Labour’s first legislative programme in over 14 years goes big on building and on delivering unfinished business. Now it has to deliver. Tim Clark reports
A house building boom, an overhaul of planning laws, and renters’ rights are among the key Bills announced by King Charles in the first new Labour King’s Speech in over 14 years.
The two-week honeymoon in which Labour’s swathe of new MPs got to grips with their new abode in Parliament, and many enjoyed the football, came to a swift end as a deluge of 40 separate Bills were announced.
Many have been well known to the industry, and others are picking up on the loose ends of the previous government. The coming year expects progress to be made on leasehold reform, renters’ rights, implementing aspects of Awaab’s Law, and the long-awaited overhaul of the planning system.
Putting renters’ first
It is fair to say that the previous Conservative government promised on a multitude of occasions to overhaul rental rights in England. Former prime minister Theresa May was the first to promise action way back in 2019.
Half a decade later, the new Renters’ Rights Bill announced in the speech will finally make progress on such long-awaited promises to renters.
Over 11 million people in England live in rental properties, and the government states that many “live day in, day out with the knowledge that they could be uprooted from their home with little notice and minimal justification”. The new Renters’ Reform Bill aims to tackle this issue head on.
The previous Conservative government Bill, when published, replaced Section 21 with a number of other avenues for landlords to resort to as an alternative means to evict tenants. The Bill was dismissed as ‘hyperbole’ with an expanded Section 8 making it easier in certain circumstances to evict a tenant than under current laws.
Labour’s new Bill promises to abolish Section 21, and remove “the threat of arbitrary evictions and increasing tenant security and stability”. The Bill will include new, clear and expanded possession grounds, however ,so that properties can be reclaimed – whether these are as expansive as the previous Bill remains to be seen.
Responding to the measures in the King’s Speech, Matt Downie, Crisis chief executive, said: “This King’s Speech signals that housing is a clear priority and gives renters lots to be hopeful for with the announcement of the Renters’ Rights Bill.
“With no fault evictions one of the leading causes of homelessness, this legislation is a critical first step towards ensuring everyone has a safe home. Private renters have had to wait for reform for far too long and thousands have lost their homes because of it.
“It’s vital that the new government brings forward this legislation immediately, so that no one else must go through the trauma of being forced into homelessness.”
Tenant’s will be given power to challenge rent increases, which can often be designed to force tenants out “by the backdoor”; the Decent Homes Standard will apply to the private rented sector; and ‘Awaab’s Law’ will also apply to the entire rental sector – meaning that landlords, both public and private, will have clear legal expectations about when they need to make homes safe where they contain serious hazards. A version of this already exists in the social sector.
Discriminating against tenants on benefits will be banned, and councils’ enforcement powers will be strengthened with the aim of “driving bad actors out of the sector”.
Common people
The government also introduced a new Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill, which will build upon the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 which was passed at the tail end of the last government.
In 2020 a Law Commission report highlighted the inherent unfairness of the leasehold tenure, and the costs, complexity, uncertainty and inconsistencies of enfranchisement. They said the Right to Manage was not the simple process envisaged, with problems including the provision of information and uncertainty over the extent of the right.
The new Bill will, according to the government, provide homeowners with greater rights and enact the recommendations of the Law Commission, which includes a Right to Manage, and tackling the ground rent scandal.
Leaseholders could be given the right to buy the freehold on their property, and take over the functions of the building. Commonhold will effectively replace leasehold by restricting the sale of leasehold flats – though details of just how this can be achieved have not been laid out. It has been accepted that Commonhold hasn’t “taken off” to replace leasehold, and the government aims to revitalise the option. The measures have been given support from the industry.
The leasehold scandal has become an acute problem for many following the Grenfell disaster, where many have been left with sky-high bills for remediation works, or waking watches on their buildings.
“We await further details of the government’s plans but welcome their recognition that there is more to be done to address the real concerns of leaseholders, such as rising service charges and the regulation of managing agents,” said Mick Platt, director at the Residential Freehold Association.
“While we support proposals to enact the Law Commission’s recommendations, the government must ensure that any legislation does not retrospectively interfere with the legitimate investments of institutional investors, including professional freeholders and pension funds.”
Planning for conflict
The most contentious aspect of the new Labour government, at least thus far, is its commitment to ruffle feathers to push through planning reforms and new projects. The mindset that growth is the only way to help pay for the increase in services is possibly true, but it could come at a political cost.
The government has indicated that it is aware of this, and that it is gambling on the benefits outweighing the negatives over the lifetime of the Parliament.
Housing Digital has covered the initial reaction to Labour’s planning agenda a few weeks ago.
The new Planning and Infrastructure Bill states that the current regime “acts as a major brake on economic growth”, and the new laws will allow the system to be an “enabler” for growth. The government stated that planning should “enable democratic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built”.
Planning committees will be modernised, and the government has promised to improve decision making, provide a more predictable service, and streamline the processes for critical infrastructure.
The government also pledged to overhaul the funding for planning, which has been a bugbear for a decade. The King’s Speech background briefing noted that funding local planning authorities cost £794m in 2022/23 – however authorities suffered from a shortfall of £262m per year.
The pro-growth agenda has had many in the industry – particularly developers – salivating. One major house-builder called the plans the most pro-housing parliament in a generation.
Greg Reed, Places for People’s chief executive, said the King’s Speech was “a big step forward for housing”, but as ever, more detail was needed on how to achieve those plans.
“Plans announced today will help unlock land, speed up the planning process and turbocharge housebuilding. But we need to see this in action,” Reed said.
“To really drive delivery of the right homes, in the right places, supported by the right infrastructure, local planning authorities need to provide their own local plans and only 22% of them have adopted one in the last five years. With hopes of interest rates being further cut next month fading, there’s no time to wait. The time to build is now.”
Nature in the balance
Another intriguing aspect of the King’s Speech is the commitment to use development to fund nature recovery to unlock stalled sites. The government describes this as a “win-win” outcome for both the economy and nature, stating that “we know we can do better than the status quo”.
More work is expected to be done in this area, and the government pledged to work with nature delivery organisations, stakeholders and the sector to plan the best path forward.
“We will only act in legislation where we can confirm to Parliament that the steps we are taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes. Where we can demonstrate this, the Bill will deliver any necessary changes, ” it says.
New Towns… Will have to wait – at least for now
A new towns Bill was not included in the King’s Speech, which means that any plans will come later in the Parliament. However this may make sense as Labour will be looking to sort out its planning overhaul first, and expect to at least study where any new towns will be located first.
Parliament enters recess in just over two weeks returning in September. By then the government may well have fleshed out its plans further. For those interested in housing, it is likely to be a busy summer.
Main Image: The King’s Speech. Copyright © House of Lords 2024 / Photography by Roger Harris. Some rights reserved
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