Pads For Students - The Location For Student House Rentals

Blog

Election 2017: What are the Main Parties Plans on Housing?

This will be the third election in seven years. Housing has been a large but not major part in the run-up to elections in 2010 and 2015 and so for 2017. Regardless of who wins, something needs to be done about the housing crisis with too few house building, soaring prices and rising increased complaints of rogue landlords. As of mid-May, all the main parties have released their manifestos. This is what they say about housing.

 

The Conservative Party

Theresa May’s government has once again put a strong emphasis on housing, committing to building 1,000,000 homes between 2017 and 2020 and a further 500,000 to 2022. All intended reforms discussed in the Housing White Paper during this Parliament will go through in the 2012-2022 Parliament. There are presently no solid plans to reform renting laws. They will, however, encourage landlords to offer longer tenancies for those who want them.

 

The Labour Party

The main opposition party pledges to building 1,000,000 new homes over the course of the next Parliament including 100,000 council homes across the country and a new Department for Housing. As far as renting is concerned, they will limit rent rises to the price of inflation. Of concern to student landlords, they will make three-year tenancies the norm rather than six months. This will concern landlords of student tenants who rarely require more than 1 or 2 years but shorter tenancies will not be banned.

 

Liberal Democrats

The LibDems will tackle the housing crisis with a ring-fenced national investment bank specifically for residential building. They will finance 300,000 houses per year for the length of the Parliament. For the rental area, they have proposed mandatory licensing for all landlords and ban letting fees for tenants. Deposits will receive a maximum cap based on the value of the rent; they will aim to increase minimum standards for all rented homes. They are also pushing their green credentials in improving energy efficiency.

 

What the Smaller Parties Say

  • The various Green Party parties have yet to release their manifesto but they have said they will guarantee 500,000 new social housing and a mandatory licensing scheme
  • UKIP pledges to bring dormant and empty houses back into the market with new laws on compulsory purchase and a statutory duty on councils to force sales. They will also lift red tape on brownfield construction
  • Plaid Cymru have said little on housing in Wales other than to make them more energy efficient
  • SNP have promised 50,000 new homes in Scotland over the next 5 years with 35,000 of them for social rent

 

What About Students?

As you can see, there has been little provision for landlords of student tenants – the main parties and those not discussed here are committed to building more homes but specific provisions for this sector remains unaddressed.