Private renting
And that explains why all parties (with the exception of Reform UK) have coalesced around reform of the private rented sector. Proposals to bring to an end the assured shorthold tenancy agreement sit as common ground between the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
This has been on the cards for some time. But while the renters reform bill eventually got to its second reading in the House of Lords, it proved devilishly difficult to get through parliament before the general election was called.
That was a reflection of the practical difficulties in balancing the interests of landlord and tenant, in a way that would avoid unwelcome unintended consequences in an already undersupplied sector.
What differs between the parties is the nature and pace of implementation, with Labour suggesting it would be immediate and the Conservatives promising to strengthen processes for landlords to recover possession.
Most investors have known it was only a matter of time before so-called no-fault evictions bit the dust. For many, rent control would be a bigger issue. In this respect, it is more a case of what is not in the manifestos.
As expected, nothing on it from the Conservatives or, more interestingly, the Lib Dems. From Labour the hint is that any form of control would be light touch, with nothing more than references to tenants being better empowered to challenge unreasonable rent increases.
Housebuilding
Arguably things start to get more interesting when it comes to housebuilding.
In this respect, the commitments and aspirations for the number of new homes look like an manifesto arms race, not least because each additional 100,000 new homes could add 1 per cent to GDP.
Labour include a commitment to build an average of 300,000 homes a year over the next five years; the Conservatives 320,000; and the Lib Dems aim to get to 380,000.
This is an important recognition that to meet the current housing challenge we need to deliver a lot more homes. But these are all big, big numbers, especially against Savills' expectations that, without major policy intervention, housing completions will fall to 160,000 a year over the next three years, having peaked at 220,500 in 2019/20.
The Lib Dems want to see 150,000 social homes delivered each year and a total of 10 new garden cities, with proposals to allow councils to buy development land at existing use value. Radical, yes. Chances of delivering it with the benefit of past experience? Somewhat limited, shall we say.
The Conservatives’ plans sit against a “cast iron commitment to protect the greenbelt for uncontrolled development” with aims “to develop a record number of homes on brownfield land in urban areas” through “gentle densification of urban areas” with a greater focus on design and placemaking.
