There were a number of bills proposed in the speech that will have some impact on the general provision of housing and legislation around the private rental sector. Sadly, there was nothing specific around how to increase the supply of housing to the supported living sector.

Whilst the proposed changes to the planning process should benefit all property developers and investors, it would have been useful if there was something more focused on supporting the provision of homes for people in need of support. There is obviously a clear deficiency in the amount of housing for ‘general needs’, but maybe extending the government support that is made available to builders of social housing to those providing supported living housing could have been considered?

Lets hope that this is just the first step in improving the provision of housing generally. We will continue to bang the drum for more focus on supported living housing and hope that you will join us in that.

There are numerous articles available that provide a summary of the King’s Speech impact on property in general. The main areas for consideration as far as we are concerned are below. For full disclosure, we used an AI tool to analyse the Government briefing notes on the King’s Speech to produce the list. Everything else was written by us!

Planning and Infrastructure Bill to Accelerate Housing Delivery

The government is introducing a Planning and Infrastructure Bill aimed at reforming the planning system to accelerate housing and infrastructure delivery. The bill proposes to:

• Streamline the planning process to build more homes and infrastructure
• Reform compulsory purchase compensation rules to unlock more sites for development
• Improve local planning decision-making by modernizing planning committees

These changes could potentially increase housing supply and create new opportunities. However, the bill's specific impact on existing planning regulations remains to be seen.

Renters' Rights Bill Overhauls Private Rented Sector

In a move that will affect an estimated 11 million private tenants in England, the Renters' Rights Bill introduces sweeping changes:

• Abolition of Section 21 "no-fault" evictions
• Introduction of new possession grounds for landlords
• Strengthening of tenants' rights, including the right to request pets
• Application of the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector
• Creation of a new ombudsman service for dispute resolution

This legislation aims to provide greater security for tenants while ensuring landlords have "robust grounds for possession where there is good reason." Investors will need to adapt their practices to comply with these new regulations.

English Devolution Bill to Empower Local Authorities

The English Devolution Bill aims to transfer more power from Westminster to local communities:

• New powers for metro mayors and combined authorities
• Requirements for local authorities to produce Local Growth Plans
• Easier process for creating new Combined and Combined County Authorities

This devolution could lead to more localised decision-making on housing and planning issues, potentially creating regional variations in property-related policies.