New CEBR analysis for Babelfish finds 1.4m homes could be built on brownfield land, adding 0.9% to GDP a year for a decade. Half already have planning permission.
Housing
Britain has enough brownfield land to build over a million homes, yet much of it sits derelict; too costly to clean up, too tangled in ownership to unlock.
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Survation polling for Babelfish finds more people back than oppose charging housebuilders council tax on consented land they haven't built on. 49% back brownfield.
New CEBR research for Babelfish: 1.4m brownfield homes would unleash £259bn and return £1.92 for every £1 spent. The big five sit on 869,000 plots instead.
Britain's big five sit on 869,000 plots worth £275bn and build slowly to keep prices high. Start the rates clock the day permission is granted.
Barratt Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Vistry and Bellway hold 869,000 plots between them. Taylor Wimpey's landbank alone would take 19.5 years to build out.
Babelfish commissioned CEBR to map England's brownfield sites. The result: 1.4m homes, £259bn in economic value and 370,000 jobs a year for a decade.
1.4m homes sit waiting on brownfield land. Building them would deliver £250bn, 400,000 jobs a year and £1.92 back for every £1 invested. The Big Five won't.
Barratt, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and four others face a £4.5bn claim. 700,000 buyers could be owed up to £6,200 each after the CMA's collusion investigation.
Angela Rayner on the delayed homes penalty: developers who sit on land could lose planning permission or see sites acquired by councils.
The Goat Maltings has stood derelict for two decades under Taylor Wimpey. Meanwhile 9,766 households wait for social housing in East Staffordshire.
748,000 homes stand empty and brownfield sites could yield 1.48m more. Building 1.5m new homes won't be enough on its own - regeneration has to be part of it.
Laura has bid for a social home since 2018. She lives with three children in a damp, mice-infested flat plagued by mould, mice, ants, flies and even sewage issues.
1.3m households wait for social housing while just 7,363 social rent homes are built a year. Babelfish finds 45 councils would take over a millennium to clear.
176,130 children are homeless. Councils delivered just 12,000 social rent homes last year, crushed by £29bn of historical debt. Clear it and let them build.