Housing supply, first-time buyer support and rental reform are being pushed up the agenda ahead of Labour’s conference in Liverpool.
Around 20,000 delegates and visitors are expected in the city.
It will be Andy Burnham’s first Labour conference as prime minister. Housing remains a major challenge for the government.
For property professionals, attention will focus on the government’s plans to increase supply. Further housing market reforms will also come under scrutiny.
Ahead of the conference, senior figures at LRG have called for action on three fronts. They want ministers to support first-time buyers and protect rental supply. They also want better use made of England’s existing housing stock.
‘Planning permissions are not purchasers’
Tim Foreman, managing director of Land and New Homes at LRG, wants a targeted successor to Help to Buy.
He argues that planning reform alone will not generate enough demand for developers to start building.
Government figures highlight the scale of the housebuilding challenge.
An estimated 199,500 net additional homes were delivered in England during 2025-26. Meanwhile, new-build starts reached 130,170 in the year to March 2026.
Foreman argues that developers need confidence that new homes will sell before committing to sites.
He says first-time buyers are particularly important. They provide demand at the beginning of the development and sales process.
The call follows a government-commissioned evaluation of Help to Buy.
More than 387,000 properties were bought through the scheme between 2013 and 2023. First-time buyers accounted for 328,000 of those purchases.
The evaluation assessed Help to Buy as providing “very high” value for money. It estimated a net present social value of £25.1bn.
However, Foreman is not calling for the old scheme to return unchanged.
Instead, he proposes restricting a successor to first-time buyers purchasing new homes. He also wants regional price caps and income limits.
Lettings sector calls for focus on supply
Meanwhile, LRG wants ministers to consider the combined impact of reforms on the private rented sector.
Allison Thompson, chief lettings officer at Leaders, wants rental access and supply to remain a priority.
Thompson also wants ministers to monitor the impact of restrictions on rent in advance.
Previously, some tenants without a conventional UK income used advance payments to secure a property. These included international students and people moving to Britain.
She also wants landlords to receive sufficient notice before further requirements take effect.
‘Make better use of what we already have’
A third call focuses on England’s existing housing stock.
Daniel Gale, national auctions director at First for Auctions, wants ministers to focus more heavily on empty homes.
He argues that increasing housing supply should not depend solely on new development.
Gale said auctioneers regularly encounter neglected properties requiring substantial refurbishment.
Some struggle to attract buyers through conventional routes. However, he believes investors could return many of these homes to occupation.
He wants the government to give councils more tools to identify long-term empty properties. Gale also wants greater incentives to bring them back into use.
