he new Labour government’s plans for the year ahead will be read out by King Charles in a speech to Parliament today.
The speech is expected to outline around 40 draft laws ministers intend to introduce in the coming months, following Labour’s victory at this month’s general election.
Measures relating to illegal migration, workers’ rights, a new energy company, railway nationalisation, crime and punishment, budget rules, mental health, online safety, democracy and devolution, as well as education, are also expected to feature in the government’s programme, along with housing and planning.
Housing and planning
Labour promised to “immediately” ban Section 21 evictions in its election manifesto, and criticised the previous Tory government for not doing so by failing to pass its Renters Reform Bill before the election.
It has also pledged to extend a series of building safety rules for social tenants, known as Awaab’s Law, to private renters.
In addition, the new government has vowed to put reforms to England’s planning system at the heart of the speech, although it is not yet clear how many new laws there will be in this area.
Fergus Charlton, a partner in law firm Michlemores’ planning practice, commented: “The new government has made it clear that planning reform and house building is a key strategy. The focus on streamlining planning processes, setting clear targets, and unlocking new land for development seems a strong foundation for boosting housing supply and infrastructure development.
“However, the re-branding of green belt to grey belt will be contentious. There are powerful lobbies who consider the green belt to be sacrosanct. To be effective re-brandings must be so persuasive that the public forget the previous incarnation. Whether this happens will depend on the details of policy. If new developments in the grey built are still required to show ‘very special circumstances’ to proceed then little will be gained.”
The reintroduction of mandatory housing targets for local councils is also very welcome, according to Charlton.
He continued: “This top-down approach has historically been effective at incentivising local authorities to approve more building. Setting clear targets could help overcome local opposition and NIMBYism that often blocks development. Reforming the payment of hope value under the compulsory purchase rules will make it cheaper for local authorities to acquire land for regeneration and affordable housing by compensating landowners based on current market value rather than potential future value with planning permission.”
Also looking ahead to the planning reform and the housebuilding bill, the CPRE director of policy, campaigns and communications, Elli Moody, commented: “We welcome Labour’s ambition to build the homes we urgently need. However, they should start with the 1.2 million new homes that could be built on shovel-ready brownfield sites in England alone.
“The Green Belt is the countryside next door for 30 million people in the UK and has huge benefits for food security, physical and mental health, and nature restoration. Protections for it must be maintained in the policy framework.
“New homes on the Green Belt have rarely been genuinely affordable and create car-dependent communities far from public transport networks and other essential infrastructure.
“We also need to see ambitious targets in policy for genuinely affordable and social homes close to where people already live, work and go to school. The definition of ‘affordable’ housing should be changed to reflect local incomes rather than market rates.
“The government should deliver a strategic land-use framework that makes the best use of our finite supply of land and safeguards the Green Belt for future generations.
“We support Labour’s focus on plan-led development. We would like to see Local Plans include ambitious net zero and environmental targets.”
