Lean on Labour or count on the Conservatives for housing?

Lean on Labour or count on the Conservatives for housing?

So the time has come. After weeks of debates, stage slips (Mr Milliband) arguments, protests and Russell Brand telling us who to vote for; it is now time to make our own minds up. Election Day is upon us. With this in mind, I have decided to round up what the parties are proposing on the key issues of construction.

One of the key issues during this election campaign has been housing. The Conservatives have pledged to build 200,000 quality starter homes over the course of the next parliament, which will be reserved for first-time buyers under 40 and sold at 20% below market price. Furthermore, they will introduce a new right to buy policy, with David Cameron seemingly set on young people ‘achieving the dream’ of owning their own home. New garden cities will be supported and housing zones will be created for 95,000 homes on brownfield sites

Labour has set a target of at least 200,000 homes a year by 2020. They will aim to do this by prioritising capital investment for public sector housing by reforming the council housing finance system, and starting work on the construction of a new generation of garden cities.

The Liberal Democrats are somewhat more ambitious with their housing target. They will aim to increase the rate of housebuilding to 300,000 a year. This will comprise of setting the Homes and Communities Agency an “ambitious target” for development on unwanted public sector sites.

So what do the minority parties propose? UKIP seem very set on the development of brownfield sites, claiming up to 2.5 million homes can be developed using this land. However they also claim a firmer control on immigration will help with any housing crisis. The Greens have no specific target on housing, stating they would like to increase the social housing budget from £1.5bn a year to £6bn a year in the lifetime of the parliament.

So all of the major UK parties, UKIP aside, have pledged to improve housing supply during the next parliament. With the polls suggesting it’s neck and neck, we could see some post election negotiations on housing. The time is now for you to decide who would make you happiest on housing.

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