Liberal Democrats’ manifesto pledges 380,000 homes per year and power for councils to end Right to Buy

The Liberal Democrats would immediately ban Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, make three-year private tenancies the default, and create a national register of licensed landlords.

The Renters (Reform) Bill, which included plans to ban no-fault evictions, was shelved by the Conservative government ahead of the general election. In response, campaigners said tenants have been “let down” by a “failed” government.

The Liberal Democrats would abolish residential leaseholds and cap ground rents to a nominal fee, according to the manifesto. It also said it would remove dangerous cladding from all buildings, while “ensuring that leaseholders do not have to pay a penny towards it”.

The party said it will ensure that everyone can access housing that “meets their needs”.

The housebuilding target was first announced in 2021. Last year, party leaders wanted to scrap it, but Liberal Democrat members voted to keep it by backing a motion from younger members to keep it at the party’s conference in Bournemouth.

To deliver the target number of homes, the Liberal Democrats said the party will expand neighbourhood planning across England and build 10 new garden cities.

It would allow councils to buy land for housing based on current use value rather than on a ‘hope value’ basis by reforming the Land Compensation Act 1961.

The party would “properly fund” local planning departments to improve planning outcomes and ensure housing is not built in areas of high flood risk without adequate mitigation, by allowing local authorities to set their own fees.

It would encourage the use of rural exception sites to expand rural housing. The party pledged to trial community land auctions to “ensure that local communities receive a fair share of the benefits” of new development in their areas and to help fund vital local services. 

Community land auctions work by landowners submitting their land for sale in a sealed bid. The council then offers the land to developers with planning permission for development and as a result a much higher price, and keeps the cost difference. 

The party also pledged to encourage development of existing brownfield sites with financial incentives and to ensure that affordable and social housing is included in these projects. It would introduce “use it or lose it” planning permission for developers that refuse to build.

The Liberal Democrats pledged to “make homes warmer and cheaper to heat” with a 10-year emergency upgrade programme, starting with free insulation and heat pumps for those on low incomes, and to ensure that all new homes and non-domestic buildings are zero carbon.

The party would reintroduce requirements for landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties to have an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C or above by 2028 – plans which were scrapped by the Conservatives. 

The Liberal Democrats said it will end rough sleeping within the next parliament and immediately scrap the “archaic” Vagrancy Act. It pledged to give “sufficient financial resources” to councils to deliver the Homelessness Reduction Act and provide accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse.

In response to the manifesto, Kate Henderson, chief executive at the National Housing Federation, said the pledge to deliver 150,000 social homes per year is welcome. 

“This is a commitment which recognises the scale of the housing crisis and the central role an ambitious programme of social housebuilding must play in any government response,” she said. 

However, Ms Henderson added that “making these plans a reality will require long term and significant support from government”, as well as “collaboration with a social housing sector that is operating in a difficult environment”. 

She said: “The scale of the challenge must not be underestimated.

“Ahead of the next election, we are calling on all parties to grasp the urgent need for a nationally co-ordinated and fully funded long-term plan for housing.” 

Dan Wilson Craw, deputy chief executive of Generation Rent, said the manifesto is positive but “some of its solutions are unclear”.

He said: “A commitment to immediately ban no-fault evictions is a good first step. However, the commitment to three-year tenancies by default is confusing – it is not clear whether tenants could move home within the three years if their circumstances change, or if landlords would need a reason to evict at the end of the period. 

“The abolition of no-fault evictions must be paired with open-ended tenancies to provide tenants with both security and flexibility.”

Mr Wilson Craw said a national register of landlords is “essential”, but he added that specifying ‘licensed landlords’ “begs the question of whether the party would require all landlords to be licensed as well, or just apply the register to the roughly 7% of landlords who currently need a licence”.

He added: “The manifesto contains positive proposals with the potential to improve the affordability and quality of rented homes. 

“However, without a more comprehensive offer of reform to renting, including limits to rent increases, renters will continue to suffer from the same imbalance of power with our landlords that has undermined our security for so long, and this must be addressed by the next government.”