Unveiling the UK government’s legislative programme for the next parliamentary year, King Charles also announced a Great British Energy Bill to boost the involvement of the public sector to help drive progress in energy.

No-fault evictions

Prior to the King’s Speech, it was reported Labour intends to legislate an enhanced version of the previously known Renters’ Reform Bill, which the Conservatives ran out of time to implement before former prime minister Rishi Sunak called a general election.

Banning Section 21 no-fault evictions in England and Wales is set to be a central feature of new legislation moving forward, thereby mirroring what the Conservatives had intended to implement.

The King said during his speech: “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.

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

Matt Downie, Crisis chief executive, said: “This King’s Speech signals that housing is a clear priority and gives renters lots to be hopeful for with the announcement of the Renters’ Rights Bill. With no fault evictions one of the leading causes of homelessness, this legislation is a critical first step towards ensuring everyone has a safe home.

“Private renters have had to wait for reform for far too long and thousands have lost their homes because of it. It’s vital that the new government brings forward this legislation immediately, so that no one else must go through the trauma of being forced into homelessness.

“In addition to rental reform, there’s now a huge opportunity for the government to finally end the criminalisation of homelessness after 200 years. We need to see the Vagrancy Act finally repealed in the upcoming Crime and Policing Bill promised. This will be a clear signal that the government will focus on what works to end homelessness, not punitive action that pushes people further from support.

“The focus on planning reform is also hugely positive – we look forward to seeing the detail on how these reforms will help deliver the social homes we desperately need.

“The new government has said the country needs change, and we look forward to working with them to deliver the bold action needed to ensure everyone has a safe and stable home.”

Gavin Smart, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, added: “As the new Parliament returns to business it’s good to see the King’s speech outlining plans for legislation to address housing supply, renters’ rights and leasehold reform, underpinned by a strong commitment to devolution. We need to shift the dial on housing and we welcome the government’s ambition to do that.

“As always, the underpinning detail and timings will be key to understanding the opportunities and challenges for the housing sector, but we look forward to working with the new government to ensure everyone has a decent, secure and affordable place to call home.”

Propertymark said the government to clarify how it plans to abolish Section 21 no-fault evictions and what new legal mechanism will be deployed to prevent the court system in England and Wales from being overwhelmed.

The professional body has previously argued that replacing Section 21 without an adequate and workable alternative would trigger lengthy and costly delays for everyone involved, and that the volume of regulatory and financial pressures on landlords in recent years would further hinder investment in the private rental sector. 

Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark, said: “The Renters’ Reform Bill caused great uncertainty for many landlords when it was introduced by the last government, so we hope that the new UK Government’s revised version of this legislation clarifies what new mechanism will be implemented if they succeed in abolishing Section 21.

“Whilst Propertymark supports renters having firm rights to challenge unfair practice, any new legislation must strike a fairness for all involved. Ultimately, there is a concerning lack of housing stock within the marketplace, and there needs to be clear pathways and support for investment to help boost supply and provide choice for prospective tenants when it comes to choosing a new home.

“Many tenants have also faced high energy bills in recent years, and while it is positive to see that the new UK Government has made clean energy one of its central pledges, Propertymark has long called for landlords and agents to be provided with loans and grants to make energy efficiency improvements in their homes, thereby allowing the housing sector to play a leading role in achieving net zero.”

Planning and building

King Charles also reinforced the government’s plans for a Planning and Infrastructure Bill to get Britain building through planning reform and accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing. The King also outlined Labour’s focus on sustainable growth by encouraging investment in industry, skills and new technologies.

A total of 40 bills including draft bills will be brought forward, with a focus on ‘growing the economy through speeding up the building of houses and infrastructure, improving transport, creating more jobs and securing clean, green energy.’

His Majesty said: “My ministers will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing (Planning and Infrastructure Bill).”

Many in the sector have welcomed the announcement but added that the construction industry needs clarity on these plans.

Greg Reed, Places for People’s chief executive officer, said: “Today is a big step forward for housing. I’m delighted to see the 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.”

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, 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.

“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.”

Kelly Boorman, national head of construction at RSM UK said: “The government has made its commitment to restimulating the housing market clear by reintroducing mandatory housing targets, planning reform and investing in infrastructure to deliver on 1.5m homes in the next five years. We’re already seeing this in action with the new housing task force to tackle stalled housing schemes.

“Further investment in industry, skills and new technologies to ensure sustainable and long-term growth is also encouraging for the construction industry, especially given workforce shortages and productivity issues. We’re going to see a major shift in the labour profiling and skills required in construction over the next two decades, so government’s investment in new technologies will ensure there are more opportunities for people with different skillsets.”

She added: “However the housing sector still has a number of unanswered questions. While there’s a drive for building and planning reform for economic growth, there remains concerns about the lack of detail about the provision of affordable and social housing. Government has pledged to ‘get Britain building’, but there is no indication as to how housing delivery and first-time buyer incentives will encourage more households to flip from rental to owners.

“Although government will strengthen tenants’ rights to challenge rent increases and landlord discrimination, further clarity is needed on how government will incentivise first-time buyers trapped in the rental market, as well as addressing social housing shortages and making housing more affordable.”

Richard Beresford, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “It is refreshing to have a government which views its primary role as enabling growth and removing barriers because this ensures business and communities know they can be part of the strategy.

“The continued focus on planning reform should also be applauded because it has been almost a century since any government understood its role in enabling business growth, better places and a healthier, well-functioning society. It does feel as though country is being put before party.”

Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark, said: “Pledges from the new UK government to build 1.5 million new homes and to reform the national planning policy framework to restore compulsory housebuilding targets for local authorities are welcome, as this country desperately needs to ensure supply meets increasing demand and ultimately make home ownership more affordable.

“However, Propertymark has previously highlighted that for the new UK Government to meet its ambitious housing targets there must be a full review and wide-ranging stakeholder engagement to ensure there is sensible infrastructure in place to enable new developments to flourish and complement the areas they are built within.

“It is imperative that existing areas which are available for use are strategically prioritised for redevelopment above greenbelt land – moving forwards there must be a ‘connected communities’ approach and one which integrates and enhances already established metropolitan areas.”

Gillian Charlesworth, chief executive officer of the Building Research Establishment (BRE), added: “The King’s Speech, the first under this new government, is a speech designed for the built environment sector and shows the level of work required to rebuild Britain.

“Planning reform is not just necessary, but essential, if Labour is to deliver on its commitment to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years as well the clean power system the country needs to reach net zero.

“Urging caution is also necessary: planning reform alone will not act as a magic remedy for all Britain’s building problems. We need better buildings as well as more buildings. We need to tackle the backlog of unhealthy existing homes and newly constructed properties unlocked by planning reform need to be fully sustainable and climate resilient.

“Empowering local and regional authorities is key. The English Devolution Bill, in conjunction with the Planning and Infrastructure Bill presents a great opportunity to unlock higher building standards while harnessing local economic growth.

“Today’s King’s Speech underlines the scale of the challenge facing the new government. However, the announcement of 40 bills and draft legislation, nearly double that of the King’s speech in November 2023, shows a confident and ambitious new government who understands what it will take to face down and overcome the challenges of today and the future. We support the ambition set out today and look forward to contributing to its future success.”

GB Energy

Labour has also unveiled a new bill to set up Great British Energy to boost investment in renewable energy projects, including offshore wind.

The new publicly-owned company will “own, manage and operate” clean power projects across the country and will help make the UK energy independent.

Vicky Parker, head of power and utilities at PwC UK, said: “The policy direction of the new government suggests we are likely to see a growing involvement of the public sector to help drive progress in energy. The announcement of Great British Energy today and a focus on creating a clean energy superpower, being a welcome example of that to accelerate progress to zero carbon by 2030. The success of these institutions is likely to be measured against the amount of private capital they mobilise, how GBE becomes an active participant in the sector, the introduction of electricity market reforms and their ability to deliver new infrastructure in the UK.

“Demonstrating results will be essential to deliver on energy security and affordability promises, but the focus today needs to be on deliverability: unlocking blockers, investment in skills, supply chains and greater prioritisation to allow for capital and efforts to be focused, all of which will no doubt be looked at by the newly established ‘Mission Control’ as part of their focus towards 2030 targets.

“To accelerate plans for the UK to meet net zero, significant investment is required across established solutions, such as wind, as well as less mature solutions such as hydrogen, heat pumps and sustainable aviation fuels. The newly-formed National Wealth Fund’s task force, which has been allocated £7.3bn of capital, will focus on investments such as green hydrogen and steel, industrial decarbonisation, ports and gigafactories. There will still be a gap between what is needed and what the market is currently providing, so a step-up is needed across a wide range of different investor types, as no single solution or institution will provide the full suite of financing which is required.

“In order to meet the accelerated 2030 targets and demonstrate tangible results, there also needs to be a focus on ramping up the pace of the installation of new, low-carbon infrastructure (generation as well as connection) and tackling long-standing blockers such as planning and financing. Removing planning restrictions and simplifying application processes can unlock offshore wind and accelerate onshore wind development, for example, the latter of which the government has already acted on.”

Malcolm Donald, Edinburgh-based partner at UK law firm Burges Salmon, added: “We are encouraged by the formal announcement of the proposed creation of GB Energy in the King’s speech. Whilst we await more detailed information on the precise scope of what GB Energy will offer, it is encouraging to hear that the intention remains to make significant investment in the UK energy industry, with a focus on renewables.

“Given the importance of the UK energy industry in delivering the energy transition, it remains critically important for the new UK Government to engage and work closely with the industry to ensure that there is further investment, to provide support for the highly skilled workforce and supply chain, to prioritise critical infrastructure projects and to ensure that there is sustainable economic growth which can help drive the energy transition forward.

“We are further encouraged by the confirmation that GB Energy will be based in Scotland. Scotland has a landscape that sets us up quite well to get us to net zero and GB Energy will play an important part in supporting and broadening that mix of different ways to get to net zero, including onshore, offshore, hydrogen and natural capital for example.”