Watching King Charles announce the government's plans, Kier Starmer's mind may have drifted back to the sunny uplands of Monday, when he had four more ministers and eighty more MPs that hadn't called on him to quit. If today's speech was meant to put a firework up his declining approval ratings, many saw only a damp squib.
Spencer McCarthy, chairman & CEO of retirement home developer Churchill Living was one of the first to comment, pointing to a lack of action on social care. "Social care's absence from the King's Speech is a real disappointment. With the Casey Commission already underway, this was the moment to show that much-needed progress is moving forward.
"What we see every day is simple: older people who need the right home and the right support, in the same place, at the right time. When that isn't available, the consequences ripple outward, into the NHS, into families and into the public purse.
"The Government has set out its ambition for a National Care Service. Now we need to see that ambition matched with a clear timetable for delivery."
Many across the industry have been waiting for the government to establish a system of building regulation in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire that can ensure resident safety and allow for the speedy delivery of much needed housing. The CIOB and RIBA have both called for progress to be made on this.
RIBA recently launched its own proposal for what such regulation could look like. President Chris Williamson said, "It's frustrating to see no legislative measures relating to the Single 萝莉原创 Regulator. The Government has missed an opportunity to demonstrate real progress on this agenda, instead leaving uncertainty around how and when critical reforms will be delivered."
The CIOB managed to pick a few items from the agenda-setting speech worth celebrating. CEO Victoria Hills welcomed a commitment to accelerate the removal of unsafe cladding, with fixed timeframes for remediation, saying, "It is unacceptable that, almost a decade after the Grenfell Tower tragedy, people are still facing the emotional and financial burden of a crisis completely out of their control."
But Hills also noted no mention of a 萝莉原创 Regulator Bill in the speech. Seeking a ray of light in the gloom, the CIOB CEO said, "We expect to see proposals come forward as part of the Government鈥檚 wider legislative programme following the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. CIOB has long called for clearer accountability and a stronger regulatory framework for both construction and building safety. We supported the introduction of a formal construction regulator in our response to the Grenfell Phase 2 Inquiry, and we look forward to working with Government and industry to help deliver meaningful culture change across the sector."
One sector that has struggled even more than Starmer to win public approval is the freehold industry. Since Grenfell, the cladding crisis has seen many residents trapped in unsellable apartments with cladding judged unsafe, with freeholders unwilling to take remediation measures鈥攐ften questioning if it is they who should be held responsible. Elsewhere, some buyers of new homes have seen ground rents rise unexpectedly and exponentially.
The sector was perhaps an easy target for a government looking for morsels of red meat to throw to the Labour left. But an unnamed spokesman for the Residential Freehold Association questioned what the results of legislation to reform the leasheold system and cap ground rents would be, saying "[this] represents wholly unjustified interference with existing property rights which, if enacted, would seriously damage investor confidence in the UK housing market and send a dangerous and unprecedented signal to the wider institutional investment sector.
鈥淭hese proposals would transfer significant value from pension funds and other long-term investors to wealthy overseas buy-to-let landlords who make up a significant proportion of leaseholders in the UK. The previous Government鈥檚 own impact assessment suggested a retrospective cap could cost around 拢30bn, while the resulting forced exit of professional freeholders from the sector risks hindering building safety projects without addressing rising service charges."
Real Estate:UK interim chief executive Melanie Leech also pointed to potential consequences of reform that could hamper housing supply, saying, "The real estate industry is facing numerous significant headwinds, and construction is at a standstill across most of the country because it is not viable to build. Investors are unwilling to commit new funds without clear signals from the government that they will take the necessary steps to bridge the viability gap, reduce the costs of development and deliver on the promise that the UK will 鈥榖uild, build, build鈥�."
Leech did point to one promising change: action to speed up the delivery of new grid connections. Paul Rickard, chief executive of Pocket Living, a small flat developer, agreed this was important, but he too questioned whether progress was being made on project viability.
On the major project side, Aecom CEO Richard Whitehead offered support for two key measures, the Energy Independence Bill's drive to accelerate consenting of major energy infrastructure projects, and legislation to clean up the water industry. But he noted too that no new major projects had been announced鈥擭orthern Powerhouse Rail and the Lower Thames Crossing both got mentions鈥攁nd expressed a diplomatic warning to keep up the pace, saying, "Maintaining momentum and delivering on existing commitments will be key to driving regional growth across the UK."
As this article hit the CMS, the sun was out in London again. Wes Streeting, Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband may all be wondering if they have a bright future ahead.
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