THING OF THE WEEK

The publication of the 106-page document served to reaffirm several initiatives already announced but revealed little new about Labour’s plans to fix the foundations of the nation.

The Homes England subsidiary will have a £16bn war chest to accelerate residential delivery across the country with low interest loans, equity investments, and guarantees.

Last week, we announced our calendar of events for next year, giving you the opportunity to organise your diary early and make the most of what’s on offer.

Business Improvement Districts in Manchester and Liverpool have raised concerns about calls for a visitor tax by combined authority mayors including Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram.

Those who joined our six-month campaign to address the North’s viability crisis will have had a close eye on the spending review and most will agree we are better equipped today to overcome the barriers to growth than we were yesterday.

A commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail and a promise to overhaul Green Book spending rules “to ensure no region has treasury guidance wielded against them”, were among the chancellor’s pledges.

Billed as the biggest investment in discounted homes in a generation, the financial firepower Reeves has given to registered providers is perhaps the clearest indication yet that Labour is serious about solving the housing crisis.

As far as the government’s 1.5m housing target goes, a lot hinges on what Rachel Reeves says or does not say in the House of Commons tomorrow afternoon, according to the North’s development community.

The Prime Minister hopes that Extract will enable planning officers to drastically cut down on the length of time it takes to process data from documents, by digitising information in minutes rather than hours.

The built environment is a major contributor to global carbon emissions, and refurbishing and retrofitting existing structures is crucial to achieving net zero targets. This roundtable, convened by DeSimone Consulting Engineering, brought together developers, architects, and real estate experts to discuss the pros and cons of breathing new life into a building.

Maslow, one of the region’s most active lenders, believes the government is not doing enough to facilitate the delivery of more housing and has failed to make good on its manifesto promises.

Place North’s invitation-only briefing on the Wednesday morning at UKREiiF explored one of the biggest and most enduring obstacles the property and development industry is seeking to overcome – society’s distrust of the sector.

Queues, walls, and ropes.

There was a palpable sense of nervousness among the delegation’s public sector contingent about the rise of a certain political party, while the private sector vented its frustration about the Building Safety Act, hoping for a confidence-boosting spending review.

Like pretty much everyone at UKREiiF this week, chief executive Eamonn Boylan and chair Pat Ritchie are eagerly anticipating the outcome of next month’s spending review, which will set out the parameters the agency has to work within and the mechanisms at its disposal to help the government towards its 1.5m homes target.

The UK’s minister of state for housing and planning took to the stage in Leeds to reassure housebuilders that planning reforms will be largely complete by the end of the year – with the warning that the government ‘expects better’ in return.

The government’s 1.5m homes target is “a stretch” but presents an exciting opportunity for the country’s development industry, according to Justin Hartley, regional director at Yardi.

Over the last 10 years, Duncan Wilson has fought to strike a balance between convincing the development industry it is not a blocker and trying to preserve the country’s historic estate. He sat down with Place North West at UKREiiF to reflect on his decade in post.

Jonathan Wilson, owner of Citu, and Crystal Jenkins, associate director at Overford sat down with Place North’s Sally Gibson to discuss what’s on the agenda for developments in the region over the next few years, and how the introduction of the BSA and changes to planning laws will affect construction disputes.