Housing

Brownfield land image

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.

Latest Housing articles

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.

In 1945 Labour rebuilt Britain with council housing at its heart. Eighty years on, that social contract is broken. Protect renters, build homes, back workers.

A woman with breast cancer, homeless in a bed bug-infested hotel. London spends £5.5m a day on temporary accommodation. Britain's housing crisis is now ordinary.

1.4m homes have planning permission but sit unbuilt, councils face a £3bn shortfall, and service charges are soaring. Supply alone won't fix Britain's housing.

Britain's housing crisis is existential. Developers drip-feed builds to keep prices high while sitting on land. It's time for the biggest council build ever.

Five housebuilders sit on 868,922 plots worth £275bn while completions hit a decade low. Landbanking, not immigration, is why a generation can't buy a home.

98.8% of landlords made a profit in 2024, their worst year. New data shows rent controls would still leave them in the black — and save renters £1,200 a year.

One in nine MPs is a landlord - more than double the national rate. Reform UK tops the party table at 25%, and Nigel Farage owns two rental properties himself.

Developers hold permission for 1.4m unbuilt homes while Labour's £39bn sits waiting. Whoever replaces Starmer must get tough on landbanking, not cosy up to it.

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