What can we expect from Labour on housing?

Tackling the long-criticised planning system appears to be the priority. 

Labour says it will “immediately update” the National Planning Policy Framework, which will include restoring unspecified mandatory housing targets. 

“We will take tough action to ensure that planning authorities have up-to-date local plans and reform and strengthen the presumption in favour of sustainable development,” the manifesto says. 

Councils will also get help to pay for extra planning officers by increasing the rate of the stamp duty paid by non-UK residents. 

It also says it will “implement solutions” to unlock the building of homes affected by nutrient neutrality rules, without weakening environmental protections.

The party wants “more high-quality, well-designed, and sustainable homes” and places that “increase climate resilience and promote nature recovery”.

In government, both David Cameron and Boris Johnson made efforts to tackle the planning system. Indeed, as prime minister, Mr Johnson vowed to “tear it down and start again”. Instead, a number of changes were introduced as part of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act. 

Can Labour finally crack the nut that is planning?

Social and affordable housing

Labour has vowed to deliver the “biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation”, without putting a specific figure on this aim. 

Sector bodies have repeatedly called for 90,000 social homes a year to be built over the next decade. 

However, Matthew Pennycook, who had been Labour’s shadow housing minister since late 2021, has said it is “not feasible” for Labour to commit to this figure initially. 

“Taking ourselves out of the housing crisis that we’re now in is going to not be quick and easy,” he told the Labour Party Conference last year. “It’s going to be an absolutely painstaking, laborious task over many, many years.” 

Labour’s manifesto also said it will “strengthen planning obligations to ensure new developments provide more affordable homes”. 

And it promised to make changes to the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) to ensure that it delivers more homes from existing funding. The party has previously said it will repurpose the AHP to direct it “overwhelmingly” towards the provision of social homes. 

Councils and housing associations will also be supported to “build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply”, the manifesto says.

Right to Buy reform

Right to Buy is a controversial policy that has had its fair share of critics over the years. However, despite the Thatcher-era policy being blamed by some for the erosion in social housing stock, Labour has said it will not scrap it. This is a reversal of its 2019 manifesto pledge, under Jeremy Corbyn, to suspend it. 

Instead, the party has said that as the government, it will review the increased Right to Buy discounts introduced in 2012 and “increase protections” on newly built social housing. 

The Local Government Association has also called for reforms to Right to Buy. 

Meanwhile, Andy Burnham, Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, said in May that the policy should be suspended to allow for more social homes to be built. 

Building safety

Labour has vowed to take “decisive action” to improve building safety, which will include regulation to ensure we “never again see a repeat of the Grenfell fire”. 

The last government already introduced a slew of new laws on this, notably the Building Safety Act, which has included the launch of a new Building Safety Regulator within the Health and Safety Executive. 

However, figures from the Regulator of Social Housing last week revealed that nearly 500 social housing blocks with cladding defects still have unclear or incomplete remediation plans. 

And the battle for leaseholders stuck in defective buildings goes on.   

Labour’s manifesto says: “We will review how to better protect leaseholders from costs and take steps to accelerate the pace of remediation across the country.” 

It also promised to put a “renewed focus” on ensuring those responsible for the building safety crisis pay to put it right, without giving more detail.

Former housing secretary Michael Gove waged war on developers, getting them to sign a pledge to fix issues they were responsible for dating back 30 years. 

No mention was made in Labour’s manifesto about the significant financial burden still facing housing associations dealing with building safety issues.

Fixing these problems is partly the reason for many landlords dialling down their development plans, alongside spending more on repairs and maintenance, plus decarbonisation. 

New towns and powers for combined authorities

Labour has vowed to build a new generation of new towns, “inspired by the proud legacy of the 1945 Labour government”. 

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader and housing secretary in waiting, has said that a “gold standard” of 40 per cent affordable housing will be the target on these new developments. But it remains to be seen how this standard will be enforced. 

A list of projects are expected within Labour’s first year of power, overseen by an “expert independent taskforce”, according to Ms Rayner. 

Rumours have suggested that Nottingham, Stafford and Northampton are being assessed as possible sites. 

New mechanisms for cross-boundary strategic planning will be introduced to help with these plans, the manifesto says. 

Labour will also require all combined and mayoral authorities to strategically plan for housing growth in their areas.

Combined authorities will be given new planning powers and “new freedoms and flexibilities” to make better use of grant funding, the manifesto says. 

Labour says it will also further reform compulsory purchase compensation rules to “improve land assembly, speed up site delivery, and deliver housing, infrastructure, amenity, and transport benefits in the public interest”. 

It will also look to address the issue of hope value, to ensure that on certain schemes landowners are awarded “fair compensation” rather than “inflated prices based on the prospect of planning permission”.

Green belt policy

The green belt remains another politically charged area and Labour has vowed to preserve it. However, it has vowed to take a more “strategic approach”, involving releasing so-called “grey belt” land, such as disused car parks.

In April, the party laid out some “golden rules” for building on the grey belt, which includes a stipulation that a site must target 50 per cent affordable housing. 

No-fault evictions

Despite promising to ban Section 21, or so-called no-fault evictions, the Conservatives ran out of time to get the legislation over the line. Notably, the measure was controversial among some of its own MPs. 

Meanwhile, Labour has vowed to “immediately abolish” no-fault evictions. It has also said it will “prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, empower them to challenge unreasonable rent increases, and take steps to decisively raise standards”. 

Among this, it will extend ‘Awaab’s Law’ to the private sector. The law was introduced following the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died from exposure to mould in his family’s home, which was owned by housing association Rochdale Boroughwide Housing. 

Ending leasehold

Ms Rayner has vowed that Labour will end what she called the “medieval” leasehold system, with “root-and-branch reform”. 

The party’s manifesto says it will enact the package of Law Commission proposals on leasehold enfranchisement, right to manage and commonhold.

The last government rushed through changes via the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act, with the legislation gaining Royal Assent shortly before Parliament was dissolved for the election. 

However plans to remove ground rent for existing leaseholders or cap it at £250 were dropped.

And a ban on leasehold for new-build properties, will only apply to houses, not flats. It is estimated around 70 per cent of leaseholds are flats. 

Mr Pennycook has said Labour will “finish the job". 

The manifesto says: "We will take further steps to ban new leasehold flats and ensure commonhold is the default tenure,” it adds.

“We will tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rent charges. We will act to bring the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ private housing estates and unfair maintenance costs to an end.” 

Homelessness

Labour says it will “put Britain back on track to ending homelessness”. This will be done, it says, through a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils “across the country”. 

Latest official figures, published in April, revealed that nearly 45,000 households in England were assessed as homeless in the three months to December 2023. This figure was up from just under 39,000 during the same quarter in 2022.

Housing market

Labour says it will work with councils to give first-time buyers the first chance to buy homes and “end the farce of entire developments being sold off to international investors before houses are even built”.

A “comprehensive” mortgage guarantee scheme, to support first-time buyers who struggle to save for a large deposit, will also be introduced.