Andy Burnham has promised Britain's biggest council housebuilding programme since 1945. That is the headline everyone has taken from his first week in office, and it is worth pausing on the word "council," because it points to a shift in who commissions housing in this country, not just how much of it gets built. For most of the last two decades, private housebuilders have set the pace. They chose the sites, ran the programmes, and instructed the consultants. Councils and reg

Keir Starmer resigned this morning. Andy Burnham is now the overwhelming favourite to replace him and could be in office within weeks. For those working in development, cost consultancy and investment, it is worth being clear about what that means commercially. Burnham is not anti-development. His record in Greater Manchester is evidence enough: house prices rose 63% over the past decade against London's 7%, and major schemes like Victoria North and Mayfield were delivered on

NatWest's £250m Section 106 loan fund, matched by Homes England, takes the total available for S106 acquisitions to £500m. It is good news for a market that has badly needed it. Around half of England's affordable housing is delivered through the S106 cross-subsidy model. When registered providers stopped buying, whole sites stalled. Private plots sat behind unsold affordable phases, and housebuilders mothballed schemes that were viable on paper but couldn't clear the afforda

By the time a scheme reaches committee, many of the most influential decisions have already been settled. Development consultants working at this stage rarely make fundamental changes to a scheme, but those involved earlier can shape outcomes while options remain open. The real cost drivers of a site are often set early, before they appear on drawings. Access, topography, services, heritage and context can dictate viability if they are treated as assumptions rather than varia