HBF leads letter to Rachel Reeves
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has penned a letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves expressing “deep concerns” over the Government’s decision to continue with the Building Safety Levy.
The letter, signed by more than 100 housebuilders, says that the levy is “nakedly anti-development” and urges the Government to reconsider, noting that it will mean “many fewer homes, including affordable homes, being built”.
The tax, due to be implemented in the autumn, is expected to raise £3.4bn, but the HBF stresses that UK housebuilders have already contributed £6.4bn towards building safety remediation through Residential Property Developer Tax and additional remediation commitments.
The letter also notes that “product manufacturers, some of whom were heavily criticised by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report, have yet to contribute any financial support”.
Planning applications down by -7% in England
Official figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have found that district level planning authorities in England both received and approved fewer planning applications in 2024 than in 2023.
Authorities granted 271,600 decisions in 2024, down -7% from 2023, whilst 330,500 applications were received – a fall of -8% from 2023.
Crest Nicholson sees “encouraging” start to 2025
Crest Nicholson issued a trading update this week, citing new operational and sales improvement initiatives for an “encouraging” start to the year.
The developer said that in the ten-week period to 14 March its open market sales rate was 0.61, up from 0.50 at the end of October 2024.
This was supported by “self-help initiatives including ongoing training and upskilling of the sales team, revised incentive schemes and enhancing our product offering”.
The firm also said that it was on track to deliver results for the current financial year in line with guidance.
Meanwhile, manufacturer Marshalls announced a -8% fall in revenue for the year ended 31 December 2024, but expects a market recovery later this year, underpinned by “the Government’s ambition to reinvigorate new house building and to invest in the nation’s infrastructure”.
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