Empty garages, council houses and land could be a thing of the past under new proposals launched by the government this week. The proposals would allow individuals or communities to challenge councils to release land and empty buildings for development. Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said new ‘right to regenerate’ proposals would make it easier for councils, or any public body, to call for the release of land for redevelopment. “We are cutting through red tape so that communities can make [...]

Plans to transform the city’s iconic college tower, dubbed the Met, into a hotel with leisure and grade A office space are set to become a reality. Glasgow city council has granted developers Osborne & Co detailed planning permission to convert the 11-storey tower into a 260-bed hotel with grade A office for up to 1,200 people. The redevelopment of the 1960s B-listed building on North Hanover Street will also offer 25-23,000 sq ft of retail leisure, food and drink [...]

Construction is gearing up for business as normal with the threat of tariffs and quotas avoided thanks to the trading agreement struck with the EU last month. Trade bodies across the industry are pleased continuity in costs and availability of products and materials is now in place. Construction Leadership Council’s Brexit working group chair James Butcher said: “The mutual co-operation in respect of reducing technical trade barriers and co-operation at the border will also undoubtedly help to avoid some of [...]

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick announced today a rethink on controversial housing need algorithms which favoured the South rather than the North for development. He said an updated method would level up delivery of 300,000 new homes a year concentrating on brownfield and urban sites in England’s 20 largest cities such as Birmingham and Manchester. About £67m is to go to the West Midlands and Greater Manchester combined authorities to help deliver new homes on brownfield sites. The government wants to [...]

The government’s housing accelerator Homes England is simplifying how it engages with developers and housebuilders to bring public land to market. It’s announced a new purchasing system where housebuilders can apply at any time when land comes on stream. Under the old scheme, developers had to join a panel which was renewed every four years. Homes England chief executive Nick Walkley said: “Our new dynamic purchasing system and land led approach really does modernise how we invite bids for public [...]

 Homes England has reported a year-on-year drop of 56 per cent in the volume of homes started for market sale in the first half of this year. The government’s housing accelerator reported just 2,416 houses were started from April to the end of September compared with 5,052 in the previous year. The number of houses completed decreased by 20 per cent to 3,746 compared with 4,690 for the same period in 2019. Nick Walkley, Homes England chief executive said: “As [...]