No matter which political allegiance UK tenants have, there is  little or no faith in any party being able to deliver what is needed to ease the housing crisis.

Research has highlighted that even with the oncoming election promises and housing policies being trumpeted by all and sundry, 62% of tenants polled their lack of confidence in any of the big three parties, coming up with sustainable plans to ease the crisis. 

From the research both Labour and the Lib Dems will be unable to even take "cold comfort" from the voters' view of their housing manifestos, though it is fair to say that the Conservatives have yet to announce theirs.

Labour has repeatedly announced their intentions to take on the private rented sector by issuing reforms that will include banning letting fees and default three year tenancies. The Lib Dems have stated that they will kick out the practise of retaliatory evictions, which is being included the Tenancies (Reform) Bill currently going through the Parliamentary process.

13% of tenants feel that Labour's housing policies are better than their opposing parties, however what is interesting is that 8% of tenants polled, believe that UKIP will provide the best housing solutions. The Conservative party had 7% of the vote, the Green Party achieved 3% and the Lib Dems took the "wooden spoon" with a lowly 2%.

Richard Price, Executive Director of a UK lettings agent body said:“These findings should serve as a wakeup call for all the political parties and specifically Labour. The collective concerns voiced by the industry over their plans to reform private housing have been swatted away by the party, and this now indicates that their approach hasn’t really won any support from tenants either.

“There are legitimate business costs that letting agents will look to recover from tenants, but these clearly vary from agent to agent and some examples are far too high. What’s important is that fees are fair and transparent from the outset and that the tenant is aware of what they will have to pay, when and why.

“You can ban a fee but you can’t ban a cost, so while outlawing agent fees sounds like a simple solution, the difference will inevitably have to be recovered elsewhere – most likely as higher rents – and it won’t solve the issue.”