The King's Speech – a property focus

The State Opening of Parliament with the newly elected Labour government saw King Charles III set out the government’s “mission led” legislative programme for the new parliamentary session.  

Amongst plans to secure economic growth, introduce more protections for workers and move devolution forward, there are some points of interest for property owners, housebuilders, landlords and tenants. These will include 
the government’s aims to “get Britain building” through planning reform to deliver more high quality infrastructure and housing and tackle some of the blocks to building:

• a commitment to a clean energy transition, in part through changes to planning rules;
• the introduction of legislation to “give greater rights and protections to people renting their homes, including ending no fault evictions and reforming grounds for possession”; and
• further legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform.

Planning Reform and Clean Energy

The planning reform referred to in the King’s Speech was previously laid out by the new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, on Monday 8 July 2024. The Chancellor’s first speech since being appointed referred to a new growth-focused approach to the planning system. There is intended to be a review of green belt boundaries and a consultation on bringing onshore wind power back into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime.

We have already seen the removal of a de facto ban on new onshore windfarms, which many environmentalist and energy experts will welcome. The King’s speech reiterated the government’s commitment to reforming the planning system to accelerate the delivery of high quality infrastructure and housing.

Renters’ Rights Bill 

This bill’s main focus is to scrap section 21 evictions and overhaul the private rented sector. Landlords will be relieved to know that alongside the removal of s21 ‘no fault evictions’ new clear and expanded possession grounds will be introduced to allow landlords to reclaim their properties when they need to, bringing the possession of properties in the private sector onto a more equal footing, but still recognising that landlords may need to regain possession of their property for genuine reasons.

The bill will also aim to strengthen tenants’ rights and protections by giving them more power to challenge rent increases designed to force them out and the right to request consent to have a pet, which a landlord will not be able to unreasonably refuse.  There will also be a focus on ensuring homes are safe and ending poor quality housing in the private rented sector.

Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill

The focus here will be to overhaul the existing leasehold system and invigorate commonhold. It will aim to strengthen leaseholders’ existing rights to request a lease extension and/or buy the freehold of their building (enfranchisement) as well as exercising their Right to Manage by taking over the freeholder’s duties to manage the freehold building. There is a clear desire to bring commonhold into the fore by “modernising” the legal framework and restricting the sale of new leasehold flats.

The bill will also focus on making the system fairer for leaseholders financially by regulating ground rents, tackling unfair charges and forfeiture practices to protect leaseholders from losing their homes as a result of potentially small unpaid debts.

Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024

In addition to new legislation, the new Labour government will aim to implement the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act, which was previously rushed through parliament, in order to give homeowners more rights, power and protection.

The government has not hung around since gaining power and it will be interesting to watch as the proposed legislation takes shape. Hopefully, the introduction of new legislation will be measured and properly considered to avoid issues later down the line.

If you are concerned about how these proposed bills could affect you or your business, contact us for a free, no obligation discussion with one of our expert lawyers.