Policy watch
Is this it? - housing policy announcements compared by Peter Lord
The manifestos for all the main parties were published last week, with virtually no new policy announcements included in any of them. The extent of advanced policy announcements has been such that the actual publication of manifestos was something of non-event. Read Robert Gordon-Clark's excellent analysis of this phenomenon in last week's LDN - London in Short.
Lib Dems enter the fray with shopping list of housing policies
We will spare our dear readers an in-depth breakdown of Lib Dem housing policies. Nonetheless, the party's manifesto, published last week, includes pledges to deliver 380,000 homes in new garden cities and community-led developments, powers to end Right to Buy, as well as the abolition of residential leaseholds and Section 21 no-fault evictions. As always, the Lib Dem manifesto can be best viewed as a shopping list of policies it would wish to see picked up by Labour or the Conservatives and these policy pledges are calculated to attract support from both moderate Tories (leasehold and renters reform) as well as the left (ending Right to Buy).
Muted welcome for underwhelming Labour announcements
The Financial Times has published a feature on Labour’s pledges on planning reform and housing delivery. The report cites cautious enthusiasm from the development sector for Labour’s planning policies, but suggests that more ‘realistic’ goals would be needed to break the ‘paralysis’ in the sector. Some built environment sector leaders have responded warmly to Labour’s manifesto pledges on housing and planning, with CEO of the British Property Federation, Melanie Leech, claiming ‘Labour is right to focus on improving the planning system as the key enabler of growth’ while strategic planning reforms will ‘allow us to deliver more homes against a clear target.’
Unimaginative Tory proposals fail to wow the sector
The Conservative manifesto saw new housing policy announcements in the form of a £1bn Help to Buy style scheme, as well as the abolition of stamp duty for first-time buyers purchasing properties worth up to £425,000. The new Help to Buy-style scheme would back first-time buyers to purchase homes worth less than £400,000 with a 5% deposit. The housing sector has responded to the party’s pledges on housing, broadly welcoming policies but labelling them as ‘frustrating’ and ‘devoid of imagination’.
'Good idea but ultimately meaningless'
Martyn Gerrard Estate Agents said introducing a new Help to Buy scheme is a ‘good idea’ but ‘ultimately meaningless if there are no homes to buy,’ adding that scrapping of first-time buyer stamp duty in properties valued up to £425,000 ‘doesn’t go far enough’,