Adam Carey sums up the key policy pledges made in the Conservative Party manifesto 2024 affecting the sector.
On council funding:
- Multi-year funding settlements – “At the next Spending Review, we will give local authorities a multi-year funding settlement to support social care and will take forward the reforms in our ‘People at the Heart of Care’ White Paper.”
On council employment practices:
- Four day working week – “We will ban the ‘four-day working week’ in local authorities.”
On planning:
- Judicial review – “End frivolous legal challenges that frustrate infrastructure delivery by amending the law so judicial reviews that don’t have merit do not waste court time.”
- Net neutrality – “Abolish the legacy EU ‘nutrient neutrality’ rules to immediately unlock the building of 100,000 new homes with local consent, with developers required in law to pay a one-off mitigation fee so there is no net additional pollution.”
- Green Belt – “Retaining our cast-iron commitment to protect the Green Belt from uncontrolled development, while ensuring more homes get built where it makes sense, like in inner cities. Our national planning protections mean there is never any top-down requirement for councils to remove Green Belt protection and these will remain in place.”
- Brownfield development – “Delivering a record number of homes each year on brownfield land in urban areas. We will do this by providing a fast-track route through the planning system for new homes on previously developed land in the 20 largest cities. Strong design codes will ensure this enables the gentle densification of urban areas, with new family homes and mansion-blocks on tree-lined streets built in the local character. We will look at extending ‘full expensing’ to the delivery of brownfield housing.”
- Infrastructure Levy – “Making sure local authorities use the new Infrastructure Levy to deliver the GP surgeries, roads and other local infrastructure needed to support homes. We will not allow these funds to be spent on community projects that bear no relation to support for new homes.”
- Building safety – “After delivering landmark new laws that freed leaseholders from cladding bills following on from the awful tragedy of Grenfell Tower, we will continue our support for leaseholders affected by historic building safety problems by requiring the continuation of developerfunded remediation programmes for mid- and high-rise buildings.”
- S106 – “Supporting local and smaller builders by requiring councils to set land aside for them and lifting Section 106 burdens on more smaller sites, while ruling out Labour’s proposed ‘community right to appeal’ which would bring the planning system to its knees.”
- Infrastructure – “Ensure any requirements to offset the impact of new infrastructure and homes on an area are proportionate, without compromising environmental outcomes. Reduce the cost of infrastructure by allowing quicker changes to consented projects.”
- National planning policy statements – “Ensure National Policy Statements are regularly updated.”
- Statutory consultees – “Focus the role of statutory consultees in the planning system on improving projects in line with clearer objectives, rather than piecemeal requirements that add delays.”
- The London Plan – “Ensure the London Plan delivers more family homes a year, forcing the Mayor to plan for more homes on brownfield sites, like underused industrial land.”
- Urban regeneration schemes – “Unlocking new urban regeneration schemes, by creating locally-led urban development corporations in partnership with the private sector and institutional investors. We will support the delivery of new quarters in Leeds, Liverpool and York alongside working with local leaders and the community to seize the opportunity of our ambitious Cambridge 2050 plan.”
- Farms – “Reform our planning system to deliver fast track permissions for the building of infrastructure on farms, such as glasshouses, slurry and grain stores, and small-scale reservoirs.”
On housing:
- Section 21 – “Pass a Renters Reform Bill that will deliver fairness in the rental market for landlords and renters alike. We will deliver the court reforms necessary to fully abolish Section 21 and strengthen other grounds for landlords to evict private tenants guilty of anti-social behaviour.”
- Holiday lets – “Ensure councils have the powers they need to manage the uncontrolled growth of holiday lets, which can cause nuisance to local residents and a hollowing out of communities.”
- Homelessness – “Continue with our plans to end rough sleeping and prevent people from ending up on the streets in the first place, after making significant progress over the last few years. We will deliver our commitments under the Local Authority Housing Fund and review the quality of temporary accommodation.”
- Social housing – "We will legislate for new ‘Local Connection’ and ‘UK Connection’ tests for social housing in England, to ensure this valuable but limited resource is allocated fairly."
- Anti-social behaviour – "We will implement a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ expectation of social housing landlords for anti-social behaviour. They will be
expected to evict tenants whose behaviour is disruptive to neighbours and the local community."
On transport and highways:
- LTNs and 20mph zones – “We will require any new schemes to be put to a referendum and introduce a ‘right to challenge’ existing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and 20mph schemes.”
- London’s ULEZ expansion – “Reverse Labour’s unfair ULEZ expansion in London.”
- Transport funding – “Invest £4.7 billion for smaller cities, towns and rural areas in the North and Midlands to spend on their transport priorities. This will cut congestion and upgrade local bus and train stations”
On enforcement:
- Illegal traveller sites – “Building on our new powers for the police, we will further speed up the use and enforcement of powers to remove illegal traveller sites, while giving councils greater planning powers to prevent unauthorised development by travellers.”
- Parking – “Reflecting feedback from older and disabled people, we will also give councils the power to ban pavement parking, provided they engage with businesses and residents to ensure they are not adversely affected.”
- Fly-tipping – “We will deliver our enhanced penalties for fly tipping, giving councils new tools to help tackle offenders.”
- Anti-social behaviour – “Cut anti-social behaviour in town centres by rolling out Hotspot Policing, expanding community payback and legislating to evict social tenants who repeatedly disrupt their neighbours.”
On devolution:
- Devolution deals – “Empower communities through devolution and new powers. By 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal. We will offer our ‘level 4’ devolution powers to areas in England with a devolution deal and a directly elected leader, starting with the Tees Valley.”
- Shared Prosperity Fund – " Extend the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for three years at the next Spending Review, before using this funding to support UK wide National Service."
- Investment zones – “Continue backing Investment Zones across the country, giving areas £160 million to catalyse local growth and investment.”
- National parks – “Designate our 11th National Park alongside investing to improve existing National Parks and protected landscapes.”
- City regions – “Back our city regions with an additional £8.55 billion to spend on their local priorities. We will scrap rules that stop Mayors investing in strategic roads.”
Adam Carey