{"id":9724,"date":"2025-12-22T12:34:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T12:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/?p=9724"},"modified":"2025-12-22T12:43:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T12:43:52","slug":"monday-22-12-2025-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/daily-news\/monday-22-12-2025-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday: 22\/12\/2025 \/ News"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"blue-color\">\n<h6>Daily News: 22\/12\/2025<\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stonewater\u2019s planned acquisition of two Brighton-based housing associations has been delayed by four months, with the organisations now set to join the group at the end of April 2026 rather than December 2025. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.housingtoday.co.uk\/news\/stonewaters-acquisition-of-two-housing-associations-delayed-four-months\/5139944.article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Housing Today (register)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gateshead Council has launched a programme to deliver more than 500 new council homes over the next five years through new builds, regeneration and purchases. Meanwhile, Birmingham City Council data shows ongoing housing pressure, with some applicants facing waits of more than four years for a home. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gateshead.gov.uk\/article\/35823\/Gateshead-Council-launches-ambitious-new-homes-programme\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/latest-birmingham-city-council-housing-33095053\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Birmingham Live<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Safe Homes Now report shows that 28% of people in the UK live in homes affected by damp, mould or cold, with nearly half of affected households including someone with asthma or a weakened immune system, almost double the rate in unaffected homes, highlighting the link between housing quality and health. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ageing-better.org.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/2025-12\/SHN-Spotlight-Damp-and-mould.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Centre for Ageing Better<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kier Group has completed a \u00a320m share buyback, alongside strong results and a leadership transition, positioning the contractor for future growth. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/constructionwave.co.uk\/2025\/12\/18\/kier-completes-20m-share-buyback-as-fresh-leadership-sets-stage-for-future-growth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction Wave<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Story Homes reported falls in turnover and pre-tax profit amid market pressures, while a major UK M&amp;E specialist, London-based Gratte Brothers Group, posted a \u00a34.4m pre-tax profit, with profits more than doubling despite lower revenue and continued cost pressures. In contrast, Quinn London increased revenue by 9% to \u00a3109m and protected its margins, while creditors of collapsed modular firm Elements Europe face limited recoveries on \u00a38.7m owed. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.housingtoday.co.uk\/news\/story-homes-reports-drop-in-turnover-and-pre-tax-profit\/5139943.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.constructionnews.co.uk\/financial\/me-specialist-sees-profit-more-than-double-but-margin-remains-modest-19-12-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction News (register)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/financial\/london-contractor-protects-margin-amid-9-revenue-rise-19-12-2025\/\" 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.constructionnews.co.uk\/financial\/administrations\/little-hope-for-supply-chain-creditors-of-collapsed-modular-firm-19-12-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction News (register)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monthly construction insolvencies have surged, with official figures showing 360 business failures in October, prompting warnings from analysts of a \u201cdifficult winter\u201d ahead for the sector as pressures on cash flow and margins intensify. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/financial\/administrations\/spike-in-construction-insolvencies-heralds-difficult-winter-19-12-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction News (register)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As of November 2025, 5,613 residential buildings over 11m were identified with unsafe cladding, up 43 since October, with remediation progress closely monitored. Meanwhile, costs for high- and mid-rise non-ACM buildings average \u00a31,843\/sqm, ranging from \u00a3743 to \u00a32,943 (Q2 2025 prices). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/building-safety-remediation-monthly-data-release-november-2025\/building-safety-remediation-monthly-data-release-november-2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GOV.UK<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/cladding-remediation-unit-costs-2025-analysis-of-non-acm-buildings\/cladding-remediation-unit-costs-analysis-of-high-rise-and-mid-rise-non-acm-buildings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GOV.UK<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Small UK housebuilders remain broadly confident despite planning delays, skills shortages and rising costs, with the FMB\u2019s 2025 Small Housebuilders\u2019 Survey highlighting continued optimism about future workloads and demand. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/small-uk-housebuilders-confident-despite-challenges-say-fmb\/157967\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PBC Today<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Housing Pipeline Report Q3 2025 shows housing approvals fell 7% to 45,075 homes, 34% lower than a year earlier and the lowest since 2012, with a 25% year-on-year decline in the first nine months. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland\u2019s planning activity remained broadly stable in July-September 2025, with 2,360 applications received, about 2% down on the previous quarter. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hbf.co.uk\/documents\/15148\/Housing_Pipeline_Report_Q3_2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Home Builders Federation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk\/system\/files\/2025-12\/planning-statistics-q2-2025-26-bulletin.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Department for Infrastructure<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arun District Council has approved plans by Vistry and Abri for nearly 700 mixed-tenure homes at the former Ford Airfield in West Sussex. Elsewhere, councils are considering proposals for more than 400 homes around Stockport, 135 homes near the M4 at Royal Wootton Bassett, and up to 110 homes on a Green Belt site in Chesham, while Cala Homes has lodged revised plans for over 100 homes at Pitfodels in Aberdeen. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sussexexpress.co.uk\/business\/developers-get-the-go-ahead-from-arun-district-council-to-deliver-700-new-homes-and-extensive-infrastructure-at-former-ford-airfield-site-in-west-sussex-5449568\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sussex World<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchesterworld.uk\/lifestyle\/homes-and-gardens\/latest-details-on-massive-new-plans-to-build-over-400-new-homes-near-stockport-5450520\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manchester World<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk\/news\/25709465.plans-build-135-new-homes-near-m4-royal-wootton-bassett\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wiltshire Times<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ukpropertyforums.com\/110-home-plan-for-green-belt-site-in-chesham\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UK Property Forums<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingnews.com\/articles\/cala-scales-back-plans-for-pitfodels-development\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scottish Housing News<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daily News: 22\/12\/2025 Stonewater\u2019s planned acquisition of two Brighton-based housing associations has been delayed by four months, with the organisations now set to join the group at the end of April 2026 rather than December 2025. Housing Today (register) Gateshead Council has launched a programme to deliver more than 500 new council homes over the [&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-9724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9724","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=9724"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9730,"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9724\/revisions\/9730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.locarla.com\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}