Jon Yarker

4 days ago | developmentfinancetoday.co.uk | Jon Yarker

The construction data provider has found that project starts fell 51% in May 2025 from the previous year. At the same time, main contract awards were down 52% with detailed planning approvals also falling by 44%. Glenigan found evidence of strengthening demand for such work, despite these declines. Nearly half of London office investments (45%, or £2.8bn) were related to refurbishment or retrofit projects according to Knight Frank data.

4 days ago | developmentfinancetoday.co.uk | Jon Yarker

The application for the site on Firthland Road will include a 35% affordable allocation. These will include a mix of two- to four-bedroom homes, all of which fitted with EV charging units. Through a Section 106 agreement, Persimmon would also make contributions to improving the local infrastructure.

4 days ago | developmentfinancetoday.co.uk | Jon Yarker

This is due to a worsening in the Section 106 agreement process, with 70% of local authorities reporting average negotiation timescales exceeding 12 months. Freedom of Information requests by the HBF found that the time taken to finalise Section 106 agreements had increased by 20% over the last two years from 425 days to 515. Additionally, 35% of all Section 106 agreements take longer than 12 months to complete. The HBF found the longest recorded time scale reached 2,679 days, or seven years.

4 days ago | developmentfinancetoday.co.uk | Jon Yarker

These programmes, ENABLE Guarantees and ENABLE Build, had provided £1.7bn to construction and £655m for real estate. Of this total amount, £1.3bn has been provided via ENABLE Build alone. These programmes have been operating since 2017, providing government-backed guarantees on portfolios of new and existing smaller business loans. This has supported the construction of 5,866 homes.

4 days ago | developmentfinancetoday.co.uk | Jon Yarker

The portfolio of six, grade-A warehouses across three locations is being purchased from Italian logistics developer VLD. This includes a 45,000 sqm development across two buildings, currently undergoing construction in Greater Florence. In Southern Rome, the JV is acquiring a 150,000 sqm scheme across three big-box buildings, to be delivered between the end of 2026 and 2028. Elsewhere, the deal includes a 33,000 sqm property in Greater Bologna, which is expected to be delivered by H1 2027.