Housing played a key part in Labour’s election campaign which was reflected in a very long to-do list. Just the list alone would be longer than we have space for; we have summarised the highlights below.
- Renters Reform—The Government decided not to proceed with the Conservatives Renters Reform Bill and introduced its own Renters Rights Bill in September. Helen Tucker takes a closer look at this new bill in her blog here. The Government expects it to be on the statute books by May 2025.
- Planning Reform – The Government is progressing its new National Planning Policy Framework after holding a consultation seeking views on proposed reforms. Stuart Evan’s takes a deep dive into the suggested revisions which can be read here.
- Reform Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) – To some extent, this is about using the tools provided by the Conservatives’ Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 since that provided the opportunity to remove hope value from compensation payable to landowners when acquiring land for ‘housing’ (especially affordable housing/education/NHS purposes). Labour’s manifesto did not refer to hope value directly, just fair compensation, but did link CPO reform to include further categories of development, infrastructure, amenity and transport benefits. This all links up to the New Towns promised by Labour. It is expected that the Law Commission will launch a consultation to inform its review of the CPO procedure and assessment of compensation. We know from the King’s Speech there is to be a new Planning and Infrastructure Bill but we have yet to see it.
- EPC C by 2030 – This will be introduced for the affordable housing sector via the Warm Homes Plan. We await the details of the plan including how it will be funded.
But perhaps the biggest promise by Labour is that there will be the largest increase in social and affordable housing for a generation; we hope to hear more on this in the Autumn Budget as well as news on a long-term rent settlement. We are also likely to see an announcement about either the reduction in Right to Buy (RTB) discounts or, given recent announcements, an end to RTB in England; associations who have tenants who have that right have seen a surge in applications.