Traffic & Transport
Revealed: the new affordable commuter hotspots in Great Britain | Property
The commuter belt is being redrawn. During Covid, in the hope that remote working would stick, buyers broke free from conventions and transformed the housing map. A race for space – and to the coast and rural areas – were the stories of the pandemic.
As the call back to the office intensified, this trend unwound and homebuyers began targeting the more traditional commuter zones once again. Unfortunately, the homebuying landscape is very different to five years ago and some of those locations are unaffordable.
The cost of living is significantly higher, as are mortgage repayment costs. There is arguably little help now for first-time buyers and, while house prices in London have softened (in some areas), the capital remains entirely unaffordable for many.
Priced-out first-time buyers are competing with second and third steppers for homes in the commuter belt, and with downsizers who are relocating from rural locations to be close to transport links and grandchildren.
“Britain’s traditional commuter belts have shrunk back down after the pandemic, but they are not as compact as they were before, with buyers searching for value,” says Frances McDonald of Savills. That translates as being pushed into new areas where prices are still affordable.
“New infrastructure has driven changes, too,” she adds. As an example, she says: “The Elizabeth line has opened up the westerly home counties for those working in the City and Canary Wharf.”
Research from Savills shared exclusively with Guardian Money reveals the new affordable commuter hotspots – suburbs, towns and villages with a direct service into London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh. These are places where entrances and exits into the local railway station have soared since before the pandemic as commuters get cute and hunt out new locations that work for them.
The analysis takes railway station use and house prices into account and combines them to show which locations are proving popular and yet affordable in 2026.
London’s commuter belt
Travel time 19–29 minutes
Iver, Buckinghamshire
Train time: 24 minutes (into London Paddington). Season ticket cost: £2,868 a year. Average house price in 2025: £539,575
Iver ticks a lot of boxes. Average house prices reflect the fact it is in Buckinghamshire rather than Greater London. The Elizabeth line stops at Iver station (actually in neighbouring Richings Park) and reaches Canary Wharf in just over 40 minutes. There is a gym, a park, a village hall, a fish and chip shop, a primary school (with a “good” rating from Ofsted) and two pubs. It is part of a belt of villages: Iver Heath, Richings Park and Shreding Green, all to the north-east of Slough and all popular with commuters.
Shenfield, Essex
Train time: 23 minutes (into London Liverpool Street). Season ticket cost: £4,008 a year. Average house price in 2025: £656,159
The rail service from Shenfield into London is “turn up and go”, says Stephen White of Savills. “There is a train about every five minutes, so you don’t need to keep an eye on the time.” For first-time buyers, the cluster of flats around the station presents a chance to get on the ladder, with prices from £170,000, but it is mainly families buying in Shenfield and the wider Brentwood area, drawn by schools and green space. “We see a lot of buyers from Wapping, Islington and Shoreditch – often they have small children and want a larger home,” White says. There’s a four-bedroom detached house for sale for £850,000 on the edge of parkland, while the bigger five-bedroom properties break through the £1m threshold. There is better value for money in neighbouring villages, according to Paul Cromwell of Bairstow Eves. He suggests Pilgrims Hatch and Doddinghurst.
Twyford, Berkshire
Train time: 21 minutes (into London Paddington). Season ticket cost: £4,764. Average house price in 2025: £553,597
More expensive than Reading but cheaper than Henley-on-Thames or Marlow, Twyford has a village-like feel and a thriving scene of independent cafes, bars and restaurants. There are yoga studios, and the Bia Cycling Club (women only) takes to the surrounding lanes. Big events include the fete in the summer and a beer festival. House prices have ticked up with the arrival of the Elizabeth line, says Haydon Canavan of Grapevine estate agents. “This is a busy local market, with families moving out of London for the schools and to get more house for their money,” he says. Two-bedroom cottages start from £375,000 and three-bedroom, semi-detached homes from £600,000. The most desirable roads, London Road and Wargrave Road, are lined with big detached properties that cost more than £1m. The neighbouring village of Charvil is slightly cheaper and a 15-minute walk to the station.
Travel time 30–59 minutes
Prittlewell, Essex
Train time: 55 minutes (into London Liverpool Street). Season ticket cost: £5,120. Average house price in 2025: £295,326
The suburb of Prittlewell sits to the north of Southend-on-Sea and is home to Southend high school for boys and the university hospital, and close to the airport and open countryside. The Palace theatre is a short walk away, and it is under two miles to the seafront and Chalkwell Beach. Priory Park provides 18 hectares (45 acres) of green along with tennis courts, bowling greens, basketball courts and formal gardens. Just beyond the park is a Waitrose and the Garon Park golf complex. “Most buyers come from London, Ilford and Barking [and are] relocating to be close to the grammar schools,” says Mark Newman of Winkworth estate agents. “There are more houses on the market currently than flats.”
Folkestone West, Kent
Train time: 52 minutes (into London St Pancras International). Season ticket cost: £7,180. Average house price in 2025: £310,304
A cheaper and smaller alternative to Brighton, with a growing cultural scene. The maritime town is in the throes of a nine-hectare (23-acre) regeneration project transforming the old harbour and railway station into an entertainment and food hub. The promenade is now lined with bars and restaurants, live music venues and food stalls, and at the tip of the harbour arm is a champagne bar housed in the old lighthouse. Residential projects on the surrounding land are under way. For art galleries, head down the cobbled old high street. “Folkestone offers an ideal balance for those commuting two to three days a week,” says Claire Reene of Bairstow Eves. “We are seeing strong demand for period homes near the two train stations. As most buyers want easy access to transport, homes in town are selling faster than those in surrounding villages.” Average prices for semi-detached homes start from about £350,000 to £400,000, and detached homes from £450,000.
Colchester, Essex
Train time: 47 minutes (into London Liverpool Street). Season ticket cost: £6,700. Average house price in 2025: £285,722
Just south of the Suffolk border, commuters come here for access to London, Cambridge or Ipswich and to be surrounded by countryside. Known as Britain’s oldest recorded town, with its centre encircled by ancient Roman walls and an 11th-century castle, Colchester was upgraded to city status as part of the Jubilee celebrations in 2022. It is fast-growing with plenty of new-build developments on the edge. There is high demand for the villages of Great Bentley (with a 17-hectare, or 43-acre, village green) and Alresford (six miles south of the city), according to Simon Andrews of Abbotts estate agents. “We have highly sought-after schools in the area, too, such as Colchester Royal grammar school and St Mary’s Colchester,” he adds.
Sandy, Bedfordshire
Train time: 49 minutes (into London St Pancras). Season ticket cost: £6,152. Average house price in 2025: £310,337
For its size, Sandy has a lot of state primary schools and one secondary school (Sandy secondary school), all rated “good” by Ofsted, making it a convenient place for families to settle. “Buyers get a lot more for their money than in Hitchin and Stevenage, as it is slightly further out of London,” says Santino Diniro of Taylors estate agents (and Bedfordshire is generally cheaper than Hertfordshire). The number of schools is dwarfed by that of pubs and restaurants, including the 18th-century Queen’s Head, Pecoro (pizza restaurant) and the Indian restaurant the Ivory Lounge. The community comes together at the carnival and garden and craft show. There are after-school clubs and crystal workshops at the coffee shop Brew and Renew, and forest bathing at the Lodge – the RSPB’s headquarters. Michael Graham is selling a detached, four-bedroom, period property on the edge of town for £640,000.
Travel time 60–89 minutes
Corby, Northamptonshire
Train time: 71 minutes (into London St Pancras). Season ticket cost: £10,624. Average house price in 2025: £225,245
Corby used to be the largest town in England without a railway station. One was built in 2009, and the old industrial town has risen in popularity as a commuter destination ever since. It has plenty of green pockets – West Glebe Park and Great Oakley Park, for example – and it is a half-hour drive to Rutland Water. On the outskirts is Rockingham Forest Park, 200 square miles of ancient woodland. Investment has been poured into the town, namely the Corby East Midlands International Pool and the Cube – an innovative, award-winning civic hub that houses the council, the town hall, the library, arts exhibitions and shows. Homebuyers are attracted to the nearby villages: Little Stanion and Stanion, Great Oakley, Rockingham and Cottingham, says Chris Smith of William H Brown, who sees a lot of buyers signing up for new-build homes at the Priors Hall Park development on the edge of town.
Retford, Nottinghamshire
Train time: 87 minutes (into London King’s Cross). Season ticket cost: £14,504. Average house price in 2025: £212,487
On the east coast mainline, this market town works for those heading to London two to three days a week, as well as those commuting to Nottingham, Lincoln or Sheffield. Around the market square are cafes and restaurants; there’s bottomless brunch on offer at the Glass Lounge and vegan options at Honey & Fig. There are also local independent breweries such as The Brew Shed and traditional country pubs in the outlying villages. “While many value Retford’s fast east coast mainline services, more buyers are choosing surrounding villages – places such as Barnby Moor, Sutton cum Lound, East Markham and Clarborough – for character homes, bigger gardens and a strong sense of community,” says Roo Fisher of Savills. Local beauty spots include Clumber Park in Sherwood Forest and Idle Valley nature reserve. There are two “good” secondary schools in the town: the Elizabethan academy and Retford Oaks academy. In the heart of the town is a grand Georgian home on sale with five bedrooms for £695,000 with Fine & Country estate agents.
Travel time 90–119 minutes
Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Train time: 91 minutes (into London King’s Cross). Season ticket cost: £16,024. Average house price in 2025: £148,803
The LNER service options between Doncaster and London suit commuters making the trip to the capital a few times a week. Emma Power of Blundells estate agents says Doncaster attracts commuters who want value for money. She deals with buyers heading out into the villages of Sprotbrough, Cusworth, Armthorpe, Bessacarr, Cantley and Wheatley – all about 10 to 15 minutes from the centre and popular with cyclists because of the scenic routes. There is plenty to be excited about: “The St Leger [horse racing] festival attracts thousands of people to the racecourse each year, over four days, the airport (the Doncaster Sheffield airport) is expected to reopen in 2027-28, and the area is home to Yorkshire Wildlife Park.” She cites bucolic walks around Cusworth Hall and Potteric Carr nature reserve. Property in these villages is far more expensive than within Doncaster itself, with trophy homes that exceed the £1m mark.
Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Train time: 100 minutes (into London Paddington). Season ticket cost: £16,228. Average house price in 2025: £224,850
The stream of families relocating from London to the Cotswolds remains steady after the race for space. Gloucester is a gateway to the south Cotswolds but property here is more affordable than the celebrity-studded, golden area around Chipping Norton. Lucinda Eaton of the buying advisers Property Vision cites Painswick as an example of a chocolate box village close to Gloucester. The fastest trains from Gloucester and neighbouring Cheltenham take a similar time to arrive in London, and yet the average house price in Gloucester is more than £100,000 lower. There is a grammar school system in Gloucester: the boys-only (until sixth form) Sir Thomas Rich’s school, the girls-only (again until sixth form) Denmark Road high school, and the mixed Crypt school. The increase in commuters using Gloucester station reflects the shift west from Oxfordshire to Gloucestershire and Worcestershire for pretty villages at lower prices, Eaton says.
Birmingham
Wootton Wawen, Warwickshire
Train time: 43 minutes (into Birmingham Moor Street). Season ticket cost: £1,880. Average house price in 2025: £520,711
Wootton Wawen is south of Birmingham, beyond Redditch. It is one of a cluster of commuter villages. There is more value to be had in the surrounding villages, it seems. There is a three-bedroom cottage in almost 1.2 hectares (three acres) with a tack room and stables for £799,950, and a three-bedroom 1970s house for £325,000. The village sits on the River Alne and has two pubs, a primary school and the Yew Tree Farm Shopping Village.
Hartlebury, Worcestershire
Train time: 51/44 minutes (to Birmingham Moor Street and Snow Hill). Season ticket cost: £1,552. Average house price in 2025: £376,790
Worcestershire’s market towns and villages have become the Cotswolds of the Midlands, and are far more reasonable. The strip of villages to the north of Worcester also provides easy and quick access into the vast employment hub of Birmingham. Hartlebury is one such village. It has a castle and a common and several pubs (the Tap House and the Mitre Oak). Worcester is only a 20-minute drive away, while Kidderminster and Bewdley are on the doorstep. Wyre Forest nature reserve suits little explorers with a play park, while keen cyclists and walkers head to the Malvern Hills. There is a three-bedroom period cottage in Hartlebury listed on Rightmove for £260,000.
South Wigston, Leicestershire
Train time: 49 minutes (into Birmingham New Street). Season ticket cost: £3,972. Average house price in 2025: £249,811
Wigston is well placed to access London and Birmingham. The former requires a change at Leicester (only six minutes away on the train) while there is a direct service from South Wigston station to the capital of the Midlands. This suburb to the south of Leicester has plenty of period housing stock and a host of “good” primary schools to choose from, and several “good” secondary school options, too: Wigston Academy and Wigston College. Leicester grammar school is on hand. South Leicester rugby football club is based here and is a major part of the community. In terms of green space, there are country parks, the Grand Union canal and Glen Gorse golf club.
Manchester
Holmes Chapel, Cheshire
Train time: 42 minutes (into Manchester Piccadilly). Season ticket cost: £3,260. Average house price in 2025: £350,304
Harry Styles has put Holmes Chapel on the map. He grew up in the town – eight miles north of Crewe and 21 miles south of Manchester – and worked at the bakery. Last year, a mural of the superstar was unveiled at the station. “A walking tour has been established that starts at the station and leads to key sites tied to his youth,” says Crispin Harris of Jackson-Stops estate agents. But there is more to Holmes Chapel than Styles. The historic village has a medieval church and charming cottages. There’s a new artisan market, a doctor’s surgery and a secondary school (Holmes Chapel comprehensive school, ranked good). Four-bedroom detached houses start from about £425,000.
Styal, Cheshire
Train time: 43 minutes (into Manchester Piccadilly). Season ticket cost: £1,596. Average house price in 2025: £411,992
Styal is well positioned for Manchester airport as well as the city centre. The direct trains are less frequent and slightly slower than those running from neighbouring Wilmslow, which is classed as being part of the well-heeled Cheshire “Golden Triangle”. Andrew Thorpe of Savills says: “Styal is a popular and convenient spot and new-build property prices per square foot are about 25% cheaper than in Wilmslow. We see a lot of buyers moving back to the north-west from London, as well as families moving out of Manchester.” Styal sits near the banks of the River Bollin and is best known for its old cotton mill, now maintained by the National Trust. Many of the period cottages in the village were built for the mill workers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Bamford, Derbyshire
Train time: 55 minutes (into Manchester Piccadilly). Season ticket cost: £3,560. Average house price in 2025: £523,615
This is one for climbers. In under an hour, commuters working in Manchester can be among the crags of the Peak District national park. Bamford, nestled in the Hope Valley, is surrounded by beauty spots: Ladybower reservoir, Hordron Edge stone circle and Bamford Edge, with popular routes up the latter’s jutting buttresses. The Hope Valley climbing and training centre is based in Bamford, too. The station for this village is a 15-minute walk away, which, not surprisingly, involves a hill. The social hub of the village is the Anglers Rest pub, owned by the community, and with a post office. There’s a primary school, a bakery and a village hall. “Bamford combines beautiful countryside living with practical convenience and great amenities. Properties here hold their price,” Jackson-Stops’ Harris says.
Edinburgh
Camelon, Stirlingshire
Train time: 36 minutes (into Edinburgh Waverley). Season ticket cost: £2,396. Average house price in 2025: £173,381
The old industrial village of Camelon has become a suburb of Falkirk, which lies in the Forth Valley between Scotland’s two biggest cities. “Even though Camelon has a direct rail service to Edinburgh and Glasgow (similar journey times for each) it has remained under the radar for many buyers until recently. Buyers are being drawn by housing that still feels very sensibly priced, as well as the rail network,” says Andrew Ligertwood of Strutt & Parker estate agents. “What often surprises people is how quickly the town gives way to open space,” he adds. The Forth & Clyde canal is close by, with walking and cycling routes and surrounded by parkland. There are plenty of places to eat without needing to go into Falkirk, such as the Canal Inn and the new restaurant Sea-Salt. Falkirk golf club is on the doorstep.
Fauldhouse, West Lothian
Train time: 36 minutes (into Edinburgh Waverley). Season ticket cost: £2,224. Average house price in 2025: £155,947
Fauldhouse is one of a strip of villages running alongside the A71 as it heads south-west out of Edinburgh, and is enveloped entirely by green and blue spaces, such as Polkemmet country park, Greenburn golf club and Cobbinshaw reservoir. The last is a site of special scientific interest and an important spot for pink-footed geese (and anglers). Overlooking the golf course is a bar and lounge at the golf club, and the Flagstick restaurant is next door. In the centre of the village is the Heatherbell Inn, a community centre and two primary schools. According to Ligertwood, Fauldhouse, and the neighbouring village Addiewell (also with a direct train line to Edinburgh), offer good, family-size homes, on the edge of open countryside. “These places are increasingly becoming considered moves rather than compromises.”
Stirling, Stirlingshire
Train time: 39 minutes (into Edinburgh Waverley). Season ticket cost: £2,396. Average house price in 2025: £215,224
In the centre of Scotland, and the gateway to the Highlands, Stirling is a historic city with a vibrant cultural scene. It appeals to students, first-time buyers, families and downsizers alike. Stirling Castle was the childhood home of Mary, Queen of Scots, and has views across the town and to the River Forth. There’s the National Wallace Monument and the Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum, and a string of festivals, from whisky and literature to beer and vegan food. “Stirling remains a firmly established commuter town and is emerging as a great alternative to Edinburgh for those buyers priced out of the capital,” Ligertwood says. “Kings Park is a favourite with families – a Victorian conservation area, with good schools, sports clubs and a hospital,” he adds.
Methodology
Savills worked out the best-value areas for housing with a station, and a direct line to London, Birmingham, Manchester or Edinburgh, that have seen station entry and exit numbers exceed their pre-pandemic levels – an indication of demand. Train times quoted are fastest journeys. Data sources: National Rail, Office of Rail and Road, Land Registry
Traffic & Transport
Pause HS2 reset until you are confident it can be delivered, NAO tells ministers | HS2
Revised plans for HS2 should not be put into action until the government is confident they can be delivered, according to the public spending watchdog.
The project to build the high-speed railway must be put on a stable footing to avoid a repeat of past failures, the National Audit Office (NAO) said in a report.
Last month, the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, announced that the scheme would now cost up to £102.7bn and trains would not start running between London and Birmingham until as late as 2039 – £70bn more and 13 years later than originally promised. She said the project would not be entirely completed until as late as 2043.
After a 15-month review, Mark Wild, the chief executive of HS2 Ltd, came up with a new detailed plan for the remaining work.
The NAO said a “considered approach” was being taken to resetting HS2, but added “significant work” remained before the project was completed.
The report said the Department for Transport (DfT) and HS2 Ltd were aiming to complete the reset by spring 2027, but added: “It is crucial that they get it right this time following past failures.
“They should ensure that they do not proceed with putting the plans into action until they are confident everything is in place to deliver against them.”
The NAO said the DfT and HS2 Ltd should review in autumn how “realistic” the new timetable was and revise it if necessary. It estimated the cost of the reset process would be £153m.
Constructing HS2 from London to Birmingham, as well as the now abandoned onward legs to Leeds and Manchester, was initially estimated to cost £32.7bn at 2011 prices. The latest cost estimate is roughly double the figure estimated in 2020. Services were initially scheduled to begin this year.
The Manchester HS2 leg was cancelled in October 2023 by the then prime minister, Rishi Sunak.
The NAO said most of the cost increases were caused by “cost underestimation, inefficient delivery and scope changes”.
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Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: “Establishing a fully robust estimate of cost and schedule, completing commercial negotiations and getting the right capabilities in place is necessary before they [DfT and HS2 Ltd] can complete the reset.”
A DfT spokesperson said: “Following years of mismanagement, this government has taken decisive action to reset HS2 and ensure the safe delivery of the line between Birmingham and London at the lowest reasonable cost.
“The reset is driving faster, more efficient construction on the ground, with six major construction milestones reached ahead of schedule last year.”
A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd said: “Fundamentally resetting HS2 was the only way to regain control of the project and break the cycle of poor delivery, delays and cost increases.
“This is a hugely complex task, requiring a vast amount of external industry expertise, and has been carried out in parallel with an increase in productivity across HS2’s vast 140-mile construction programme.
“Any costs associated with the reset will ultimately pay for themselves through improved management and efficiencies.”
Traffic & Transport
Will Andy Burnham ‘go big’ in expanding the role of the state? | Nationalisation
As he swept towards victory in the Makerfield byelection, Andy Burnham told voters he wanted to see “the essentials of life being run primarily for the public interest, not for the private interests”.
Citing the Bee Network of buses and trams across Manchester city region, brought together on his watch, Burnham repeatedly highlighted the need for more “public control” over the necessities of life. Water, energy, transport and housing are at the top of his list.
Now PM-in-waiting, he is expected to say more about his economic priorities in a speech on Monday.
Burnham’s Manchester address will garner intense interest, from his more leftwing backers to the owners of vast chunks of the British economy. They will be trying to gauge whether he is really serious about expanding the role of the state – all the way through to outright nationalisation – and willing to stare down the vested interests standing in the way.
His choice of chancellor is being viewed as a critical test of his radicalism on this agenda. Advocates of an economic reset, including nationalisation, see Ed Miliband as the only plausible candidate who would be prepared to countenance the steps needed – including facing down intense industry lobbying.
Former health secretary Wes Streeting, by contrast, did not mention public ownership or control in his recent speech on “progressive capitalism”, with the bookies’ favourite for No 11 focusing instead on alignment with the EU, planning deregulation and exploiting the North Sea.
Neal Lawson, the director of the progressive thinktank Compass and a vocal supporter, sees the distinction between public control – which could just mean tougher regulation, for example – and full-blooded public ownership, as key.
“Does Andy Burnham think he can go for ‘control,’ when all of the evidence suggests these things are uncontrollable, and can only be managed in the public interest by being owned in some innovative way by the public sector?” he says.
Perhaps the most radical vision of what public ownership could mean was set out in a dense policy paper published recently by Mat Lawrence, director of the Common Wealth thinktank, under the auspices of Burnham campaign vehicle Mainstream.
Lawrence says of Burnham: “He’s grasped that part of people’s desire for change is this hybrid and bureaucratic model we have for essential sectors, with a weak state trying to regulate privatised utilities, which doesn’t really work for anyone, in terms of affordability, investment, sovereignty, or quality of life.”
Common Wealth was set up explicitly to make the case for greater public ownership – though Lawrence and his co-author Alex Williams eschew the word “nationalisation”.
Their central argument in the paper, The Productive State, is that many of the basics of life – including transport, energy and water, but also social care and housing – have become too expensive, because shareholders are forever taking a slice.
That leads to higher inflation, they say – and therefore higher interest rates; and leaves voters frustrated that basic public goals, such as keeping England’s waterways free of faeces, seem forever out of politicians’ reach.
Cat Hobbs, the founder of the We Own It campaign, which has long argued for public ownership of key resources, stresses this latter, democratic aspect of the argument.
“The arguments are fairly straightforward,” she says. “We’re talking about natural monopolies. We don’t have choice as consumers, and so what we’ve argued is that we need accountability as citizens.”
Common Wealth insists its favoured approach has little in common with the postwar model of great, clunking nationalised industries, funded directly by the Treasury and with ministers in command.
Instead, they hark back to an earlier example – the Central Electricity Board, established by Stanley Baldwin’s Conservative government in 1926. The state-owned arm’s-length body built the first national grid, and rationalised electricity generation, helping to drive down bills.
Research by Arthur Downing, of the LSE, has shown that the regional public electricity generators of the time, known as “municipals”, were able to cut prices, because they did not need to pay out profits to shareholders, and could borrow more cheaply than a private operator could.
Somewhat similarly, Common Wealth describes the model it has in mind as “the public corporation, operating with a clear mandate, borrowing against its own revenues, insulated from both Treasury short-termism and shareholder extraction.”
As Burnham prepares to move into No 10, the future of Thames Water is seen as an early test case, with ministers set to decide whether the heavily indebted company should collapse into the state’s special administration regime (SAR) or its bondholders be allowed to take it over.
Thames’s shareholders have already been wiped out, and its creditors have offered to take a hefty discount. SAR can be used to tip a firm that provides a crucial public service, and is at risk of collapse, into a form of temporary insolvency. An independent administrator would then take over negotiations with lenders.
The expected outcome after a company has gone into the SAR is for it to be sold back into the private sector once its finances have been restructured. But advocates of nationalisation argue that ministers could instead mandate that Thames ends up a public corporation.
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Even Lawrence, who believes public sector ownership could and should be much more widespread, is cautious about how rapidly this process could take place – conscious of the risk of alarming private sector investors.
“This is not against markets, or dynamism, or entrepreneurialism; it’s about fixing some of those sectors that are not working to provide the affordable foundations for dynamic businesses to thrive,” he says, arguing that state capacity – the ability for the public sector to run things – has to be built up slowly.
Indeed, in the three years left of a Labour administration, Lawrence reckons Thames might be as far as the government could get, in terms of nationalising existing utilities – though Hobbs, and campaigners at the thinktank Compass, would like to see a much more aggressive use of the SAR.
Even that would be less drastic than the approach favoured in Labour’s 2019 manifesto, which was to take “rail, mail, water and energy” into public hands, by exchanging government bonds for shares. Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour insisted the plan would be “fiscally neutral” because the state would acquire assets, though the Institute for Fiscal Studies put the upfront cost at “many tens of billions” and pointed out the taxpayer would also be taking on hefty debts.
That same approach – bonds for shares – is the one laid out in the Productive State paper.
Fresh borrowing to fund such a process could be accommodated under the current fiscal rules, if the state acquires a financial asset in return. But that would not apply to the firms’ physical assets, creating potential accounting headaches, unless the rules were rewritten again.
It could also result in lengthy legal battles over what constituted fair value to investors.
The government’s relatively straitened fiscal position, with the debt-to-GDP ratio tripling in the past 20 years to 96% and a debt interest bill of £137bn due this year, also raises questions about the potential cost of additional borrowing.
For these and other reasons, Lawrence suggests Burnham should focus for the moment on quick(ish) wins that lean towards public “control” as well “ownership”.
All metro mayors could be encouraged to use franchising powers to create Bee Network-style integrated transport networks, while the government’s Great British Railways could take more action to coordinate routes and fares across the train operators Labour is returning to state ownership.
Meanwhile, a string of development corporations, with borrowing powers, could be set up to kickstart housebuilding, rather than hoping that planning deregulation alone will fuel a construction renaissance.
Rachel Reeves has already announced the creation of a development corporation for Greater Cambridge.
Lawrence suggests Labour could then go into the next general election advocating a more thoroughgoing nationalisation agenda, that could include taking the energy transmission companies into state ownership.
Another often-cited vehicle for change is Great British Energy: advocates of nationalisation argue this state-owned vehicle has been set up too timidly, and could enter the energy generation business, if it was scaled up and given a more expansive remit.
Burnham’s campaign rhetoric about an expanded role for the state could encompass a wide range of possibilities. With his top team set to be announced shortly, the MP for Makerfield’s every word will be watched intently, to determine whether he is ready, as the title of Miliband’s relentlessly upbeat book put it a few years ago, to “go big”.
Traffic & Transport
Thunderstorms disrupt Gatwick and Heathrow as hundreds of flights delayed or cancelled | Air transport
Thunderstorms have caused severe delays to hundreds of flights at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, leaving passengers stuck on grounded planes for hours in the scorching heat.
Overnight, downpours and thunderstorms lit up the skies of London after back-to-back days of 30C-plus weather as the UK and much of Europe experienced a record-breaking heatwave.
The stormy weather delayed more than 600 flights due to land or depart from Heathrow and Gatwick, some for more than six hours, while dozens more have been cancelled. One flight from Gatwick to Antalya scheduled to land in Turkey at 11:50am is now due in at 6pm.
The UK’s air traffic control service, Nats, said disruption was “expected to continue through the rest of the day” due to “forecasted severe weather across the south-east of England”.
Some travellers expressed their frustration on social media. One said they had been stuck on a grounded British Airways plane at Heathrow from 7am until noon. Another person said their daughter has been sat on an easyJet plane at Gatwick for four hours.
According to flight tracker FlightAware, at least 367 flights due to land or take off from Heathrow were delayed on Saturday and 352 in and out of Gatwick.
Some travellers have been stuck abroad in the sweltering heat. Twenty-nine-year-old Adam Joseph told BBC News that he had been stranded at Venice airport without air conditioning after his Gatwick-bound flight was delayed for at least four hours.
“We could’ve stayed at the hotel for another three to four hours,” Joseph said. “We are also being told that even in the event of a four-hour-plus delay, because of an air traffic control restriction, we will not be entitled to compensation.”
He added: “I’ve had to give up my chair to a family with a pregnant mother.
“People are very angry … we have had no communication from [British Airways] whatsoever.”
British Airways said in a statement: “Like other airlines, we’ve had to make some adjustments to our schedule today due to air traffic control restrictions caused by adverse weather conditions affecting parts of UK airspace.
“While the vast majority of our customers will be unaffected, we apologise for the inconvenience caused and our teams are working hard to help those impacted get their journeys back on track.”
EasyJet said it had to “pre-emptively cancel some flights to and from Gatwick in advance” over the thunderstorms.
“We are doing all possible to minimise the impact of the weather disruption for our customers and are notifying passengers in advance with their options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals where required,” a spokesperson said.
Delays have also hit smaller airports including Leeds Bradford and Edinburgh, with three departures delayed at the former and four arrivals and 15 departures delayed at the latter on Saturday due to the weather.
London City also experienced disruption, with a spokesperson for the airport saying: “Flights are gradually returning to normal following this morning’s weather-related air traffic restrictions. There have been some associated delays and cancellations.”
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