Labour pledges to end hedge fund investment in off-plan homes

LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE 2021: Shadow housing secretary Lucy Powell has vowed to stop hedge funds buying off-plan housing. Speaking at the Labour Party Conference, Powell said the party would “put an end to the outrageous practice of foreign hedge funds purchasing swathes of new homes, off plan”. Instead, Powell said, first-time buyers should be given first dibs on developments. Labour’s New Settlement furthermore promises an increase in council and social homes and support for home ownership. Powell said: “A new settlement must include a massive increase in council and social homes, fit for all ages. “I see no contradiction in us also promoting home-ownership – not for more landlords or second homes, but for ordinary working people – nurses, electricians, delivery drivers and care workers, currently priced out.” To do this, Labour wants to create a new definition for affordable housing with housing costs linked to local wages. The party has also pledged to boost local authority housing production, to provide 100,000 homes a year, including affordable and social homes, in its Great Housing Challenge. “For too long, spectators and developers have held most of the cards – ducking minimal commitments, extracting huge scale from the public for land and doing too little for first-time buyers and local people,” said Powell. Building works agency Powell said “housing policy gone wrong” has created a “building safety scandal”. She blamed “deregulation, no oversight, an unwillingness to intervene” from the government. Powell said: “We’ve got a plan: a building works agency to assess, fix and fund and then certify all tall buildings. Then pursue those responsible for costs. We would put in law that leaseholders won’t pay.” However, some industry experts have questioned the possibility of any legal guarantee. Mary-Anne Bowling, managing director of property management consultancy Ringley, said: “Leaseholders in high-risk buildings can seek no salvation in Labour’s proposal to establish a building works agency, even if there is a promise to introduce a legal guarantee that would shift the burden of disproportionate remediation costs. “The Fire Safety Act was heralded as the legislation which would cork the flow of remediation costs to leaseholders. Those protections were lost in parliament, and vulnerable leaseholders aren’t now so easily dismissed by ‘what could be’.” To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @EGPropertyNews Photo: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock