New figures indicate that the backlog of residential buildings awaiting cladding remediation has increased by 12%, with 4,697 blocks now being monitored under Government programmes. The article also notes that Building Safety Regulator approvals are taking 33 weeks, while a new Building Safety Levy on new development has come into force to help fund remediation.
Taylor Wimpey has stopped building new homes in London, saying the viability of new schemes has become fundamentally broken and that development costs have risen to prohibitive levels. The company cited policy-related cost pressures, including the requirement for a second staircase in high-rise buildings over 18 metres, alongside a broader decline in expected London completions.
Industry bodies and agents are warning that new housing delivery in Scotland is under severe pressure, with rising construction and finance costs, alongside additional policy burdens, pushing many schemes to pause or abandonment. The article also cites a decline in private sector new-build starts and says the housing emergency in Scotland is worsening, with Glasgow highlighted as particularly affected.
New repeat-sales analysis from e.surv Chartered Surveyors suggests that a significant share of flats, especially in London, are being resold at a nominal loss. The article links this weakness to leasehold issues, building safety concerns, cladding, service charges and higher borrowing costs, while noting that Scotland shows a narrower gap between flat and house performance.
