had overpaid for a house because of housebuilders sharing data, Ms Cardell said that was the reason the CMA had secured the payment. She said: 'It will bring hundreds more affordable homes to the UK market immediately, which is a much better resolution than a long and complex investigation. 'We are committed to tackling anti-competitive behaviour and that is exactly what we are doing today because we have moved swiftly and effectively to resolve this case with absolute clarity. 'The housebuilders are in no doubt about what they need to do to comply with the law. 'People can be confident now when they go out and look at new houses today; tomorrow, they can be confident that there is no anti-competitive behaviour and we will see hundreds more affordable homes come to market.' The housebuilders offering the settlement said in individual statements that the settlement offer did not amount to an admission of wrongdoing and said they would continue to work with the CMA. Jennie Daly, chief executive of Taylor Wimpey, said the closure of the CMA's investigation 'will allow us to focus our efforts on delivering much-needed homes across the country '.
Sky News
09-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News
UK's biggest housebuilders to pay record sum after CMA investigation into sensitive information-sharing
The UK's biggest housebuilders are set to pay a record sum to fund affordable housing after the competition regulator investigated sensitive information sharing among the firms. A total of £100m, paid for by seven companies, will go to affordable housing programmes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, following a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation. The inquiry was launched last year due to concerns that the companies were sharing commercially sensitive information, which could influence the prices of new homes. There was concern that the housebuilders - Barratt Redrow, Bellway, Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry - exchanged details about property sales, including pricing, viewing numbers and buyer incentives such as upgraded kitchens or stamp duty contributions. It's resulted in an agreement to make the combined £100m payment - the largest secured via a commitment from companies under CMA investigation. Hundreds of new homes could be funded with the money, the CMA said, helping low-income households, first-time buyers and vulnerable people. The businesses have voluntarily agreed to pay the sum and have not acknowledged wrongdoing. No finding of rule-breaking or illegality has been made. What next? They have also offered to sign up to legally binding commitments to prevent anticompetitive behaviour. Among the proposals advanced by the companies was an agreement not to share some information, like prices houses were sold for, with other housebuilders, except in limited circumstances, and to work with the Home Builders Federation and Homes for Scotland to develop industry-wide guidance on information sharing. The CMA has said it will consult on the changes. If accepted, the commitments will become legally binding, and the CMA will not need to decide whether the housebuilders broke competition law. Initially, eight companies were under investigation, but following a merger of Barratt Homes and Redrow, the number became seven. "Housing is a critical sector for the UK economy and housing costs are a substantial part of people's monthly spend, so it's essential that competition works well. This keeps prices as low as possible and increases choice," the CMA chief executive, Sarah Cardell, said.
Wall Street Journal
09-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
U.K. Housebuilders Agree to Pay $136 Million Following Probe
The U.K. antitrust regulator said seven housebuilders, including Persimmon PSN 0.17%increase; green up pointing triangle, Berkeley and Taylor Wimpey TW -0.53%decrease; red down pointing triangle, agreed to pay 100 million pounds ($135.9 million) to affordable-housing programs following an investigation into anticompetitive practices. The Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation last year into whether the housing developers had exchanged details about sales including pricing, property viewings and incentives offered to buyers.
