Property Press Online

As this piece is published, Britons find themselves six days away from the general election. The heat is on for all the parties wanting to win seats.

But, as the news outlets keep reporting on is the movements of the Tory (conservatives) party and the Labour party. However, from all the analysing and discussions, it can be mind boggling to remember what the two have promised.

This article takes one more look at both parties and their housing manifesto, before December 12th.

The Labour Party

In the red corner….

Heading up the 2019 election is labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn has been head of the party ever since 2015.

A few weeks ago, Corbyn revealed the party’s plans for UK Housing if they were to lead the country. In his manifesto he included 100,000 more council homes by December 2024. Also, to reform the Help-To-Buy scheme and on top of this, create a brand-new Department for Housing.

Additional to these three policies, the leader stated that the party would commission “at least” an extra 50,000 affordable homes per year. Labour stated this would be done through housing associations.

In addition to these pledges, the party has stated they will build ‘cutting edge design’ properties with green standards. For example, similar to the Goldsmith Street estate in Norwich.

Besides these promises, Labour also stated that they would want to stop any runaway tenants by capping inflation, and giving city powers to cap any rentals further. By doing so they believe they will give tenants security around rented properties.

The Conservative Party

And in the blue corner…

On the 24th July, Boris Johnson found himself leading the Conservative party, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Now, he is campaigning to keep this title.

Within the conservatives manifesto, the first pledge they have made is to build a million homes within the next 5 years; therefore aiming for 300,000 new homes a year by mid way through the 2020s.

They also pledged create a new mortgage. The brand-new first time buyers mortgage would have longer term fixed rates and only require the mortgage owner to require a 5% deposit.

Additionally, they have promised to spend just over £6.3 billion on environmental upgrades to homes. This money would go towards things such as insulation and grants for improving boilers.

Within their manifesto, it stated that the would abolish the “no fault” evictions. Instead, they would introduce a “lifetime” deposit which would aim to move with a tenant.

In addition to all above, they also have pledged that foreigners buying any properties within England, would pay 3% more in Stamp Duty compared to UK residents.

How should I vote on December the 12th?

It can be confusing who to decide for. All parties are pledging lots of promises within different political areas such as Housing, the NHS and how to deal with Brexit.

However, the choice is yours. Choose a party that you believe has similar ideals to how you want to see this country ran.

No matter what, make sure you vote on December the 12th. Every vote matters.