The King’s Speech to British Parliament in July reinforced the new Labour government’s policy pledge to introduce “the biggest increase in social and affordable housing with a target of 1.5 million new dwellings in five years”.
Clive Feeney, managing director of the LHC Group, the UK’s biggest non-profit built environment, compliance, and consultancy framework provider, said the new legislation would give power back to community leaders “who know what is best for their districts.”
“In theory, this will create solutions more targeted to local needs, a core factor in delivering building projects with tangible social impact,” Feeney said.
“This represents Labour’s first opportunity to deliver change after a lengthy period in opposition. It was always expected that some big announcements would be made.”
In the King’s Speech delivered in the House of Commons on July 17, Labour’s commitment included:
• Immediately update the National Policy Planning Framework, restoring mandatory housing targets.
• Ensure that planning authorities have up-to-date local plans and reforms to strengthen the presumption in favour of sustainable development
• Take a ‘brownfield’ first approach, prioritising the development of previously used land wherever possible, and fast-tracking approval of urban brownfield sites
• Prioritise the release of lower quality ‘grey belt’ land, as well as introducing ‘golden rules’ to ensure greenbelt development benefits communities and nature.
• Create several new towns as announced in late May
• Further reform compulsory purchase compensation rules to speed up delivery
• Strengthen planning obligations to ensure new developments provide more affordable homes and prioritise the building of new social rented homes
Clive Feeney said the target of 1.5 million homes is “ambitious” and a big ask.
“Local authorities and housing associations will need help when it comes to procuring the services of contractors so that they can get spades in the ground as quickly as possible,” he said.
“It’s an area that development groups such as LHC are well placed to serve, with many frameworks already in place, delivered by way of regional business units that understand the communities that they are active in.
“These frameworks are not all about new build either. And, while retrofit related policies were absent from the speech, it is imperative that we continue to improve our existing housing stock if we’re going to improve living conditions and reduce energy consumption on the route to net zero.
[The LHC frameworks gives suppliers access to construction, refurbishment and maintenance projects of £350 million (AUS $1,939,200) each financial year. Clients who spend more than £200,000 (AUS $387,840) on two or more frameworks in a year, will benefit from a share in the LHC operating surplus.
The new Labour Government has also promised to extend the provisions within ‘Awaab’s Law’ (previously the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill, a home standard that makes it easier for occupiers to request landlord action to address hazards and make homes safe.
{The Bill was amended following the tragic death of Awaab Ishak to enact what the government has called ‘Awaab’s Law’, to force social landlords to fix damp and mould within strict time limits).
Clive Feeney said landlords would need a robust and responsive supply chain if they were going to be able to meet the response timescales stipulated within the legislation.
“Frameworks can help here too,” he said.
“By design, they are created to allow clients to access approved supply chains quickly that have been vetted when it comes to expertise and price, taking a huge amount of risk out of the process.”
Mr Feeney added: “What excites me most about Labour’s ambitions relates to our core purpose at LHC. Labour’s agenda seems focused on putting social value front and centre of everything it does, and it’s what we’ve done too.
“Our mission is to improve lives and places through quality procurement solutions, and we’ve taken large strides forward with this within the last year.
“That includes launching our dedicated social value strategy and partnering with housing charities to develop robust measures so that we can talk about the tangible impact that has been delivered through projects delivered via our frameworks.
“We’re in a new political era now, with a new government. Let’s hope that these promises are delivered so we can see a new era for our housing in Britain.”
Editor’s note: King’s Speech is a speech from the throne when the monarch is male, delivered by a king (or representative) outlining his government’s agenda.
