Ecuador’s election wasn’t free — and its people will pay the price under President Noboa
Housing: how hard is it to keep people, not profit in mind?
House building must be ‘attractive’ to people who need a house, not to the for-profit private developers, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
Housing
Join the traditional march from Clerkenwell Green, which will bring together countless international workers’ organisations in a statement against the far right
The money tap to anti-Cuban agitators will never be shut off under Trump
Mountains of research show that hardcore material harms children, yet there are still no simple measures in place
We face austerity, privatisation, and toxic influence. But we are growing, and cannot be beaten
Trump’s economic adviser has exposed the actual strategy: forcing other countries to provide financial support for US hegemony
Activist Angie Zelter has been arrested more than a hundred times. She’s not stopping now, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
LABOUR says if it is elected, their big idea to help the housing crisis is deregulation.
Everybody knows not enough houses are being built and the price of houses is too high, leaving many trapped in poor quality private rented accommodation or struggling with hard-to-afford mortgages. Labour proposes making planning laws more developer-friendly.
They hope that if developers find it easier to build on the green belt, overcome local rejection of proposed estates, or get free development areas in “new towns,” they will build more houses and prices will come down.
But the latest accounts of Bloor Homes, like the accounts of so many housebuilders, suggest this “market” solution to a market failure won’t work.
Bloor Homes are a mid-sized housebuilder, but one with a fair political influence. John Bloor is one of the Tories’ top donors, having given the party around £2.7 million since 2015.
The latest accounts, released this month but covering the year to June 2023, show Bloor Homes is finding the market a bit tighter. The accounts note that “increases in mortgage loan rates” have “made the landscape more challenging” for housebuilders, while they are also being squeezed by “cost inflation in our supply chains.”
More from this author
Why is the Labour government so addicted to giving government jobs to Tories when it spent so long trying to oust them? In the hope the favour is returned the next time the Tories return to power, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
Israel’s number one death dealer supplying the IDF in its murderous campaigns against the Palestinians is now actively wining and dining our military top brass, looking to flog its blood-soaked wares, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
Health Secretary Wes Streeting taking £53k from Tory-linked recruiter and outsourcer Peter Hearn’s OPD Group is a great example of how Labour’s rich donors shape policies targeting the poor – not their wealth, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
A new book shows the group’s close links to Labour Together, which hoodwinked the party membership into voting for Starmer on fake left promises. SOLOMON HUGHES attempts to get some answers about what ‘Blue Labour’ actually stands for
