Insights & Reports

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.

Upward-only rent review clauses are a common feature of commercial leases. They allow rent to increase, or remain the same, at review, but do not allow rent to fall even where market rents have reduced.

Buying a listed building is always exciting – they are beautiful, unique and full of character and history. However, they may come with more than a few skeletons in the cupboard as a result of past owners having undertaken works without listed building consent.

The residential land market entered 2026 with improving sentiment, supported by expectations of lower inflation, an easing interest rate cycle, and a gradual recovery in buyer confidence.

England is heading towards an unprecedented concentration of Local Plan submissions before the end of 2026. For developers and promoters, the issue is not just whether a plan is submitted, but whether it can withstand the scrutiny of examination.

The Government has recently confirmed that Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) will apply to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) from 2 November 2026.

Yesterday’s Scottish Land & Estates Conference in Edinburgh took place at an interesting moment for rural Scotland.

Our latest Todd Talk – held on Day 3 of UKREiiF 2026 - brought together Bidwells’ Head of Built Environment, Richard Todd, and Tilo Guenther, Director at the award‑winning Niall McLaughlin Architects, for a conversation that revealed the craft, curiosity and collaboration behind some of Oxford’s most admired buildings.