News

On 12th December the British people will once again vote for who should lead our country and break the Brexit deadlock, which has dominated the headlines for the best part of three years. However, as one of the most unpredictable elections in recent history, it is important for us to cut through the Brexit noise and consider what the main parties are promising on other issues and what a change in government could mean for the private rented sector.

Rarely does a week go by when the media doesn’t contain a story relating to Universal Credit and the impact it is having on claimants and landlords alike. It can be difficult to cut through the noise and know exactly what the truth is. Then, just last week, the media reported that the Labour Party, should they come into power, plans to scrap Universal Credit altogether.

The right-to-buy your council home, if you were a sitting tenant, was a key Conservative policy introduced in the 1980 Housing Act by Margaret Thatcher. All of a sudden, people who had never had the option before could realistically think about owning their own home. But of course, just like today, people preferred some types of housing over others, such as a detached house over flat in a high-rise block. So, over time, as people bought the homes they once rented from their local councils, the authorities were left with a depleted housing stock of less than desirably properties. The once populist, profitable policy, has left a disastrous legacy affected today’s social housing market.