Prime minister Keir Starmer placed the economy at the forefront of his first King’s Speech today, with policy reforms geared towards encouraging growth
Labour’s first King’s Speech in over 15 years detailed plans for devolution, renationalisation of the railways and more public-owned bus networks.
Driving economic growth was the clear focus of the speech, with long-held party promises such as lowering the voting age to 16 put on the back burner for now.
Other non-economic policies announced included resurrecting Rishi Sunak’s phased smoking ban, introducing an age of retirement at 80 for the House of Lords, a revised version of the Renters Reform Bill and new legislation regulating AI.
Key announcements from the 2024 King’s Speech include:
Establishing a new national body in Great British Energy
The state-owned entity will oversee investment in large energy projects to accelerate the energy transition. The new Government has already marked a sea change in the sector, with energy secretary Ed Miliband recently imposing a ban on North Sea oil and overturning the Conservative’s embargo on onshore wind.
CPRE’s Elli Moody said: “The climate emergency is the biggest threat facing our countryside. We need a rapid transition to renewables.
“Properly planned onshore wind has an important role to play in the urgent decarbonisation of our energy system. New onshore wind developments must be strategically located away from sensitive landscapes and involve local communities in a transparent engagement process.
“We now need to see the government support onshore wind in cases where landscape sensitivity is considered and proposals have the backing of the local community. If the will is there, we can protect our valued landscapes and meet our nation’s energy needs at the same time.
“Many communities may wish to host onshore windfarms. We need to back them by offering community ownership as standard.
“We will continue to call on the government to unleash the potential of rooftop solar to protect more countryside for food, nature and wellbeing.
“We call on the government to ensure that 40GW of the national solar target of 70GW is delivered from rooftop solar by 2035.”
Glynn Williams, UK managing director of Grundfos, commented: “The announcement of the new GB Energy firm is an opportunity to fast track the UK’s clean power goals, and ultimately deliver cost savings for households and businesses across the country.”
“While the beneficial effects of the clean power scheme are apparent, the government must simultaneously recognise the low-hanging fruit solutions already within reach to help cut energy bills fast, by focusing on providing energy efficiency. Lack of awareness around how to optimise heating systems, such as through hydraulic balancing or replacement of old circulator pumps, costs households and businesses a combined £3.1bn each year. In the coming months we therefore hope to see regulation and funding that goes beyond insulation-based improvements.”
“The principle behind the GB Energy green power investment is absolutely right – the public and private sectors should work together to solve the country’s issues. Nowhere is this more clearly needed, though, than on the issue of energy efficiency.”
Reinstating mandatory housing targets on local authorities
Former housing secretary Michael Gove relaxed these rules last year, to a lukewarm response from the industry. Pending a consultation to determine the exact figures, the Government intends to have the targets in place by autumn of this year.
Dave Dargan, CEO and co-founder, of Starship:“It was promising to see the emphasis on new homes and overhauling the planning restrictions dominate the King’s Speech. As part of its pledge to deliver 1.5m new homes, the new government also unveiled its ambitious plans to reform planning regulations, eliminate obstacles and streamline the entire process. I eagerly await to see what developments happen in the coming months, as I am excited by the prospect of the outdated planning system being overhauled. This reform could significantly reduce the red tape and bureaucracy that often delays projects.”
Sean Keyes, CEO, of Sutcliffe: “I was delighted to see that the King’s Speech outlined the new Labour government’s strategy to achieve its target of building 1.5m houses. Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plans to overhaul the planning system and reintroduce mandatory housing targets promise to significantly bolster the nation’s capacity to build more high-quality homes and transform living standards for hundreds of thousands of people, ensuring that everyone has access to good, quality housing as a fundamental standard.”
Relaxing planning rules to boost building
Honor Barratt, CEO of Birchgrove, for anything you may be running on Labour’s proposals in the King’s Speech later today: “Labour’s plan to increase the annual supply of new homes is commendable, but we can be making far more effective use of homes already built.”
“Two thirds of over-65s have at least two empty spare bedrooms in their home, which equates to nine million empty bedrooms every night. Meanwhile, we have 300,000 people who are technically homeless – either sofa surfing or on the streets.
“Investing specifically in senior living housing will help more over-65s downsize, thereby freeing up millions of bedrooms and reducing the need to develop on greenbelt land. We already have enough homes between us; there is just a massive imbalance in how we live in them.”
CPRE director of policy, campaigns and communications Elli Moody said: “We welcome Labour’s ambition to build the homes we urgently need. However, they should start with the 1.2m new homes that could be built on shovel-ready brownfield sites in England alone.
“The Green Belt is the countryside next door for 30m people in the UK and has huge benefits for food security, physical and mental health, and nature restoration. Protections for it must be maintained in the policy framework.
“New homes on the Green Belt have rarely been genuinely affordable and create car-dependent communities far from public transport networks and other essential infrastructure.
“We also need to see ambitious targets in policy for genuinely affordable and social homes close to where people already live, work and go to school. The definition of ‘affordable’ housing should be changed to reflect local incomes rather than market rates.
“The government should deliver a strategic land-use framework that makes the best use of our finite supply of land and safeguards the Green Belt for future generations.
“We support Labour’s focus on plan-led development. We would like to see Local Plans include ambitious net zero and environmental targets.”
Others argued that planning delays were not the only obstacle to delivering housing
Danny Sutcliffe, founding partner at leading UK housing regeneration and development consultancy, Red Loft, commented: “The principal barrier to development is not legislation or the planning system but funding.
“Making new schemes stack up financially has become increasingly difficult as a result of labour and materials shortages alongside the rise in borrowing rates.
“Since 1949 the private sector has delivered between 150,000-200,000 every year. If we want to increase this to 300,000 homes per annum, the public sector will need to fund 100,000 more each year.
“That is the only serious way to secure the scale of development and the number of truly affordable homes that the Government is pledged to deliver.”
The chief executive of Bradford-based Manningham Housing Association, Lee Bloomfield called for unity from all parties in delivering the housebuilding goals:
“The country has endured a deepening housing crisis for many years which has curtailed life chances and stunted economic progress in deprived communities.
“Sadly, successive governments have backed away from their housebuilding commitments after encountering opposition either within their own ranks or from local pressure groups.
“I welcome the measures outlined in the King’s Speech aimed squarely at delivering the homes we need in Bradford, Keighley and elsewhere – but we have been here before.
“This time must be different which means Ministers sticking to their policy pledges and standing strong in the face of the inevitable challenges to new developments.
“That task will be greatly helped by politicians from all parties accepting the need to build new homes, rather than habitually opposing local housebuilding for political gain.”
Plans to best utilise existing housing stock were also called for
“The government has promised planning reform and high-quality infrastructure and housing in today’s King’s Speech. This is a welcome promise to address what has become a national crisis – estimates suggest the UK is “missing” around 4m homes. To deliver on this high-quality housing, it’s important any new builds must be designed to net zero standards and with climate resilience in mind,” said Buro Happold’s director of sustainability, Anna Woodeson.
“A second vital element is that the government should prioritise the retrofitting of existing buildings to help meet this target, including the roughly one million empty homes in the UK. This will allow them to capitalise on the benefits of retrofit, such as a reduction in use of new materials, supporting local supply chains, kickstarting a circular economy, and reducing the need to build on areas like green belts.”
