The new labour government must deliver just over 1,150 new homes every single working day for the next five years to achieve its stated aims of building 1.5m news homes in this Parliament according to estate agency membership group Propertymark.
The representative body have called on the new government to provide a detailed plan on how this ambition – roughly equivalent to delivering at least five large scale housing estates every single week – will be achieved, including infrastructure, services, amenities, education, policing, health, transport, and employment. CEO Nathan Emerson says
“There is no doubt that the new UK Government must prioritise building homes the nation desperately needs, and that is why we welcome a commitment to deliver new homes and review green belt boundaries with a view to prioritising brownfield and grey belt land to meet manifesto pledges.!
“Local councils need as much support as possible in meeting the new UK Government’s aims. Building 1.5 million new homes by the next general election is an challenging target, but Propertymark would like to see urgent clarity and detail as to how this ambition can be achieved. This goal would require over a thousand new homes to be built every working day before 2029.”
In its first few days in government Labour have said they would introduce planning reform after new Chancellor Rachael Reeves referred to the current system as ‘an obstacle’ to building new homes.
“It cannot ever be a case of weaving thousands of additional new homes into current metropolitan areas and expecting the current structure to absorb the additional pressures.
say Propertymark, adding
“Each area identified as having potential for new housing must pay full respect to greenbelt status, and there should ideally be a focus on bringing brownfield land back to purposeful use first. However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves stated that the UK Government intends to build on some green belt land, but this should involve a full review to prioritise alternative available land to achieve their housing targets.”
Tenure reform should also be on the agenda following the passing of The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act in the final days of the previous administration. Critics have pointed to the need for secondary legislation to enact much of the bill, and the removal of any intention to introduce ground rent caps was a blow to those lobbying for greater reform. Propertymark have said that reform must also account for both buyers and renters there must also be a variety of different tenures when it comes to constructing new homes to ensure both are served well.
In addition, there must be due consideration for ensuring there is a wide-ranging skillset and workforce in place that can bring this enormous vision to life. There must be cross party cooperation and strong stakeholder engagement to ensure plans are workable, realistic, and can be delivered within the timeframe promised.
“To implement such a bold task, it is right to review the entire system from top to bottom, implement potential improvements and make better use of technology for both insight and delivery. With the UK population expected to surge to around 70m within the next ten years, it is critical that supply keeps up with demand. Currently, the housing sector continues to suffer from a drastic undersupply of sustainable new homes, which in turn is contributing to artificially higher costs for both buyers and renters.”
Propertymark conclude.
