Insights & Reports

"Infrastructure-first growth." The Government has used those words to justify a Development Corporation for Greater Cambridge from day one. The Budget has now put money behind them. The question is no longer whether Cambridge will plan big, but who holds the power when it does.

From 2 November 2026, new Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) in England must deliver at least 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).

The energy market continues to present opportunities for landowners, but the overhaul of the grid connection process, planning changes and political uncertainty mean understanding development potential and being proactive can really make a difference.

This summer, Britain set a new record for the number of days in a single year above 30°C, beating a mark that had stood since 1995.

The UK economy headed into the second half of 2026 in a state of cautious resilience rather than robust strength. Most forecasters now expect GDP growth of roughly 0.7–1.1% for the year.

“The Planning System should be genuinely plan-led.” These words have featured in the introduction of every NPPF issued since 2012. You just need to be clear whose plan is leading the system at a particular point in time, and currently, it is less likely to be a Local Authority.

The draft London Plan consolidates its economic policies into a single chapter, “Growing London’s economy in a way that benefits all”, and replaces the adopted affordable workspace policy, Policy E3, with a new Policy, GLE7.

MHCLG has published the draft statutory instrument that will deliver the borough CIL relief announced in the Homes for London package in October 2025.

A streamlined and more strategic London Plan was one of the main promises in the run-up to its release. Certainly, the London Plan is shorter, and it has significantly fewer policies. That does not mean that it seeks to exert less control on development. 

The Mayor published the Draft London Plan on 16 July 2026, opening a 13-week consultation that runs until 15 October 2026.

BIO 2026 in San Diego was a timely reminder that international life sciences growth is driven by the partnerships, capability and capital that allow science to become companies, clinical evidence and products, real estate is not the driver of this but one of the enablers.

The Mayor's new draft London Plan sets a ten-year housing target of around 558,000 homes, roughly a third below the government's assessed need for the capital. In the first of a daily release this week, we examine what the numbers mean for landowners, developers and investors.