The Labour party has pledged to ‘get Britain building’ through its housing provisions in the King’s speech, which he delivered today (July 17).
Read by King Charles III, the proclamation detailed how the current government will "seek to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing".
This was welcomed by the Mortgage Advice Bureau's new homes director, Mobeen Akram, who said the speech “further underlined” the government’s commitment to “reignite the housing industry”.
However, she added that now that the dust has officially settled on the election, “it's time for Labour to deliver on all the proposals they brought to the table.
"Even at these early stages, there’s no doubt that the government’s focus on planning as a driver of economic growth is a positive development for the industry, but Labour has an uphill climb ahead of them,” she explained.
“To reach that all-important 1.5m homes target, we need to get off on the right foot.”
Akram suggested that this could be achieved through greater collaboration between the government, lenders, and house builders.
“Whether it’s mandatory house building targets, investing in local authorities, increasing product innovation or additional support for first time buyers, we all have our part to play in driving growth across our sector,” she added.
Meanwhile, Together's chief commercial officer, Ryan Etchells, cautioned that while the Government’s pledge to unblock planning restrictions for the housebuilding sector was “very welcome”, the industry “needs to see real action”.
“More stock is needed to provide competition in the market and provide places for people to live- however, in order to achieve this we must also assess legislation around housing,” he added.
Further provisions
The speech also pledged to help renters, with the King stating that legislation will be introduced to give “greater rights and protections to people renting their homes”
This included ending no-fault evictions and reforming grounds for possession.
In addition, the speech also specified that draft legislation will be published on leasehold and commonhold reform.
Pete Mugleston, managing director for onlinemortgageadvisor.co.uk, said: "One of the most significant elements of the King's Speech is Labour's plans to protect renters' rights by reintroducing the Renters Reform Bill.
"Central to this bill is empowering renters to challenge 'unreasonable' rent increases. This is welcome news for many renters in the UK who are currently dealing with the cost of living crisis, where their rent has increased more than their wages."
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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