In a broad speech for managers who explain how the government is planning to generate growth, Chancellor Rachel Reeve outlined a number of essential building programs.
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In her speech, Reeves emphasized the slow planning system in the UK. She promised government guidelines about building large projects would be revised to support investments outside the rich southeast of England.
One of the outlined projects is a plan to redevelop the Old Trafford Football Ground of Manchester United.
The Old Trafford scheme is expected to use public money to move three terminals from the train that block the redevelopment.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has promised that the scheme will mean 5,000 new houses and create a second “big football campus” in the city.
The Chancellor also spoke about a “growth course” between Oxford and Cambridge, which she claimed could be “Europe’s Silicon Valley”.
Coupled with this, Reeves announced plans for the University of Cambridge to open an innovation hub in the city center, and this would also see the construction of 4,500 new houses, after the environmental agency had its opposition.
There was a mixed response from the industry to Reeves’s speech.
Together, Chief Commercial Officer Ryan Etchells, remarked: “The promise of the Chancellor of our own Silicon Valley that connects Oxford and Cambridge is certainly a heading, but is insufficient to unlock the growth for the majority of British SMEs.
“The leveling agenda of the government was intended to extend throughout the country. Spending two of the richest regions in the United Kingdom will in no way fully answer the greater growth and home puzzle.
North/South divided
“Building houses in the Oxford-Cambridge gang is one element, but without policy support those who do not fit into the ‘perfect mortgage model’ will still be confronted with challenges. And with a view of regions that need the most to concentrate on the home provinces and capital is disturbing. “
Darlington Building Society Head of mortgage distribution Christopher Blewitt took a similar line.
“It is encouraging to see that the Chancellor announces the plans for Oxford and Cambridge to build ‘Europe’s Silicon Valley’, including the building of new houses. It is vital that as a nation we tackle the chronic shortage of housing stock in the United Kingdom to enable buyers not only to buy their own houses for the first time, but also to be able to get a shot in the arm to the purchasing market in general. “
“In our heart country we paid the average price by first buyers who rose to £ 123,000 in November 2024, which was 7.8% higher than the average of £ 114,000 in November 2023, so we hope that this is the start of many initiatives In the United Kingdom to make more affordable houses available. “
Planning process
Shawbrook Managing Director of Development Finance Terry Woodley noted: “Reducing planning bureaucracy and streamlining processes will play a crucial role in supplying the ambitious goal of 1.5 million new houses.
“Although it is positive to see the Chancellor tackling this through the plan for change for working people, this is not the only answer: a versatile approach is needed to really tackle the problems that are currently being confronted with developers.”
“It will be interesting to see that the government is taking its proposed next steps, including the streamlining of a series of national decision -making to better guide the planning decisions of the local authorities.
“However, this is not about the recruitment and training of extra planners that will take time, or the shortage of skills in the sector. The government must give priority to effective, extensive revision of planning to start progress and unlock the full potential of the UK. “
In particular, the Old Trafford Plan Ethells responded: “Although we would agree that the football club should pay the bill for the redevelopment of the Old Trafford Stadium itself, as a manchester -based real estate, what we have to see, Is how it is how it is planning to support this project in terms of a broader regeneration of the area, which would offer fantastic opportunities for residential and commercial investors and developers. “
He added: “All eyes are focused on work to renew the housing plans for the north and to ensure that the plans for stimulating economic growth are implemented fairly – before tax increases start to bite in April.”