Target Group comments on the King Speech

17 July 2024

Following the first King’s Speech of the new Labour government, where Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer vowed to ‘get Britain building’, we have a comment from Target Group.

Melanie Spencer, sales and growth lead at Target Group, said: “With growth being the new government’s ‘north star’, it’s not surprising to see house building form a key part of its plans. Given the key role housing and the mortgage market plays in the success of the wider economy, this should absolutely be a priority.

“The return of mandatory housebuilding targets is an important step in keeping central government and local councils to task. However, with successive governments having limited success with housebuilding, it will be interesting to see how much impact this will actually have. While changes to planning rules will certainly support this commitment, will it all be enough to solve the chronic undersupply of housing in the UK and unlock potential buyers?

“Even so, with any growth in supply, there is the potential for greater pressure on the already complex house buying process. As an industry, it’s important we continue to play our part to transform the home buying experience, providing lenders and borrowers with all the necessary tools and innovations to support faster decision making and access to wider product choice to make this process as seamless as possible for all parties.”