King’s Speech: Key housing policies unveiled

The Labour Party’s key policies around the private rented sector, leaseholds and new housing developments have been unveiled in the King’s Speech today (17 July).

King Charles said:

“My Ministers will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing.

“They will also pursue sustainable growth by encouraging investment in industry, skills and new technologies.”

He added:

“Legislation will be introduced to give greater rights and protections to people renting their homes, including ending no fault evictions and reforming grounds for possession 9.

“Draft legislation will be published on leasehold and commonhold reform.”

Renters’ Rights Bill:

The Renters’ Rights Bill will replace the ill-fated Renters (Reform) Bill by abolishing Section 21 evictions, a pledge the Conservatives failed to carry out in the last parliament.

In terms of other policies lifted from the old bill, tenants will be given the right to keep pets, and a decent homes standard will be introduced.

One new policy will be a crackdown on rental bidding wars by landlords and lettings agents.

Meanwhile Awaab’s Law, which forces social landlords to repair mouldy homes in a timely fashion, will be extended to the private rented sector.

The bill will give councils more enforcement powers to identify and fine rogue landlords, while landlords won’t be allowed to discriminate against tenants on benefits or with children.

There will be a new ombudsman service dedicated to the private rented sector, in a bid to settle disputes quickly before they go to the courts.

Meanwhile the government will create a digital database of landlords, tenants and councils.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill:

Labour has pledge to deliver 1.5 million homes across this parliament, and the bill is designed to bring that to fruition.

The bill will reform compulsory purchase rules, so money paid to landowners is “fair but not excessive” when building important social and physical infrastructure, or affordable housing.

Local communities will have a say in how buildings are constructed, but they won’t be able to block developments altogether.

Town hall planning committees will be modernised, while planning authorities will be empowered to make faster decisions.

The government has already promised to fund 300 new planning officers for local authorities.

The party will upgrade the National Grid and aid the development of onshore wind turbines.

Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill:

The bill should build on the rushed Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act, which scraps leaseholds on new houses but not flats, but didn’t end up capping ground rents.

Leaseholds are described as being a “feudal system”, as Labour pledged to make commonhold the default housing tenure.

The party has previously pledged to protect leaseholds from paying for building safety measures.

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