May 26 elections round-up: What now for housing?

Last week’s patchwork quilt of local election results has clear implications for housebuilding and development. The rise of Reform and the Greens means developers with multiple sites will conceivably need to engage with all five political parties, not to mention the various independent groups. Beyond a new guard of council majorities, starkly seen in the steep rise of the Greens in boroughs such as Hackney and Waltham Forest, developers will need to get to grips with the increasingly common No Overall Control.  

Who will form the administration in NOC councils will only become clear once AGMs take place from next week. In some areas, these have been the norm for years, like in Hart and Basingstoke & Deane Councils in Hampshire, where local parties have merrily formed stable coalitions with national parties. Elsewhere, attempts to form minority administrations or coalitions will be more torturous. Local parties will have to confer with party HQs about what partnerships can be locally stomached e.g. Conservative and Reform. Some incumbents that could feasibly form coalitions, such as Labour and Liberal Democrats in Lambeth, may prefer to give challengers, the Greens in this case, the chance to encounter the reputational challenges that administration brings.  

Unexpected coalitions may form on anti-development tickets. In Enfield, the Green group is in discussions to unofficially prop up the Conservative group over a shared opposition to greenbelt development, notably the proposed new town at Crews Hill. Such sentiment is also shared by Reform UK, with Nigel Farage recording a video from a green field in the final weeks of campaigning.  

Fragmentation has consequences to how much political engagement is needed. It is now less likely that your site’s ward councillors will wear the same rosette as each other, let alone the administration. In many councils, cabinet positions may be drawn from coalition arrangements spanning multiple groups. Careful, targeted relationship-building with a wider range of stakeholders will be essential, with messaging tailored accordingly. 

There is a broader political timidity to contend with. Councils elected in thirds are acutely aware that another round of elections loom next year, such as Manchester metropolitan councils where the free fall of Labour’s majority has been slowed by mathematics, and the temptation to avoid unpopular decisions, including granting planning permissions for contested schemes, will be significant.  

In London, the most significant reshaping of council leadership in years comes as Sadiq Khan looks to reap the rewards of the London Emergency Housing Package agreed with MHCLG earlier this year. This could allow Khan to counterbalance likely anti-development tendencies from new council administrations. How much Khan wants to use new powers to push schemes through, at the risk of fracturing relations between City Hall and the boroughs ahead of 2028 Mayoral Elections, remains to be seen. One notable area of consensus is the call for rent controls from both Sadiq Khan, as part of an expanded devolution package, and the new Green Mayors of Hackney and Lewisham. 

New councillors will spend the coming months being confronted with the realities of local government. In their initial conversations with new cabinet members for planning and regeneration, officers will be quick to highlight the strengthened housing targets that place a clear impetus on councils to support development. The cost of appeals will also weigh heavily as they brief new planning committees. For developers, engaging with new councillors early, and helping to demystify concepts such as viability, registered providers, and the S106 process, will be key to constructive local relationships that span multiple phases of development.  

Our team has spent the week scrutinising who’s up and down in the world of local and national politics. Although the Government has faced a bashing following local elections, today’s King’s Speech shows they are still placing housing high on their agenda with the announcement of three bills: the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, Remediation Bill, and Social Housing Renewal Bill. Please get in touch if you need help understanding how these national policy changes, as well as the changing face of local politics, impact you.