As we approach the party conference season, directors from across Leaders Romans Group (LRG) have put forward their views on what politicians need to change.

Michael Cook, Group Managing Director – Scrap, or substantially amend the Renters Reform Bill

In our view, the Bill is ill thought-through and would be detrimental to both landlords and tenants.

The removal of Section 21 is unnecessary and damaging. As our research shows, Section 21 is rarely used for ‘no fault evictions’ and, as Shelter has said, the abolition of Section 21 won’t end unfair or no-fault evictions where they do occur. It is proposed that Section 8 of the Housing Act will replace Section 21 but this will create less, not more security for tenants. It will also mean many more cases going through the courts which is costly, stressful and prone to considerable delay. We know there is widespread concern as to how the courts will facilitate effective possession hearings under these new grounds.

Furthermore, moving all assured shorthold tenancies onto a single system of periodic tenancies would significantly reduce security for both landlord and tenants, spelling the end of long term contacts and replacing them with just two months’ notice. Abolishing clear fixed term tenancies seem to contradict the Government’s objective to provide families the ability to put down roots in local communities with the security of knowing they have certainty of tenancy for in most cases one year, but often two or three.

Any detrimental changes to the sector could force landlords to leave the sector which would impact on supply, force rents up further and exacerbate homelessness.

Kevin Shaw, National Sales Managing Director – Free up the housing market by reducing the cost of moving

From a sales perspective, change needs to be focused around the cost of moving especially bearing in mind the reduced volume of transactions in the UK housing market. Zoopla predicts around 1m transactions this year compared to nearly 1.5m in 2021.

For house sales of £500k plus the current Stamp Duty thresholds are punitive and deter a lot of people from moving up market. This then prevents the freeing up smaller properties for either second-time buyers, first-time buyers or investors.

An economic policy which brings about a reduction in interest rates

The other key area for policy is around interest rates but that centres more on the MPC and how quickly inflation comes down. We have seen some encouraging progress towards this, with the MPC freezing interest rates at 5.25% this month. My guess is that the MPC will try to limit interest rate rises to this year (possibly two more) and then with the general election likely to be next Autumn, the Government wants to see rates reducing from Q2 onwards next year as inflation tracks lower.

Allison Thompson, National Lettings Managing Director – Dedicated housing courts to speed up the legal process

Landlords are facing widespread and serious delays in the courts when seeking to regain possession of their properties. This will be exacerbated in future if the Renters Reform Bill is enacted, removing Section 21 of the Housing Act and replacing it with Section 8. A dedicated housing court would be the best way to address this serious backlog.

A repeal of Section 24

Section 24 removes a landlord’s right to deduct the majority of their finance costs, including mortgage interest and arrangement fees, from their rental income before calculating their tax liability. It is putting up cost, which puts up rents, which contributes to hardship and homelessness.

Over 29,000 landlords signed a recent petition calling on the Government to reverse Section 24, but the government confirmed they would continue to set mortgage interest relief against rental income only at the basic rate of tax. Due to substantially increased costs (not only of property finance, but of energy and building materials) this change is much needed.

An increase of social housing stock

The private rented sector was once seen as a means of providing homes for those most in need, replacing the council housing that had been lost through Right to Buy in the 1980s. Now, increasingly so if the Renters Reform Bill goes ahead, landlords are being penalised and the sector is shrinking. The Government must find a means of filling this void.

Tim Foreman, Managing Director of Land and New Homes, Leaders Romans Group – Address the serious delays and costs in the planning system

We need a clearer more straight-forward planning policy to enable developers to obtain planning in a much less time consuming and expensive process. It would be helpful to have firm deadlines in place for local authorities’ planning decision-making and a clear and reasonable set of guidelines and criteria for developers and planning consultants to provide a more direct route to planning consent. New housing is already in short supply and with the recent turmoil in the market and planning process it is only going to get far worse – some developers are reducing their development starts and choosing not to buy land due to the current mess.

Once this is sorted and developers know what is required of them and can get on with building houses again. Then, in light of the recent interest rate rises we could really do with some Government help with buying schemes – something like Help to Buy and/or stamp duty assistance to help get the market going again.

Lawrence Turner, Director, Boyer (planning consultancy) – The introduction of a National Plan

A National Plan would allow for a national, long-term focus on planning that can bypass the short-termism that comes with political cycles – this would benefit housing delivery that requires multi-decade timescales. It would also allow a better integration of housing delivery with other sectors, such as transport and infrastructure delivery to help support new housing and promote sustainability.

A greater focus on proptech

The planning system needs to be brought up to date with the latest technology. Using big data (demographic trends, environmental factors etc) will allow plan-making to better forecast future demands on a local authority and its neighbouring authorities. The use of AI could help planners visualise the outcome of different scenarios when preparing Local Plans. For decision-making, AI could help streamline more procedural tasks, such as checking planning applications for registration; and for compliance with national and local planning policy.

Ian Barnett, National Land Director – A sensible discussion on the Green Belt

A sensible discussion on the Green Belt is long overdue. But can it remain sensible in this febrile environment?

We must move away from images of ‘concreting all over the Green Belt’ and engender a better understanding. Just 8.7% of the UK – and is in stark contras to a public perception that 47.1% of land is developed upon. And the idea that housing developments are primarily ‘grey’ may been true of post-war development when the Green Belt was introduced, but is not today. – many new communities are attractive, primarily ‘green’ spaces which significantly boost both the aesthetic and biodiverse qualities of the land.

As Keir Starmer pointed out, much of the Green Belt isn’t even green: contrary to a widely-held belief that the Green Belt is a bucolic ring of verdant countryside open to all, much of it is inaccessible and/or preserves and protects unattractive edge-of-settlement brownfield sites – those which have potential for sustainable development.

A review of the Green Belt is the only way in which housing numbers can be increased at scale but a review of the Green Belt does not necessary mean a reduction in the Green Belt, which is how it is often presented. It means that that areas worthy of protection are included and those which are not can potentially be repurposed – quite possibly in such a way that increases their aesthetic value.

Daniel Gale, Head of Auctions at First For Auctions (part of LRG) – End Inheritance Tax

I believe that taxing people’s estates on death is wrong. I regularly see the pressures of families dealing with an estate and a tax man chasing for money with a limited timeframe. People are taxed on the income which buys the property, the fixtures within it and refurbishment costs. Also income if the property is let. With property prices varying considerably across the country, Inheritance Tax is grossly unfair and regressive, while also delaying movement in the property market.

EYE would like to know what you would be telling the political parties they need to do in relation to the housing market – assuming that any of them can keep a Housing Minister in post for more than about five minutes…