UK housebuilder Taylor Wimpey warns of ‘muted’ demand
The UK housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has said demand is “muted” despite improving affordability, particularly among first-time buyers, echoing a cautious outlook from the estate agents Foxtons and Savills.Jennie Daly, the chief executive of Taylor Wimpey, said the government’s recent planning changes had resulted in “increased momentum in our recent planning permissions”.“However, while affordability is slowly improving, demand continues to be muted, particularly among the important first-time buyer category, which will constrain overall sector output,” she said.Shares in Taylor Wimpey fell by 4.7% in early trading and were flat in the afternoon, while Foxtons and Savills were also down, 3.
9% and 1,6% respectively,Foxtons traded 6% lower in the afternoon while Savills shares recovered to trade nearly 10% higher,The builder’s completions rose by 6% to 11,229 in 2025, including 2,220 affordable homes,The average selling price for a private home increased by 5.
1% to £374,000, from £356,000.Taylor Wimpey anticipates a lower operating profit margin of 11% for 2025 versus 12.2% in 2024, and expects an even lower margin in 2026, with a smaller order book at the start of the year.This week the housebuilder Persimmon reported stronger growth of 12% to 11,905 completions, while its average selling price increased by 4% to £278,000.However, it said it was “not expecting any material improvement in market conditions this year” despite positive signs since Boxing Day and recent reductions in mortgage rates.
On Thursday, Foxtons reported a 2% drop in like-for-like revenues for property sales last year, blaming a slowdown in the market leading up to the 26 November budget, alongside broader economic uncertainty.The London estate agent’s total revenues for 2025 rose by 5% to £172m, bolstered by lettings revenues and acquisitions such as the agent Cauldwell in Milton Keynes.Foxtons said its sales division had begun 2026 with a lower under-offer pipeline than in 2025 because of the “significant sales market disruption” around the budget and a very strong comparative period last year, when buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax break before its expiry at the end of March.Savills said market uncertainty would “remain elevated in 2026” but added that strong pipelines, improving investor and occupier sentiment would support recovery across its core markets.The company, which is now run by Simon Shaw, who replaced Mark Ridley as chief executive on 1 January, said the market recovery stalled between April and June and into the third quarter of last year as investors and occupiers digested the impact of US tariffs.
The upmarket estate agent and property group added that in the UK, its largest market, heightened uncertainty around the budget had a similar dampening effect on the prime housing market.In mainland China, the market declined by more than 20% for a third year, prompting Savills to carry out further restructuring, also implemented in Germany, resulting in a charge of up to £30m for 2025.The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ monthly survey showed activity remained weak in December but expectations for sales volumes and prices in 2026 rose.Its head of market research and analysis, Tarrant Parsons, said: “The UK residential market remains in a prolonged soft patch, with December’s survey recording a sixth consecutive month of negative momentum in buyer enquiries.That said, there are tentative signs of a shift in sentiment.
”Daly said she expected further progress with the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 now in place, which should streamline decision-making and speed up planning consents.Among the changes are new powers for ministers to prevent applications being rejected by local councils and a more limited role for the advisory body Natural England in minor applications.The government has been struggling to achieve its ambitious target to build 1.5m homes in England by the end of the parliament.
Adelaide festival apologises to Randa Abdel-Fattah and invites her to participate in 2027 writers’ week
The new Adelaide festival board has issued a public apology to Palestinian Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, and has promised she will be invited to Adelaide writers’ week in 2027.Abdel-Fattah immediately accepted the apology, posting on Instagram that it was a vindication “of our collective solidarity and mobilisation against anti-Palestinian racism, bullying and censorship”.She said she was still considering the board’s invitation to appear at the 2027 event.In a statement on Thursday morning, Adelaide Festival Corporation acknowledged they had previously said they would exclude Abdel-Fattah from this year’s event “because it would be culturally insensitive to allow her to participate. We retract that statement”
Churchill’s desk and rare artwork among items donated to UK cultural institutions
Winston Churchill and Benjamin Disraeli’s desk, a painting by Vanessa Bell and a rare artwork by Edgar Degas are among the items of cultural importance saved for the nation this year.The items, worth a total of £59.7m, will be allocated to museums, galleries, libraries and archives around the UK as part of Art Council England’s cultural gifts and acceptance in lieu schemes.Some items were accepted for their outstanding rarity, cultural value or technical skills, while others offer insights into the UK’s history through some of the nation’s most renowned public figures.The Regency mahogany standing desk used by Churchill and Disraeli during their times as prime minister has been allocated to the National Trust’s Hughenden Manor, Disraeli’s former country house
Jimmy Kimmel on ICE shooting of Renee Good: ‘They’re investigating the victims instead of the perpetrator’
Late-night hosts responded to the Trump administration’s escalation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) action in Minneapolis and its criminal investigation into the Fed chair, Jerome Powell.Jimmy Kimmel opened Tuesday’s monologue with a summary of “another bananas speech” by Donald Trump – this time at the Detroit Economic Club, where he tried to convince attenders that the protests in Minneapolis over the ICE shooting of Renee Good were “fake”.“They’re not riots, they’re real,” Kimmel responded. “First they want us to believe that we did not see what we all saw happen to Renee Good. Now he wants us to believe that the protests aren’t real
‘A very tough moment’: how Trump has put museums in jeopardy
From Times Square to the Washington Monument, America saw in the new year with a bigger bang than usual, celebrating the fact that 2026 marks the nation’s 250th birthday. Yet as the US looks back, precious repositories of the nation’s history are facing an uncertain future.Museum attendances are down. Budgets are precarious. Cuts in federal funding are taking their toll
Jon Stewart on the Minneapolis ICE shooting: ‘We are in a confusing, dark place’
Late-night hosts recapped a weekend of nationwide protests over the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer as Donald Trump made a social media post referring to himself as the “acting president” of Venezuela.Jon Stewart wasted no time expressing outrage from the Daily Show desk on Monday evening, after a particularly dark week for US news. “What the fuck is happening?” he exclaimed. “What the fuck is happening in this country? From Minnesota, to Venezuela, to Iran, to Greenland, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia.“We are on the Donald Trump Gravitron,” he concluded
Adelaide writers’ week 2026 cancelled as board apologises to Randa Abdel-Fattah for ‘how decision was represented’
Adelaide writers’ week 2026 has been cancelled after days of turmoil as more than 180 authors and speakers dropped out in protest of the decision to disinvite the Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah.In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the Adelaide festival board announced the event, which was scheduled to begin on 28 February, would no longer go ahead. The three remaining members of the festival board have resigned immediately, after the resignations of four others – with the exception of the Adelaide city council representative, whose term expires in February.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailThe decision to cancel AWW entirely came five days after the festival board announced it had intervened to drop Abdel-Fattah from appearing at the festival, citing “cultural sensitivities” after the attack on the Jewish community in Bondi.On Tuesday, the board apologised to Abdel-Fattah “for how the decision was represented”
Woman pulled out of UK ultramarathon after death threats over Afghanistan fundraising
Circumcision kits found on sale on Amazon UK as concerns grow over harm to baby boys
One in four UK teenagers in care have attempted to end their lives, study says
Five minutes more exercise and 30 minutes less sitting could help millions live longer
NHS spending up to £19k a time treating people suffering after overseas surgery, research finds
LGB+ people in England and Wales ‘much’ more likely to die by suicide than straight people