Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer unveiled his party’s manifesto today with a focus on building new homes, “immediately” banning no fault evictions and reforming the country’s complex planning regulations.
Key housing-related points from the manifesto:
Housing
- Build 1.5 million new homes over the next five-year parliament
- Restore local council mandatory housing targets
- Introduce a permanent mortgage guarantee scheme to support first-time buyers
- Launch a Warm Homes plan to upgrade the energy performance certificate levels of 5 million homes through grants and low-interest loans, costing £6.6bn over five years
- Immediately abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and “prevent private renters
being exploited and discriminated against” - Will “tackle” unregulated and unaffordable ground rent charges, and will act to bring what it calls the “fleecehold” of private housing estates and unfair maintenance costs to an end
Labour’s level of housebuilding is 100,000 below the Conservative Party’s target of 1.6 million new homes over the next five years. Over the last five years, the UK has built around 1 million homes.
Labour says it “will not be afraid to make full use of intervention powers to build the houses we need”.
It adds it will prioritise brownfield development wherever possible, and fast-track the approval of urban sites.
But adds that “brownfield development alone will not be enough to meet our housing need”.
The party says: “Labour will take a more strategic approach to greenbelt land designation and release to build more homes in the right places.
“The release of lower quality ‘grey belt’ land will be prioritised and we will introduce ‘golden rules’ to ensure development benefits communities and nature.”
The Conservatives have also promised to end ‘no fault’ evictions. Its wide-ranging Renters Reform Bill, met with opposition from Tory backbench MPs, some of whom were landlords, and ran out of time at the end of the last parliament.
Planning
- Build a “new generation” of new towns
- Require all combined and mayoral authorities “to strategically plan for housing growth in their areas”
- Appoint 300 new planning officers, costing this at £20m over five years
- Reform compulsory purchase compensation rules “to improve land assembly, speed up site delivery, and deliver housing, infrastructure, amenity, and transport benefits”
- Deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation
Tax
- Lift the stamp duty surcharge paid by non-UK residents by 1%, raising £40m over five years. These rates are currently 2% points higher than those that apply to UK residents
- Will not raise national insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates
of income tax, or VAT - A “renewed focus” on tax avoidance by large businesses and the wealthy
Other
- Plans to double the size of the UK’s co-operative and mutuals sector and will “work with the sector to address the barriers they face, such as accessing finance
Industry reaction
Landmark Information Group chief executive Simon Brown on planning: “We welcome the scale of Labour’s ambitions, but they have a job on their hands to quickly get to grips with the UK’s intricate and often highly fragmented planning system.
“Any planning decisions should be rooted in granular data to identify hotspots of consumer demand and any potential bottlenecks to development.”
Propertymark chief executive Nathan Emerson on planning: “Pledges to reform the planning system, commit to a brownfield-first approach, making the private rental sector more energy efficient, and a commitment to build 1.5 million new homes over the next parliamentary term are more than welcome.
“The planning process can be a huge obstacle in keeping pace with demand and change is desperately needed in order to serve an ever-growing population.
“Many buyers have had a tough time since the 2008 recession, and it is vital any future strategy includes a sustainable mix of affordable housing options for both buyers and renters.”
Together chief commercial officer Ryan Etchells on housebuilding: “A crackdown on ‘nimbyism’, a commitment to build 1.5m new homes and plans to re-use brownfield land is all well and good.
“But it will be interesting to see whether the government, of whichever colour, will be able to deliver on the support small- and medium-sized housebuilders need to make these ambitions a reality.
“This will be key for planning reform and encouraging access to finance for development.”
Rightmove’s property expert Tim Bannister on FTBs: “Housebuilding needs to be accelerated, and creating a permanent mortgage guarantee scheme would at least give first-time buyers the certainty that the option will be there.
“However, we know from our own research that policies like the mortgage guarantee scheme have limitations, and are only able to help a very small pool of future FTBs that fit specific requirements.
“One of the biggest barriers for FTBs is being able to borrow enough from a lender, which a mortgage guarantee scheme doesn’t address.”
National Residential Landlords Association chief executive Ben Beadle on rent reform: “All of the main parties are committed to ending section 21.
“What matters is ensuring the replacement system works, and is fair, to both renters and responsible landlords.
“Given this, we agree with the shadow housing minister who has argued that ‘landlords need robust grounds for possessions in legitimate circumstances, and they need the system to operate quickly when they do.’
“We stand ready to work constructively with a potential Labour government to achieve this and ensure a smooth transition to the new system.”
Generation Rent deputy chief executive Dan Wilson Craw on rent reform: “Abolishing no-fault evictions was a promise at the 2019 election, and renters cannot wait any longer for this protection, so we’re pleased Labour has committed to doing this immediately.
“Too many tenants are forced out of their home by unaffordable rent rises so any new protections must help tenants stay put, rather than continue to allow landlords to push rents up faster than tenants’ wages. Rent rises should be limited to the lower of wage growth or inflation.”
Quilter tax and financial planning expert Rachael Griffin on capital gains tax: “Both shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and Sir Keir Starmer have in recent interviews doubled down on the fact they have “no plans” to increase capital gains tax rates without completely ruling it out.
“However, in its manifesto Labour has explicitly ruled out increases to income tax, national insurance, VAT and corporation tax, but make no mention of capital gains tax.”
Building Societies Association chief executive Robin Fieth on boosting the mutual sector: “There are over 9,000 mutual and co-operatives in the UK, offering a competitive and purpose-driven alternative to shareholder-owned businesses.
With no external shareholders to satisfy, they can take a long-term view, which can be reflected in their prices, products and services, leading to product innovation and a greater choice for the consumer.
“The Building Societies Association, along with Co-operatives UK, The Association of Financial Mutuals, and the Association of British Credit Unions, has been calling on the government to ensure legislative and regulatory policies support mutuals and co-operatives and create a level playing field with their plc competitors, enabling them to thrive long into the future.”
Landmark’s Brown on Warm Homes: ‘The UK’s built environment is responsible for around 40% of UK carbon emissions and 16% of these arise from our homes, due to the age of the UK’s housing stock and poor insulation.
“Despite this, sustainability and climate change issues relating to housing are too often overlooked – so it is encouraging to see steps being taken by Labour to address this.
“There is an enormous amount still to be done to ensure that climate considerations are embedded into all facets of planning, purchasing and lending decisions to ensure a sustainable housing stock aligned with national net zero objectives.”
