A decent home is a crucial foundation for a good life
Rayner went on to denounce high rents and mortgage rates, and damp, cramped housing – saying that her party would make the Affordable Homes Programme more flexible and work with local leaders to ensure the funds are used effectively.
Reform of the planning system, including new ‘Take Back Control’ units, will strengthen requirements for developers to put infrastructure in place and allow local authorities to hold them to account.
First-time buyers will be given priority for homes in new developments in their community, and a mortgage guarantee scheme will be made available to support people onto the housing ladder.
Leasehold to become a thing of the past
The Shadow Levelling Up Secretary also made a bold statement about bringing an end to the ‘medieval’ leasehold system, promising root and branch reform – although no further details have been given at this stage.
Propertymark is pleased to see the Labour Party join the campaign for leasehold reform. Policymakers must level the playing field with those who already own a leasehold property, make enfranchisement easier, simplify the process for lease extensions and where there is no managing agent, freeholders must sign up to a redress scheme.
There is a clear link back to RoPA, as there are currently no minimum standards to work in the sector and no statutory rules to ensure those buying and selling leasehold property are suitably qualified.
Finishing the job on rental reform
Rayner said Labour would push through the ban on Section 21 evictions, a key feature of the Renters (Reform) Bill.
Although there is now a clear consensus across the political spectrum for the abolition of no-fault evictions, policymakers must recognise that letting agents and landlords need confidence in the capacity of the court system to deal with the changes and ensure that the revised system of grounds are robust enough to ensure landlords can get there property back when things go wrong.
