As we head into the final stretch for the UK election the UK housing market is effectively on pause with investors concerned about falling Tory support and a new resurgent Labour Party. Despite heavy criticism and mocking in his early days Jeremy Corbyn is making great strides in chipping away at Tory a lead which was at one stage 24 percentage points. His policies seem to revolve around borrow and invest which is concerning many analysts as the UK debt pile continues to rise. What awaits the UK housing market?
Investment either way
On one hand the UK housing market has been promised significant investment by all parties which will see an increase in social housing and newbuilds. Nevermore have politicians been under pressure to deliver on UK housing promises as the number of newbuilds continues to fall behind the required annual rate. Under a Labour Party, a left-wing Labour Party, we would likely see an increase in all taxes impacting those owning properties towards the higher end of the market. The Conservative Party would be less of a threat but over the last few years the increase in buy to let taxes has not gone down well.
It also seems as though whichever party gains control of parliament we will see a watering down of what have been extremely tough planning laws in recent times. We may see the abolishment of some green belts and the issues surrounding brown belts also look likely to be addressed.
The economy
The performance of the UK economy in the short, medium and longer term will be the centre of attention immediately after the election result has been announced. There are concerns that the even if promised investment by both major parties emerges the economy would be expected to perform very differently under a Labour led government than a Conservative led government. There are also expectations of a knee-jerk reaction on the stock market, a collapse in the pound and the stalling of the UK property market if Jeremy Corbyn is handed the keys to number 10. Perhaps the worst case scenario would be a hung parliament which was rumoured just a few days ago but many people have already dismissed.
When you bear in mind that the UK economy is still one of the strongest in the Western world it does seem strange that Theresa May decided to call an election. The idea that this would somewhat strengthen her hand in relation to Brexit, with expected Conservative gains, has been questioned by many observers. Was this purely and simply a power grab with a Labour Party seemingly on its knees with infighting?
The future
Even though the Labour Party has been in power in recent times it is many years since we have seen such a strong left-wing biased. Tony Blair was more middleground than some previous Conservative parties and depending on who you talk to was a successful prime minister. The capitalist movement would be seriously hit in the event of a Jeremy Corbyn led government although whether he would be able to, or want to, push through some of his more left-wing policies is debatable.
The UK economy and political arena is balanced on a knife edge as we approach the election. The Tories are still expected to post a majority but how large this might be is unknow at the moment.