The Conservative Party manifesto is a combination of more of the same and new ideas, some of which haven’t been fleshed out enough.
The headline-grabber has been the creation of ‘long-term fixed rate mortgages’, where buyers (presumably owner-occupiers) will need a 5% deposit and the rate will stay the same over the term.
This is a difficult policy to analyse because it’s so light on detail, though it’s hard to see why it’s necessary.
First-time buyers can already buy with a 5% deposit, mortgage rates are already reasonable, while they tend to become even more so once you pay off more of your loan.
Another policy that’s attracted some headlines is charging non-UK residents a stamp duty surcharge, which will reportedly be 3%.
Owing to how difficult it is for people to get on the housing ladder, you can see some justification for this policy to favour domestic buyers over people ‘parking their cash’ in property.
However, if you’re targeting overseas investors who buy and leave property, surely it would make more sense to focus on taxing empty homes.
Some professionals worry this policy could put off foreign investors from buying in prime hotspots like Central London, where first-time buyers wouldn’t be looking to buy anyway.
It’s hard to conclusive on whether that would be the case, though buying from abroad has become more reasonable in recent years owing to the fall in the value of the pound after the Brexit vote.
One policy that will interest landlords is giving greater rights of possession to “good” landlords. This is another one that’s quite light on detail, so it’s hard to know what that would mean in practice.
The Conservatives also pledged for more of the same in other areas: To continue selling off public housing stock with Right to Buy for council and housing association tenants, get closer to the target of building 300,000 homes a year, and to go through with getting rid of Section 21.
While there are some new policies, this is a manifesto designed not to rock the boat.
Ryan Bembridge
Editor
PropertyWire
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