Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 24/09/2026For Burnham to reach his (tricky) goals on council housebuilding, he'll want his cash to go as far as possible - we've set out how: Four takeaways: 1. Focus on cities 2. Give councils balance sheet flexibility 3. Get mayors to distribute cash 4. Be broad-minded on defining council housebuilding: 032
Reposted by Ant BreachMaurice Lange @mauricelange.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I have a new paper out today on what Andy Burnham needs to do to achieve “the biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war period”. A coherent (I hope) to-do list, explaining the contingencies and pre-empting potential missteps. Do read the paper in full, but here's a 🧵 31414
Reposted by Ant BreachCentre for Cities @centreforcities.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Lots of fiscal devolution is on its way for 2028 but the first step to fiscal devolution is arriving almost a year before... @antbreach.bsky.social on why business rates devolution is underrated👇 buff.ly/ZCmMLWnbuff.lyBusiness rates devolution is underrated - Centre for CitiesEnhanced business rates retention is key to fiscal devolution – but there is still more to come. 132
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Cities are only 9% of the UK's land area, but contain 61% of the country's jobs Sign up to our Substack for more data and charts like this every Tuesday! 030
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Some great charts in this Given our welfare system is not very contributory, big Qs for British policymakers here on how we get more women into paid work if we want immigration to be fiscally positive 368
Reposted by Ant BreachMaurice Lange @mauricelange.bsky.social · 16/09/2026A seriously impressive and useful report out today from my colleagues @oscarselby.bsky.social and @antbreach.bsky.social They've worked out how fiscal devolution can start in a fair and growth incentivising way, in superb technical detail. Give it a read 👇 122
Reposted by Ant BreachMark Byrne @markobroin.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Nice coverage by @bruceandy.bsky.social on our @centreforcities.bsky.social report on *how* HMT needs to give away tax powers to England's mayors. www.reuters.com/world/uk/eng...reuters.comEnglish regions should be funded by local taxes, not grants, think tank saysEngland's mayors should be funded from taxes raised in their own regions rather than government grants, with safeguards so poorer areas do not lose out, a think tank said on Wednesday as ministers re... 052
Reposted by Ant BreachOscar Selby @oscarselby.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Fiscal devolution for mayors: the government have announced it, here is how to do it: 1. Switch mayor's Integrated Settlements (grants) to a share of income and corporation tax - where 90% of funding is income tax and 10% is corporation tax. 163
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Our new report does the numbers on fiscal devolution. By letting the metro mayors keep around 7% of their local income tax (2% in London) and 2% of their local corporation tax (1% in London), we can replace grants in a growth-positive, cost-neutral way for HMT and the mayors: 3148
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 15/09/2026@richardaljones.bsky.social hi Richard - hope all well. Would like to DM you about a research project we're working on at CFC - could you follow me back please so I could drop you a message? - Ant 000
Reposted by Ant BreachMatthew Holehouse @matthewholehouse.bsky.social · 14/09/2026A heartfelt plea for a little help from struggling family firms like uh Greene King and Marriott International (market cap: $90bn) 6148
Reposted by Ant BreachSam @samd.bsky.social · 12/09/2026fantastic article about an underappreciated housing villain, NIMBY preservationists the funniest part is that another prominent NIMBY just launched a 24-tweet screed against this article, simultaneously decrying the lack of decorum and complaining about the “YIMBY bros cult” 1320323
Reposted by Ant BreachSimon Jeffrey @simonjeffrey.bsky.social · 10/09/2026My sense is UK lacks in leisure infrastructure too. Pricing shows chronic undersupply of Center Parcs in UK. Every major city should have one in their vicinity. And a massive indoor beach/water park/spa resorts. Every Mayor with new spatial planning and call in powers should allocate sites for both. 222
Reposted by Ant BreachSimon Jeffrey @simonjeffrey.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Surprised and delighted to see the tourist levy as top story on the BBC News 251
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 10/09/2026This is the first big step towards fiscal devolution. Major wins here on local autonomy are percentage rate (compared to flat fee) and no capping Together this means the visitor levy will provide a strong growth incentive for mayors who choose to introduce it + can be held accountable for results 2295
Reposted by Ant BreachMark Byrne @markobroin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Interesting chart from my colleagues @violaviz.bsky.social @oscarselby.bsky.social Related work coming tomorrow and next week, on how to make fiscal devolution work. (Subscribe for weekly charts, here: substack.com/@centreforci...) 012
Reposted by Ant BreachMaurice Lange @mauricelange.bsky.social · 03/09/2026In new research from @Centreforcities published yesterday, we find British big cities are broadly rubbish at putting houses near transport. Densities are the same (and sometimes lower!) near to rail stations than further away. France and Japan show that much better than this is possible. 🧵 285
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Our new report looks at what building new homes (especially flats) around stations could plausibly achieve in cities. Right now, the answer depends on something obvious Some cities - e.g Manchester - have many more rail and tram stations they can build homes around than others e.g. Leeds: 21810
Reposted by Ant BreachDaniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 30/08/2026The world's most notorious custard-pie thrower is dead. What an obituary. He got Bernard-Henri Lévy seven times. 131365640
Reposted by Ant BreachJack Tindale @jacktindale.bsky.social · 19/08/2026No he should...never be allowed to drive ever again? 53820129
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 18/08/2026It would be a terrible shame if this resource was lost for want of an archive - this stuff is still of major interest to policymakers today and is a crucial part of the social history that made the Britain of today (HT @municipaldreams.bsky.social ) 24152
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 18/08/2026About a month until 8,000 volumes on British postwar planning and housing history gets pulped. Unless we can find someone to save it municipaldreams.substack.com/p/a-good-hom...municipaldreams.substack.comA Good Home Needed Urgently for One of the Most Significant Libraries of Housing and Planning in the CountryThe trustees of the Octavia Hill Birthplace Museum are disposing of its Harry Simpson Memorial Library in September, next month. 63852
Reposted by Ant BreachAlex Hern @hern.bsky.social · 14/08/2026[same point but phrased as a positive] 151
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Great stuff - more politics, less process in planning please! 121
Reposted by Ant Breachcones @coneshotline.bsky.social · 07/08/2026just got the best photo back from our wedding 451967159
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Well yeah. Not much of the fashionable stuff that gets prizes is appealing to me or my friends. Guys are still buying Blood Meridian and The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea - who writing today is trying to sell books to those readers? 061
Reposted by Ant BreachLeft Outside @leftoutside.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Important: the data source for schools is just an 1868 report. People do read these things eventually! Wonks and civil servants take note, please keep producing reports and storing them in accessible, resilient, multimedia ways, and open your archives. 2399
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Only the Mayor can protect us from Westminster Council 080
Reposted by Ant BreachM. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Food desert discourse is fascinating as an extreme case of progressive policy breakdown: bad academic research, leading to bad policy papers, leading to (mostly) bad policy that wastes a lot of time/money, in response to a problem that either doesn't exist or is created by some other policy. 110013
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 31/07/2026My immediate thoughts on today's Devolution Document It's a huge set of proposals that will fundamentally change British politics and the national economy Making mayors accountable for growing their taxbase + committing to giving them what they need to do this is a gamechanger Thread: 174
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Yes to bringing back the Audit Commission and standardising metro mayor accounts so Mr and Mrs Joe Public can understand and compare local taxes. No to worrying so much about scrutiny that we end up being less ambitious on devolution or permanently attaching a Whitehall leash to the metro mayors. 1170
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Great thread below on the full gamut of powers coming down the track 070
Reposted by Ant BreachRob Johnson @rjson.bsky.social · 31/07/2026The tax retention news is so big it has overshadowed some of chunky stuff in the press release that complements it and fills out the devolution strategy pursued by the new PM. Some initial reactions by me and some @centreforcities.bsky.social thinking below to get you started 👇 38130
Reposted by Ant BreachAndrew Carter @andrewcities.bsky.social · 31/07/2026This is big deal. www.bbc.com/news/article...bbc.comAndy Burnham to give regional mayors share of income taxThe prime minister says the move will give power to "every postcode" but critics say the plans lack detail. 156
Reposted by Ant BreachChris Curtis MP @chriscurtis94.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Important chart below from @centreforcities.bsky.social More fiscal devolution means more growth, and many reasons to think the effect could be even bigger in the UK. 2162
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Looking forward to hearing more about this tomorrow from the PM. Tax sharing is a very substantial pro-growth reform that will help reverse one of the biggest mistake of the Thatcher era. 1206
Reposted by Ant BreachStephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Important piece by @antbreach.bsky.social this -stamp duty is bad, we should replace it. Council tax could work better - but for god's sake don't centralise it:centreforcities.orgCentralising council tax would make Burnham’s job more difficult - Centre for CitiesProposals for replacing council tax are common and it should be reformed, but it shouldn’t be centralised. 1346
Reposted by Ant BreachRoss Mudie @rmudie96.bsky.social · 29/07/2026This is still the best policy option re council tax (or indeed any property tax) reform IMO - would like to see it lifted up towards the top of the pile in the in-tray, not least because it could be introduced relatively quickly! 131
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Council tax is a bad tax. But most proposals to replace it get the wrong end of the stick. Rather than centralising council tax and handing out more grants, the solution is the opposite. If we devolve council tax we can cut bills for 2/3 of people across England. Quick thread: 4164
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 28/07/2026For the first time, we're hiring an intern to join our external affairs team! If you or somebody you know would like to start their career in public affairs for a first rate think-tank working on topics at the top of the British political agenda, click below! 023
Reposted by Ant BreachStephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Correct decision, obviously. Genuinely there are quite a few Labour MPs I just want to ask “without googling, how many parliamentary seats do you think there are in the south?”ft.comAndy Burnham rejects northern Labour MPs’ call to abolish council taxDowning Street says it is not considering replacing the levy and stamp duty with a new property tax 2916824
Reposted by Ant BreachSimon Jeffrey @simonjeffrey.bsky.social · 26/07/2026Sets out the devo project clearly. Of the risks within, the RDA-lite quality of the geographies in some places worries me most. If you can't figure out a name for your new authority without the contortions of an '& !, 'of' or a point of the compass, you're setting up failure. 151
Reposted by Ant BreachMark Byrne @markobroin.bsky.social · 26/07/2026Excellent on both the detail and purpose of the devolution push. Including a helpful reminder (re: references to Scotland and Wales) that English regions are not countries. And as @samfr.bsky.social says, fiscal devo is about getting growth incentives right. (If you're not subscribed, do it!) 1185
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 25/07/2026This would be the most important local finance reform since Elizabeth I. Finally introducing local revenue sources that aren't property taxes will ensure places really benefit from local growth - more jobs and/or higher wages in a place will translate into more investment and services: 818859
Reposted by Ant BreachSinem Adar @sinemadar.bsky.social · 24/07/2026I do not know what trajectory Özgür Özel's new party will set for Turkey. Too early to tell. What I know is that the fact the 67 per cent of the CHP MPs joined it - knowing that they will highly likely face repression - is a strong democratic defence of political representation. 0258
Reposted by Ant BreachMatt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 23/07/2026My favorite part is when Musk says more Europeans die from heat than Americans die from guns. Musk asks why The Economist doesn't write about air conditioning. She explains they do. "Pro-air conditioning?” asks Musk. “Very pro-air conditioning,” she responds. “You should read us sometime.” 572044208
Reposted by Ant BreachIan Rennie @theangelremiel.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Who are these weirdos? And why are the BBC interviewing them? 3126639
Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 18/07/2026Drilling in the North Sea won't have any measurable impacts on British energy prices/terms of trade, but it will have measurable impacts on the global climate? Eh? 2130