As the new Labour Government settles into its seats on the opposite side of the house, one of their first steps in power saw the King’s Speech open Parliament and detail the government’s priorities for the months ahead.
The State Opening of Parliament unveiled over 35 bills and draft bills, ranging from public ownership of railways to energy, key infrastructure and plans to boost spending.
For the construction industry, heads will be turned by the plans for boosting housebuilding, infrastructure development, the promise of green energy investment and changes to planning rules.
The King said: “My ministers will get Britain building, including thorough planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high quality infrastructure and housing [Planning and Infrastructure Bill].
“They will also pursue sustainable growth by encouraging investment in industry, skills and new technologies.”
The move backs Labour’s manifesto promises of delivering 1.5M new homes over the next five years. Chancellor Rachael Reeves has already said that ‘decisive reform’ is needed in the planning system.
The Speech also delivered on promises to give more power to devolution and local mayors, with the speech confirming: “move power out of Westminster and back to those who know their areas best – giving local leaders the tools they need to drive growth. New laws will give more powers to metro mayors and combined authorities, helping support local plans that bring wealth to communities.”
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “It is positive that the new Government has already made tackling the UK’s housing crisis a key priority. For too long we’ve under delivered on housing delivery and pushed out smaller house builders from the market. However, these bold plans will only be successful if the current skills crisis in the construction industry is addressed. We are substantially lacking the skilled workers required to build new homes, and to upgrade our existing homes with the energy efficiency improvements which Labour have pledged. The UK is in desperate need of a long-term skills plan, to establish clear pathways into careers in construction. Unless this is delivered it is difficult to see how 1.5 million new homes will be built over the next five years.”
Berry concluded: “One startling omission is the lack of plans to upgrade the existing housing stock. We had been expecting to see a bold plan to retrofit five million homes to make them greener and more energy efficient but clearly the purse strings have not been opened enough to allow for this. While we should be looking to build more homes we mustn’t take our eye of the existing housing stock, which is the oldest and leakiest in Europe.”
Jatin Ondhia, co-founder and CEO of Shojin Property Partners said: “Addressing the UK’s acute housing shortage demands bold action, and the King’s Speech underlined again that Labour see this is a keen priority, which is a promising start. Taking advantage of their supermajority to push through planning law reforms will be crucial over the next five years to fulfil their housing pledge and stimulate economic growth.
“The government was right to prioritise housing today. Announcing planning reforms and encouraging investment was necessary; however, now we need concrete and robust plans to meet housebuilding targets. Rhetoric alone won’t suffice — Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has a long ‘to-do list’, and he must support the construction sector by mobilising the financial resources needed to realise these plans.
“The importance of building more homes to the economy cannot be overstated. By attracting international investment and strengthening partnerships with the private sector, the UK can achieve sustainable growth in the real estate sector and beyond, revitalising the economy and providing much-needed affordable housing.”
Greg Reed, Places for People’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Today is a big step forward for housing. I’m delighted to see Government immediately put housebuilding front and centre of its first King’s Speech, tackling many of the barriers that have been standing in our way for too long.
“As one of the UK’s leading affordable housebuilders with the biggest pipeline of any organisation in our sector, we stand ready to build at pace and scale with over 2,000 completions in train for 2024/25. But we want to and need to go even further and faster. We have written to the Secretary of State setting out how working with us can help the new Government realise its vision of delivering true change, and look forward to further conversations.
“Plans announced today will help unlock land, speed up the planning process and turbocharge housebuilding. But we need to see this in action. To really drive delivery of the right homes, in the right places, supported by the right infrastructure, local planning authorities need to provide their own local plans and only 22% of them have adopted one in the last five years. With hopes of interest rates being further cut next month fading, there’s no time to wait. The time to build is now.”
Andrew Baldwin, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at APM said: “This is a good start to the road to recovery, and we welcome many of the measures announced in the King’s Speech. Many of the Bills mentioned in the speech reflect what APM is calling for in our own manifesto – specifically ‘respond, reinvent, reform’. By ‘respond’ our manifesto calls for stability, a reduction in uncertainty, financial and skills investment and a cohesive industrial strategy – and the speech delivered on most of this.
“The Government called stability a ‘cornerstone’ of their economic policy, and promises of an Industrial Strategy Council to ‘get Britain building’ alongside a Planning and Infrastructure Bill, to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing, are welcome.
“Government also promised support for green energy projects, including the development of GB Energy and a focus on skills investment through the development of Skills England.
“APM’s members have a lot to offer the Industrial Strategy Council and Skills England regarding project management related skills, and have plenty to offer both groups.
“Legislation was also introduced giving more powers to metro mayors and local authorities. We know there is a significant skills gap here, particularly project management-based skills, which needs addressing. The key now is to push on from responding, to reinventing and reforming as any one part without the others will not achieve the changes needed.
“If the Government wants elements of the King’s Speech to succeed then greater investment in project management skills is required up and down the country, alongside more funding for the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), which will be crucial role in ensuring we deliver all of the above.”
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