Political parties outlined their manifestos, with everything from stamp duty and leasehold reform to building targets and housing schemes suggested.
Reactions to the various manifesto pledges were mixed, with promises to reform the housing sector welcomed, but doubts remain as to how long term and sustainable such pledges are.
Below is a round-up of the various manifestos and their key housing pledges to have at your fingertips.
Conservatives’ housing pledges centre on first-time buyers
At the home of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone, on Thursday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak launched the Conservative manifesto.
Among the pledges was making the temporary change to first-time buyer relief, launched in 2022, to £425,000 permanent.
The manifesto also stated it would bring out a new and improved Help to Buy scheme, offer capital gains tax (CGT) relief to landlords if they sell properties to tenants, build 1.6 million homes, continue the Mortgage Guarantee scheme, protect Right to Buy discounts and carry on with rental reform.
Experts said that many of the measures would be helpful for the housing sector, but said further detail would be needed and said it may be a little too late.
Labour focus on building, planning reform and stamp duty
Labour, who launched their manifesto in Manchester on Thursday, said they would build one-and-a-half million new homes over the next parliamentary period if elected, and this would be done on used land and brownfield sites.
The party added that it would embark on planning reform and increase the rate of stamp duty for non-UK residents.
Labour also pledged to strengthen planning obligations for social and affordable housing, give first-time buyers first dibs on properties, make the Mortgage Guarantee scheme permanent and tackle rental reform.
Experts said that the manifesto measures would be broadly welcomed in the mortgage and property sector as long as Labour kept their promises.
Liberal Democrats’ housing pledges look at rental and leasehold reform and housebuilding
The Liberal Democrats, who kicked off manifesto week, as it were, said that they would build 380,000 homes per year across the UK, including 150,000 social homes.
The party also pledged rental reform, including banning no-fault evictions, making three-year tenancies the default and creating a national register for landlords.
Giving local authorities the power to end Right to Buy in their area, ending rough sleeping, abolishing leasehold and capping ground rent and launching a Rent to Own model for social housing were also outlined.
Greens target retrofit, abolishing Right to Buy and rental reform
The Green Party brought out an ‘Our Right Homes, Right Place, Right Price’ charter, which intends to protect the environment, limit climate change, reduce fuel poverty and up affordable housing.
The party added it would invest £29bn over the five years to retrofit homes to EPC B or above as part of a 10-year programme.
Other key measures include abolishing Right to Buy and rental reform measures to push for rent control, stable rental tenancies and an end to no-fault evictions.
