Housing policy round-up: what Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dem and Reform are planning

Now that the autumn political party conferences have closed, let’s take a look at four of the parties’ housing policies. While they all agree that leasehold and rental reforms are needed, and more homes need to be built, their approaches vary and each has different priorities.

 

Labour

In their 2024 election manifesto, Labour made some big pledges around housing, including:

•    Hitting the annual target of building 300,000 new homes in England.
•    Improving renters’ rights in England via various reforms including abolishing section 21 and removing fixed tenancy terms.
•    Reforming the planning process.
•    Investing £6.6 billion into their Warm Homes Plan over their first five years in power.

While the Renters’ Rights Bill is expected to pass and become law in the very near future in England, Labour has fallen short of their new homes target in their first year by more than 100,000, with around 15% of completions being affordable homes and the majority of the rest private new builds. However, that’s a harsh assessment – turning planning and building numbers around in a year was never going to happen!

But, it did remain a key party focus at conference. The key policies discussed were:

•    Large-scale development featuring the creation of 12 new towns with 40% of homes being affordable. The target is to begin construction on three of these before the next election.
•    A continuing focus on decarbonisation across all housing stock. However, during sessions on low-carbon heating, there were warnings that public support could fall away unless green heating solutions were made cheaper and easier, and the Warm Homes Plan must be seen to deliver visible local benefits.
•    Reform of shared ownership to make the tenure fairer and more sustainable.
•    Investment in social housing with a call for collaboration between the National Wealth Fund, the British Business Bank and Homes England to unlock capital.

Kevin Shaw, National Sales Managing Director, said, “Labour is right to recognise the vital role of housing in economic growth, and the 1.5 million homes pledge, alongside commitments on planning reform and new towns, shows real intent to put a foot on the accelerator. However, there is a risk they are also pressing the brake at the same time if tax changes hit the second-hand market. Stamp duty already acts as a tax on mobility, and further constraints could slow transactions, dampen confidence and undermine the wider growth they want housing to deliver.

“If the Government truly wants housing to be an engine for economic renewal, it needs to keep both the new-build and resale markets moving forward together; not push one ahead while stalling the other.”

Following the conference, the Government also opened a consultation on ways to improve the home buying and selling process to make it simpler and more efficient.

The more homeowners, buyers, sellers and landlords that respond to this consultation, the more likely the government are to support changes and they want to hear from you – or your family, friends and colleagues!

So do read and respond to this consultation via the GOV.UK website.

 

Conservatives

The Conservatives believe that Labour’s flagship planning reforms will not work because most people want to live in towns and cities, not the countryside.

They announced that the party plans to:
•    Scrap Stamp Duty for primary residences.
•    Clear the path to tens of thousands of new homes in London and prioritise brownfield sites for development.
•    Introduce a ‘First Jobs Bonus’ savings scheme to incentivise young workers to save and plan for home ownership.

 

 

Reform UK

Reform remains committed to home ownership for British workers and is undoubtedly the most pro-landlord of the main parties. With no new housing policies announced during this last conference, we assume the party’s key policies from their 2024 election manifesto document still stand:

•    Reversing section 24, so that landlords would once again be able to deduct mortgage interest from rental income as an allowable expense.
•    Abolishing current proposals for rental reform (which would now mean scrapping England's  Renters’ Rights Bill) and instead improving enforcement of existing laws.
•    Cutting Stamp Duty, introducing a 0% purchase tax rate for homes worth below £750,000.
•    Reforming the planning system to fast-track approval and offer tax incentives for brownfield site development.
•    Making it cheaper and easier to extend leases to 990 years and buy freeholds, and ensuring greater transparency of potential charges for leaseholders.

They also remain committed to scrapping ‘net zero’, which may push back the introduction of a minimum C rating on EPCs for rental properties if they came to power.

 

Liberal Democrats

Like Reform, the Lib Dems simply reinforced the policies that they endorsed last year in their election manifesto, stating that they don’t believe any new working groups are needed at the moment. Their priorities remain:

•    Increasing the annual UK housebuilding target from 300,000 to 380,000, to include 150,000 new social homes.
•    Focusing on community-led development and creating new garden cities.
•    Reforming the rental market through ending ‘no-fault’ evictions, making 3-year tenancies the default and introducing licensing for landlords.
•    Abolishing leasehold for residential properties.
•    Ensuring new homes are zero-carbon and beginning a 10-year emergency upgrade programme to make homes warmer and cheaper to heat.