With Danny Beales MP, Chair of PLG Housing Delivery & Growth; Chris Curtis MP, co-chair of the Labour Growth Group; & Cllr. Jack Shaw, chair of Labour Housing Group

With Peter Prinsley MP, Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds & Stowmarket. This roundtable will look at the role of rural England in combatting the housing crisis and meeting the Government’s housebuilding objectives. Particularly, this will focus on rural exception sites, small site aggregation, and the opportunity for small sites to improve SME access to the housing delivery market.

This roundtable will see Florence Eshalomi MP, the chair of the Housing, Communities & Local Government Select Committee, in a Q&A discussion with Hanad Darwish discussing the current slate of reforms to housing policy going through parliament, and what potential room there is to go further moving forwards.

This roundtable saw our co-chair, Lord Banner KC, in conversation with Lord Gascoigne, chair of the Lords Built Environment Committee, to discuss the Government’s housebuilding agenda, its plans, and the role of the Built Environment Committee in assisting government.

This roundtable brought together industry leaders & policy experts to discuss the long-term future of housing delivery & planning reform with Kevin Hollinrake MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities

This roundtable brought together industry leaders and policymakers to discuss the government’s ambition to deliver 1.5 million homes, with keynote speaker Baroness Taylor of Stevenage OBE, Minister for Housing & Local Government.

The PLG held a roundtable meeting discussing the crisis in S106 affordable housing demand, challenges faced by Registered Providers, and the knock-on effects this has for housing delivery across the country.

The PLG held a roundtable meeting with Marc Vlessing, Founder and Chairman of Pocket Living, and Hashi Mohamed KC, barrister, author and broadcaster, exploring the levers government can pull to significantly increase housing delivery in the short term. The discussion highlighted key challenges, including under-resourced planning authorities struggling to keep pace and seemingly a move to a ‘planning by appeal’ system that hampers efficiency. SMEs, once pivotal to housebuilding, now face mounting bureaucracy and funding obstacles that limit their contributions.

With Annie Gingell, associate director, Turley; Matthew Spry, head of London office, Lichfields; and Harry Quartermain, head of research & insight, LandTech. This roundtable looked at Grey Belt land definition, and what it might mean for local authorities, developers & communities moving forwards.

With Rushanara Ali, Minister for Building Safety & Homelessness, and Abdi Duale, Member of the Labour National Executive Council

With Peter Freeman, chair of Homes England

The PLG’s recent roundtable meeting with Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman, emphasised the strategic role of complaints in revealing organisational culture, manging risks, and fostering continuous improvement for social housing. Blakeway highlighted the integration of new statutory powers under the Social Housing Regulation Act and shared insights from casework, including the disproportionate number of complaints from London.

The PLG held a roundtable meeting featuring insights from Rebecca Phillips, the Professional Lead for Planning Appeals at the Planning Inspectorate. The session delved into critical issues such as the impact of recent government changes on the appeals process, challenges faced by local authorities, and strategies for improving planning outcomes.

The PLG’s recent roundtable meeting with Fiona MacGregor and Jonathan Walters, the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive of the Regulator of Social Housing, provided a comprehensive overview of the current landscape and challenges within the housing sector.

The PLG’s roundtable on Later Living brought together key stakeholders to discuss the pressing issues and potential solutions in older people’s housing. The meeting, chaired by Sir Gary Streeter MP, featured insights from experts including Prof. Les Mayhew, James Lloyd, John Collyns and others, who explored the challenges of downsizing, the benefits of retirement villages, planning system reforms, and the necessity for government leadership in supporting the sector.

The latest PLG meeting hosted Alan Law, Deputy Chief Executive of Natural England, for an insightful discussion on the careful balance between environmental protection and development. The meeting emphasised the necessity for strategic, collaborative and innovative solutions.

The meeting exploring the recently published Housing Market Study by the CME shed light on critical housing sector challenges. From housing supply shortages to affordability concerns and the impact of planning regulations, stakeholders engaged in a copmrehensive exploration of pertinent issues. The dialogue, inclusive of perspectives from SMEs, national developers, housing associations and local authorities, emphasised the need for collaborative solutions to address the multifaceted dynamics of the housing market and delivery mechanisms. The discussion also ventured into the impact of private management of public amenities on housing estates.

The PLg convened a meeting hosting Baroness Taylor of Stevenage OBE, Shadow Minister for Levelling Up, Housing Communities and Local Government, for a roundtable discussion delving into housing and the current state of the planning system, with a particular focus on recent developments under the current government and changes that could be implemented should the Labour Party form the next government. Specifically, the meeting explored Labour’s vision for new towns as a driving force for housing delivery and placemaking, as well as provision for affordable housing, a strategic review of the Green Belt, and innovation in the development sector.

The PLG convened the representatives of the Radix Housing Commission to discuss their October 2024 report, where Government policy has addressed their recommendations, and where Government could continue to learn. The event was chaired by Lord Banner KC, and attended by Gideon Amos MP, the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Housing & Planning.