Blog & News

16 Jun 2026|Uncategorised

Construction Activity and Affordability in the UK vs US


A week or two ago, The New York Times published a fascinating piece of data journalism, arguing that America needed to build more homes.

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16 Jun 2026|Uncategorised

Where is Housing Benefit Expenditure Going?


Tim Williams posted a chart on LinkedIn recently plotting soaring Housing Benefit expenditure against our miserly investment in new affordable homes. It’s a good [...]

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16 Jun 2026|Uncategorised

The Raw Ambition of London’s New Housing Target


As House building in London continues to crater, lots of people seem to be comparing output to the Government’s target of 88k/annum. And, sure [...]

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16 Jun 2026|Uncategorised

Does Building (Baby) Building Make Homes More Affordable?

The amount that different local authorities in the UK build varies quite a lot. It doesn't make nearly as much difference as you would think to the price of homes.

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13 Mar 2018|Policy

What Does “Affordable Housing” Mean Now?

The draft changes to the NPPF are a response to what the Government has acknowledged is a housing “crisis”. That is why the amended definition [...]

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08 Mar 2018|Deliverability

Planning Practice Guidance on Viability – The RICS Wins but the Mayor Gets Naming Rights


Did you hold out much hope that the Government’s long-awaited Planning Practice Guidance for Viability would finally clear the thickets, bringing both light and [...]

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18 Oct 2016|Idle Speculation

The Garrulous Gavin Barwell

The role of Housing Minister does not generally seem to attract the outspoken. It would take a pretty dedicated housing wonk to recall all of [...]

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28 Sep 2016|Policy

Small sites exemption generates inevitable conflicting decisions

It was bound to happen. The Government’s decision to re-impose a ten unit threshold, below which contributions towards affordable housing should not be sought, was [...]

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14 Sep 2016|Demand and Supply

Meeting Housing Need in the Private Rented Sector using Housing Benefit?

One of the things which has always exercised the Government about the ballooning Housing Benefit Bill is the share of the total sum which goes [...]

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