Date Published 17 July 2024
The results of the UK general election were announced on 4th July and saw Labour win by a landslide majority over the Conservative party. This has ended the Conservative's 14-year reign and Labour plan to make a lot of significant changes to the housing market as stated in their manifesto. These include changes to planning rules, stricter targets for delivery of new homes, reform of the private rented sector, long-term schemes to help young people onto the housing ladder, and more power to local councils to take over empty commercial premises.
To help the private rental sector Labour has promised to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years. This would also help their aim to reach an ownership rate of 70%, committing to delivering the biggest boost in affordable and social housing for a generation. The Labour party has consistently emphasized the importance of providing affordable, social, and council housing as a crucial measure in guaranteeing decent living conditions for all individuals. They have expressed their intention to prioritize the reinstatement of social housing as the second largest form of tenure in the UK.
Labour also wants a ‘immediate' ban on no-fault evictions, which is likely to start as soon as possible. This would still take at least several months for this to become a reality. Propertymark has also stated the need for court reforms before changes are made to eviction rules.
They also look to stamp out damp and mould in the private rental sector. This would be achieved by extending Awaab's Law. This would ensure agents are suitably qualified and meet minimum competency standards to drive up the standards of service for consumers and eliminate bad practices in the sector.
Recently the EPC targets were scrapped but Labour would like to slash fuel poverty and cut energy bills for tenants by requiring all Landlords to meet EPC C in their properties by 2030. Future targets should be supported by legislation that incentivizes and encourages people, rather than penalizing them.
One of the other main points Labour want to bring in is to empower tenants to challenge unfair costs. This will be carried out through ending rental bidding wars, capping the amount of rent requested upfront, as well as letting tenants challenge unreasonable rent hikes. This would help tenants stay in their rental properties for longer and create a fairer system to rent a property rather than the highest bidder wins.
We understand the new changes when enforced may lead Landlords to sell some of their properties or potentially come out of the rental sector altogether. For tenants and first-time buyers these changes will be good news and would create a fairer system.
