What does a Conservative victory mean for home ownership?

The Conservative manifesto suggests that this will be a government with a focus on home ownership, much like the Cameron administration. Yet many of the housing policies outlined are largely the same as those that were promised before the party’s election in 2015, which have not been enacted.

The new Johnson administration must start to address domestic issues such as housing with as much urgency as Brexit. If Johnson is to leave a good housing legacy, he must oversee a stable housing team that is given priority. We would welcome confirmation of the rumoured promotion of housing to a cabinet-level post. The government must also ensure they build on the remit of the housing pledges within the manifesto and deliver policy to achieve a holistic housing sector.

Housing supply

The Conservatives are maintaining their housing target of building 300,000 homes a year. This has been their aim since 2015, but it has not yet been successfully achieved. However, this administration is the first to offer modern methods of construction (MMC) as an alternative delivery vehicle to complement traditional build in trying to deliver their target.

RICS welcomes the support for MMC within the Conservative manifesto. We have long highlighted the many benefits of MMC and its potential within the housing industry. The Johnson administration must commit to ensuring MMC is a viable alternative, as highlighted in our policy statement in early 2019.

We believe building houses is actually about building whole life homes, including homes that are suitable for disabled people and the ageing population. The government must provide homes that are appropriate for all ages and abilities.

We also believe new homes must have a low carbon footprint and that energy efficiency requirements must be increased in all homes across tenures. The government must provide support to ensure necessary refurbishments can be made.

Planning

The Conservative manifesto contains pledges to make planning simpler. There was also a focus on building infrastructure – including social infrastructure, such as schools and GP surgeries – before people move into their homes.

Planning is vital not just to deliver the housing we need, but to create communities and ensure the right number of homes are built in the right places with the right tenures. However, the housing pledges in the manifesto lack a commitment to funding. The government must properly finance local authority planning departments if our planning system is to deliver on their ambitious target numbers and on providing communities people want to live in.

RICS believes it is essential that the government brings forward the white paper on planning in early 2020, as announced before the election. We would also urge the Conservatives to look at placemaking within the planning system to deliver their pledges. We believe new developments must contribute to the health and wellbeing of the people who live there.

First-time buyers

To address the issue of first-time buyers not being able to access mortgage finance due to the high deposits required, the Conservative manifesto pledges to encourage long-term, fixed-rate mortgages that slash the costs of deposits.

Previous schemes that have tinkered with financial impairments have produced little to no improvement, and in some cases, unintended consequences. Help to Buy is an example of a such a scheme that has not delivered its intended aims. We support the extension of Help to Buy until 2023, on the condition that the extension period is tailored to help those for which it was intended. A review of lessons that can be learnt from the Help to Buy scheme should be conducted to ensure any replacement or future schemes are more efficient and effective in delivering the intended outcomes.

We await further details of other Conservative pledges to help first-time buyers, including changes to shared ownership, using developer contributions to discount homes in perpetuity for local people and bringing in a stamp duty surcharge on non-UK resident home buyers.

Social housing and the private rented sector

The government has committed to bringing forward a Social Housing White Paper, setting out further measures to empower tenants and support the continued supply of social homes.

We would urge that the white paper is released as a priority, to ensure that the industry can take advantage of the certainty a majority government brings to investment and the building industry. The white paper must consider the proposed extension of the voluntary Right to Buy pilot with housing associations beyond the Midlands. In particular, it should consider how the government will resolve losing housing stock from local authorities and housing associations, which is exacerbating supply issues across the sector and impacting indirectly on ownership and directly on the private rented sector.

The government cannot look at home ownership in isolation. To help first time buyers and increase home ownership, they must acknowledge the interconnected nature of the industry and improve availability and standards within the private rented sector (PRS) as well.

They must continue the work started by the previous government to introduce regulation and standards into the sector. We would caution the government to consider all elements of removing Section 21 ‘no fault evictions’ carefully. We have highlighted serious concerns around the potential for this to create unintended consequences that will impact negatively on the most vulnerable within the sector.

We support a well-functioning PRS that has minimum standards and regulation of those who manage and rent out properties. We also believe the PRS should achieve a balance between landlord and tenant needs, as outlined in our PRS policy statement.

Fire safety

It is imperative that the government takes a strong and educated stance on fire and building safety. We urge the government to ensure they fulfil their election pledge to implement and legislate for all the recommendations within the Hackitt Report into the Grenfell Tower fire. As a contributor to the Hackitt Report, we support the adoption of these recommendations and welcome the government’s statement that they will continue to work with industry, housing associations and individuals to ensure every home is safe.

It is important that the government not only adopts the Hackitt recommendations, but that full funding is provided to ensure they can be met. They must take further steps to review building safety and standards requirements for all new builds, refurbishments and renovations, while embedding sustainability and environmental improvements as well. We would also like to see a review of the current sprinkler requirements and policy. The government must do everything they can to ensure that we all feel safe in our own homes.