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Housing at Conference Season ’26

Every autumn the political parties gather for their conferences and announce what they would do about housing. Most of it is noise. Some of it ends up changing what it costs to buy a home, what a landlord must do, or what gets built down the road.

This year four parties have held their conferences so far: Reform UK in Birmingham in early September, the Liberal Democrats in Brighton, Labour in Liverpool at the end of the month, and the Greens in Brighton this week. The Conservatives meet in Birmingham from 4 to 7 October. Here is a plain summary of what was said on housing, and what it might mean for people in Devon and Cornwall.

What each party said

Labour: help for first-time buyers, pressure on poor landlords

As the party in government, Labour’s announcements carry the most weight, because they can actually happen. Prime Minister Andy Burnham made housing a centrepiece of his first conference speech.

  • Your First Home: a new scheme for first-time buyers of new-build homes. Buyers would need a deposit of just 2.5%, with a government equity loan of 20% that is interest-free for an initial period. There will be household income caps and local price caps. Full details, including the start date, are due at the Budget next month. Developers taking part will have to contribute to its cost.
  • Empty homes: councils will be able to take over the management of a home that has been empty for six months, down from two years, using Empty Dwelling Management Orders. The process for getting an order is also being simplified.
  • Poor-quality rentals: landlords letting substandard homes will receive warnings, and councils will get easier powers to acquire properties where landlords fail to put things right. This sits on top of the Renters’ Rights Act, which came into force on 1 May 2026.
  • Leasehold: a bill promised before Christmas, with caps on the fees leaseholders are charged for permissions, administration and documents. A consultation will decide which fees and at what level.
  • Property agents: estate, letting and managing agents will need a licence and appropriate qualifications to operate. An independent regulator would set standards and could withdraw licences. The industry has broadly welcomed this, though some question how it will sit alongside the existing ombudsman schemes, how it will be enforced, and what it will cost. Similar proposals stalled under previous governments, so the detail and timing will matter.
  • More to follow: more council homebuilding, changes to Right to Buy, and a ten-year housing plan due later this year.

Liberal Democrats: social housing and renters

The Liberal Democrats called for 150,000 new social homes a year, with councils rather than private developers leading delivery. They also proposed a rent-to-equity scheme, where tenants gradually build up an ownership stake through their rent. Delegates voted to tighten safety standards in temporary accommodation, which currently sits outside the normal rules for private renting.

Reform UK: cutting planning rules

Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, launched a planning paper setting out the party’s approach. Its main proposals are:

  • Removing affordable housing requirements on new developments outside five major cities, and cutting them to 5% on site within those cities
  • Scrapping Section 106 payments and the Community Infrastructure Levy, which developers currently pay towards local infrastructure
  • A presumption in favour of approving housing on brownfield land, with biodiversity and some building standards removed for those schemes
  • Shorter, five-year local plans

These proposals are out for consultation within the party, so they are not yet fixed policy.

Greens: rent caps

At the Greens’ conference in Brighton on 2 October, party leader Zack Polanski proposed a three-year emergency cap on private rent rises. Increases would be limited to inflation, wage growth or 2%, whichever is lowest. The party would follow this with a national fair rents guarantee, end the leasehold system, and build far more council homes.

Propertymark, which represents letting and estate agents, warned that rent caps do not tackle the shortage of homes and could drive landlords out of the market. It pointed to members in Scotland reporting landlords leaving and investment stalling after temporary caps there. The Greens have not yet said how the cap or the fair rents guarantee would work in practice.

Conservatives: watch this week

The Conservatives’ conference starts on 4 October. Their headline housing pledge, announced last year and repeated since, is to abolish stamp duty on main homes. Expect more detail this week.

What it could mean in Devon and Cornwall

National policy lands differently down here. House prices are high compared with local wages, much of the housing stock is old, and a lot of new building happens in villages and market towns rather than cities.

  • First-time buyers: a 2.5% deposit would be a real help to young people trying to buy locally. But the scheme only covers new-build homes from developers who sign up, and the local price caps will matter. If the caps are set too low for the South West, fewer homes here will qualify. Watch the Budget detail.
  • Landlords: much of our rental stock is older, rural and harder to bring up to standard. Tougher enforcement on poor-quality lets, on top of the Renters’ Rights Act, adds to the pressure on smaller landlords. If you let older properties, now is the time to check condition and paperwork. The Greens’ rent cap would go further still, limiting what landlords can charge even as their costs rise. Landlords and tenants will be watching closely whether rent controls gain wider support.
  • Empty homes: councils will be able to step in much sooner on properties left standing empty. Owners of inherited or long-vacant homes should have a plan for them.
  • Rural affordable housing: Reform’s plan would remove affordable housing requirements everywhere outside five major cities, which would include all of Devon and Cornwall. Supporters say it would speed up building. Critics point out that affordable homes in rural areas are largely delivered through those requirements. Either way, it would change how village developments are planned and valued.
  • Leasehold and agents: fee caps will matter to flat owners in places like Exeter, Plymouth and the coastal towns. The government also plans to speed up the leasehold management information that buyers’ solicitors need, which the Conveyancing Association says currently takes 54 days on average to arrive. Licensing should raise standards, and for buyers and sellers it is a reminder to check who they are dealing with. Chartered surveyors regulated by RICS already work to professional standards, with qualifications, insurance and complaints procedures in place.

Promises and delivery

Conference speeches are about direction, not detail. Only the government’s announcements can take effect any time soon, and even those depend on the Budget, new legislation and consultations still to come. The opposition parties’ ideas matter because they show where the debate is heading, and some of them may shape policy later.

If you are planning to buy, sell, let or develop in the next year or two, it is worth keeping an eye on the Budget next month and the government’s ten-year housing plan. I will cover both as the detail emerges.

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