4th
Jun 2024
Nearly half of landlords have yet to make their mind up which party they will vote for in the General Election.
A joint survey polling 1,000 or so property professionals by a trade association and a PropTech company finds that 45 per cent of landlords and 39 per of cent of lettings agents have chosen who they will vote for, whilst 27 per cent of landlords and 19 per cent of agents have admitted they are open to being swayed by respective campaigns.
However 19 per cent of landlords and 26 per cent of lettings agents are still undecided.
The survey results also show that 81per cent of landlords and 70 per cent of letting agents said certain ‘priorities outlined in campaign speeches will help them decide which party box they will ‘tick’. So the parties who have for once properly considered the sector’s concerns and specify that they will address them when in power could sway many to ‘vote allegiance to’.
Majority of landlords - 73 per cent - said the party’s policies for the private rental sector will determine their vote, and just 6 per cent of landlords said any of the parties policies for the PRS would make not any difference to their vote.
The private rental sector policy areas highlighted by letting agents that stands a good chance of being a vote winner included 24 per cent to vote for the party that advocated reinstating tax relief for landlords under Section 24; 22 per cent would be more open to vote for the party that ‘promised’ not to scrap Section 21, due to be abolished under the shelved Renters Reform Bill.
Although PRS parties’ policies are a major concern for landlords and lettings agencies , there are many other policy areas that property professionals feel are far more important in affecting who they will vote for.
Agents are more concerned about policies that will help the cost of living crisis as 51 per cent saying this is their top priority, whereas only 17 per cent of landlords said this was their No. 1 concern when voting.
Landlords cited the leading policy that would help their decision who to vote for is the party’s policies showing it will be economically savvy rather than incompetent as 43 per cent of respondents said this was their top priority. Just over a fifth of agents – 21 per cent - chose this as their major vote winner.
The policy areas that the majority of agents and landlords agreed upon were NHS and taxation as their 2nd and 3rd most important priorities.
A spokesperson for the trade association, says: “With British politics in a state of flux in the run-up to the General Election, these findings reveal how both parties, with the right approach, can win landlord support for policies which will help build a stronger private rented sector.
“This data shows how landlords and agents are eager to support a party which promises to put in place the foundations of a successful rental market. We urge the Government to continue to engage with key stakeholders across the sector to ensure the legitimate concerns of both groups are taken into account.”
A spokesperson for the company, says: “With an election just around the corner, it’s interesting to see how many property professionals are still ‘up for grabs’ politically. And while neither landlords nor estate agents have the most favourable media image, there are around 3 million of them in the UK. It’s a constituency no politician should ignore. This report shows that, in addition to the critical issues of the day around the economy, cost of living and NHS, property professionals are paying keen attention to the party positions on the Private Rental Sector.”
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