Daily News: 19/12/2025
Peabody secured a £310m refinancing package with Santander to support investment in homes, communities, and new housing. Meanwhile, Midland Heart saw completions fall by around 60% in the first half of 2025/26 as it halved its development target to focus on a £300m plan to improve 6,000 existing homes. Peabody Trust, Housing Today (register)
Wheatley Homes Glasgow has launched a programme to purchase homes in order to increase the supply of affordable social housing, while Stirling Council has approved a list of priority sites aimed at boosting affordable housing delivery across the area over the next five years. Wheatley Homes Glasgow, Stirling Council
The government has announced stronger protections for homeowners on “fleecehold” estates, giving freeholders more power to challenge unreasonable service charges. Separately, the Housing Ombudsman reported a 30% rise in case determinations in 2024-25, issuing 7,008 decisions as complaints continued to increase. GOV.UK, Housing Today (register)
Westminster City Council has approved McLaren Construction as the main contractor for phase two of the £229m Ebury Bridge regeneration scheme. Sero and Sovereign Network Group have strengthened their partnership to deliver retrofit co-ordination for SNG’s £36.5m Wave 3 Warm Homes project, covering around 4,500 homes. Westminster City Council, LABM
Taylor Wimpey has launched legal action against Vinci Construction, seeking more than £30m over alleged cladding and steelwork defects at a Cardiff development. Weston Group cut its pre-tax loss to £4.5m as it entered the build-to-rent market, while administrators for Henry Group Holdings have received unsecured claims totalling £141.15m. Construction News (register), Housing Today (register), and Construction News (register)
A government watchdog found that an MHCLG unit tasked with addressing the building safety crisis carried out unauthorised covert intelligence gathering, though it was not considered a “serious error”. Housing Today (register)
The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund installed around 104,700 measures across 50,800 households, while the Great British Insulation Scheme delivered 113,900 measures to 85,900 households. Under the Energy Company Obligation, 4.4m measures were installed across 2.6m homes. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme received 108,072 voucher applications by November, 97% for air source heat pumps. The government has expanded the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to include air-to-air heat pumps and heat batteries, offering more heating and cooling options for homes. GOV.UK, GOV.UK, GOV.UK, GOV.UK, and GOV.UK
Average weekly earnings in construction rose 2.0% year-on-year to October 2025, down from 2.9% the previous year, with monthly pay growth at 0.1%, showing a slowing pace of wage increases. BCIS
Between July and September 2025, district-level planning authorities in England received 78,800 planning applications, down 3% year-on-year, reflecting a continued softening in planning activity. GOV.UK
Manchester City Council approved over 260 homes at the former Chorlton shopping centre, while Salford approved 185 apartments in the £2.5bn Crescent Salford masterplan. The Crown Estate submitted outline plans for 4,000 homes east of Hemel Hempstead. Elsewhere, proposals for up to 920 homes on land south of Romsey, Hampshire, and 350 homes on the edge of a Lancashire town faced local opposition. Construction Enquirer, Place North West, Construction Enquirer, BBC, and Lancashire Post