I’ve been reading a lot, like you probably have, about each political parties’ plans to re-shape the UK in the case of a general election.
Does there have to be a general election? No.
Is it likely there will be? Hmm I don’t know, but whoever takes over at the next PM is likely going to want more of a steady ground in which to take the country out of the Brexit Hell Hole that’s been ensuing… (whichever way they decide to go in or out), they should probably do it with a majority Government.
With that in mind, the battle field has started to get heated.
First up we had Jeremy Corbyn. Who, as far as I can tell, would be happy for one house per family, all at the same price. He announced his progressive property tax which would overhaul the council tax system. Think tenants don’t pay, there’s no single person household discount and those with two or more properties pick up the highest bills. On top of that he’s interested in levelling house prices, so that everyone can afford a property.
Before you start thinking ‘Natasha of course you are a conservative’. I’m not, I come from a Labour family, but I’ve voted for Labour, Conservative and Lib Dems in my time… so I look at all of my options and assess what I think will be best for the country going forward.
Meanwhile the Conservative Government are very much on the bandwagon of making sure that first time buyers and renters vote for them. Their removal of the no fault evictions this year, cements this… with other consultations bubbling up around leasehold and help to buy schemes, as well as new guidance that has gone out to tenants about how to take action against a Landlord should they not act in the proper manner (watch this space for that being a mandatory document to go out with the tenancy agreements).
Elsewhere the Lib Dems would like to see eviction notices extended to 6 months (so Section 8 notices) and there are rumours of rental refunds if a property deteriorates during a tenancy…
(Side note I haven’t been following the other parties’ manifestos so I can’t compare)
All of this amounts to the fact that Landlords are still drawing the short straw, seemingly because renters are a good voting market to target.
Which of course we need to keep an eye on…
Whilst laws can change and regulations can get tighter. Heck, maybe even pass property taxes onto the Investor… that’s what they do in the States and the investment market still booms.
One of the biggest concerns for me is the playing around with interest rates. To slow down market growth you need to tail off demand. The easiest way to do this is to up interest rates and then offer help and support to those on the first rung of the housing ladder.
It’s something we need to be watching out for. Start assessing longer term rates V shorter term rates. Putting in place a strategy for reducing LTV (loan to value)… which hopefully you’re doing with the new tax changes anyway, and making sure we are monitoring our expenses.
It’s not all doom and gloom, trust me there’s still money to be made and I’ll still be investing. It’s just important at this time to keep an eye out and ask questions of potential changes, because when/if they happen we need to be ready.
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Natasha
