As we approach the general election, we have asked Deetu Senior Engagement Specialist Mark Cawdrey to share a weekly update on what each party is talking about and how it affects the built environment.
Overview
Welcome to this week's General Election Briefing. Over the past week, the political landscape has been bustling with activity as parties unveiled their manifestos, providing us with a clearer picture of their plans and priorities. With the Sky News Leader Interviews dominating the headlines and the latest YouGov poll revealing a surprising shift in voter sentiment, it's evident that the election race is heating up. In this briefing, we'll dive into how the major parties' manifestos could impact key areas relevant to the built environment, including housing, planning, infrastructure, skills, net-zero targets, water, and economic growth.
Apparent poor Conservative polling results have resulted in a cross-over point between the Conservatives and Reform, with a YouGov poll from 13 June putting Reform 1 point ahead. This would still only result in one or two Reform MPs. But, if the trend is not reversed, it could lead to the Conservatives winning so few seats that the Lib Dems would become the official opposition.
113 June YouGov Poll translated in Electorial Calculator
Key Issues and Impact on the Industry
Manifestos
The Liberal Democrat, Conservative, Green, and Labour manifestos were launched this week. Below, we look at how each could impact the key built environment areas.
Housing
Conservatives
Permanently increase the threshold at which first-time buyers pay Stamp Duty to £425,000 from £300,000.
Launch a new Help to Buy scheme, providing first-time buyers with an equity loan of up to 20% towards the cost of a new-build home.
Deliver 1.6 million well-designed homes over the course of the parliament.
Renew the affordable homes programme.
Retain a “cast-iron commitment to protect the Green Belt.”
Abolish ‘nutrient neutrality’ rules to unlock the building of 100,000 new homes.
Require councils to set aside land for smaller builders and lift Section 106 burdens on smaller sites.
Create locally-led urban development corporations for brownfield regeneration.
Labour
Re-instate mandatory housebuilding targets for local authorities.
Aim to build 1.5 million homes over the next parliament.
Build new towns with a minimum of 40% affordable housing using design codes.
Provide 150,000 social and affordable homes a year.
Implement a ‘Freedom to Buy’ policy to help 80,000 people get on the housing ladder.
A ‘First Dibs’ policy giving local people first refusal on homes in new developments.
Changes to the Affordable Homes Programme to deliver more homes from existing funding.
Invest an extra £6.6bn as part of its Warm Homes Plan to upgrade five million homes.
Liberal Democrats
Increasing building of new homes to 380,000 a year across the UK, including 150,000 social homes a year, through new garden cities and community-led development of cities and towns.
Delivering a fair deal for renters by immediately banning no-fault evictions, making three-year tenancies the default, and creating a national register of licensed landlords.
Giving local authorities, including National Park Authorities, the powers to end Right to Buy in their areas.
Ending rough sleeping within the next Parliament and immediately scrapping the archaic Vagrancy Act.
Abolishing residential leaseholds and capping ground rents to a nominal fee, so that everyone has control over their property.
Planning
Conservatives
Restrictions on time extension agreements between councils and applicants on planning decisions.
Performance league tables for the time taken to make planning decisions.
Create new ‘grey belt’ land class for poor-quality areas of the green belt.
Amend the law to make it difficult for people to bring judicial reviews against planned projects.
Prioritise the release of lower-quality ‘grey belt’ land.
Reform planning for onshore wind to boost renewable energy projects.
Liberal Democrats
Expand neighbourhood planning across England and allow councils to buy land at current value rather than hope-value basis.
Reform planning rules to update the National Policy Planning Framework with a target to build 1.9 million new homes.
Developers who ‘refuse to build’ would face use-it-or-lose-it planning permission.
Infrastructure
Conservatives
£36 billion from HS2 savings reinvested into North and Midlands rail infrastructure.
£12 billion for North Powerhouse Rail between Liverpool and Manchester.
New plan for London Euston to free up £6.5 billion for rail infrastructure across the UK.
£1.75 billion to fund Midlands Rail Hub.
£1 billion to electrify North Wales Main Line.
Rail network upgrades in South West, Cumbria, and East Anglia.
Improved accessibility at 100 stations.
Labour
Fully committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Independent inquiry into HS2 to avoid future cost overruns.
Merge the National Infrastructure Commission and Infrastructure and Projects Authority into the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA).
Update national planning policy for laboratories, digital infrastructure, and gigafactories.
Maintain and renew the road network, embedding public and active travel.
Liberal Democrat
Fully committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Establish a new public Railway Agency.
Create new cycling and walking networks.
Deliver nationwide active travel strategy.
Support local and regional economic partnerships.
Skills & Training
Conservatives
Proposed ‘Advanced British Standard’ to replace A levels and T levels.
An additional 100,000 apprenticeships funded annually by scrapping poor-quality university courses.
Firms can use apprenticeship funds to train existing staff or pay for pre-apprenticeship training.
New immigration laws requiring government departments to draw up skills improvement plans.
Labour
Revamped apprenticeship levy to fund specialist training colleges.
Transform Further Education colleges into specialist Technical Excellence Colleges.
Support SMEs by taking action on late payments and providing easier access to capital.
Liberal Democrat
Revamped apprenticeship levy to fund specialist training colleges.
Transform Further Education colleges into specialist Technical Excellence Colleges.
Support SMEs by taking action on late payments and providing easier access to capital.
Annual licensing rounds for oil and gas production, new gas power stations, Great British nuclear.
Treble offshore wind capacity.
Invest £1.1 billion into the Green Industries Growth Accelerator.
Build the first two carbon capture and storage clusters.
Labour
Invest £15bn annually in green initiatives.
Upgrade five million homes to an EPC C rating.
Establish Great British Energy to decarbonise UK power by 2030.
Targets for faster approvals on renewable projects.
Double onshore wind, triple solar, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030.
Liberal Democrat
A target to reach net-zero by 2045 with 90% of power generation via renewables by 2030.
Government funding to install insulation and heat pumps.
More incentives for homeowners to install rooftop solar.
A Net-Zero delivery authority to coordinate Government actions to combat climate change.
Water
Conservatives
Work with the regulator to hold water companies accountable further.
Reform the ‘price review’ regulatory process for water companies, further strengthening sanctions for companies that fail to deliver for the public, coasts, and rivers.
Labour
Will put failing water companies under ‘special measures’ to clean up water.
Give regulators new powers, including criminal prosecution, to block bonuses to executives who pollute waterways.
Forge ahead with new reservoirs.
Liberal Democrat
Implement a sewage tax on water company profits.
Embrace nature-based solutions for sewage.
Fund local planning departments to ensure new housing mitigates flood risks.
Economic Growth
Conservatives
Focus on integrated procurement models following the Procurement Act and prompt payment around for SMEs.
Investment in infrastructure projects to spur economic growth, focusing on rail and regional development.
Labour
Establish an Industrial Strategy Council.
Create a £7.3bn National Wealth Fund to support growth and clean energy missions.
Develop a 10-year infrastructure strategy.
Liberal Democrat
Launch an ambitious industrial strategy to incentivise job creation across the UK.
Support local and regional economic partnerships.
Rejoin the EU Single Market
Energy
Conservatives
Annual licensing rounds for oil and gas production, new gas power stations, Great British nuclear.
Treble offshore wind capacity.
Invest £1.1 billion into the Green Industries Growth Accelerator.
Build the first two carbon capture and storage clusters.
Labour
Establish Great British Energy to decarbonise UK power by 2030.
Invest £15bn annually in green initiatives.
Double onshore wind, triple solar, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030.
Liberal Democrats
Make Britain a world leader in new infrastructure, businesses, and technologies needed to tackle climate change.
Remove onshore wind restrictions.
Put tackling climate change at the heart of a new industrial strategy.
Invest in education and training for the skills needed for the low-carbon economy.
Nature and Biodiversity
Conservatives
Launch a new design competition for urban greening.
Introduce reforms to outdated EU red tape to better protect nature while enabling the building of new homes, new prisons, and new energy schemes.
Commitment for everyone to have access to nature within a 15-minute walk of where they live.
Labour
Broad pledge to “improve access to nature, promote biodiversity, and protect our landscapes and wildlife.”
Expand nature-rich habitats such as wetlands, peat bogs, and forests.
Deliver for nature, taking action to meet the Environment Act targets.
Create nine new National River Walks, one in each region of England, and establish three new National Forests.
Liberal Democrats
Strengthen the Office for Environmental Protection and provide more funding to the Environment Agency and Natural England.
Ensure new developments result in a significant net gain for biodiversity.
Protect at least 30% of land and sea areas by 2030 for nature's recovery.
Require large businesses to publish transition plans to become nature-positive.
Conclusion
The release of the party manifestos marks a pivotal moment in this election cycle, offering a comprehensive look at each party's vision for the future. As the polling landscape continues to shift, with potential surprises on the horizon, staying informed and prepared is crucial.
The policies outlined in these manifestos will significantly influence our industry, shaping the regulatory and economic environment in which we operate.
For detailed insights and a deeper understanding of how these policies could affect your development plans, subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter and don't hesitate to reach out to us for a more personalised discussion.
