With Labour winning a landslide victory in the July election and with this making them the first labour government in 14 years, many people are hoping to see a better and stronger Britain.
Many changes are set to be made, but what will this mean for landlords?
Labours Manifesto set out five key missions to ‘rebuild Britain’ :
Kickstart economic growth to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 – with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.
Make Britain a clean energy superpower to cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero.
Take back our streets by halving serious violent crime and raising confidence in the police and criminal justice system to its highest levels.
Break down barriers to opportunity by reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain.
Build an NHS fit for the future that is there when people need it; with fewer lives lost to the biggest killers; in a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer.
When it comes to housing, Keir Starmer’s first pledge is to make housing more affordable, by building 1.5 million new homes.
Other measure they plan to impose are the funding of more planning officers, which the party intend to pay for by charging a higher stamp duty rate to non-UK residents.
Whilst Labour state that they support communities having influence over local housebuilding, they on the other hand say they will intervene to hit housebuilding targets.
In terms of the private rental sector, Labour have promised immediate changes including the abolishment of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.
Labour have also promised to ‘prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, empower them to challenge unreasonable rent increases, and take steps to decisively raise standards’.
Their further plans include extending Awaab’s Law, currently in place in the social sector, to private rentals too. This law came about in reaction to the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishok, who died as the result of exposure to mould in social housing accommodation.
Arguments for the extension include the discussion around resources available, some argue the social housing sector certainly has more resources available to it than the private sector.
Overall conclusions on Awaab’s law agree that nobody should have to live in such conditions and aim to impose some measures despite lack of resources.
With house prices set to continue to rise, private landlords are being turned to by many in Britain. With this in mind, it has been said that ‘what was lacking within discussion of the rental sector was any acknowledgment of the value of private landlords.’
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