Related Argent-led group urges five reforms to unlock stalled housing schemes

Property and investment leaders convened by developer Related Argent have asked the Government to consider five reforms, including a time-limited stamp duty relief on new-build homes, to get stalled housing schemes moving.

The paper, Unlocking Housing Delivery: Practical Reforms to Get Britain Building, was published on 26 October. Related Argent said it sets out five measures intended to reduce avoidable costs, risk and uncertainty while maintaining standards of safety, quality and sustainability.

The proposals followed a roundtable convened by Related Argent at which Barclays, Invesco, the Institute of Directors (IoD), London Councils, Long Harbour, Mace, Peabody, the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Sovereign Network Group were represented.

Tom Goodall, Chief Executive Director at Related Argent, said: "Targets don't build homes – viable and deliverable schemes do. And the uncomfortable reality is that it is simply too expensive to build in too many parts of Britain today."

The five proposals

The first proposal is a time-limited Stamp Duty Land Tax relief for new-build homes, targeted at eligible purchasers of primary homes, with the possibility of testing an incentive for downsizers.

The second is a 25-year exemption from any future rent controls for new purpose-built rental homes, alongside renter protections, which the paper says would give institutional investors greater long-term certainty when committing capital to build to rent (BTR).

The third is 25 years of VAT relief on eligible service charges and operating costs for new-build homes, with the saving passed on to residents. It would apply across market sale, BTR, shared ownership, affordable and social housing.

The fourth is a rapid, ring-fenced fund for local authorities to buy specialist technical and legal expertise on complex planning applications, including viability, infrastructure, ecology and Section 106 negotiations.

The fifth is a regulatory baseline for projects ready to start on site, so that specified requirements and their costs do not change during delivery except where genuine safety issues require intervention.

The modelling

Related Argent said the proposals had been subject to indicative economic and fiscal modelling over 12, 24 and 36 months, using Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) parameters where possible and informed by Anna Leach, chief economist at the IoD.

According to the paper, a three-year new-build stamp duty relief could support around 3,600 to 7,200 purchases that are additional or materially accelerated over three years. It puts the static fiscal cost at about £0.3bn to £0.6bn a year, or £1.0bn to £1.9bn over three years, and asks the OBR to test that figure.

The 25-year rent control exemption could indicatively support 2,000 to 4,000 additional or accelerated BTR homes over three years, the paper says, with £100m to £300m of construction activity potentially brought forward within the first 12 months.

The VAT relief could cut service charges by around £640 to £970 per home a year, which the paper describes as roughly 9% to 14% of a typical £7,000 annual charge. For BTR, it estimates the saving could equate to £14,000 to £21,500 of additional value per home.

Rebecca Taylor, Managing Director of Multifamily at Long Harbour, said: "Crucially, they are about improving the conditions for new supply rather than relying on an ongoing demand subsidy."

John German, Managing Director, Head of Living Investments at Invesco, said the UK has substantial private capital ready to invest in housing.

Who was in the room

Related Argent said the discussion also drew participation from Charlie Pugsley, acting chief executive officer of the Building Safety Regulator; Joanna Averley, chief planner and head of the planning profession at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG); Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Residential Development; and Alison Flight, deputy head of development management at the Greater London Authority.

The figures behind the case

The paper says housing starts remain 25% below 2022 levels and 43% below the rate needed to meet the Government's 300,000 homes-a-year target in England. It says only 600 new homes were sold to individual buyers in London in the first quarter of 2026, and that the capital is the second most expensive city in the world in which to build, behind Geneva.

It also says only 4,170 homes were started in London in 2024/25, less than 5% of what it describes as the capital's official annual target of 88,000 homes.

The Government's own London figure, published in March, uses a different measure. MHCLG said there were 4,522 social and affordable housing starts on site in London in 2024/25, against 26,386 in 2022/23.

MHCLG's latest national statistics show some recovery. New-build dwelling starts in England were an estimated 35,910 in April to June 2026, seasonally adjusted, up 6% on the previous quarter and 20% on a year earlier, though still 47% below the Q2 2023 peak. Completions in the quarter were an estimated 35,800.

What the Government has already done in London

The Housing Secretary and Mayor of London confirmed emergency measures on 25 March 2026 to accelerate housebuilding in the capital. These included a fast-track planning route for sites delivering at least 20% affordable housing and emergency relief from the Community Infrastructure Levy for eligible schemes starting before 31 March 2030.

The Government said the £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme had allocated up to £11.7bn for London.

Related Argent describes itself as a UK property business and urban regeneration specialist with a portfolio of about £13bn, including schemes at Brent Cross and Tottenham Hale. In 2024 it became developer and asset manager of the King's Cross estate and the St Pancras Hospital site.

The paper asks the OBR to test its stamp duty cost estimate against the potential impact on additional housing starts, jobs and wider economic growth.