What Would a Labour Government Mean For Housing and Mortgages?

As the UK heads towards an election, questions arise about the future of housing and mortgages under a possible Labour government led by Keir Starmer.

Amidst growing concerns over affordability and access to housing, Labour’s proposals aim to address the pressing needs of first-time buyers and the broader housing market, setting a distinct course from the current Conservative government’s policies.

This article examines what housing and mortgage policies Starmer’s Labour might enact if they win power. It explores the proposed policies, their potential impacts on the market, and how they compare to the Conservatives’ current approach.

With housing affordability at the forefront of many voters’ minds, understanding the implications of these changes is crucial for homeowners, buyers, and the market as a whole.

What will Labour do about housing?

With house prices rising unabated, support for first-time buyers (FTBs) is becoming a point of contention for both parties.

The policy plans from Labour right now are to follow through on three significant areas:

• Make rent prices more affordable.
• Give first-time buyers an exclusive 6-month opportunity to buy new build properties.
• Restrict developers from selling more than 50% of properties to buyers from abroad.

The idea behind this three-pronged approach is:

1. Ensure that first-time buyers aren’t paying through the nose for rent, allowing them to save up for a deposit to buy a house.
2. Granting a window of dedicated time so that first-time buyers for new builds can purchase properties without fending off competition from potentially more attractive buyers based at home (or internationally) who have deeper pockets.

Plans for eco homes

Labour’s housing agenda doesn’t stop with first-time buyers. The party has previously stated that it will attempt to make homes more climate-friendly over the coming decade.

Here’s how they plan on tackling housing-related climate issues:

• Spending £6bn over 10 years, retrofitting homes to a minimum standard of EPC band C.
• Offering grants to low-income households and giving other households the option to use low-interest loans.
• Previous estimates (before price cap increases) were that this would save households a minimum of £400 a year on energy bills.

How does this differ from Conservative home mortgage plans?

Here’s how the Conservative housing policy manifesto stacks up. And, what they’re promoting as solutions to problems surrounding mortgages and UK housing:

• Renewing the Affordable Homes Programme (but with no specific targets).
• Investing £3.6bn with the Towns Fund to regenerate 100 locations across the UK.
• Increasing the supply of rental properties and providing more protection for tenants.

The pledges are somewhat vaguer than those offered by the Labour Party. But perhaps this is a case of the Conservative Party choosing not to promise outcomes it’s not sure it can deliver or that the government might be unable to afford.

What could happen with UK mortgages and housing after a general election

Both Parties seem keen on the idea of increasing the housing supply. To make homes more affordable and to potentially reduce rents.

However, it does seem that the Conservative Party is willing to flirt with more ‘outside-the-box’ ideas, such as 40—and 50-year mortgages.

Boris Johnson may be gone, but his words of wanting to ‘find all sorts of creative ways to help people into ownership’ will likely be taken on by whomever he passes the torch to.

Only time will tell if either Party follows through on its promises to solve the housing and mortgage issues we’re facing here in the UK and what the state of these markets might look like following a general election.