Both the Conservative and Labour parties have announced their plans in manifestos with a 'taste of things to come' if they get into power.

The most divisive issue that surrounds this election is Brexit which has taken the spotlight away from the other usual issues.

Robert Nichols, CEO of a London chain of estate agents, has carefully studied the two main parties' key policies on housing and provides comments on how he feels they will affect the property market with regard to the private rented sector.

Nichols said: “The Labour party’s manifesto pledges radical reforms of the PRS, from creating open-ended tenancies and ending no-fault evictions, to limiting rent increases in line with inflation.

“While we fully support Labour’s plans to impose tougher sanctions for landlords ‘who flout the rules’, as a letting agent who deals with thousands of UK landlords, we can honestly say that the majority of tenancies are actually ended by tenants - not landlords.

“It’s important that the elected government focus on the needs of landlords as well as tenants. After all, if the PRS is a less attractive investment landlords may end up selling up, resulting in less available stock and increasing rents, which will hurt tenants.”

Nichols commented: “Putting a ‘rent ceiling’ on what landlords may charge tenants will prevent the PRS from operating as a free market and could make the housing shortage worse.

“Landlords may decide to exit the market, the available rental stock will shrink and there will be further pressure on the social housing sector. Why? Because landlords who remain in the PRS will be motivated to only pick the ‘best’ tenants, and the less favourable tenants will have nowhere to go but the social housing route, which is already overburdened.

“The appeal of price controls is understandable. But existing tenancies won’t fare well either; there will be circumstances when landlords are unable to pay for an unexpected maintenance bill or something similar out of the rent they can legally charge. In these cases, the ‘protected’ tenant may end up suffering through not receiving adequate services that they deserve.”

Nichols continued: “For responsible landlords, who make up the majority of landlords within the private rental sector, very little will change. To end an assured tenancy, landlords will have to use section 8, meaning that they will have to provide a sound reason for the eviction. This could be rent arrears, destruction of the property, selling the property, or wanting to move back into the property.

Should any of these issues arise, the government plans to expedite Court processes, meaning that landlords are able to regain the use of their property quickly. At the moment, it takes over five months for a private landlord to regain their property should the tenant choose to fight the decision in court.

That being said, landlords will need to prepare prior notices at the start of the tenancies, familiarise themselves with the Grounds in Section 8 and the new streamlined court process.”

He added: “This change in legislation makes the relationship landlords have with their tenants all the more important. Landlords should look to choose tenants who are willing to stay on a longer-term basis, and fit out properties to a high standard, encouraging tenants to stay longer and look after the property.

“That being said, this new legislation should not disrupt profits for many landlords who currently rent properties under Assured Shorthold Tenancies (AST), provided they do not change the use of their property.”

Nichols concluded: “On the face of it this looks like a good idea, but practically speaking there may be issues with implementation. Often the deductions from one property won’t be finalised before a new property is rented. Additionally, if the deposit to secure a property is reduced because tenants caused damage to the last house then this is a moving target for the new landlord, who will need to ensure that the deposit amount is sufficient.”