• Creation of unitary authorities of 500,000+ populations.
• New strategic authorities (combined authority mayors) to cover regions.
• Potential postponement of county council elections.
• End of two-tier local government.

Local Government has been a jumble of varying local authorities of varying sizes and responsibilities for some time. The last significant reform was the Local Government Act 1974, which created the two-tier system that we currently have, alongside metropolitan county councils and unitary authorities. There has been some piecemeal reform since 1974, particularly the introduction of some directly elected mayors and combined authority mayors (metro mayors), however, this has been to limited success and has varied across the country.

With the Government publishing its much-anticipated devolution white paper earlier this week, its clear that long overdue changes are on the way. The two-tier system looks set to be abolished, doing away with district councils altogether, and creating unitary authorities with new strategic authorities (don’t let the new name fool you, its combined authorities) that will coordinate more strategic level decisions regarding transport, housing and economic development in regions.

No more District Councils

The County Council’s Network in a report published in 2020 claim that abolishing district councils could save the taxpayer £3billion over five years. There will be basic criteria for the creation of unitary authorities, with each requiring a population of at least 500,000. However, it is likely that most new unitary authorities will follow a similar thread to those that the previous Government had created and mirror county boundaries, such as Somerset Council, Wiltshire Council and Buckinghamshire Council, unless there is clear justification for the creation of a smaller unitary as was the case in Dorset with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. If smaller unitary authorities are created, they will come under the indirect control of a combined authority mayor for the wider region.

Combined authority mayors

Expanding on attempts by the previous Conservative Government, each region will have a combined authority mayor (commonly known as metro mayors). Metro Mayors are more prevalent in the North and Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Yorkshire, and will be responsible for the transport and economic strategy for the region – in some cases over more than one unitary authority. Metro Mayors may have control over the allocation of further funding such as adult social care if they oversee more than one unitary authority so that funding can be allocated where it is most needed – East Kent and South East Essex receive the majority of their respective county council’s adult social care funding at the expense of other areas within their counties.

The Government has made it clear that this reform is part of better aligning all key services within regions so that they fit within clearly defined areas rather than the mix that we currently have. In attempting to define the regions, they could take the shape of the current Police boundaries which follow county boundaries with some exceptions where counties are too small, Thames Valley being a prime example.

When will this all happen?

With a consultation due to launch in January, it is clear that the Government wants to move quickly with these reforms. Council’s have been asked to submit proposals by the end of January and if they can be progressed at speed then it is likely that the Government will delay county council elections in those areas by a year, to be held in 2026 for the new authority as opposed to May 2025 for what would eventually be a defunct county council.

What are the implications for the built environment?

• Larger decision-making areas – county-wide unitary authorities will have more concentrated planning committees, rather than the current model with between 8-14 per county. However, a merging of planning teams will not necessarily free up capacity or result in greater efficiency. These reforms will drastically reduce the number of councillors across the country.
• More strategic decision-making – metro mayors have the potential to drive economic growth, a key pillar of the new Government’s growth agenda. The push by successive Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Mayors for the creation of East West Rail between Cambridge and Oxford and Ben Houchen, Mayor of Tees Valley, purchasing Teesside Airport are examples of the role they can play.
• Housing across boundaries – the abolition of district councils and establishment of unitary authorities could result in a more strategic approach to housing delivery similar to county plans that were in place before Local Plans. It could facilitate the creation of more new towns by eliminating the disincentives district council’s currently have to not cooperate with each other on housing delivery, Oxford City Council trying to move some of its housing allocation onto neighbouring authorities is a prime example.

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/london-cityscape-460672/

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• The Standard Method will calculate need based on how affordable housing is, rather than how much may be required due to growth forecasts.
• 6-year rather than 5-year housing supply for existing local plans.
• Presumption if favour of development where applications are policy compliant.
• £100m, alongside increased planning fees, to increase LPA capacity.
• New definition of greenbelt, but no 50% affordable target on ‘grey belt’ land.

The long-awaited changes to the NPPF have today been published. Building, no pun intended, on the new Government’s commitment to deliver growth across this Parliament with a new ambitious target of 1.5 million new homes, there are some noticeable changes. The publication of these changes before Christmas, after the consultation in August received more than 10,000 responses, is no small feat and demonstrates the Government’s efforts to make-up time lost by the Summer and Conference recesses.

To the shock of absolutely no one, mandatory housing targets are back, with a rise from 300,000 to a new target of 370,000 homes a year. There has been speculation for some time whether the issue of housing delivery is a consequence of England’s sluggish planning system. The announcement of £100m of funding to help local authorities recruit 300 new planning officers will be welcome news, with many local authorities struggling to meet capacity when they have allocated a senior planning officer to work on a large development application. Large applications take a considerable amount of planning officers’ time.

The announcement that local authorities will need to progress local plans within three months, considering just one-third of local authorities adopted a local plan in the last 5 years, could result in a rush by many councils to get their new plans underway, particularly as those with old plans after July 2026 will need to demonstrate an extra year housing supply, 6 instead of the usual 5-year.

Whilst the NPPF still insists that brownfield land remains a priority for redevelopment, these new changes will require councils to review their green belt boundaries and identify ‘grey belt’ land. For local authorities which are located within large portions of green belt, who have previously adopted Local Plans with low numbers of new housing, this change will enable them to allocate land for development to meet the new housing targets as many local authorities such as those in the Home Counties have been hit with much higher targets under the revised calculations. When compared to the housing numbers announced at the start of the consultation, the changes are most notable in London and the South East, with Kensington and Chelsea seeing a 20% increase, Wandsworth 13% increase, Westminster 14% increase, and a 10% increase in Mole Valley.

The release of grey belt land will be welcome news to many within the industry, particularly when areas with considerable green belt are the very same areas where housing is most unaffordable. However, the August consultation proposed a target of 50% affordable housing for any new developments on green belt land, but this commitment has been dropped. The Government’s ambition to deliver up to 50% affordable housing on developments remains, but it has been watered down for grey belt sites to provide flexibility through a 15% target premium on top of local plan numbers, up to 50%. This again will be welcomed by the sector, after uproar in August was publicly spearheaded by Barratt’s Land and Planning Director Phil Barnes who highlighted that the developer had already mothballed three applications due to “the spectre of 50%”.

The standard method, used by local authorities to calculate housing need for their local plans, will now consider how affordable housing is within an area, rather than population projections and the specific needs of the area. This will likely result in higher housing numbers in areas, but it is yet unclear how this will translate into aiding housing delivery.

As always, we will need to wait and see how these changes may help to deliver the housing that England desperately needs but with over 1 million homes consented but not yet built, according to The Planning Portal Market Index, the issue with delivery may have more to do with a labour and skills shortage than supply.

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Emma Waterfall, Cascade’s Managing Director said: “Emma has been central to our recent growth in public sector clients thanks to her personalised service and consistently high quality of delivery. She will be leading our expansion in this area as well as overseeing our client service standards across the team. Emma is a key member of the Cascade team and her promotion reflects our dedication to providing clients with the highest quality senior level advice.”

The announcement comes following a number of recent successes for Emma, who has secured a string of new public sector contracts working alongside Montagu Evans for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and directly for the Ministry of Defence as well as Homes England.

Emma, who has 14 years’ experience in retail communications at Sainsburys, has also taken an active role in the development of our expanding corporate communications and PR services as well as sector reach, acting for industrial and logistics developer, Salmon Property, as well as Midsummer Place in Milton Keynes for NewRiver.

Emma Garner added: “It’s an exciting time at Cascade as we continue to expand our clients in terms of services, geography and sectors. I look forward to working as part of the leadership team in driving growth in these areas, while maintaining the senior, high quality service clients have come to know from Cascade.”

Get in contact with Emma:
egarner@cascadecommunications.co.uk
+44 (0)20 7871 3562

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Whoever takes on the mantle of leadership will inherit a party at its lowest ebb in history. However, there are signs of opportunity. Labour’s decision to cut the Winter Fuel Allowance has sparked significant controversy, creating a platform for the new leader to capitalise on public discontent.

While the Conservatives have managed to secure a string of council by-election wins in recent months, these victories should not be seen as definitive evidence of a resurgence. The new leader, whether it be Badenoch or Jenrick, will face an uphill struggle to regain broader national appeal, and the challenges are particularly pronounced in addressing issues that hit close to home, such as housing and NIMBYism.

The rise of NIMBYism
The issue of NIMBYism (“Not in My Back Yard”) emerged as a significant challenge during the Conservatives’ time in government, particularly following the loss of the Chesham and Amersham by-election. This loss helped stifle much-needed planning reforms that could address the housing shortage, particularly in areas where young people are being priced out of homeownership.

The leadership contenders, Badenoch and Jenrick, have presented two different responses to this issue. Jenrick has put housing at the heart of his platform, determined to tackle the crisis head-on, looking to the Canadian Conservatives for inspiration with their pro-housing agenda, which, if recent opinion polls are to be believed, is helping to win back younger voters. Badenoch, while not dismissing the need for more housing, is focused on a broader ideological reset. Her Renewal 2030 platform focuses on a return to first principles and resetting the party’s direction, emphasising traditional Conservative values such as reducing government intervention and promoting personal responsibility. While Jenrick offers a concrete policy offering, Badenoch believes that without a clear ideological foundation, policy discussions risk being aimless.

Divisions over key issues?
The next leader will also need to navigate internal divisions, particularly regarding the UK’s membership of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). While Badenoch advocates for reform and doesn’t see leaving the ECHR as a silver bullet, Jenrick has made his position clear: “I’m for leave,” a marked contrast to some of his more moderate views in recent years. Managing these internal divisions will be key for the new leader to unite the party and present a credible alternative to Labour.

Opportunities amid challenges
Keir Starmer’s approval rating has been plummeting, reflecting growing dissatisfaction among the public. This could present an opportunity for the Conservatives to deprive Labour of a second term or, at the very least, significantly reduce their majority — that said, four and a half years is a long time in British politics. Additionally, the rise of Reform UK on the right and the resurgence of the Liberal Democrats on the left pose significant challenges that could redefine the party’s future following the recent general election.

A Personal Perspective: The View from the Doorstep
I was recently in Greenwich campaigning for Conservative candidate Charlie Davis ahead of the Eltham Town and Avery Hill by-election. The voters there were engaged and showed genuine support for Charlie. There was a prevailing sense that a “punishment beating” was required — that the Conservatives need a period out of government to regroup and refocus. Despite being out of office for barely four months, the party triumphed with a majority of over 500 votes. Similarly, in September, the Conservatives won back a seat on Westminster City Council from Labour, with an 8.5% increase in their vote share from 2022. Notably, both candidates had stood as prospective MPs in their respective areas during the recent general election, suggesting that building name recognition may be a key strategy for success.

However, recent results still reveal challenges for the Conservatives. Just last week, the Liberal Democrats gained a previously safe Conservative seat on Surrey Heath Borough Council, with the Conservative vote share plummeting by 27%. This follows the Liberal Democrats’ victory in the area’s parliamentary seat in July, which saw a 20.9% swing in their favour — signs that the party is consolidating its position locally. A similar story unfolded in Ealing this month, where the Liberal Democrats won a seat on Ealing Council in the Hanger Hill by-election. The ward, previously represented by two Conservative councillors and one Liberal Democrat, now leans more solidly towards the Liberal Democrats. While the Conservatives are enjoying a short-term boost from Labour’s rocky start in office (at the time of writing, the party has gained 16 council seats since the general election), they face a tough battle in defending their seats against the resurgent Liberal Democrats as we head into the 2025 local elections.

The Tory leadership election has shaped up to be an interesting battle between a return to first principles and the desire for radical change. Whoever wins tomorrow will not only have the immense responsibility of uniting a divided party but also of regaining trust in the eyes of the public.

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The property and development industry is crying out for stability and the last five months has been yet more waiting. 

At Labour Party Conference, which felt more like a housing conference at times, there was palpable enthusiasm to get Britain building. But any questions seeking detail were answered with “wait for the budget in October”.

These are the Chancellor’s key announcements in relation to the housing and development sector. Will this start the journey towards the delivery of 1.5 million homes during this government?

• A new 5-year social housing rent settlement to give social housing providers the certainty to invest in new social housing and a potential 10-year settlement subject to consultation. Whilst this will be welcomed by providers who have reduced their development pipelines and spending on Section 106 properties, a 10-year option is what housing associations, the G15 and LGA have been pushing for.
• £3.1bn of additional funding for the Affordable Homes Programme, expected to deliver around 5,000 more affordable social homes, taking the overall value of the programme to £12bn.
• Planned changes to government debt rules to unlock up to £50bn of investment for major infrastructure projects such as roads, railways or hospitals, a commonly touted obstacle to the delivery of new homes.
• Right to Buy discounts will be reduced from 70% to a maximum of 25% to help protect existing council housing stock, whilst local authorities will be able to retain 100% of receipts from a Right to Buy sale and reinvest in their portfolio.
• £3bn support and guarantees to help small housebuilders contribute to the new homes targets.
• Commitment to the recruitment of more planners to address local skills shortages.
• Improvements to the rail links between Oxford and Cambridge to support the Oxford-Cambridge Arc and life sciences.
• Investment to bring forward key sites across the country – including Liverpool Central Docks – to deliver 2,000 new homes.
• Increased settlements for devolved governments, and Greater Manchester and the West Midlands will be the first mayoral authorities to receive integrated settlements to give mayors more of funding for their local areas.
• Stamp duty increasing surcharge for second homes by 2% to 5% from tomorrow, whilst the increased threshold for first time buyers is to be extended.

I would argue that these steps, coupled with efforts to reduce inflation and the cost of debt, are a move in the right direction to build market confidence, but obstacles remain which are outside the Chancellor’s control.

• Local authority resourcing remains a key obstacle to handling the sheer number of planning applications that will be needed to deliver 300k homes a year and is being acutely felt in the Capital – with PPA deadlines often missed and agency staff being used to stem the tide, which is simply not sustainable. The Chancellor’s re-commitment to improve staffing is welcome, but the reality is a frontline challenge for local councils.
• Political will is something that Angela Rayner will have to tackle in the next 6-12 months and proactively intervene where local authorities are seeking to refuse applications which accord with the government’s mandate for growth – particularly with local elections in 2025 and 2026. Much-talked-about partnerships with regional mayors on growth plans will be key here.
• Policy changes associated to the recent NPPF consultation, the review and publication of government’s response will inevitably slip past the end of this year and may not come into play until autumn 2025.
• Interest rates have come down and inflation is now below the Bank of England’s 2% target, which increases the potential for further interest rates cuts, and this is essential for investors to balance the delays associated with drawn-out planning applications.

If you would like to discuss your site or project and the impact of the Labour’s first Budget since 2010, please get in touch on 020 7871 3565 or swilson@cascadecommunications.co.uk.

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This week marked my first Labour Party Conference for some time, but also a double first – my first Conference in Liverpool and first with Labour in Government.

I was expecting to find a feeling of buoyancy, verging on jubilation, after 14 years in Opposition and a landslide election victory back in July. Whilst there was certainly positivity around the ACC, much of the focus was the job at hand. 

In 1997 Tony Blair’s priorities were defined by the slogan “Education, education, education”; after three days at Conference I wouldn’t have been surprised if the Prime Minister had said “Housing, housing, housing” during his keynote speech. I counted 28 housing-related events, panels or gatherings across Conference, demonstrating the collectively acknowledged importance of delivering new homes in the next five years, for the fundamental purpose of housing people but also to drive economic growth, create jobs and generate investment. 

My takeaways: 

• 1.5m homes (or 300k a year) is a big mountain to climb and whilst the focus at Conference was largely on social housing, the role of local authorities and residential providers through partnerships, the private sector cannot be left out in the cold if the Government wants to come close to meeting these targets. 

• The Labour YIMBY movement is gathering pace, with keynote speakers at the YIMBY rally emphasising the need for members to talk-up the importance and benefits of housing delivery in their home communities, not just in online echo chambers. 

• Quality community engagement is incredibly important to delivery and communities must be taken on the journey, and this must be done well through investment of time to tackle cynicism around developers. 

• The private sector and particularly SME house builders need stability, pipeline and opportunity.   

• Similarly, registered providers need security of increased social rents over the next 5-10 years to effectively plan and finance their house building and retrofit programmes. 

• Design, sustainability and quality of new homes is high on the agenda, and the whole development industry must rise to meet expectations of politicians and communities if applications are to progress smoothly. 

• Local authority resource (where to begin!) was frequently tabled as blocker for development, with RTPI Chair Christine Whitehead outlining her personal desire to add a “0” on the Government’s pledge of 300 new planners. Supporting this is a clear need to make local authorities, and specifically planning departments, exciting and progressive places to work where people can build a career.  

• There is a desire to deliver housing across the country, if it comes with infrastructure communities want to soften the landing, and MPs (new and old) talked of the courage needed to “make hard decisions” and how this cannot waiver in the face of lost by-elections. 

• Devolution was a strong and recurring theme throughout Conference, with renewed calls for increased fiscal and policy freedoms for devolved authorities across the country.  

• Linked to this, there was a strong sense that the Capital should be firing on all cylinders with the majority of boroughs being Labour run, a Labour Mayor in his third term and now a Labour Government. 

Taking all the above into consideration as being largely positive, there were unanswered questions that were quickly deferred to the upcoming Autumn Budget – arguably the result of the unexpected July General Election. Ultimately, the spotlight will be on Rachel Reeves come 30 October to answer these lingering questions and establish a landscape for growth. 

I remain quietly optimistic about the Government’s plans for housing delivery, coupled with a wider push on development (infrastructure  renewable energy and data centres to name a few Conference hot topics) and, ultimately, believe there are crop of new MPs who are keen to promote development in all parts of the country – I hope I have the same optimism after Conference next year. 

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It’s often said that every cloud has a silver lining, and that was especially relevant in the last few days.

In case you missed it, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, set out a plan to cut public spending to stabilise in her words ‘The worst economic inheritance since the second world war’.

With all the doom and gloom surrounding the economy, it was only right that we were hit with a Ray-ner of sunshine with positive changes to the NPPF. But what does it all mean?

My mother always said give me the bad news first, and I’ve always obliged. The Chancellor’s speech had little in the way of optimism, with one of the main headlines being that major infrastructure projects are being scrapped due to pressures on the public purse. The A303 and A27 road projects axed, and several rail links put on hold, desperately disappointing those communities who believed they would be back with Labour in charge. This, on the same day that junior doctors were given a 22.5% pay rise over two years. Whilst it was clear that Labour was inheriting problems left by the Conservative government, even this Labour member was shocked at how extensive infrastructure had been shelved.

On one hand, I feel a great sense of disappointment at the shelving of these strategically important construction and infrastructure projects. It’s often the case that housebuilding and development in general is driven by infrastructure investment, and more infrastructure is desperately needed, not just for communities to use, but for local authorities to meet their housing targets. However, there is a clear contrast to what was promised in the manifesto with new infrastructure to what is now achievable. A contrast that affects generations to come. With no clear steer on whether those projects will ever come back, it leaves me wondering if they will be delivered at all and with it, all of the added development that comes with new infrastructure i.e. new homes, retail, commercial space etc.

And now the good news, starting with a headline of the key points of the NPPF:

• The reinstatement of mandatory housing targets.
• An increase in the number of homes delivered from 300,000 to 370,000 per year.
• A new consultation on changes to the Right to Buy scheme.
• London’s housing requirement has been reduced due to the removal of the 35% urban uplift. The new target will be around 80,000 per year.

The Government have, for now, stuck to one of their central missions of reforming the planning system. On Tuesday, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, Angela Rayner MP,  set out a ‘YIMBY’ National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). This NPPF is not going to be liked by rural communities, and that’s the point. In her speech to the Commons, she said that the last government ‘ducked the difficult decisions’ (which they undoubtedly did) and that the narrative “should be about how to deliver new homes, not whether to”. Music to my ears.

However, there are some challenges in the NPPF which need a little bit more clarity. One of the elements that caught my eye was ‘Local authorities will have to review their green belt if needed to meet their housing targets’. We knew before the General Election that Labour favoured green belt development in the right circumstances to meet housing need, and they’ve followed through. On green belt land, the Labour Government will mandate that 50% affordable housing must be delivered, which makes the loss of green belt much more tolerable. However, under the current economic climate, many homebuilders are struggling to deliver any affordable housing at all. Unless interest rates and construction costs go down, it’s hard to see how many homebuilders can deliver 50% affordable homes on the green belt.

The changes to the NPPF are a good first step in driving economic growth, which is Labour’s central mission in government. It’s refreshing to see a government who wants to get Britain building, and it’s clear they want to work with private sector developers to match their ambition. There is now an impetus on developers to feed into the NPPF consultation and make their voice heard.

Overall, there are always two sides to the coin. On one side, the Chancellor, albeit not wanting to, delivered a stark message to the public. Tough decisions will have to be made, and hard times lay ahead. There is no easy fix to the economy and stabilisation takes time, but it appears that with Angela Rayner’s statement on Tuesday, there is sun over the horizon. For years and years, the built environment sector has been crying out for reform and, I say with bated breath, this could be it. A fresh approach to the green belt, a reinstatement of housing targets, and many other elements lead me to believe that positive change is coming. However, it’s early and of course, the devil will be in the detail.

Image credit: Picture by Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

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• Reintroduction of mandatory housing targets.
• Presumption in favour of development.
• Renationalisation of railways.
• Will Great British Energy lead the charge in new renewable energy?
• More powers for Mayors and local leaders.
• Better protections for renters and a ban on new leasehold properties.

The first King’s Speech of the new Labour Government, setting out the legislative priorities for the year ahead in Parliament. It’s a whistle stop tour (taking the King just 12 minutes and 44 seconds to outline 40 new bills) of the new Government’s key priorities, but we have known for some time that many of Labour’s flagship manifesto promises would be included within this King’s Speech.

Of course, even with a sizeable majority in the House of Commons, not all of what has been announced in the King’s Speech will be passed into law within the next year, but it’s a clear indication of the direction that this Government will be taking, with the Prime Minister stating his intention to “take the brakes off Britain”.

Housing and planning

Getting Britain building again was a key pillar of the Labour Party’s manifesto during the General Election campaign, as such the built environment featured prominently in the King’s Speech, including the anticipated Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

Alongside reforms to ban new leasehold properties and provide greater protection for tenants, including ending no fault evictions, which will come forward in the Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill, whilst the reforms to planning are no less significant.

“My ministers will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing.”

The acceleration of housebuilding has been a key pledge of the new Government and whilst the King’s Speech lacked detail on how this will be achieved, we know that much of this will be through the reintroduction of mandatory housing targets and reform to the National Planning Policy Framework – essentially reversing changes made by the Conservatives that ultimately hampered delivery.

Housebuilding targets will be imposed on local authorities that do not produce local plans to hit their existing targets. Most significant is presumption in favour of development, with consultation on “how” new homes will be built rather than “if”.

Alongside this, nutrient neutrality issues are holding up many new housing developments across the country and without significant work to tackle this issue many local councils may be penalised for failing to deliver enough housing in their areas through no fault of their own. Canterbury City Council being a case in point, with circa 7,000 new homes in limbo across the district due to concerns over nutrient neutrality in relation to Stodmarsh Nature Reserve.

Whilst the announcements within the King’s Speech will be welcome news to the built environment sector, which is keen help to deliver the 1.5million new homes the Government wants over the next 5 years, as always, the devil will be in the detail.

Transport

The creation of Great British Railways, a new body which will manage both the railway infrastructure and trains, taking on the responsibilities of Network Rail and private operators once their franchises expire, will focus on saving money in the long term and result in a more simplified service for rail users. The introduction of new powers for regional authorities to set timetables and fares for buses in their areas, including the power to award franchises, is a step further towards devolution (see below).

Energy

A new national energy company, Great British Energy, will be established to invest in renewable energy and eliminate non-renewable power generation by 2030, funded to the tune of £8.3billion over the next five years. However, it is important to note that it will not supply energy to households but instead ensure that new renewable technologies are invested in alongside the delivery of tried and tested renewables to drive forward to push towards net-zero.

Will Great British Energy help to get more onshore wind farms built alongside more experimental renewable generation? Of course, an integral part of the delivery of more renewable energy generation will be securing the necessary planning consent and the recent overturning of refusals for three large scale solar farms in England by the new Secretary of State, Ed Miliband, in the past week is perhaps a sign that the Government will keep to its word.

Devolution

In one of the most significant changes to devolved powers to the regions since the creation of regional mayors, it appears that combined authority mayors will soon have a more enhanced role in the planning process, delivering spatial plans and being tasked with identifying the most promising sites for development in their areas. Alongside this will be increased the powers for directly elected Mayors to include transport, skills, housing and employment schemes. Whilst Combined Authority Mayors already exercise powers of strategic oversight for some of these areas, particularly transport and housing, giving them direct control over delivery this will strip away some of the confusing levels of bureaucracy that the average member of the public seldom understands.

The Deputy Prime Minister has promised “the most ambitious programme of devolution this country has ever seen” and whilst areas won’t be forced to have a Metro Mayor, they will be lured by the emerging incentives. Local Government has always been a mix of varying local authorities with varying powers (unitary, district, borough, parish and combined authorities) and whilst there is no sign of that changing for the time being, it is certain that the sector will continue to have strong voices to advocate on its behalf – including Councillor Clair Holland, Leader of Lambeth Council and new Chair of London Councils, who  replaces the former Leader of Camden Council and now MP for Queen’s Park and Maida Vale, Georgia Gould.

2/ We’re encouraged by the English Devolution Bill which promises more powers for mayors and councils over areas including energy, transport, skills and employment support and planning.

Boroughs are clear that London’s devolution journey is not yet over. #KingsSpeech

— London Councils (@londoncouncils) July 17, 2024

So will this lead to growth, growth, growth?

The announcements today in the King’s Speech will certainly be welcome news to the built environment sector and I don’t think anyone can argue that the Government aren’t serious about delivering more homes and critical infrastructure particularly to deliver the growth the country desperately needs.

However, the industry requires certainty over how these promises will be met. There continues to be very little clarification on how many social homes will be delivered out of the 1.5million new homes that have been promised or even how they will be built. It will be interesting to see if the expansion of powers to Mayors results in them also taking responsibility for building more social homes in their areas, many of which have some of the most acute social housing shortages.

Of course, we will now have to wait and see what detail comes out as many of these new bills are introduced to the House of Commons.

The post The King’s Speech – Growth, Growth, Growth? appeared first on Cascade.

Key points:

• A super majority for Labour presents opportunities for drastic reforms, which will be needed to “get Britain building again” and deliver 300,000 homes a year.
• Labour, Labour, Labour: London is red, and so will all gears turn together?
• Huge increase in the number of former councillors who are now MPs.
• Lowest General Election turnout since 2001.
• Lowest vote share for the two main political parties in the post-war period.
• Comparative rise of Reform and the Greens and the resurgence of the Liberal Democrats.
• A shallow majority for Labour, with some seats secured with three-digit majorities.
• In the North, Labour now dominates. In the South, the Liberal Democrats are a force to be reckoned with.
• The end of the Conservative Party?

Vote share for Labour and Conservatives combined circa 55%, the lowest in election history

An historic General Election victory. There’s just no other way to say it. If anyone now tries to tell you that they knew Keir Starmer would become Prime Minister when he succeeded Jeremy Corbyn, they are lying. After the 2019 General Election many assumed that the Conservatives could remain in power until 2029 and, in contrast, Labour have succeeded in a remarkable turnaround since then. Now with a majority that many Conservative Prime Ministers could only dream of, it is important to reflect on this General Election result and what it means for the built environment.

A shallow majority?

This General Election result is significant in many ways besides Labour securing a huge majority. Voter turnout was down 7.4% to 59.9% compared to the 2019 General Election and Labour’s share of the vote only increased by 2% when compared to 2019. Interestingly, Labour secured 500,000 less votes than under Jeremy Corbyn in 2019. Of course, the Conservatives vote share fell by 19.9% and votes cast for the Conservatives overall cut in half so it could be argued that Labour won and that’s that.

However, it is important to note that many of the seats won by Labour have been secured with only three-digit majorities. Some by even less, with 22-year-old Labour candidate Sam Carling unseating veteran Conservative MP Shailesh Vara in North West Cambridgeshire by only 39 votes. In Hendon, the Labour candidate won by just 15 votes. In Poole, veteran Conservative Robert Syms was defeated by 18 votes. Moving away from the closest of margins, even victories in seats such as Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Labour won by only 355 votes and in Chelsea and Fulham, Deputy Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, Ben Coleman won by only 152 votes.

Of course, there will be numerous reasons why Labour narrowly won these seats, but one factor could be the considerable amount of time that leading figures, particularly Shadow Cabinet members, spent campaigning in these seats rather than their own. The likes of Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner, David Lammy and Wes Streeting travelled up and down the country to drum up support for the Party’s candidates in target constituencies.

But the narrowest of margins weren’t only reserved for seats targeted by Labour, some leading figures within the Party came close to losing their seats, such as Wes Streeting, and others did (more on that later). Paired with the Labour Party’s position on Gaza, and the targeted drive to unseat Labour MPs who had supported said position, demonstrates that under the surface there are challenges that this new Government will face in trying to unite everyone under a common banner.

Whilst Labour’s victory in the General Election is historic, the results indicate that voters are losing patience and want to see results from whoever governs them. The Prime Minister and Chancellor will be acutely aware they need to deliver if they want to maintain their majority for more than one parliamentary term.

What has the new Government promised so far on the built environment?

In a General Election where the Labour Party’s manifesto was lacking detail, one area which saw much briefing to the press was their plans for the built environment. Regional spatial plans, reinstatement of mandatory housing targets, a brownfield and grey land-first approach, it was clear during the campaign that this new Government would mean business.

On Monday the new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, confirmed some of these commitments that this Government will work towards to getting Britain building again and drive growth in the economy. This Government believes that the quicker delivery of infrastructure and housing is key to Britain’s economic recovery and future growth. The delivery of 1.5million new homes over this Parliament will be welcome news – although it isn’t much different from the previous Conservative Government’s commitment of 300,000 new homes a year – the proof will be in whether reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework will have the desired effect.

There will of course be a delay due to the slowdown caused by high interest rates and the affordability of homes, but if the correct mix of social and market homes can be delivered, the Government may just be able to solve an issue that has plagued 17 housing ministers over the past 14 years.

Strong local government advocates in Parliament?

Small margins of victory or not, what is clear is the considerable number of new MPs who until recently where councillors. Within this new cohort of MPs, 50 former or current councillors have now taken seats in the House of Commons, and this provides an opportunity for local government to have a stronger voice in Parliament than ever before.

This significance will not be lost on the former (and in some cases still current) Council Leaders who will be entering Parliament. For Labour, Nesil Caliskan (Enfield Leader) in Barking, Georgia Gould (Camden Leader) in Maida Vale and Queens Park, Jim Dickson (former Lambeth Leader) in Dartford and Shaun Davies (Telford & Wrekin Leader) in Telford. For the Conservatives, Bradley Thomas (Wychavon Leader) in Bromsgrove, Lewis Cocking, Leader of Broxbourne Council and now MP in Hertfordshire. For the Liberal Democrats, Vikki Slade (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Leader) in Mid Dorset and North Poole. This is an opportunity for local government to have a strong voice in Parliament, with advocates who understand the challenges councils face. However, this will result in understandably a drain of talent away from local government, with the majority of these new MPs standing down as councillors to focus fully on their new roles. Where Leaders have become MPs, leadership contests are a certainty.

London – Simply Red?

The London Mayoral Elections may seem like a lifetime ago rather than two months ago, with minor exceptions the Conservatives holding steady their number of GLA members, but the results from the General Election show a dramatic shift in Labour’s power in the capital. Of course, since the borough elections in May 2022, Labour now hold more London Boroughs than ever before and the shift towards Labour continued in this General Election; winning notable seats from the Conservatives such as Hendon, Chelsea and Fulham and Westminster and the City of London. Danny Beales victory in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, his second attempt after a narrow loss in 2023, indicates opposition to ULEZ may already be softening.

Whilst the Conservatives managed to hold on in Bromley and Hillingdon, and the Liberal Democrats won back seats in London that they lost in 2019 and gained Wimbledon, with a Labour Mayor, Labour MPs and Labour-run councils, London is now very much a Labour city. The question is without a Conservative government to blame any shortcomings on, will the prospect of an alignment between Labour across all tiers of government lead to tangible results? London Councils has welcomed the recent announcements regarding housing and planning reform claiming to be “ready with hardhats on, shovels in hand” but we’re now less than two years away from the 2026 London-wide elections, so we will have to wait and see.

Independents/Independence?

This General Election has seen the largest number of independent MPs returned to Parliament in decades. Whilst George Galloway may have failed to be re-elected in Rotherham, independent victories provided some interesting results at the expense of Labour.

Jonathan Ashworth, formerly Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary of State, was unseated in Leicester South, alongside his counterparts in Birmingham Perry Barr, Dewsbury and Batley, and Blackburn. Whilst there are reports that these losses are a result of Labour’s position on the war in Gaza, there is clearly a level of discontent among Labour supporters in some areas – notably Jeremy Corbyn being re-elected in Islington North as an independent despite a well-organised and funded campaign by Labour to oust him.

As many within the Labour Party celebrate their overall victory in the General Election, time will tell if they should be concerned about this independent threat.

The rise of smaller political parties?

Whilst Labour have secured a significant majority, their largest since 1997, this General Election has brought about considerable success for smaller political parties. Notwithstanding the losses of the SNP to Labour.

At the expense of the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats now have 72 seats with many of these located across the South of England – with no Conservative MPs left in either Oxfordshire or Cornwall for example. Alongside this, the Green Party now have four seats, unseating Thangnam Debbonaire in Bristol Central and gaining Waveney in Suffolk and North Herefordshire. It will be interesting to see how the Green Party will be able to reconcile the differences between their metropolitan constituents in Brighton and Bristol with their rural supporters in Herefordshire and Suffolk in Parliament.

And of course, Reform won five seats, a feat UKIP couldn’t manage in the 2015 General Election, even with Nigel Farage as Party Leader. The results for Reform extend further than just these five seats, whilst it is significant that they have won in similar seats across the country – such as Clacton, Boston and Skegness, and Great Yarmouth, areas which voted for Brexit by a considerable margin in the EU referendum.

Reform came second in many seats won by Labour in the North of England and whilst they didn’t replicate this placing across seats in the South of England, their candidates in the South consistently garnered enough votes to overtake the Liberal Democrats and Green Party in many seats. The significance of this cannot be lost on this being the first General Election that Reform have properly contested, and we can expect Nigel Farage to be his majesty’s official opposition if measured by volume of media appearances and soundbites in Parliament.

Are the Conservatives finished? 

Whilst the Conservatives have taken a hammering in this election, this defeat may not be the final nail in the coffin for the party, even with Liz Truss losing her seat and the former seats of Theresa May (Maidenhead) and David Cameron (Witney) falling to the Liberal Democrats. We haven’t yet seen how the Conservatives have fared in a full election cycle.

We’ve had local elections in 2023, Mayoral elections in May 2024 and now a General Election. The key test for the Conservatives will be the local elections in May 2025, when many areas will be holding County Council elections where Labour and the Liberal Democrats have made significant gains such as in Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hampshire.

The Reform vote will have prevented the Conservatives from holding onto some parliamentary seats at this general election, but it did not make the difference between the Conservatives winning or losing the general election. The Conservatives are solely responsible for their own defeat. However, the 2025 local elections will provide a more focused look at support, particularly for smaller political parties. The Greens took control of East Hertfordshire District Council last year and made considerable gains in Suffolk, both usually safe Conservative areas which now have Labour MPs. Will these next set of local elections pose the risk of the further demise of the Conservative Party?

It will certainly be an opportunity for voters to show if the Conservatives have started to regain their trust and if not, we could see a similar performance for Reform as UKIP in the 2013 local elections when they gained a significant number of councillors across the country and became the opposition on many county councils such as in Kent. If the Conservatives cannot keep control of their county councils, many of which remained Conservative through the Blair years, then further soul-searching will be urgently required.

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Co-living’s arrival in London made a splash with its beautiful, shared spaces and social living concept. It is a unique opportunity for young professionals eager to move out of their family homes but unable to afford traditional housing options or uninterested in typical house shares. So, why aren’t we seeing more co-living schemes across London?

Demand is high but understanding low?

Co-living remains an underutilized housing tenure, with only a handful of schemes delivered across London boroughs to date.

We have found that with local stakeholders, and specifically councillors, there usually seems to be an element of doubt towards these schemes. Many stakeholders hold concerns about the lifestyle’s appeal as well as the longevity of the ‘newly formed’ Build To Rent (BTR) model.

Despite the forecasted surge in demand over the next three – five years, delivery of co-living in London seems to be held back at times by misconceptions amongst local government. Additionally, only seven of London’s 32 boroughs have a formal planning policy for large sale purpose-built shared living (LSPBSL), whilst 16 boroughs have permitted a sui generis scheme. Even with the GLA’s relatively new LSPBSL guidance shared in February this year, we are still being met with confusion at local government level. What this means is that there is a lack of unified approach on schemes from borough to borough. More thorough urban strategies involving co-living are needed to ensure the growing demand for flexible and sustainable living solutions can be met.

Co-living and its unique appeal

In a housing crisis where Londoners are spending nearly 40% of their monthly wages on rent for often substandard accommodation, alternative tenures like co-living deserve attention from policy makers to encourage the delivery of these rental homes at pace. With co-living, renters can enjoy expenses bundled into one monthly bill, covering utilities, council tax, gym memberships, and access to all building facilities and amenities.

With shared amenity spaces and a focus on community through weekly social events such as puppy yoga, pizza-making, musical performances, and meditation sessions – what’s not to love? These factors appeal to younger generations seeking a vibrant urban living experience with the option of personal space.

Co-working space at Sunday Mills, Earlsfield – designed by Assael Architecture for DTZ Investors and Halcyon Development Partners

Our team led the successful community and stakeholder engagement for Sunday Mills in Earlsfield, Wandsworth, which recently received a 2024 RIBA London Award. Designed by Assael Architecture for DTZ Investors and Halcyon Development Partners, the plans were approved by Wandsworth Council in 2019 and the development was completed in 2022.

Getting buy-in from key stakeholders

I believe that the key to accelerating the delivery of schemes is helping decision-makers and stakeholders better understand the concept. This can be best executed through collaborative events with councillors, such as roundtables, exhibitions and site tours. This way, councillors and planning officers can understand and experience the real benefits of schemes.

We can also let the existing stock do the talking, and councillors can be provided with data from existing London sites. According to recent surveys conducted by Gerald Eve, residents typically stay within co-living dwellings for between 9 – 12 months, with the second most popular length of stay being 12 – 18 months. Additionally, the letting velocity of new builds is very high, with completed schemes filling beds at high rates. It must also be stressed that co-living appeals to a wide range of people and budgets and is not solely for new graduates. This varied group of tenants will integrate with the existing community and contribute to the local economy.

Finally, we should make clear to stakeholders that co-living is BTR and is not completely out of the ordinary. We find that very often councillors and planning officers are scared off by the concept of co-living, thinking of it as too radical a way of living, so making this a clear subset of BTR is essential.

London’s silver bullet

The demand for rental homes is evident, as is the availability of potential sites for these schemes. In my view, co-living is the silver bullet for London’s housing crisis, especially but not limited to younger generations. It strikes me as the perfect balance between the comforts of home and the independence of renting, all while providing a cost-effective solution. As inflation soars and living expenses skyrocket, co-living stands as a beacon of hope, ready to tackle a significant portion of London’s housing shortage head-on.

The current undersupply of co-living beds in the capital, alongside the sizable demand pool, represents a significant opportunity for developers to weigh in and meet the demands of a currently underserved and undervalued consumer group.

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