Although the four main election parties agree that housing needs a shake up their strategies differ so here’s our easy to read overview of the key points from their manifestos:-
Conservative
Extend Right to Buy to 2.5 million Housing Association tenants
Labour
Build 200,000 new homes a year by 2020
Lib Dem
Build 300,000 houses per annum – partly by building 10 new garden cities (5 of which will be along a re-opened Oxford to Cambridge railway)
UKIP
Wants 1 million new homes to be built on brownfield sites by 2025.
Conservative
Local Authorities forced to sell most valuable council homes and replace with cheaper. Money raised to be invested in brownfield development fund
Labour
Force providers of Help to Buy ISA to invest money into a future-homes fund
Lib Dem
Compulsory purchase laws to be amended so that significant amounts of land will be assembled at low cost and the “profit” when developed will be used for infrastructure costs
UKIP
Create a register of brownfield sites and offer grants up to £10k per plot to assist meet decontamination costs
Conservative
Developers of brown field sites to be excused from paying infrastructure costs and from providing affordable housing in return for restricting prices to less than £250k (£450k in London)
Labour
Builders holding land-banks to be forced to sell the land if they don’t use it.
Lib Dem
Rent to own – tenants of housing associations would own their house after paying rent for 30 years
UKIP
Houses sold on brownfield sites for under £250k would attract no stamp duty on first sale
Conservative
London Land Commission to be set up to identify and release public owned land.
Labour
Towns that have overstepped their boundaries can force their neighbouring authorities to release land for development
Lib Dem
Owners who improved their property by 2 “energy” bands will have their council tax reduced by £100 p.a. for 10 years
UKIP
Remove central government targets for new building by local authorities
Conservative
To encourage self-build local authorities forced to allocate land for individual builds
Labour
3 year tenancy to become standard but with a break clause for tenants only
Lib Dem
Encouragement of multi-year tenancies and help tenants to cover their deposits through “help to rent” loans
UKIP
Planning permissions granted on “large” developments could be overturned by protesters able to gather signatures from 5% of local electorate – there would be a binding referendum
Conservative
Properties worth up to £1million to be free of inheritance tax
Labour
Ban “unfair” letting fees and restrict rent rises
Lib Dem
Landlords to be forced to refund rent if they fail to correct defects
UKIP
Equity loan part of Help to Buy extended to 2020 Ra
Conservative
Help to Buy ISA available to top up deposits by up to £3000
Labour
Lib Dem
UKIP
For a more detailed look at each parties Manifesto, follow the links below: