Monday morning briefing 2025 08 04

Good morning LinkedIn, another week has passed - it’s August already, how did that happen? - so let’s have a quick catch up of last week. 

-> The government has announced plans to build up to 40,000 new homes on disused railway land over the next decade, starting in cities like Manchester and Nottingham, as part of its brownfield first strategy. The government owned Platform4 will be led by ex-Lendlease executive Bek Seeley 

-> There is “generational inequality” in the housing market with first time buyers finding it harder to get on the housing ladder says David Thomas at Barratt Redrow 

-> A £92m build-to-rent (BTR) tower in Barking will be completed two years behind schedule after the collapse of the original contractor, Henry Construction.

-> Dandara has made a major commitment to the SFH sector with planning confirmed for 218 new homes near Milton Keynes including 67 affordable homes, 46 shared ownership and 11 social

-> BE News reports purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) investment activity in H1 2025 reached £1.6bn, more than 45% higher than the long-term average of £1.1bn, according to new data from Knight Frank.

-> StudentCrowd’s new UK-wide PBSA report reveals that while average rents continue to rise, a growing number of operators are reintroducing financial incentives. It is a trend now visible across room types, price points and locations reports Joe Mellor in PBSA News

-> Property District reports that in Ireland there has been a surge in judicial reviews, increase in planning red tape and lack of workers within the construction sector. Economist Dr Alan Ahearne who predicted the 2008 crash said ‘House prices will keep rising. We can’t get builders in on a €10 Ryanair flight anymore’ in a wide ranging interview on the economy (optimistic), Trump (pessimistic) and over reliance on foreign direct investment (FDI)

-> Home hashtag#sales plummeted by 13% in the second quarter of 2025. Figures from residential valuation service Geowox revealed that a total of 11,734 homes were sold in the second quarter of the year – 13.2 per cent down compared to the same period in 2024. The slowdown in sales was driven by a drop off in the number of homes sold in the lower price brackets up to €375,000

-> Finally a fascinating piece in the FT over the weekend that broadly starts “...if I were to pick a single business that will be at the nexus of economic and political controversy in the coming years, I’d say it would be the housing industry.” The article is about the USA, but could equally be about the U.K., Ireland and a large chunk of Europe. Link in the comments. 

Image this week is London Square's Nine Elms BTR development which topped out last week.