Announcing his Programme for Government on 4 September 2024, the Scottish First Minister said proposals to give local authorities the power to cap rent increases would remain part of the Housing (Scotland) Bill. Ignoring stark warnings from Propertymark and other sector organisations, Mr Swinney claimed the measures will give tenants certainty and encourage investment in the private rented sector (PRS).

National Audit Office (NAO) findings show that statutory homelessness has worsened since the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) came into force in April 2018. A report, published on 23 July 2024, is highly critical of the previous Conservative UK Government for a lack of strategy, fragmented funding, and failure to address issues with housing supply.

A UK-first deal for renters and landlords will see standards across the rental sector improve under the Good Landlord Charter, as announced by Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester Mayor on 12 July, along with the promise of delivering thousands of new homes.

The Rt Hon Rachel Reeves made her first speech as Chancellor of the Exchequer today, 8 July 2024, emphasising three key policy pillars of stability, investment, and reform. Watched from the front row by Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband, she began to elaborate on Labour’s manifesto commitments on planning by announcing an immediate review of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), a task force to unblock stalled developments, and making clear that Ministers will take an interventionist approach to get Britain building.

The UK General Election has returned the Labour Party to power with a parliamentary landslide, ending 14 years of Conservative government. Aiming to channel the spirit of Clement Attlee with a proactive and strategic approach to housing, the party campaigned on a manifesto that promised significant changes to planning rules, strict targets for delivery of new homes, reform of the private rented sector (PRS), long-term schemes to help young people onto the housing ladder, and local powers for councils to take over empty commercial premises.

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee published its inquiry report on disabled people in the housing sector where Propertymark gave evidence, which examined barriers to accessible housing, increasing the supply of accessible homes, and the support available for adapting homes, including reforms to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). The overarching conclusion chimes with our long-held position that the ultimate key to tackling the housing crisis is to build more homes of all kinds.

The Summary of Responses to the Green Paper Call for Evidence on Securing a Path towards Adequate Housing Including Fair Rents and Affordability has been published, which showed an aversion to rent controls being implemented as a long-term measure, a view shared by Propertymark.

On Thursday 2 May 2024, Londoners will cast their votes for the next Mayor and 25 Assembly Members. With a population of over nine million, and the highest house sales and rental values in the country, London presents unique challenges. Propertymark has written to the candidates outlining our housing plan for London, highlighting key priorities for the next four years and our proposals for addressing the city’s crisis in housing availability.

Rt Hon Michael Gove, MP, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has demanded a partial review of the London Plan focusing on industrial land and opportunity areas in the capital, and wants the average rate of delivery to increase from 37,200 to more than 62,300 homes a year to tackle housing delivery backlogs.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published a report on housebuilding and found the dominance of speculative private development paired with complex, unpredictable planning rules is the major cause of the long-term shortfall of new homes in the UK.

The Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme 2020 has had a boost of £3 billion to provide low-cost, flexible, and long-term loans to help fund investment in new and existing affordable homes across England, including those for social rent, affordable rent, and shared ownership.  

The National Housing Federation (NHF) predicts that by 2045 around 2.3 million older people could be living in homes that don’t meet their needs unless the housing sector is given the tools and policy landscape they need to provide a solution.

Propertymark has co-signed a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of the Autumn Budget strongly urging action on static rates of local housing allowance (LHA) and the lack of affordable private rented homes.

Without introducing measures that tackle tenant demand and landlord costs, property standards will reduce, landlords will leave the sector and rents will rise. This has been evidenced when rent controls have been implemented across Europe and the United States and is currently the case in Scotland.

Shadow Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary, and Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner MP put housing at the centre of her speech to the Labour Party conference on Sunday 8 October 2023, committing to deliver the biggest boost in affordable and social housing for a generation.

Scotland's First Minister, Humza Yousaf, MSP, renewed the commitment to introducing long-term rent controls and new tenant rights under the Scottish Housing Bill, set to be enacted in 2024, plus, under the current cost-of-living measure, emergency rent caps and a moratorium on evictions will remain in place until 31 March 2024.