Focusing on Labour's immediate goals over the coming weekend.
In their first Annual Conference in 15 years, the Labour Party is set to emphasise housing policies that cater to the needs of first-time buyers, Stamp Duty reform, and housebuilding incentives, with a particular focus on social and affordable housing.
Key expected housing policy priorities include:
1. **Expanding social and genuinely affordable housing supply**: Labour aims to build around 90,000 to 100,000 social rent homes per year, reversing previous policies such as the Right to Buy and “demolition first” approaches that have reduced the availability of council and affordable homes.
2. **Addressing first-time buyers’ challenges**: While specific details on Stamp Duty changes for first-time buyers are not yet available, the emphasis on boosting the supply of affordable homes and council housing generally supports easier access to homeownership for newcomers. Labour’s broader agenda likely includes reforms to make buying a first home more affordable and accessible.
3. **Incentivizing housebuilding**: Labour’s policy discussions include reforming regulatory frameworks that currently constrain housebuilding, such as restrictive planning rules, which are recognised as exacerbating housing shortages. There is a push towards creating a more diverse and competitive housebuilding industry to deliver the 1.5 million homes needed.
4. **Avoiding regressive taxation**: There is a theme advocating that funding for housing and public services should come from taxing the wealthy rather than burdening vulnerable groups, which may influence Stamp Duty policies to be more progressive.
In addition, concerns about the lack of support for first-time buyers and young families have been raised in relation to the Labour government's revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Tim Foreman, Managing Director of land and new homes at Leaders Romans Group (LRG), and Peter Hawley, Director of SOWN, have both highlighted this issue.
Helping first-time buyers to get on the property ladder is crucial for both the individuals involved and the country's social and financial prospects. Andy Jones, Group Director of corporate and BTR at Leaders Roman Group, calls for a fix to Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR) to improve the viability of new Build-to-Rent (BTR) homes.
Meanwhile, work has commenced at Liverpool's Paddington South development, and the World Sustainable Built Environment Conference is to be held in Australia.
The Labour Party's housing agenda at the conference will likely centre on significantly increasing social housing supply, reforming taxation and policies that affect first-time buyers (including Stamp Duty), and creating incentives and regulatory changes to accelerate housebuilding, aiming to tackle the housing crisis comprehensively and fairly. The party is also expected to reverse previous detrimental housing policies and reform planning regulations to unlock housing growth.
- The Labour Party's housing policy at the conference focuses on expanding social and genuinely affordable housing supply, aims to build around 90,000 to 100,000 social rent homes per year, and seeks to reverse previous policies such as Right to Buy and "demolition first" approaches that have reduced the availability of council and affordable homes.
- The Labour Party's agenda includes addressing first-time buyers' challenges, with an emphasis on boosting the supply of affordable homes and council housing, which could support easier access to homeownership for newcomers, and reforms to make buying a first home more affordable and accessible.
- Incentivizing housebuilding is part of the Labour Party's housing policy, as they plan to reform regulatory frameworks that currently constrain housebuilding, push towards a more diverse and competitive housebuilding industry, and aim to deliver the 1.5 million homes needed to address the housing crisis.
