As mortgage rates remain high and rent continues to rise, housing policy has been a major issue for the 2024 General Election.
The Conservatives pledged to help more first-time buyers onto the ladder, and the Liberal Democrats wanted to alleviate homelessness.
But, as Labour win in a landslide victory, it will be their commitments – such as building more homes including council housing – which should come to fruition.
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One in ten voters told a recent YouGov poll that housing was the main issue that would inform their choice, while many more said it ranked highly along other concerns such as the cost of living.
Here’s how Labour approached housing at the election, and what their manifesto pledges as Keir Starmer takes the helm at number 10.
Labour Party‘s manifesto policies on housing
- Build 1.5 million new homes
- Amend the Affordable Homes Programme
- Scrap Section 21 no-fault evictions and give renters new powers to challenge ‘unreasonable’ rent increases
Building new homes
Announcing the Labour Party manifesto on June 13, Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said the party would help ‘people saving every penny for a home that’s out of reach’.
Labour has committed to building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.
To help achieve that, Keir Starmer has vowed to ‘bulldoze’ restrictive planning rules and weaken councils’ powers to block building projects.
However, he says he will also give councils more powers to force developers to include a proportion of affordable and social housing in projects.
He also said he will reverse Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap government house-building targets.
Labour has also promised to prioritise brownfield land for house-building, as well as poorer quality green belt land which it calls the ‘grey belt’.
Local authorities will be empowered to plan for housing growth, too. Labour plans on protecting the green belt while building new homes – an urban planning tool designed to protect areas of the countryside from urban sprawl.
Creating more affordable homes
Likewise, Labour has committed to adding to the stock of social homes by building new ones, as well as making changes to the Affordable Homes Programme to ensure that the government can deliver more homes using existing funding.
Speaking to property developers in Leeds on the campaign trail last month, Angela Rayner said Labour would bring back local housing targets and that 40% of homes built must be affordable.
A new task force would make a set of recommendations for locations within six months and have a list of projects within a year if Labour won the General Election, she added. The party claims 1.5 million homes would be built over the course of parliament.
Mortgage guarantee scheme
Ensuring that first-time buyers are able to get on the housing ladder has also proved to be a priority for Labour, with the manifesto further promising ‘a permanent, comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme to support first-time buyers who struggle to save for a large deposit, with lower mortgage costs.’
Section 21 and renter rights
Similarly to the Tories, Labour’s manifesto pledges the ‘immediate’ scrapping of Section 21 no-fault evictions. Renters will also be given new powers to challenge ‘unreasonable’ rent increases.
The party has additionally pledged to extend Awaab’s Law to renters in the private sector, meaning landlords would be obliged to fix health hazards.
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