The construction industry has widely welcomed the new Labour government’s housing and planning reforms announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July.
Labour committed early on to take “immediate action” and “hit the ground running” to meet the 1.5m new homes target by 2029.
As part of this package of reforms, the government says it will support local authorities by providing funding for additional planning officers to improve performance and decision-making.
These changes are proposed in parallel with plans to modernise planning committees and improve the speed of planning decisions.
Here’s a round-up of the construction industry’s reactions.
‘A huge step forward’
Home Builders Federation chief executive Neil Jefferson said: “The ambition on housing delivery and policy proposals put forward to deliver them are positive and welcome. Planning has been the biggest constraint on housebuilding in recent years and the measures proposed will address the main areas of concern by bringing more land forward for development more quickly.
“Housing delivery has a range of determinants and will require a number of policy areas to be addressed. Moves to unblock the planning system are a huge step forward but we will also need to see moves to help increase mortgage availability, especially for young people, if we are to get to the levels the government is aiming to deliver.”
Allan Wilen, economics director at construction intelligence consultancy Glenigan, said: “Increasing housebuilding is a key cornerstone of its public proposition. In line with this intention, Glenigan’s Industry Forecast for 2024-2026 predicts a recovery in housing market activity as developers respond to strengthening market conditions. Project starts are expected to rise 14% in 2025 and 6% in 2026.
“However, this is subject to creating the right climate to kick-start activity. This means tackling high interest rates, real-term wage increases, and inspiring greater consumer confidence. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, alongside promised changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, should certainly help to buoy starts.”
‘Bold plans’ that need to address the skills crisis
Federation of Master Builders chief executive, Brian Berry, said: “It is positive that the new government has already made tackling the UK’s housing crisis a key priority. For too long we’ve underdelivered on housing and pushed out smaller housebuilders from the market. However, these bold plans will only be successful if the current skills crisis in the construction industry is addressed.
“We are substantially lacking the skilled workers required to build new homes, and to upgrade our existing homes with the energy efficiency improvements which Labour have pledged. The UK is in desperate need of a long-term skills plan, to establish clear pathways into careers in construction. Unless this is delivered it is difficult to see how 1.5 million new homes will be built over the next five years.”
Berry 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 off the existing housing stock, which is the oldest and leakiest in Europe.”
