Developer @PersimmonHomes agreed to provide 2 football pitches in Saffron Walden as part of a new development. But years later, the pitches sit empty, unused and untouchable.

What's going on? @LiamHalligan uncovers a tale of corporate greed & corruption https://reaction.life/inside-report-how-all-powerful-housebuilders-like-persimmon-have-created-a-national-housing-crisis/

When housebuilders get planning permission, the value of their land goes up hundreds of times, enabling them to make 20+% margins on building homes.

In return, we ask that developers provide some #socialhousing & invest in local infrastructure to support new & existing residents

But our housebuilding system (and the land market and planning system which sit behind it) provides huge scope for developers to back out of these agreements and break their promises to communities.

And there's not a lot councils can do about it, as in this case.

The long decline of #socialhousing & the loss of many SME builders leave communities & their councils dependent on volume developers they know they cannot trust to deliver housing. Housebuilders like @PersimmonHomes are free to make & break promises, b/c there is no alternative

But there should be, and there can be. Government should update our broken land market regulations by amending the Land Compensation Act 1961, invest in #socialhousing and take action on build out rates - as @LiamHalligan's excellent Home Truths sets out.