Industry professionals react to government's bills
At first sight, the King’s Speech is a somewhat curious event in the political calendar.
An elderly man, resembling a fairy tale character, wears a crown that threatens to topple off his head, and is wrapped in a fur gown on an uncharacteristically warm summer’s day. He holds forth on how his government will provide 1.5 million extra - ideally affordable - homes for those struggling to get on to the property ladder, while he himself has at least eight spacious homes, palaces or castles to his name.
“Curiouser and curiouser,” Alice might herself have said of just such an occasion. But, no, this isn’t the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, it is one of Westminster’s biggest ceremonial days. All of the above detail and the fact that it was a King’s Speech in name only – Charles’ words weren’t actually his own, of course - are mere trifling points.
What matters, the government would say, is its commitment to improving housing in the UK. It was one of the key policies with which it secured a landslide victory only a couple of weeks ago, with its pledge to ‘get Britain building’. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, so new in post that he almost has a dewy glow about him, knows only too well that housing is an issue on which he will be judged come the next election.
Given that much of the King’s Speech has come from Labour’s recent manifesto, there weren’t any huge surprises, but observers were keen to see how many of its election promises the party honoured by bringing them to Parliament. Almost 40 bills were announced in the 1,421 word, legislation-heavy speech.
What were the key points in the King’s Speech?
Essentially, the government wants to reform planning procedures to accelerate housebuilding, devolving powers to metro mayors, to enable regional government to help realise many more homes. It also wants to bring into law greater rights and protections for tenants, many of whom have found themselves renting longer while they save deposits to buy their own properties. The Renters’ Rights Bill includes plans to end rental bidding wars, improve the standard and safety of rental properties, and to press ahead with a ban on no fault evictions.
Read more: Number of older renters surges over past decade
How was the King’s Speech received?
Ryan Etchells (pictured left), chief commercial officer at specialist lender Together, welcomed the government’s pledge to unblock planning and emphasised why the move was needed.
“Our current system is broken, with too much power at local council level, which simply doesn’t have the specialist skills needed to be effective,” Etchells said. “Until the government delivers on its promises, many builders will be hampered in planning loops, making them unable to deliver on their commitment to build new houses.”
Industry commentator David Hollingworth (pictured second from left), associate director of communications at mortgage broker L&C Mortgages, meanwhile believed the speech underlined that housing was a priority for this government.
“Reform of the planning system is high on the agenda and it looks like there will be action taken quickly, which will be necessary if the delivery of 1.5 million homes is to be met,” Hollingworth suggested. “Let’s hope that housing will be taken seriously to put a greater accent on the supply of more housing that is so desperately needed.”
For Chris Norris (pictured centre), policy director for the National Residential Landlords Association, it is vital that rental reform does not make worse an already serious supply crisis in the private rented sector. An average of 15 households chase every available rental property, he said.
“Landlords need the courts to operate quickly where they have a good reason to repossess a property,” Norris stated. “Tenants are no better served by delays, which increase hardship, stress, and uncertainty. We need action from the government, alongside the bill, to ensure all are able to access justice in a timely fashion when they need to do so.”
The reaction from Simon Webb (pictured second from right), managing director of capital markets at mortgage lender LiveMore, was lukewarm. He said the King's Speech set out some “unsurprising but commendable” housebuilding targets.
“it is disheartening that the extension of the stamp duty exemption for all buyers has been neglected once again,” he observed. “This omission continues to place unnecessary financial burdens on those looking to move.
“The government needs to take decisive action and revamp the current process to ease the pressure on older homeowners who are keen to downsize but find themselves stuck due to prohibitive costs.”
Despite the high-profile position of planning reform in the speech, Nicola Gooch (pictured right), planning partner at legal and financial advisers Irwin Mitchell, noted it was relatively light on planning-related legislation.
“However, if speed is the goal, then it makes sense to avoid too much primary legislation, which can easily get bogged down in Parliament and focus instead on the levers that are easier to pull,” Gooch commented.
“The real question will be whether these policies can be delivered fast enough for their effect to be felt before the end of the term. Five years is not a very long time to turn around something as complex and contentious as our planning system. It looks, however, as if the government is, at the very least, determined to try.”
Finally, welcoming plans to revise the planning framework, Robin Fieth, chief executive at the Building Societies Association commented: “A coherent plan to build more homes across all tenures, enabling diversity of supply, as well as delivering the necessary infrastructure, is vital to address the current housing crisis.”
