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"Building 1.5m new homes is a pipe dream as we lack the tradespeople, infrastructure and raw materials to deliver it"

ended 13. June 2024

Part of the Labour Party manifesto is entitled ‘Get Britain Building Again’, promising reforms to the planning system and the goal of building 1.5m homes over the next parliament. Newspage asked property experts for their views, below.

5 responses from the Newspage community

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Andrew Montlake
Managing Director at Coreco
I hope to be proved wrong but how many Governments have promised to get Britain building again, and how many have failed? Countless administrations have crashed on the rocks of the construction sector, with their promises slowly gathering dust. Planning reform is another thing that has been over-promised and under-delivered. Let's hope the Labour Party can follow up the theory with practice. They appear to be the only party with the potential to do so.
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Justin Moy
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
Building 1.5m new homes is a pipe dream as we lack the tradespeople, infrastructure and raw materials to deliver it. These plans will take a long time to implement, and there are plenty of homes that could be regenerated quickly, combined with better mortgage rates, that would provide a quicker and more effective exit from the current mess that is the UK property market.
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Dariusz Karpowicz
Director at Albion Financial Advice
It's great to see the housing problem at least getting a mention, but who will build these homes? There simply aren't enough skilled tradespeople in the UK to construct all the promised new houses. While I welcome the intention to reform planning rules and make the process easier, much more needs to be done. Addressing the skills shortage is crucial. Without a robust workforce, these plans could remain just that, namely plans. Additionally, ensuring that the new homes are affordable and accessible to those who need them most should be a priority. Streamlining planning is a step in the right direction, but we need a comprehensive strategy that includes training programs for tradespeople, incentives for builders, and robust policies to ensure housing affordability. Let's hope this manifesto isn't just another set of lofty promises but the beginning of real, actionable change in the UK housing market.
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Samuel Mather-Holgate
Independent Financial Adviser at Mather and Murray Financial
The rhetoric on housing, from Labour, is welcome. However, the proof of the pudding will be in the first 100 days. What actions Labour take immediately after getting the keys to Downing Street will set the tone for the next five years. The Tories have given up on housing, even scrapping their targets, so it’s good to hear a party sounding tough on ambitious targets back with a voice. Local plans will be at the fore, but Labour clearly state that they will intervene if targets are not being hit. Great news for the housing sector, but there is more to be done to incentive builders, buyers and sellers.
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Kundan Bhaduri
Property Developer and Portfolio Landlord at The Kushman Group
Labour intends to tackle everything from housing and transport to energy and innovation. But, much like a teenager's bedroom, their manifesto is full of wet dreams, with no direction on how to turn it into reality. Under Labour's watch, planning laws will likely become more tangled than your last attempt at untangling Christmas lights. Their solution to the housing crisis? More bureaucracy and a wishful thinking approach that makes you wonder if they've confused "planning" with "planning permission denied". During their last term in government, the number of new homes built was insufficient to meet demand, contributing to the ongoing crisis. Labour's mismanagement of public housing projects have often faced criticism, too. The complexities of planning reform, Labour's questionable funding mechanisms, potential alienation of the private sector, a mixed track record, and the challenge of local government coordination all suggest that Labour’s plan will struggle to achieve its objectives.