It’s General Election Time! What does it mean for housing?
The clock is ticking and General Election will happen very soon. Marylebone Properties International has pooled the main parties manifestos to understand their orientations in regards to housing.
CONSERVATIVES
The Conservatives want to increase the supply of houses in the UK, remarking that not enough houses have been built in the last decades, making rental expensive and buying unaffordable for many British citizens. According to their manifesto, this is what they are planning:
- Deliver one million homes by the end of 2020, further 500,000 by the end of 2022, achieving the commitment made in 2015.
- Free more lands for new homes.
- Allow Councils intervene when developers fail to act on planning permissions.
- Collaborate on pre-development projects to build more social housing.
- Arrange a new fixed-term social house, to see the property automatically to tenants, after 10 or 15 years under the Right To Buy scheme.
The Conservatives are also aiming to focus their effort on high-quality and high-density housing, such a mews, block mansions and terraced houses in order to increase the supply of houses.
The party is also favoring the aging population and the considerable property assets the elders have built up, proposing the value of family homes will be taken into account, whatever is a nursing care home or domiciliary provided by the Council. Older people will also retain at least £100,000 of their savings and assets and deferred payments for residential care. This means that nobody will have to sell their house to pay for care.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
As proposed also in the Autumn Statement, Liberal Democrats are willing to ban tenant fees charged by letting agents and cup upfront deposit which can be more than 6 weeks.
They are also proposing the Rent to Own scheme, allowing private renters to gain increasing stake in the property through the rent payments and own it outright after 30 years.
In their manifesto, Liberal Democrats are also addressing the problem of shortage of housing, pleading to build 300,000 new houses, 1o new garden cities in England.
They are also proposing to:
- Offer zero-carbon Homes.
- Charge up to 200% council tax on second homes and the so-called buy-to-leave-empty investment bought by overseas investors.
- Supporting local authority in investing in social and council housing, increasing the borrowing capacity and increasing the borrowing cap.
- Penalise excessive land-banking, when builder failed to construct approved projects after 3 years.
- Allow local authority to enforce housebuilding in public sector lands that are not in use for other purposes.
LABOUR
Labour is also concerned about the housing crisis. S0 willing to create a new Department of Housing in order to target and solve the issue. The party is proposing to extend the Help to Buy Scheme until 2027. Therefore to give local resident first dibs on new homes built in their area. Than to reserve low-c homes for first-time buyers.
Labour are also conceding get rental markets. And proposing to make three-year tenancies the norm. And then place an inflation-linked cap on rent rises. They are also following the guidelines of the conservative state of last Autun, proposing to ban tenants fees.
Their manifesto also claims they will build 100,000 council and housing association homes every year and scrap the controversial bedroom tax that applies to social housing.
Labour is considering the environment, proposing zero-carbon homes and a consultation on new rules for minimum space requirements.
The General Election will take place on the 8th of June.
What do you think about these proposals? Is it something realistic or just political rhetoric?
It’s General Election Time! – Post created by Marylebone Properties Internacional
