By now, it is a well-established fact that acts of Islamic violence against Western targets are swiftly followed by local surges in reported incidences of anti-Muslim hate crime. The cities of Manchester and London, both of which lately suffered Islamic attacks, have proved no exception. In the wake of such a spike in anti-Muslim hate… [Read More]
There has been an intriguing change of tone in the government’s housing policy since the publication of the white paper in February. That document focused strongly on the progress of private-sector housebuilding, with measures designed to free up more land for developers, and to encourage those developers to then build homes faster. The role of councils was… [Read More]
The housing market is ‘broken’, the government acknowledged in the housing white paper. In precisely what way it is broken, however, it was less clear. When Sajid Javid was asked by the Communities and Local Government Select Committee recently what had been meant by this, he pointed to the problem of high and still rising… [Read More]
The housing white paper is still out for consultation but one key, little-noticed measure has already been incorporated into legislation. An amendment to the Neighbourhood Planning Bill, accepted by the government, will enact the promise to ‘allow locally accountable New Town Development Corporations to be set up, enabling local areas to use them as the… [Read More]
As the UK kicks off the Article 50 negotiations, it remains the case that relatively little attention has been paid to the role of the European Parliament, which will accept or reject the agreement between the UK and the EU setting out the arrangements for Brexit. If the European Parliament rejects the agreement, the UK… [Read More]
The Budget was meant to boost the UK’s economic resilience, thereby strengthening the prime minister’s hand in the upcoming Brexit negotiation, and get the UK match-fit for its global role post-Brexit by investing in infrastructure, innovation and skills. The most effective way of achieving these goals would be via a new and fairly comprehensive industrial strategy.… [Read More]
Tony Blair’s intervention in the Brexit debate today will inevitably invoke anger amongst those who campaigned for the UK to leave the European Union. Already Iain Duncan Smith branded his comments as ‘undemocratic’ and ‘arrogant’. But Blair has not asked for the will of the people to be ignored. He has simply said it is… [Read More]
Much pre-briefing in recent days about the government cracking down on developers culminated in a story in The Sun this morning saying that land would be seized if homes weren’t built quickly enough. The story was then tweeted from the official DCLG account, complete with its ‘fat cat developers’ headline, giving the impression that ministers… [Read More]
There have been lots of encouraging noises ahead of tomorrow’s housing white paper. Less focus on home ownership and greater support for renters, including a push for three-year tenancies; help for older people in large family homes who want to ‘right-size’ in later life; measures to tackle slow build-out rates and increase densification. All steps… [Read More]
The UK economy finished strongly in 2016, with the ONS estimating growth of 2.0% in 2016, higher than any other G7 country. Because of the UK’s resilience after the Brexit vote, yesterday the Bank of England increased its forecast for UK economic growth in 2017 from 1.4% to 2.0%. The resilience of the UK economy post-referendum… [Read More]
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