{"id":103499,"date":"2025-02-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=103499"},"modified":"2025-02-05T07:56:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T07:56:37","slug":"construction-slowdown-hits-uks-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/construction-slowdown-hits-uks-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction Slowdown Hits UK\u2019s Regional Cities, Challenging Rayner\u2019s Housing Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Construction across major UK cities outside London has sharply declined, marking a setback for Angela Rayner\u2019s housing strategy. Deloitte\u2019s regional crane survey reveals that new starts <strong>fell by 27%<\/strong>, reflecting the broader challenges the Labour Deputy Prime Minister faces in reviving the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Rayner pursues her goal of boosting housing development, the slowdown serves as a reminder of the immense obstacles that lie ahead. Political uncertainties, financial pressures, and mounting regulatory challenges are hindering her push to deliver on Labour\u2019s promise of building <strong>1.5 million new homes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Subdued Construction Activity in Regional Cities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Deloitte\u2019s regional crane survey reveals the extent of the construction slowdown in key cities outside <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/londons-housing-pressures-uk\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"102982\">London<\/a>. Key data points from 2023 include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>47 new projects<\/strong> initiated across Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, and Belfast.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A <strong>27% drop<\/strong> in new construction starts compared with 2022.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>7% decline<\/strong> in the number of homes under construction, totaling <strong>23,673 units<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Moreover, the decline wasn\u2019t limited to residential projects. Notably, <strong>no new office, retail, or leisure projects<\/strong> were launched in 2023. While housing completions rose by 57%, reaching <strong>9,075 homes<\/strong>, the broader construction sector has clearly struggled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The slump in development is compounded by <strong>delays caused by safety regulations<\/strong>, particularly with high-rise buildings. <strong>Zoe Davidson<\/strong> from Deloitte commented that <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rics.org\/news-insights\/building-safety-act-faqs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Building Safety Act<\/a> measures<\/strong> have significantly delayed timelines due to extensive inspections required for buildings taller than 18 metres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Government\u2019s Housing Crisis and Political Uncertainty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Angela Rayner\u2019s government faces mounting pressure as it seeks to resolve the housing crisis. While the Government has committed to ambitious targets, the challenges remain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Building Safety Regulations<\/strong>: New regulations, including the <strong>cladding <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/hidden-tax-traps-frozen-allowances\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"102956\">tax<\/a><\/strong>, are adding financial strain on developers and causing delays.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Political Uncertainty<\/strong>: Ongoing instability, including the UK and US elections, is deterring investment and making developers reluctant to take on new risks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Planning System Bottlenecks<\/strong>: Despite political efforts to reform the planning process, <strong>red tape<\/strong> continues to slow down approvals and stifle new projects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite these obstacles, the Government remains committed to its Plan for Change, which includes delivering 1.5 million new homes. Ministers are focusing on <strong>overhauling the planning system<\/strong> and allocating <strong>\u00a35bn<\/strong> for housing investments in 2024. However, the construction industry faces a prolonged struggle as it adapts to the evolving landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWork is already underway to get Britain building again, including overhauling the broken planning system and investing \u00a35bn in housing for this year, while the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill will help accelerate the delivery of critical infrastructure.\u201d a spokesman said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Construction in key UK cities outside London has slumped, dealing a major blow to Angela Rayner\u2019s housing agenda. Deloitte\u2019s survey highlights a significant drop in new projects and homes under construction, revealing the struggles developers face.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":103503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103499"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103506,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103499\/revisions\/103506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}