With only days to go until the General Election, campaigning is now in full swing. But if you’re still unsure who to vote for, we have picked out the pledges and promises each of the main parties in England have made about housing in their manifestoes. Don't forget to vote on July 4th!

Labour

“The dream of homeownership is now out of reach for too many young people. The Conservatives have failed to act even though the housing crisis is well known to be one of the country’s biggest barriers to growth. Labour will get Britain building again, creating jobs across England, with 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.”

• Build 1.5 million new homes from 2024-2029.

• Update the National Policy Planning Framework, including restoring mandatory housing targets, and assisting planning authorities by ensuring they have up-to-date local plans.

• Favour sustainable development that increases climate resilience and nature recovery. It would be the expectation that new home would be built to be of high-quality and well-designed. Solutions would be implemented to unlock building of homes affected by nutrient neutrality without weakening environmental protections.

• Increase stamp duty for non-UK residents which will in turn support the funding for additional planning officers.

• Focus building, and fast-track planning approval, on brownfield sites, whilst committing to preserve the green belt.

• Release ‘grey belt’ land which is low quality green belt land. Whilst introducing ‘golden rules’ to ensure any developments benefit the communities and nature they are built in and around.

• Build a series of new towns and large-scale communities throughout England in partnership with local leaders, ensuring communities shape the housebuilding in their areas.

• All Combined and Mayoral authorities will be required to strategically plan for house growth in their area and will be assisted with this through new planning powers, freedoms and flexibilities to make better use of any grant funding.

• Reform compulsory purchase compensation rules to improve land assembly, speed up site delivery, and deliver housing infrastructure, amenity and transport benefits to the public. Additionally, landowners would be awarded fair compensation, rather than an inflated price based on the prospect of planning permission for specific types of development schemes.

• Deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding by ensuring new developments prioritise the building of these. Planning obligations would be strengthened to help with this, and changes would be made to the Affordable Homes Programme, to ensure an increase in the building and number of affordable homes from both existing and new funding.

• Prioritise the building of newly built social housing and increase the protections on these by reviewing right to buy discounts.

• A permanent 'Freedom to Buy' mortgage guarantee scheme to help first time buyers who struggle to save for a deposit, with lower mortgage costs, and give them first dibs on new builds.

• Overhaul the regulation of the private rented sector, by scrapping section 21s immediately, raising standards across the sector, and empowering tenants to challenge unreasonable rent increases.

 The Conservative’s

"We will deliver a secure future for communities by giving more people a better chance of living where they would like – near their family, friends and job. We have delivered over 2.5 million homes since 2010, including meeting our commitment to deliver one million homes in the last Parliament. Home ownership rates plummeted under the last Labour Government so we cannot afford to go back to square one. We will deliver 1.6 million homes in England in the next Parliament by:”

• Scrap nutrient neutrality laws to immediately unlock the land to build 100,000 new homes. Developers would be required to pay a one-off mitigation fee to avoid additional pollution.

• Build a record number of new homes per year on brownfield sites, with a focus on urban areas. A re-working of the planning system to enable this, and to provide a fast-track route for new homes on previously developed land in the 20 largest cities. A ‘design code’ would be put in place to ensure properties were developed to be in keeping with the local character.

• Raise density levels in inner London by building more family homes on underused, industrial brownfield sites.

• In other major cities in England, new urban regeneration schemes will be put in place in partnership with the private sector and institutional investors.

• Require councils to set aside land for smaller, and local builders, and ensure local authorities create infrastructure to support new homes.

• Protect the Green Belt from uncontrolled development through national planning protections.

• Renew the Affordable Homes Programme, and continue with the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, helping families buy a home through shared ownership.

• A new Help to Buy scheme for first time buyers, allowing them access to an equity loan of up to 20% towards the cost of a new build home, or a 5% deposit with affordable interest terms. This scheme will be partly funded by contributions from house builders.

• The Stamp Duty threshold for first time buyers would also be raised to £425,000, to support them onto the housing ladder, and ensuring fairness in the housing system.

• Plans to legislate for social housing reform with new 'Local Connection' and ‘UK connection’ allocation method which prioritises access to social housing to those who “work hard and contribute to our country”. Also included in the reform is implementation of a ‘3-strikes and you’re out’ system to combat anti-social behaviour.

• A ‘Family Home Tax Guarantee’, ruling out any changes to Stamp Duty, Capital Gains Tax, or council tax banding. Along with a promise not to revaluate or cut council tax discounts.

• Capital Gains Tax relief for landlords who sell their property to their existing tenants.

• Capped £250 ground rents for leaseholds and reduce them to peppercorn over time. End forfeiture and make it easier to take up common hold.

• Require the continuation of developer-funded remediation programmes for mid- and high-rise buildings, to support leaseholders affected by historic building safety problems.

• Simplify the planning process to support those who want to build their own home and encourage the building of different forms of housing.

• Speed up enforcement powers to remove unlawful traveller sites and give councils greater planning powers to prevent unauthorised development by travellers.

• New powers for councils to tackle the uncontrolled growth of holiday lets.

• Deliver the Renters Reform Bill, including necessary court reforms to abolish sections 21s and strengthen other grounds to evict tenants guilty of anti-social behaviour in the private rented sector.

• Take steps to end rough sleeping under the Local Authority Housing Fund and review the quality of temporary accommodations.

Liberal Democrat       

“Liberal Democrats know that a home is a necessity and the base on which people build their lives. So, we will ensure that everyone can access housing that meets their needs. Yet, in Britain today, many people cannot afford to buy or rent a home of good quality where they live. Too many people live in housing so poor it damages their health. Government housebuilding targets are regularly missed, and the shortage of affordable and social housing is at crisis point. Newly built homes are often energy inefficient and environmentally unfriendly. Too many new houses are built as leasehold and leaseholders still face large bills, not least because of the building safety scandal. Homelessness remains shamefully high. Local authorities’ powers to build the kind of homes needed in their areas are inadequate. Liberal Democrats are committed to tackling these housing failures head-on by:”

• Building 380,000 new homes, including 150,00 social homes, per year across the UK.

• Reform the Land Compensation Act 1961 to allow councils to buy land based on the current value rather than on hope-value basis.

• Expand Neighbourhood Planning, and develop community-led towns, along with building 10 new garden cities.

• Better fund local planning departments by allowing them to set their own fees. Whilst improving planning, and ensuring new houses are not built on areas prone to flooding without adequate mitigation.

• Encourage the use of rural exception sites and trial ‘Community Land Auctions’ to ensure local communities get the benefits, and help fund local services, for new developments in their area.

• Focus development on brownfield sites and implement financial incentives to support the building of affordable and social housing as part of these projects.

• Introduce a ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ planning permission for developers who refuse to build.

• Sustain the construction sector by investing in skills, training and new technologies to develop modern methods of construction.

• Ensure all developments have the appropriate infrastructure and services in place for the public, integrating this into the planning process.

• Guarantee homes are warmer and cheaper to heat through a 10-year ‘emergency upgrade programme; whilst making all new homes meet zero-carbon standards.

• Provide local authorities and National Park Authorities the power to end Right to Buy in their area.

• Remove dangerous cladding from all buildings, and safeguard leaseholders to make sure they don’t pay for it.

• Offer greater control to leasehold property owners by abolishing residential leaseholds and capping ground rents to a nominal fee.

• Deliver a fair deal for renters by immediately banning section 21s, making three-year tenancies the default, and licensing landlords by creating a national register.

• Protect renters of social homes by enforcing clear standards and time limits for repairs and giving them a voice in landlord governance panels.

• Introduce a ‘Rent to Own’ model for social homes, giving paying tenants a chance to purchase the property they are living in, within 30-years, without having to save up for the initial deposit.

• End rough sleeping within the next parliament through the abolition of the Vagrancy Act and establishing a ‘somewhere safe to stay’ legal duty to ensure anyone who is at risk of sleeping rough is offered emergency accommodation and an assessment of their needs.

• Give Local authorities the sufficient financial resources to deliver the Homelessness Reduction Act and provide accommodation for domestic abuse survivors.

Green Party

“Everyone needs a warm, secure and affordable home. Yet millions of people don’t have this most basic building-block for a happy and successful life. Over a million households are on council waiting lists and more than 130,000 children are growing up in temporary accommodation.”

• Introduce their ‘Right Homes, Right Place, Right Price’ charter to provide affordable housing, whilst protecting green spaces. It would require local authorities to spread small developments throughout their areas and deliver extra funding alongside these for essential public services and infrastructure.

• All new developments would need to contribute to reducing climate emissions and tackling fuel poverty by ensuring all new homes meet Passivhaus standard and include solar panels and heat pumps.

• Implement a retrofit programme through investment of £29bn to insulate all homes to an EPC band B standard, £4bn to insulate other buildings, and £9bn for low-carbon heating systems in homes and other buildings.

• Provide 150,000 new social homes per year by refurbishing older housing stock, whilst introducing a right to buy for local authorities and ending it at an individual level.

• Push for reform in the private rented sector through rent controls led by local authorities, end of no-fault evictions, allow tenant’s a right to demand energy efficiency improvements, and the creation of ‘private residential tenancy boards’ to provide a cheap and quick way to resolve disputes without the need for tribunal.

Reform UK

"Britain has a Housing Crisis. Reform UK will ensure that people can own their own home by unleashing housebuilding across the country and cutting immigration.”

• Reform the planning system to fast-track planning and provide tax incentives on brownfield sites, along with initiating a ‘Loose fit planning’ policy for large residential developments that require them to adhere to developer requirements and meet pre-approved guidelines.

• Amend social housing law to prioritise at the front of the queue local people who have paid into the system.

• Scrap section 24 tax system for landlords, restoring rights to deduct financial costs and mortgage interest from tax on rental income, hopefully encouraging smaller landlords to stay in the private rented sector.

• Boost the monitoring, appeals and enforcements process for aggrieved renters within the private rented sector, to help eliminate bad practices.

• Protect leaseholders through ensuring any potential charges are clearly stated and agreed to for residents. Along with enforcing Section 106 agreements and make it easier and cheaper to extend leases to 990 years and buy freeholds.

• Encourage the use of innovative construction technologies to speed up building and cut waste.