Housebuilding could fall to lowest level since WWII

The number of houses built in the UK could slump to its lowest level since the Second World War. The Home Builders Federation said changes by ministers to England’s planning framework and the impact of government environmental rules could result in annual supply falling from 233,000 new properties in 2021-22 to just 111,000 later this decade. That would be the lowest level in more than 80 years. Executive chair Stewart Baseley blamed the government’s “capitulation” to the nimby lobby and “short-term political decisions to appease” backbench Conservative MPs. The council in levelling up secretary Michael Gove’s Surrey Heath constituency is the latest local authority to delay its local housebuilding plan. The FT (£)The Guardian