Each September, the national parties get together to set the direction for the following year as party conference season gets underway. Policies are announced, rumours are floated and dispelled, countless panels are listened to and fringes attended.

So far, we’ve had a particularly interesting season with Reform, Liberal Democrat, and Labour conference in recent weeks.

So what does it mean for the housing industry?

Labour closed yesterday with an emotional speech by PM Andy Burnham. The theme across conference was “hope”, with a vibe reminiscent of 2024. A long-awaited “Your First Home” policy was unveiled, aiming to tackle the serious demand-side challenges affecting the market. The scheme is set to offer a 2.5% deposit alongside a developer-funded 20% equity loan for first-time buyers, with further details set to be announced at Budget. Burnham’s speech announced a flurry of new policies, including a renewed relationship with Europe and an eventual end to the triple lock.  Housing was central, and he made it clear his ambition on social house building is more than just a slogan. Whether these measures will be enough, and how quickly their impacts will be felt, will be the real test.

Meanwhile at the conference fringes, we held an insightful roundtable focusing on Burnham’s priority to build more social homes, with Council Leaders and representatives from private and social housing. At wider events, we heard Pennycook make clear that where councils cannot navigate the local politics of meeting housing need, government remains prepared to step in. Housing and clean energy were golden threads across the fringes, along with devolution. On London politics, while it remains unclear if Sadiq Khan will seek another term as Mayor of London, speculation began to emerge around Labour’s candidate should Khan step aside. Names emerging at conference included Dawn Butler, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Steve Reed and David Lammy. If Khan does not stand, this is set to be a closely watched contest.

The Liberal Democrat conference this year saw a renewed focus on the party as a credible, serious player. The main housing motion, moved by housing spokesperson Gideon Amos, focused on temporary accommodation. It restated the party’s target of building 150,000 social rent homes a year, backed by binding local targets and council borrowing to build, and called for councils to be able to end Right to Buy. Significant tax cuts were also announced as party policy, with Ed Davey reaffirming the classical ‘orange book’ liberalism that saw the party win votes in the early 2000’s.

Reform Conference continues to grow in scale and popularity. The inaugural Business Day was dominated by the announcement of the Teal Paper on planning reform. With a consultation open until 31 December, ahead of producing the final planning policy in 2027, the paper proposes a Bill to prioritise brownfield development and constrain greenfield. For brownfield schemes, it would scrap CIL and Section 106 payments, remove BNG, and apply a strong presumption in favour of approval. Affordable housing requirements would largely go, and greenfield schemes would have to demonstrate special circumstances and provide 15% affordable housing, with none of the brownfield sweeteners.

With the Conservatives and Greens gaining in popularity in recent months and their conferences still to come in October, along with the SNP, we can expect unlocking housing to remain high on the agenda.

Iceni continues to keep a close eye on developments at party conferences across the country, gathering intelligence to advise our clients.

To get the inside track on the shifting political landscape, and how we can support your projects, get in touch our Engagement team.