On 4 July 2024 a new UK Labour Government was elected. The Housing Forum has been very pleased to see housing taking a prominent role in Labour’s recent announcements including the ambitious housing targets, commitment to much-needed social housing and promised investment in decarbonisation.
We share Labour’s ambitions and this article sets out what we believe is needed to achieve them. It draws on our own Manifesto for Housing 2024, which was produced with the cross-sector expertise of The Housing Forum’s members and board.
We have laid out our recommendations along the key three themes of supply, affordable houisng, and quality in separate pages below:
Supply
Labour have pledged to ‘get Britain building again’ and to build 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament and recognise that the housing crisis is well known to be one of the country’s biggest barriers to growth. They have already set out some ideas on reforming the planning system to help achieve this – funding 300 new planning officers, restoring mandatory housing targets, and strengthening action against councils who fail to deliver.
To achieve their ambitions on housing supply, The Housing Forum urges the new Government to ensure housing is at the heart of decision-making within cabinet and work across departments to make housing a top 5 government priority. The planning system needs better resourcing, with efforts also to improve recruitment and retention, and elevate the status of planners, underpinned by a strong performance monitoring system.
Read more about what needs to be done to boost supply here.
Affordable housing and choice
Labour want to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. They have set out some ideas that seek to increase the amount of affordable housing delivered via cross-subsidy from private housing, but have not committed any additional funding for affordable housing.
The Housing Forum believes that this increase in social and affordable housing will be difficult to achieve without a significant increase in funding. Government should create a Housing Accelerator Fund to tackle the affordable housing backlog. Long-term settlements for grant and for rent-setting will also help the affordable housing sector to build more homes. Planning policy can deliver more affordable housing via cross-subsidy from market housing when planning policy is stable, and when affordable housing quotas are higher for greenfield than brownfield sites. The Right to Buy should be ended – particularly for newbuild housing – to reduce the loss of social housing stock and to give councils the confidence to build.
Read more about what needs to be done to create affordable housing and choice here.
Quality
Labour say that they will take steps to ensure we are building more high-quality, well-designed, and sustainable homes and creating places that increase climate resilience and promote nature recovery. They plan to invest £6.6bn over five years to upgrade five million homes via grants and low interest loans for insulation, solar panels, batteries and low carbon heating. This will be delivered via councils and devolved governments.
The Housing Forum supports government policies driving improvements in housing quality. A cross-sector roadmap for decarbonisation is needed with visibility of long-term investment to achieve low-carbon targets in both new and existing homes. This should include long-term funding for social landlords to invest in their stock – improving condition, building safety and energy efficiency in a cost-effective and co-ordinated way. Research is needed to ensure that new technologies are delivering as intended in the real world. We would also like to see reforms to social rents, so that they reflect the energy efficiency of the property, which will help to leverage in additional funding for decarbonisation.
Read more about what needs to be done to improve quality here.
Alleviating the housing crisis will not only help millions of people, but save the public purse billions each year as the downstream costs of the housing crisis on welfare, the health service and other public sector administration is reduced. The new government has the opportunity to turn around the housing crisis and by working in partnership with the housing sector, to ensure there is a quality home for all.
Share News Article
Want to share your news?
Have a story you’d like The Housing Forum to feature? We’d love to talk to you.