Starmer promises houses – but landlords will be alarmed at fringe meeting promise

Starmer promises houses – but landlords will be alarmed at fringe meeting promise

9:25 AM, 11th October 2023, About 7 months ago 9

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While Labour leader Keir Starmer didn’t mention the private rented sector (PRS) in his speech to his party’s conference in Liverpool, a fringe meeting held earlier will alarm landlords.

That’s because a Labour MP promised that the Renters (Reform) Bill will become law under a Labour government – and says it is a ‘good starting point’.

There would, among other additions, be a clampdown on ‘economic evictions’.

In his speech, Mr Starmer said: “It’s time to get Britain building again. It’s time to build one and half million new homes across the country.

“Opportunities for first time buyers in every community.

“New development corporations with the power to remove the blockages.”

He also promised new infrastructure to support families and communities including roads, tunnels and power stations.

Mr Starmer also slammed ‘land-bankers sitting comfortably on brownfield sites while rents in their community rise’.

‘Starmer’s bold vision has huge potential’

Shelter welcomed his speech and on X (formerly Twitter) it said: “Keir Starmer’s bold vision has huge potential; the first generation of new towns had social housing at their heart.

“The drastic decline in social homes has pushed ever more people into expensive and under regulated private renting.

“Housing will be a critical issue as we head into the next #GeneralElection, voters want real solutions not piecemeal promises.”

The statement continued: “All political parties need to commit to building 90,000 genuinely affordable social homes each year that this country desperately needs.”

On the same platform Generation Rent said: “Keir Starmer acknowledges that ‘rents in communities soar’. The politicians are listening.”

Labour List fringe meeting

However, a Labour List fringe meeting on housing held earlier was a packed house with a debate on housing in the UK.

Matthew Pennycook, the Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning, told the meeting held by the news site that a Labour Government will introduce comprehensive rental reform if the Government cannot get its Renters (Reform) Bill passed into law.

He referred to the Bill as a ‘good starting point’ and promised that Labour will go further.

Labour will hold them to account

Mr Pennycook also said the government would be ‘mad’ to let the clock run down – but Labour will hold them to account if they do.

He also said Labour is offering the government its votes to get the Bill passed but their offer hasn’t been taken up.

Mr Pennycook says Bill needs to be strengthened to deal with loopholes, including unaffordable rent rises which cause ‘economic evictions’.

And Darren Baxter-Clow, a social justice charity policy advisor, said the Renters (Reform) Bill should be amended to protect tenants for two or three years and not just the six months currently.


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Comments

NewYorkie

10:30 AM, 11th October 2023, About 7 months ago

Once Labour is elected, every tenant will have a decent, safe and low rent home to live in... for as long as they want, social housing will be back to the halcyon days, and Shelter will have talked themselves out of a job!

Paul Essex

10:34 AM, 11th October 2023, About 7 months ago

Reply to the comment left by NewYorkie at 11/10/2023 - 10:30
Have you been smoking something 😂

Crouchender

10:54 AM, 11th October 2023, About 7 months ago

I watched NRLA the fringe meeting yesterday at the Labour Party Conf.
The 'Labour' Leader from Hammersmith and Fulham council was quite clear there will be more 'decent standards' to adhere too. Ie More red tape regulation and LLs should be seen as housing providers so regulated as such. His report will come out in Nov and will probably be adopted wholesale by Labour.
There was also a great love in/endorsement from him of Grainger (Build2Rent provider) in their 'rent stabalisation offer'. Grainger operates at a different part of the spectrum of the market vs small LLs so Grainger has economies of scale to take premium paying tenants and offer them some sweetners like ' rent stabalisation=rent freeze period in normal language.'
Omens do not look good for LLs with Labour so we should stick the worst of the two- Conservatives

moneymanager

12:59 PM, 11th October 2023, About 7 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Crouchender at 11/10/2023 - 10:54
There is a Grainger owned building near us, high rents, small sqm but no pesky agents undercutting each other, it's effectively a cartel model, our units offer about a third to a half as much space for no pricing premium, attemots to generalise one business's model to the whole market is absurd and naive.

NewYorkie

14:49 PM, 11th October 2023, About 7 months ago

Reply to the comment left by moneymanager at 11/10/2023 - 12:59
Would be interesting to know who the shareholders in Grainger are.

Norman Amey

22:02 PM, 11th October 2023, About 7 months ago

Reply to the comment left by NewYorkie at 11/10/2023 - 14:49
Grainger is a PLC, its major shareholders and directors shareholdings are listed on their website https://corporate.graingerplc.co.uk/investors/shareholder-information/major-shareholders.

A 10 second search tells you they are all institutional investors.

C-cider

22:08 PM, 11th October 2023, About 7 months ago

The law of unintended consequences will strike again.
Starmer’s masterplan, dreamt up with Diane Abbott no doubt, will trash the U.K. economy (like it needs Labour’s help).
House prices significantly impact GDP. Rising prices create the ‘wealth effect’ and consumer spending rises. With confidence from rising prices, people take on more debt so the wealth effect is self-propelling.
If prices fall, recession is guaranteed. Labour’s plans (and those of the other parties too) will cause house prices to fall.

C-cider

10:58 AM, 12th October 2023, About 7 months ago

Houses are expensive to build. Starting from £130k or so for a small, pretty standard 2 bed property. To meet Starmer’s target, demand for trades and materials will be high causing prices to rise further.

Unless the land is free, houses are going to cost around £200k to build. Add on profits and risk for the developer and you’re looking at £250k for a tiny house. Meanwhile, on planet Earth, house prices are going to crash.

Labour won’t be able to deliver on Starmer’s promise no matter how keen they are to do so.

PAUL BARTLETT

21:14 PM, 12th October 2023, About 7 months ago

unaffordable rent rises which cause ‘economic evictions’ or
tenants should be immune to inflation which is somebody else's problem or
financial stability and responsibility is good government (MPC) that we all have to pay for, unless we choose to be a tenant or
Politicians don't understand basic economics or
Change! is just a slogan for the gullible.

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