The UK has a housing problem. Building is sluggish and planning rules play no small part in this. In fact, the planning system is so convoluted and energy-sapping that making a planning application, getting a tree preservation order overturned, or tearing down a particularly ugly 1950s extension is almost a martial art. The Nimbys have won.
Tip style
Growth
Risk rating
Low
Timescale
Medium Term
Bull points
- Homebuilding push should boost growth
- Presence in the big box and residential markets
- Carries the least debt risk in the sector
- Two revenue streams
Bear points
- Interest rates still high
- No Reit tax benefits
Or have they? Changes announced in last month’s King’s Speech amount to the biggest overhaul of planning in years, with a new emphasis on speed. Under Labour, the question is how to increase building, not whether it should be done in the first place, and the government wants to jump-start the system to build 1.5mn new homes.