• The Bank of England cut interest rates to 5% in a move expected to begin to boost confidence. The close 5-4 vote of the MPC came with a cautionary message that the Bank was not going to cut "too quickly or by too much".
• Mortgage lender Nationwide released its latest UK house price index report, with an annual growth in house prices of 2.1% in July, its fastest pace since December 2022.
• The latest NHBC housing pipeline figures for Quarter 2 2024 show the scale of the current housebuilding slump with a 23% fall in new registrations compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
• Latest MHCLG data reported a significant fall in residential Planning Permissions over 30%, another key housing pipeline indicator.
• Following the General Election, the new Government confirmed its 1.5 million new homes target for this Parliament.
• The Housing Secretary took immediate action to impose compulsory housebuilding targets on councils, with a warning of direct intervention if housing targets are not met.
• The Housing Minister confirmed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on 31 July that the Government's New Towns programme is not expected to deliver any completed homes this Parliament.