Mini Budget impacted delivery as Homes England misses targets for second year in a row (INSIDE HOUSING)
Homes England missed its delivery targets for the second consecutive year, falling 14% short of its 39,008 target, with just 33,713 completions. The total was revealed in the agency’s annual accounts, which blamed the impact of the September mini-budget for the failure.
The UK government added national security measures to the Procurement Bill, including a new National Security Unit for Procurement, and a plan to gradually reduce Chinese suppliers of surveillance equipment.
Construction output fell for the third consecutive month in May due to an increase in building material costs and declining availability. ONS figures pointed to a 0.4% drop in output, with the average cost of construction materials rising by 1.5% year-on-year.
The UK is far behind other European countries in its adoption of heat pumps. While expected to increase by 10% in 2023, just 55,168 heat pumps were sold in the UK in 2022, compared with 1.36 million in France and Italy combined. Finland has the greatest heat pump adoption per household, with 69.36 in every 1000 households owning a system.
Requirements for landlords to upgrade energy efficiency ratings in homes to a minimum standard by April 2025 have been delayed. The UK government has made the decision following talks with landlord associations to ease the pressure on the private rental sector.
