Shadow chancellor to address Tory conference as he claims slashing red tape could cut cost of new houses by £۵۰,۰۰۰ – UK politics live

This is what the Tories are saying in their overnight news release about their plans to cut regulation affecting building on why they believe their measures could cut the cost of a new house by £۵۰,۰۰۰.

This is the short version.

The Conservatives have already pledged to scrap stamp duty on the family home, giving people a leg up onto the housing ladder. Now we are announcing radical supply-side reforms that will ensure the homes we need actually get built.

We will scrap unnecessary net-zero housing red tape that is stopping developers from building and driving up the cost of housing. We will ditch the Future Homes Standard and Part L of the Housing Regulations. All in all, we will cut the cost of delivering and therefore buying a new home by up to £۵۰,۰۰۰.

And here is the longer version. (Bold type from the original.)

Ideological net zero rules alone have added more than £۳۰,۰۰۰ to the cost of building a new home. Local Government viability assessments show that Net Zero rules add tens of thousands of pounds to the cost of building a new home. For instance, Birmingham City Council assessed that improved efficiency, heat pumps and solar panels increase the cost of a new detached home by as much as £۳۰,۷۸۹. The London Borough of Lewisham estimated that these rules would increase build costs by ۱۵ per cent. (Birmingham City Council, Net Zero Plan Supporting Evidence Report, ۷ September ۲۰۲۳, link, Lewisham Council, Viability Study ۲۰۲۲, ۱۷ May ۲۰۲۲, link.)

These costs can be even higher as local and regional authorities often gold-plate these rules, imposing extra cost on developers. For instance, Policy SI۲ (C) in the London Plan ۲۰۲۱ requires a ۳۵ per cent uplift on energy efficiency beyond the national Building Regulations for major developments. (Mayor of London, The London Plan, March ۲۰۲۱, link.)

Other mandated changes are adding thousands in costs:

Government proposals on water efficiency are estimated to cost an additional £۳,۱۰۰ per home. (Home Builders Federation, The Viability Crunch, ۱ May ۲۰۲۶ link.)

Requirements for EV chargers on all new residential buildings are increasing costs by £۸۷۰ per property. (Home Builders Federation, The Viability Crunch, ۱ May ۲۰۲۶ link.)

Accessibility standards introduced in ۲۰۲۲ have gold-plated requirements for wider internal staircases and level thresholds for entry to properties in new builds, which are estimated to have added £۱,۸۰۰ to the cost of building a home. (Home Builders Federation, The Viability Crunch, ۱ May ۲۰۲۶ link.)

Additional Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) rules are adding £۵,۷۰۰ to the cost of construction:

Local authorities are imposing additional local rules significantly exceeding the national ۱۰ per cent target for BNG. For instance:

More than a dozen local authorities require BNG of ۲۰ per cent or more (as of January ۲۰۲۵). (Urbanist Architecture, BNG requirements for planning, ۲۷ January ۲۰۲۵, link.)

Tower Hamlets in ۲۰۲۵ proposed a ۳۰ per cent BNG target. (London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council, New Local Plan, June ۲۰۲۵, link.)

Last night Israel’s foreign affairs ministry said that Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, has been banned from the country following his party conference voting for a motion saying “Zionism is racism”.

The motion was “a clear antisemitic text according to the IHRA definition, as it denies the Jewish people’s right to self-determination”, the ministry said. It went on:

Therefore, as a first step, foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar has decided this evening to declare Green party leader Zack Polanski barred from entering Israel.

Here is Peter Walker’s full story on the Green party vote.

Good morning. Yesterday Kemi Badenoch published a tract setting out the principles that a Conservative government would follow in office. It was presented as Thatcherism revived for the ۲۱st century, and a key theme was that government should leave wealth creation up to business, and not get in the way with red tape.

Today Andrew Griffith, the shadow chancellor, is presenting a plan that illustrates what this would mean in practice. Normally, at party conference, ministers and shadow ministers put out a press release in advance of their speeches highlighting just one headline policy idea, with perhaps one or two associated policies.

Overnight Griffith has published what is practically a manifesto. The press release alone runs to almost ۵,۰۰۰ words. Jessica Elgot had the task of reading them all for us yesterday and here is her write-up.

She has led her story on the plan to get rid of two environment quangos, the Environment Agency and Natural England.

But there are plenty of other proposals in the package too, including:

–Getting rid of net zero regulations and other planning laws, including section ۱۰۶ agreements and the community infrastructure levy, that put up the cost of housebuilding.

–Getting rid of the EPR (extended producer responsibility), a law intended to make producers liable for waste disposal costs. The Tories call it the “grocery tax”.

–Backing a third runway at Heathrow.

–Leaving the Aarhus convention, an international treaty giving the public access to information relating to environmental decision-making. The Tories claim this enables the “lawfare hindering every major infrastructure project in this country”.

–Speeding up the delivery of more nuclear power stations.

–Simplifying the tax code.

The Tories claim the plans relating to housebuilding would “cut up to an estimated £۵۰,۰۰۰ off the price of a new home”.

There is more detail in what Griffith is proposing, and there is clearly a lot to discuss. Labour and Reform UK have both responded overnight – but taking different lines of attack.

Labour has said that Griffith has no credibility on these topics. In an overnight statement, Bridget Phillipson, the party chair, said:

Trusting the co-author of Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-Budget with Tory plans on the economy and housing is like asking an arsonist to run the fire service. Kemi Badenoch is once again demonstrating her appalling lack of judgement.

The Tories had ۱۴ years in government to grow our economy and help people get on the housing ladder, but they completely failed at every turn.

But Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader and business spokesperson, says that Griffith is copying ideas that his party has already adopted. He says:

Tories pledge to scrap some costs regulations and taxes they put in place!

They are copying Reform policies we announced weeks and months ago!

They are trying to fix problems they created 😡

Never forget

Never forgive

One of the themes emerging at this conference is that, while there is far less talk of some sort of Tory/Reform UK pact than there was a year ago, the policy overlap continues. Yesterday the Conservatives announced two other proposals (excluding foreigners from the student loan scheme, and reducing aid spending to just £۱bn a year) that were little more than cut-and-paste versions of Reform UK pledges.

Here is the agenda for the day.

۹.۴۵am: Andrew Bowie, the shadow energy secretary, speaks at the conference on the main stage (the smaller of the two halls the Tories are using at this conference for speeches). The other main morning speakers are Richard Holden, the shadow transport secretary, at ۱۰.۳۰am; Damian Hinds, the shadow health secretary, at ۱۱.۱۵am; and Andrew Griffith, the shadow chancellor, Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, and Laura Trott, after ۱۲.۱۵pm.

۱۲.۱۴pm: Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, speaking in the fanzone area on the Conservative’s rural vision.

۲pm: Griffith takes part in “meet the team” event in the symphony hall (the conference stage being used for larger events) with Richard Fuller, chief secretary to the Treasury, Katie Lam, the shadow housing secretary, and Julia Lopez, the acting shadow business secretary.

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