Labour has won the General Election with a landslide victory on a night which saw the Conservatives fall to the worst result in its history, putting to an end 14 years of Conservative rule.
Labour has currently won 411 seats, well above the 326 required for a majority, with new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer saying that “change begins now”.
Outgoing Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said that the public had delivered “a sobering verdict” with the party losing almost 250 seats and suffering significant casualties along the way with Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt, Jacob Rees-Mogg and former leader, Liz Truss all losing their seats. Former housing minister, Lucy Frazer, was also unable to retain her seat, as was former environment secretary Therese Coffey.
It was also a night to forget for the SNP, who have currently won nine seats, down by 37 from the last election in 2019. Reform, despite being projected to win 13 seats in the exit polls, has currently won four seats, including Nigel Farage’s win in Clacton. The party did secure a sizeable chunk of the vote share, with over 14% and came second in 98 seats.
The Lib Dems also recorded a huge bounce back from the last election’s poor performance, with 71 seats won so far, a gain of 63 from 2019.
Here’s how the Labour victory was received across the housebuilding industry:
Mark White, managing director of Hampshire-headquartered Bargate Homes, said: “I am pleased that the party in power across the UK and the direction of travel is so clear. Businesses, organisations, global investors and stakeholders – and the public at large – can base decisions on the political stability that should go hand-in-hand with this landslide election result.”
“With Sir Keir Starmer being tasked with leading the new government, the SME housebuilding community will be looking for swift detail and action, as there is so much to do to reverse the damage done by Michael Gove. How bold is Labour prepared to be to enact its manifesto promises? Reintroducing top-down housing targets, turning the clock back on the NPPF changes that have been so catastrophic for housing delivery, and larges-cale planning reform should be amongst the first three priorities.”
Andrew Brooks, managing director of Bewley Homes, commented: “It was time for a change as the previous Government had lost its way in so many ways and it was difficult to see a way forward for the housing industry.”
Labour has put forward some good proposals to stimulate the much-maligned housing market but it will take months before its measures will see any positive results.”
We want to see housing targets re-instated immediately as well as cutting through the NIMBY planning politics in the south of England. That would be a positive start.”
But before we can get too excited about the support measures for first-time buyers the new Housing Minister will need to fix the supply problem. We are simply not building enough new homes at present and this will need to be rectified fast.”
Rick de Blaby, chief executive of Get Living, commented: “Today’s General Election result has provided some much-needed clarity after a very uncertain political period. Now we quite simply need to get going. We know it’s impossible to solve the country’s problems overnight, but as we find ourselves in the midst of a nationwide housing crisis where new homes of all tenures are badly needed, what we urgently need is a grand vision and a comprehensive plan to fix this crisis, which recognises development as a force for good and enables us to attract the capital required to build.”
“Everyone knows that our planning process is not fit for purpose and is holding the UK back from delivering at the scale that we could and should be. We welcome any support that will help alleviate these issues, but are also mindful that with any increase in housing must come the essential infrastructure to support it. With this in mind, it will be interesting to see how Labour intends to progress its plans around new towns. On paper, this would help to bridge the gap but there are some concerns around the viability of these projects. My view is that, where possible, the industry needs to be using its expertise to deliver the substantial infrastructure required to create places that will stand the test of time.”
John Tonkiss, CEO of McCarthy Stone, said: “We congratulate Sir Keir Starmer MP and the Labour Party on their victory, but the hard work starts now.”
“Labour must use its mandate to ensure older people are no longer the forgotten part of the policy debate, particularly when it comes to housing and care. Many of those aged 75 and over want to move somewhere better suited to their changing needs, but too often they find that they are left with no choice but to move into residential care. The UK needs a revolution in its delivery of high-quality housing suitable for its ageing population, be it more bungalows, retirement communities, better care options or incentives to downsize.”
“That’s why McCarthy Stone is calling on Ministers to swiftly implement the recommendations made by the Older People’s Housing Taskforce and to reform the National Planning Policy Framework to ensure an adequate supply of older people’s housing.”
Matthew Robertson, co-founder and CFO of Valouran, commented: “A lack of planning resource has held the property industry back ever since the austerity measures were introduced post the great financial crisis. It is encouraging to read of Labour’s planned recruitment drive for an additional 300 planning officers, but with the mandate they have received from the electorate, I would encourage them to be more bold and ambitious and to push through their plans to release lower-quality green belt land. Only by doing so will they have a chance of making good on their target of building 1.5m homes over the course of this parliament.”
Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, commented: “The election of the new Labour government offers a fresh start to get Britain building. Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million new houses over the next five years, and upgrade five million existing homes, are ambitious targets but very much needed if the growing housing crisis is to be addressed. The success of Labour’s housing targets will very much depend on two key issues being addressed. First, the need to reform the planning system to make it easier and quicker to build. Secondly, the urgent need to tackle the skills crisis ensuring we have enough skilled workers in the construction industry to build the homes needed.”
“For too long local authority planning departments have been underfunded with the result that planning applications have been held up. Additional funding for planning departments offers hope that the planning process will speed up to deliver the homes that are needed. A long-term training and skills plan to tackle the shortage of construction workers is desperately needed, as is the need for some form of minimum competency level for builders to ensure quality homes are built, and the ones we have are upgraded to the best standards.”
Colin Brown, head of planning & development at Carter Jonas, said: “With the election of a new Labour government, there are new opportunities ahead for planning and the wider housebuilding industry – policies to reform the planning system, increase the rate of housebuilding and utilise brownfield and selected Green Belt sites.”
“The extent to which the new government can succeed where the last one frankly struggled will depend on many factors. Building ‘the right homes in the right places’ is a laudable aim but not necessarily as straightforward as it sounds.”
“The new administration appears committed to delivering increased housing numbers through the creation of several new towns. At one level, this is something one should welcome as part of a balanced overall development strategy, but it will be important not to place all eggs in one basket, given the long lead-in times for delivery of new communities.”
“Labour has also made it clear that a more strategic approach will be taken to the selective release of the Green Belt. In our view, this is the correct approach to take, especially having regard to the fact that many Green Belt locations are those where housing affordability is at or beyond crisis levels. But it remains to be seen exactly how land might be categorised as ‘grey belt’ and we suspect there will be rather more nuance than simply distinguishing beyond what is ‘green’ or ‘grey’.”
