Even with the temporary emergency measures, the cumulative ask for developers remains too big. Every scheme carries the cost of affordable housing, sustainability, infrastructure, employment and workspace commitments, all against stagnant values and double-digit build cost inflation. The basic economics no longer work, and as councils rely increasingly on these contributions – not to mitigate the impact of the development but simply to close their own funding gaps – the cycle reinforces itself. Add to this growing evidence that, while housing need is high, demand for market units under construction has weakened.
