{"id":7829,"date":"2025-05-15T12:41:44","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T12:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/?p=7829"},"modified":"2025-05-15T12:41:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T12:41:44","slug":"thursday-15-05-2025-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/daily-news\/thursday-15-05-2025-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday: 15\/05\/2025 \/ News"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"blue-color\">\n<h6>Daily News: 15\/05\/2025<\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Savills Investment Management\u2019s Simply Affordable Homes fund has acquired 105 homes in Oxfordshire from Blenheim Estates, its third purchase via for-profit RP Simply Affordable Homes. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savillsim.com\/2025\/savills-im-s-simply-affordable-homes-fund-adds-further-105-ho-es-to-portfolio.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Savills Investment Management<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Southern Housing cut development starts by two-thirds to strengthen finances, resulting in a further fall in interest cover. Meanwhile, the Housing Ombudsman found poor repairs complaint handling by Southwark Council, Wandsworth Council, Notting Hill Genesis, and Newham Council, leading to C3 or C4 regulator ratings and highlighting the need for improved complaint learning. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.housingtoday.co.uk\/southern-housings-interest-cover-falls-further-as-expected-plummet-in-starts-materialises\/5135980.article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Housing Today (register)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk\/2025\/05\/15\/c3-and-c4-landlords-wider-order\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Housing Ombudsman Service<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">London boroughs must cut council housing spending by \u00a3264m over three years to balance finances and meet the 88,000 new homes target. Simultaneously, think tank Localis urges ministers to unlock \u00a3392bn from the Local Government Pension Scheme via new investment vehicles to fund affordable housing. Over 100 councils have also called for a \u00a312bn green homes programme with a unified standard to improve energy efficiency nationwide. Only 1% of English homes (around 276,000) use heat pumps as their main heating system. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/pdf\/Crunch_Point_for_London_Council_Housing_Finances.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">London Councils<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.localis.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Localis-New-Stable-Report-A5-MAY25-PRF02.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Localis<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.housingtoday.co.uk\/more-than-100-councils-call-for-12bn-green-and-decent-homes-programme\/5135990.article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Housing Today (register)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/statistics\/english-housing-survey-2023-to-2024-low-carbon-technologies-in-english-homes-fact-sheet\/english-housing-survey-2023-to-2024-low-carbon-technologies-in-english-homes-fact-sheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GOV.UK<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hampshire and Devon County Councils announced the sixth-generation Southern Construction Framework, a \u00a35.4bn (including VAT) programme to support public sector construction projects across southern England. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/contracts\/councils-unveil-5-4bn-next-gen-scf-framework-14-05-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction News (register)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Kesteven District Council approved energy efficiency upgrades for 273 council homes. The Hill Group and Town formed a joint venture for a \u00a350m community-led housing scheme in Cambridgeshire. Separately, Winvic Construction was appointed to build a 544-bed student accommodation project in Coventry for Gilltown. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cr7zvjv87r4o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BBC<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/buildings\/hill-and-town-to-deliver-50m-cambridgeshire-resi-scheme-14-05-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction News (register)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theconstructionindex.co.uk\/news\/view\/winvic-wins-coventry-pbsa-scheme\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Construction Index<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inland Homes\u2019 collapse leaves unsecured creditors with \u00a338m in losses and no recovery. Skanska UK posted a \u00a378m profit in 2024, driven by a 4.3% margin in infrastructure and FM. Altrad Services nearly doubled profits despite a \u00a390m asbestos claims provision. Grainger\u2019s revenue and pre-tax profit grew, backed by a \u00a31.3bn build-to-rent pipeline. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionenquirer.com\/2025\/05\/14\/inland-homes-creditors-face-38m-hit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction Enquirer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionenquirer.com\/2025\/05\/14\/skanska-lifts-margin-to-4-3-as-profit-hits-78m\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction Enquirer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/civils\/profit-rises-at-altrad-amid-asbestos-claims-warning-14-05-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction News (register)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.housingtoday.co.uk\/news\/revenue-and-pre-tax-profit-up-at-grainger\/5135989.article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Housing Today (register)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New energy upgrades for schools, community centres, and care homes have been awarded to improve public buildings, aiming to reduce energy bills and save taxpayers an estimated \u00a3650m annually on average through to 2037. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/new-energy-upgrades-for-public-buildings-to-save-taxpayers-money\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GOV.UK<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report Breaking the Bottlenecks stresses the government\u2019s goal to build 1.5m new homes in England this Parliament as a key economic strategy, highlighting planning reform as essential-cited by the IMF as Britain\u2019s top economic reform priority. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centreforcities.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Breaking-the-Bottlenecks-May-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Centre for Cities<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction industry wages rose 5.9% year-on-year to March 2025, per ONS data reported by BCIS. Construction output in Great Britain was flat (0.0%) in Q1 2025 versus Q4 2024, with new work up 0.9% but repair and maintenance down 1.2%, according to the ONS. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bcis.co.uk\/news\/average-weekly-earnings-in-the-construction-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BCIS<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.locarla.com\/pdf\/Construction_output_in_Great_Britain_March_2025_and_new_orders_January_to_March_2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Office for National Statistics<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sheffield City Council approved a controversial plan for 3,500+ homes on Green Belt land despite opposition. Tide won permission for 1,051 homes near Bermondsey, London. Sheffield\u2019s Honey secured consent for a \u00a337m, 128-home project in Rossington, Doncaster. A 1,500-home development with health and care facilities in northeast Blackburn also advanced. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.co.uk\/news\/politics\/council\/sheffield-green-belt-housing-plan-goes-ahead-despite-protests-5129479\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Star<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionenquirer.com\/2025\/05\/15\/tide-gets-go-ahead-for-over-1000-home-london-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction Enquirer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/yorkshire\/news\/2138913-planning-green-light-for-37m-housing-development\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TheBusinessDesk.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lep.co.uk\/news\/new-homes-health-centre-care-facility-blackburn-5129881\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lancashire Post<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daily News: 15\/05\/2025 Savills Investment Management\u2019s Simply Affordable Homes fund has acquired 105 homes in Oxfordshire from Blenheim Estates, its third purchase via for-profit RP Simply Affordable Homes. Savills Investment Management Southern Housing cut development starts by two-thirds to strengthen finances, resulting in a further fall in interest cover. Meanwhile, the Housing Ombudsman found poor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7829"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7865,"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7829\/revisions\/7865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}