No new ideas in UK election manifestos on housing

So the biggest three political parties have now unveiled their election manifestos and it is no surprise that housing is a key issue in all three from the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

They make interesting reading, mostly predictable but a few interesting ideas have been injected. The main points include building more homes, both to buy and rent, as well as more affordable housing, while planning and the role of councils also feature strongly. The lettings market is also set to see more controls introduced whoever wins the election.

The Labour Party pledges to build more than a million homes by the end of the current Parliament, so that would normally be in the next five years, to establish a Department for Housing, suspend Right to Buy and give first time buyers first choice on new homes built in their area.

Labour also promises to start work on a new generation of new towns, protect the green belt, address the need for more homes for older people and do this by encompassing it in local plans, as well as extending Help to Buy to 2027.

When it comes to the lettings market it would bring in more controls. It agrees with banning letting fees but it would also introduce a cap on rents that would be linked to inflation and introduce longer tenancies, licensing for landlords and more consumer rights for tenants.

The Conservatives already indicated where they are going on housing with the publication of a white paper earlier this year and this is carried into its manifesto with a million new homes by 2020, although the document adds a pledge to build another 500,000 by 2022.

It also promises to modernise the home buying process, making it cheaper and easier and support high density and specialist housing, such as retirement housing, where needed, as well as protecting the existing green belt land.

When it comes to the letting industry the Tories have already upset many in the sector with landlords affected by recent policies, including mortgage tax relief being phased out and an extra 3% stamp duty on additional homes. The ban on letting agent fees in England, they are already banned in Scotland, will continue. But rent controls are not on the agenda.

The house building aspect of the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto are even more ambitious, promising 300,000 homes a year by 2022, that’s 1.5 million new homes, of which 500,000 would energy efficient.

The party would also create a government-backed British Housing and Infrastructure Development Bank, build at least ten new garden cities in England, and introduce penalties for developers with planning permission who have not built after three years.

For the lettings industry the Liberal Democrats also back banning fees in England, supports licensing for landlords, and would introduce three year tenancies and an inflation linked cap on rent rises. The manifesto also says it would allow tenants first refusal if a landlords sells a property and introduce a Rent to Buy model giving tenants an increasing stake in the property they rent.

However, none of the parties really get to how they will fix the UKís broken housing market. Yes, they all pledge to build millions of new homes, promise more types of new

be

affordable

and homes, and want to speed up and reform planning. But, as the property sector continually warns, the problem is here and now as well as five years down the road. Homes are being built as quickly as they can be under current constraints. There is no mention, for example, of using modular construction and while it may sound a tad old fashioned, temporary housing like the prefabs built after the second world war or something like that to ease the current supply problem.

The fact is, the lack of new homes being built should have been addressed decades ago and all of these political parties must take some blame for that. When Labour was in power it did not heed the warning, when the Liberal Democrats were in coalition with the Conservatives they did not address it and it is only in the last couple of years that the Tories have suddenly realised they need to take action.

As far as the lettings industry is concerned it is the Conservatives who appear to be on its side, with no mention of licensing landlords or rent controls. But both, I would argue are needed. Rent controls in London, for example, would help those renting save a deposit and licensing of landlords just ought to happen as there is no excuse not to have it.

There are no surprises in these manifestos and in a way the property industry has to accept that it has been neglected for decades by Government and unfortunately it will take decades to sort it all out. This is not much help for those wanting to get on the property ladder as prices in the UK continue to creep upward and the supply and demand gap widens. Sadly, there are no innovative ideas in any of the documents.