14 COMMENT
HOUSING BENEFITS POLITICIANS
Brian Berry, CEO of the Federation of Master Builders
Brian Berry of FMB looks at the political manoeuvrings on housing as we approach the General Election buildup
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WHO WILL WIN THE HOUSING RACE – AND CAPTURE THE IMAGINATION OF THE PUBLIC? HOUSING IS AN EASY WIN
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ooking back at my article from this time last year, it’s astonishing how far we’ve come, and what has changed. At this point in 2022, I was welcoming in the Truss administration, in the hope that her ambitious plans and bold ideas would lead to something positive. We all know how that turned out. But here we are again, in the latter stages of the year with everyone gearing up for a General Election, likely to be a year or so from now. o, we are unlikely to see any fi rm action in the coming year on housing, with the most signifi cant changes coming the evelling p and Regeneration Bill, which at the time of writing is in the Lords, facing opposition, particularly on environmental grounds. But while the politicians debate, industry is just after a little bit of certainty, and a modicum of ambition so we can get spades in the ground.
REVISITING THE RESHUFFLES e had heard rumblings that a reshuffl e was on the cards ahead of party conferences and in early September we saw two very different approaches. The Prime Minister, committed to a very small changing of the guard, appointing a close ally to the Energy Department, in the wake of the departing Ben Wallace MP from defence. The industry breathed a collective sigh of relief when the scale of the reshuffl e was understood.
We can only cope with so many new Ministers in a matter of years, and six housing Ministers in one year was quite enough!
Labour on the other hand prepared for an election. Keir Starmer lined up his closest allies, pushing the Party back to centre ground that defi ned the lair and rown era. Of note for our industry was of course the Shadow Deputy Prime Minister, among other titles, Angela Rayner MP taking top spot in the hadow levelling p, ousing and Communities Team. It’s still early days, but within her fi rst week she set out her plans for nutrient neutrality to counter the Government’s measures in this area. This will have many developers nervous, even if well intentioned – thousands of homes are being held up because of the current rules.
WHO WILL WIN THE POLITICAL RACE ON HOUSING IN 2024?
So, who will win the housing race and capture the imagination of the public ousing is an easy win; it will create jobs, boost productivity and enable vital growth – which is the driving ambition for both Starmer and Sunak. On top of this, there is an entire generation crying out for new homes as they’re stuck in cramped rental accommodation, shelling out thousands to landlords, which could be going to mortgage repayments.
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