Vistry’s Stephen Teagle to retire from business
Vistry’s Stephen Teagle is to retire from his role next year, with L&G Affordable Housing’s Catherine Raynsford succeeding him. According to the partnerships-led housebuilder, Teagle, Vistry’s chief executive, partnerships and regeneration, indicated his wish to retire earlier this year, with the changes forming part of a “planned succession process”.
Future Homes Hub highlights practical guidance during National Heat Pump Week
The Future Homes Hub has highlighted the growing body of guidance and shared learning available to help housebuilders deliver low carbon homes at scale, as the industry marks National Heat Pump Week this week. With the Future Homes Standard set to drive an increase in heat pump adoption across the sector, the Hub has pointed to its range of practical guidance, tools and lessons learned from early adopters.
Bellway grows volumes but forecasts lower completions for 2027
Bellway has grown its volume output and profits, “despite ongoing challenges across the housing market”, it said today (October 13). But it is expecting lower completions for 2027, given its lower opening order book and “ongoing pressures on customer demand”. For its full year results for the year ending July 31 2026, the housebuilder reported a 10.8% rise in total housing completions to 9,695 homes against the equivalent period last year, at an average selling price of £324,404, up on 2025’s £316,412.
Councils show growing reliance on Planning Performance Agreements – HBF/Paragon Bank
Local authorities are struggling to meet planning deadlines despite collecting £200 million in additional fees from developers, according to the Home Builders Federation (HBF). In research from HBF and Paragon Bank, a Freedom of Information (FoI) request reveals that councils, between 2022 and 2025, received an average of almost £600,000 each through Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) fees.
BSR improvement and other issues discussed at HMI
The Building Safety Regulator can “genuinely point to a profound turnaround” in its performance, but the industry must continue to work with it, according to Lord Andy Roe, chair of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). Speaking at the Housing Market Intelligence Conference in London, Roe said that if any one entity involved in the process of ensuring safer homes are built – government, the BSR and industry – “loses faith in the other”, then no-one would deliver.
Conservatives pledge to cut home building costs by up to £50,000
Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith has pledged to cut the cost of building a new home by up to £50,000 by scrapping the Future Homes Standard and other development and planning costs. At the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham today (October 5), the shadow chancellor said his intended housing moves were part of the Conservatives’ “most ambitious deregulation project in a generation”.
Chief medical officer Chris Whitty to speak at HMI Conference
The chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty is to address delegates at next week’s Housing Market Intelligence Conference and annual report launch. Whitty will look at the connections between housing and health with particular emphasis on changing demographic trends and our ageing population and what that will mean for the delivery of housing and communities over the next 40 years or so.
Crest’s debt facilities waiver extended
Crest Nicholson has secured a two-month extension to the interest cover covenant waiver on its debt facilities, as discussions with its lenders continue. Today (September 30) the challenged housebuilder said in an update that it remained in “constructive discussions” with its lenders to amend its covenants to “ensure that it has an appropriate level of funding and liquidity going forwards”.
PM announces leasehold reform bill “before Christmas”
The government will introduce a bill on “long overdue” leasehold reform before Christmas, the prime minister Andy Burnham has said, with housing secretary Angela Rayner stating that changes to the leasehold system were “unfinished business”. During his speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Burnham said he had not forgotten the government’s “promises to leaseholders”. Making housing a focus of his address, he said: “To the millions of leaseholders across the country, you have my word. The days of you being squeezed for every penny are coming to an end.”
Planning permissions fall to “new low” – HBF/Glenigan
Both quarterly and yearly planning permissions fell to a “new low” in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Home Builders Federation (HBF), underlining the need for a government-supported home ownership scheme as recently announced, HBF said. The latest Housing Pipeline report, based on Glenigan data, shows a 21% drop in the number of new homes receiving planning consent in the last quarter. At 45,315, the number of homes granted permission in England in Q2 2026 is, according to the report, the lowest quarterly total since 2012.
