With the election over, what’s next for Property?
A landslide win the Labour Party, the Conservative party are licking their wounds and the Liberal Democrats are jubilant. As always there are surprising results at a constituency level and some big figures have lost their seats. But, overall, the outcome is pretty much as the property sector expected.
Both of the main parties had discussed housing in their campaigns. Both acknowledged the problem of affordability – for renters and prospective homeowners – and both parties had pledged to continue with the abolition of no-fault evictions. While there were similarities, there was a greater focus on housebuilding and the provision of social housing from Sir Keir Starmer’s team. But we all know that the manifesto pledge of a massive housebuilding programme can’t be delivered overnight.
Nevertheless, landlords will be affected by this change. It’s possible that with a majority of this scale, there may be a period of stability which could reduce uncertainty and lead to interest rate falls. Labour may press ahead with suggestions of putting a stop to rental bidding wars, but they might also offer incentives for landlords who improve the EPC ratings of their properties. Landlords wanting to quit the sector may regret that Rishi Sunak’s proposed Capital Gains Tax break on sales to tenants won’t now be on offer, but with this result so widely expected, few would have been counting on it.
It’s July 5th. A new government is being formed and doubtless, in time, things will change but for now, in property, no shocks.
As always, watch this space.