Published: 24/06/2024 By Amanda Hunt

The property industry urgently needs a clear strategy and strong, consistent leadership from the next UK Government. As the nation prepares to go to the polls on Thursday 4 July here we have examined the manifesto promises on housing from major parties to see what is on offer to voters who care about the future of our sector.

Leasehold

For property owners still waiting for a ground rent reduction, the Conservatives have committed to a £250 cap and the Liberal Democrats would limit it to a ‘nominal fee’. The Liberal Democrats are the only party making a manifesto pledge to abolish all residential leaseholds.

Renters reform and Section 21

The Conservative Party proposes to resurrect the Renters (Reform) Bill, and abolish Section 21. Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party have echoed their commitment to this too. The Greens and Plaid Cymru also explicitly support introducing rent controls, and the Liberal Democrats want to make three-year tenancies the norm. Reform, on the other hand, confirmed they would drop renters reform entirely and abolish Section 24 of the Finance Act to allow landlords to claim 100% of their mortgage interest when filing their tax returns.

Housebuilding

Several parties commit to delivering new homes, but there are differences in the details. The Conservative Party claim it will deliver 1.6 million homes in England over the next parliament and promises a dedicated task force within Homes England to push forward rural regeneration.

Labour has committed to 1.5 million new homes across the UK, prioritising social rented homes and affordable housing. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats propose an annual target of 380,000 new homes, just under half of which would be for social rent, delivered through garden cities and community-led developments. No other party has put forward the number of homes they will build, but the Green Party has stated that they would require all newly built homes to have solar panels and heat pumps.

According to recent research from centreforcities, Britain has a deficit of 4.3 million homes compared to the average European country, and clearing this backlog would represent a 15% increase in the total number of homes in the UK.

Planning 

Green Party proposals on planning reform focus on setting high environmental standards and embedding energy efficiency, with proposals like mandatory whole-life carbon and energy calculations for all applications and a requirement that new developments ensure residents are not car dependent.

The Labour Party emphasises making grey belt and brownfield land available for development, accompanied by £20 million funding to employ 300 more planning officers. They’d also update the National Planning Policy Framework ‘immediately’ and introduce ‘Golden Rules’ to ensure that both communities and nature benefit from new developments. Priorities for the Conservatives include a second attempt to abolish EU nutrient neutrality rules, which they state will unlock 100,000 new homes (they first proposed this in 2023, but blocked by the House of Lords). The towns long-term will be expanded to provide £20 million in regeneration funds to nine more towns in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They have also maintained their commitment to protect the Green Belt whilst delivering a ‘record’ number of homes each year on brownfield land in urban areas.

Support for homebuyers

There are offers to first-time buyers from the two major parties, with Labour proposing a permanent mortgage guarantee scheme, and the Conservatives abolishing stamp duty on homes up to £425,000 and offering equity loans of up to 20% on new build properties.