King’s Speech: Labour policies back housebuilding and leasehold reform

Housebuilding, leasehold and rental reform are set to be key roles of the new Labour Government’s legislative agenda but agency regulation was missing from yesterday’s King’s Speech.

The State Opening of Parliament saw the King’s Speech set out Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s legislative priorities.

This included a Planning and Infrastructure Bill as well as legislation to fill the gaps on leasehold reform and scrapping Section 21 notices.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill aims to help Labour fulfil its aim of building 1.5m homes over the next five years by reforming compulsory purchase compensation rules and modernising planning committees, while boosting their capacity.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders  said it is positive that the new Government has already made tackling the UK’s housing crisis a key priority. 

But he added: “One startling omission is the lack of plans to upgrade the existing housing stock. We had been expecting to see a bold plan to retrofit five million homes to make them greener and more energy efficient but clearly the purse strings have not been opened enough to allow for this. While we should be looking to build more homes we mustn’t take our eye of the existing housing stock, which is the oldest and leakiest in Europe.”

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s property expert, added: “The new Government can now get going with its pledge to improve planning processes so that building homes can take place more quickly. We need more, good quality homes across the UK in the right places, so that everyone can find their next home, whether they are looking to rent, buy for the first time, upsize or downsize."

Meanwhile, a Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill pledged to end the “feudal leasehold system” by continuing previous changes including regulating ground rents and banning the sale of leasehold flats.

Katie Kendrick founder of the National Leasehold Campaign, described the move as momentous.

She said: “Over the years we have heard many Queens / King’s speeches promising reforms but today’s commitment from the new Government feels different.
“It feels like meaningful change is eventually going to be delivered. 

“It is clear there is a lot of work still to do on the many issues of leasehold but it's refreshing to know that the new government is determined to pick up the outstanding issues, tackle them head on and deliver once and for all.”

However, Sheila Kumar, chief executive of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, suggested the Government has missed an opportunity to make further improvements to the homebuying and selling process by failing to introduce measures to regulate property agents. 

She said: “Regulation of estate agents and managing agents could be immensely helpful for improving the operation of the property market, making better use of housing stock, supporting growth and providing increased confidence to consumers.”