Latest news with #local councils
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bellway: Issues with government planning reforms cause delays
Housebuilder Bellway has said local councils have found it difficult to adapt to the government's changes to the UK planning system, causing delays in the building process. The government recently announced an overhaul of Britain's clunky planning system, promising to unleash 'seismic change' on the country's construction process. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has been changed under Labour's reforms, with new mandatory housing targets as well as provisions for affordable housing, infrastructure, and green space. Bellway said it expected the plans to help the industry 'in the years ahead', bur warned that said the changes have caused 'delays to planning decisions' as local authorities 'take time' to adopt new local plans and the updated NPPF. The FTSE 250 firm added that the government's 'ambitious' housing targets must be complemented to help for housebuyers. The price-to-earning ratio for housing in the UK is at its lowest in 20 years, making it difficult for Brits to get on the housing ladder without financial aid. Number of new builds rises Bellway reported a better year of construction than expected as the tough conditions of the last few years started to improve. Total housing completions increased by 14.3 per cent to 8,749 homes in the year ended July 31, up from 7,654 in 2024, the company told markets this morning. The average selling price increased to £316,000, from £307,909 in 2024. Both figures were ahead of Bellway's expectations for the year. The construction industry faced a tough time during and after the pandemic as cost inflation in materials and labour ate into margins. CEO Jason Honeyman said the housebuilder has delivered a 'solid performance' despite the 'ongoing headwinds'. 'There was good growth in volume output and an improvement in underlying margin which are set to drive a strong increase in profits for [the year,' he said. Bellway's underlying operating margin is expected to approach 11 per cent this year, up from 10 per cent in 2024. Honeyman said: 'We have entered the new financial year with a healthy forward order book and outlet opening programme and, if market conditions remain stable, we are well-positioned to deliver further growth in [2026]. 'We have a high-quality land bank and the operational capacity across the Group to support our plans to deliver long-term volume growth.'
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Decreasing voter turnout, fewer newspapers, more abuse put off council candidates
A graph shows the voter turnout trend in local body elections has steadily declined since 1989. Photo: Supplied / Department of Internal Affairs A lack of local body candidates could have a negative impact on an already decreasing voter turnout, warns one political commentator. Candidate nominations for October's local body elections closed on Friday, revealing some electorates will go uncontested , with only one candidate entered. A last-minute uptick meant all councils would hold an election for at least some of their seats, after fears just 48 hours out that many would not hold one at all or trigger a by-election, due to a lack of candidates. Dr Grant Duncan said factors like low pay and an increasing level of abuse aimed at elected officials - particularly women - might have discouraged potential candidates. "What is the payoff? Because you're potentially going to be subject to abuse and quite a lot of pressure." He said it could also be influenced by a lack of public interest in local affairs, driven by a decline in local media. "We don't get those little, local suburban newspapers in our letterboxes anymore perhaps and so I think people are just following local affairs less carefully. That has a flow-on affect on people's interest in being candidates or to turn out to vote." A lack of candidates also meant voters were generally less engaged. "We're in a vicious cycle of a lack of local news, a lack of voter participation... and also a decline in candidates willing to put their names forward, and if we don't have all of those things working together, we have an inexorable decline in local democracy," Duncan said. "Increasingly what will happen is that central government will just say, 'Well, we'll take control'." Hutt South MP Chris Bishop posted on Facebook about the lack of contested local body seats. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii According to The Spinoff, in 2022, 20 percent of the 583 elections were uncontested . National minister and local MP for Hutt South Chris Bishop, posted on Facebook following the close of nominations . "Five councillors have been elected unopposed already in the Lower Hutt local elections. Nobody is standing against them and the law doesn't provide for a 'no confidence' option, so they're automatically elected. "On top of this, all of the Eastbourne Community Board have been elected unopposed (five slots, five people). I have to say, I find this fairly remarkable and depressing." A shortage of candidates was not the case across the board. In Hamilton, former Labour MPs Sue Moroney and Jamie Strange will run among a field of 26 candidates in the Hamilton East ward alone, including former National MP Tim Macindoe, who was also standing for mayor. In total, 51 candidates are vying for a place on the council, including 12 for mayor. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Auto Express
03-08-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Express
England is becoming an increasingly hostile car nation
Ever had an unpredictable, life-long pal who potentially has it all, but often goes and spoils everything by pressing the self-destruct button? Sadly, I'm currently lumbered with such a self-harming old friend. It goes by the name of England. This is an increasingly hostile car nation, and worse still, because I'm a car and van bloke, not a train, bus or bike nut, I'm pretty much displaced from its capital city, where I was born. As far as many of London's ruling politicians are concerned, people like me are on the 'most-hated' list, because we drive ourselves. Don't get me wrong, England and its Greater London capital still have a lot going for them. It's just that over the past 15 years, Con-Lib coalition, then Conservative and now Labour Governments have all done their best to ruin the country and city by being needlessly hostile to motorists. Also putting the boot in are a few scarily powerful local councils, such as the motorist-bullying Labour regime in Greater London. Advertisement - Article continues below But as if to prove that things aren't all bad, last month saw the brilliant Silverstone Formula One weekend, Goodwood's Festival of Speed (the planet's greatest car festival) and the London E-Prix all go ahead, proving that cars and car culture ain't dead yet. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below Looking to take the plunge and buy a new car? Tell us which new car you're interested in and get the very best offers from our network of over 5,500 UK dealers to compare. Let's go… However, the road and train networks, electricity grid and other important bits of our major infrastructure are all deeply wounded – and misery inducing. The quality time I spent admiring the F1 action was overshadowed by pitifully slow driving times that would have totalled around 24 hours had I driven to the GP meeting on all three days. Almost as infuriating were the countless road closures that frustrated Festival of Speed goers. Visitors to the E-Prix endured 20mph speed limits and accompanying licence-threatening cameras, plus the just-introduced rip-off tolls at the Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels. I tried alternatives to the car several times throughout July. But trains were cancelled or late, or turfed me off early onto the dreaded rail replacement bus. All that was painful enough, but on a day when temperatures were 30C-plus, I almost suffocated in a stuck train carriage with sealed windows, tightly locked doors and a busted air-con system. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I received 'do not travel' notifications as I tried but failed to use Waterloo station, which had 14 platforms out of action. July also gave me power cuts at home, in a posh business building in London and elsewhere. Enough's enough. I attempted to get away from it all via LeShuttle from Folkestone, and opted to travel off-peak on a quiet Monday. Yet I was still forced to queue for almost three hours, simply in order to show my passport to UK and French officials. When and how did we (the voters) give permission to them (the chauffeur-driven politicians) to make day-to-day life so difficult for us humble motorists? Since the writing of this piece about England's now legendary infrastructure failings, unfit-for-purpose road and public transport networks plus its infuriating border control issues, the UK's air traffic control system went into meltdown during the final days of July. Countless planes were grounded, resulting in travel mayhem for thousands of stranded airline passengers over several days and nights. Makes you proud to be British, right? Find a car with the experts Electric cars driven until they die: the truth about EV range Electric cars driven until they die: the truth about EV range Five EVs under £24k have joined Dacia's Spring on the UK market. How far can you go on a budget? We find out Volkswagen, Skoda and Cupra slash electric car prices Volkswagen, Skoda and Cupra slash electric car prices Volkswagen, Skoda and Cupra aren't waiting around for the government grant by cutting £1,500 from their EV prices New MINI Cooper and MINI Aceman get the monochrome treatment New MINI Cooper and MINI Aceman get the monochrome treatment It's as simple as black and white for new MINI Cooper and MINI Aceman Monochrome
RNZ News
03-08-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Decreasing voter turnout, less newspapers, more abuse put off council candidates
A graph shows the voter turnout trend in local body elections has steadily declined since 1989. Photo: Supplied / Department of Internal Affairs A lack of local body candidates could have a negative impact on an already decreasing voter turnout, warns one political commentator. Candidate nominations for October's local body elections closed on Friday, revealing some electorates will go uncontested , with only one candidate entered. A last-minute uptick meant all councils would hold an election for at least some of their seats, after fears just 48 hours out that many would not hold one at all or trigger a by-election, due to a lack of candidates. Dr Grant Duncan said factors like low pay and an increasing level of abuse aimed at elected officials - particularly women - might have discouraged potential candidates. "What is the payoff? Because you're potentially going to be subject to abuse and quite a lot of pressure." He said it could also be influenced by a lack of public interest in local affairs, driven by a decline in local media. "We don't get those little, local suburban newspapers in our letterboxes anymore perhaps and so I think people are just following local affairs less carefully. That has a flow-on affect on people's interest in being candidates or to turn out to vote." A lack of candidates also meant voters were generally less engaged. "We're in a vicious cycle of a lack of local news, a lack of voter participation... and also a decline in candidates willing to put their names forward, and if we don't have all of those things working together, we have an inexorable decline in local democracy," Duncan said. "Increasingly what will happen is that central government will just say, 'Well, we'll take control'." Hutt South MP Chris Bishop posted on Facebook about the lack of contested local body seats. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii According to The Spinoff, in 2022, 20 percent of the 583 elections were uncontested . National minister and local MP for Hutt South Chris Bishop, posted on Facebook following the close of nominations . "Five councillors have been elected unopposed already in the Lower Hutt local elections. Nobody is standing against them and the law doesn't provide for a 'no confidence' option, so they're automatically elected. "On top of this, all of the Eastbourne Community Board have been elected unopposed (five slots, five people). I have to say, I find this fairly remarkable and depressing." A shortage of candidates was not the case across the board. In Hamilton, former Labour MPs Sue Moroney and Jamie Strange will run among a field of 26 candidates in the Hamilton East ward alone, including former National MP Tim Macindoe, who was also standing for mayor. In total, 51 candidates are vying for a place on the council, including 12 for mayor. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Telegraph
24-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Middle-class households at risk of rocketing council tax bills
Local councils should be given the power to hit wealthier households with higher council tax bills, MPs have said. A cross-party housing committee, led by MPs, said that councils should be given more control over the council tax system, which is still based on house price valuations from 1991. This would include giving individual authorities the right to revalue properties in their area, define property bands and apply or remove discounts. The review, led by the Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, said the current council tax system was 'highly regressive' and 'extraordinarily unfair,' thanks to the outdated valuation system and the fact that lower-value properties pay a larger share of council tax relative to their house price. Updating these values would likely result in higher bills for households in wealthier areas where property prices have risen the most. Currently, homes in band H are valued at more than £320,000, but pay just three times as much council tax as band A properties valued at less than £40,0000. The committee urged the Government to 'begin the process of overhauling or replacing council tax', and devolve powers to local authorities while it does so. It also recommended that councils should have the power to impose a 'tourist levy' on holiday hotspots – a policy favoured by deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner but opposed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Elliot Keck, of the TaxPayers' Alliance campaign group, said: 'While there is a case for revaluation and for giving councils some flexibility, households are already being clobbered annually by inflation-busting rate rises on top of the catastrophic tax raid launched in last year's Budget. 'Any council tax reform should focus on how to reduce the overall burden of council tax on families.' Currently, local authorities have the power to set their own council tax rates for each band up to a government-imposed maximum. This has meant large differences in tax bills for properties across the country. Some 46pc of households, or 11.6 million homes, paid more than the £1,828 band H council tax rate charged on Buckingham Palace last year. This is up from 32pc of households – some 7.5 million homes – in 2011-12. The average levy imposed on a typical band D home rose by £109 to £2,280, according to official data. Many local councils are under severe pressure to raise revenue because of rising costs driven by increasing demand for vital services such as social care and special educational needs provision. Nine in 10 town halls opted to raise council tax in April after Ms Reeves approved a rise up to a maximum of 4.99pc in her inaugural Budget last year. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that Britain should brace for council tax to rise at its fastest rate in 20 years, which would mean half of local authorities facing increases of at least £500 by 2030. A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: 'We have announced over £5bn of new grant funding for local services on top of £69bn made available this year to boost council finances, and we will go further to reform the funding system.
