Planning reform to build 1.5mn new homes over the next parliament was one of the pledges made to aspiring first-time buyers by Labour in its manifesto.
And in her first speech as chancellor, Rachel Reeves reiterated that the new government would reform the national planning policy framework, consulting on a new “growth-focused approach to the planning system… including restoring mandatory housing targets”.
But speaking on the FT Adviser podcast, Kate Davies, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, said she could not see the target of 1.5mn new homes being met.
“Previous governments have come up with this 1.5mn figure on many occasions; it's never been reached for a variety of reasons,” Davies said. “It's all very well appointing more planning officers to help speed up the planning process, but that's a very slow burn.
“Having said that, I think the will is there with the new regime… Any new house building is going to be a positive.”
The previous Conservative government had similarly set a target of 300,000 new homes per year by the middle of this decade, although the figure later became ‘advisory’.
Meanwhile Ross Dalzell, managing director of property at Aldermore, a specialist mortgage lender, said he had recently become more optimistic about Labour’s target on housebuilding.
But he added: “There's a nested series of problems that have got in the way; everything from materials costs to skills to capital access.
“There's a whole series of problems, and we need a comprehensive plan that's going to knock each of those barriers over, if we’re going to get to a level of housebuilding we’ve not seen since the 50s, 60s and 70s.”
Listen to the podcast for more on what lenders think of Labour’s housing policies, and why IMLA has urged the government to review mortgage regulation that is affecting first-time home ownership, such as the loan-to-income flow limit.
chloe.cheung@ft.com