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General election effects - Graham Lock, HouseNetwork.co.uk

General election – will this affect the property market?

With the general election upon us there has been a renewed wave of support towards Gordon Browns Labour party following some recent bad press for David Cameron, the row over MP’s expenses and a host of other uncertainties within the economy.

So what does all this mean to the housing market in general, well there are many factors that could affect it, the most interesting being:

1. Home Information Packs

2. Stamp Duty

3. Hung Parliament

Home Information Packs
Since their birth they have caused uproar both within the industry and with customers reluctantly having to pay on average an extra £300+vat to sell their property. The Labour government wants to keep them but conservatives say they will scrap them within 100 days of gaining power. It all leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouths for those that have already purchased a HIP and in particular the people that have trained and qualified to produce components of the HIP pack.

Stamp Duty
Another one that could change should David Cameron and Co win the next election, they are rumoured to be interested in raising the stamp duty level to £250,000 which would be a massive shot in the arm for buyers as this falls well within the average house price in the country. The argument over stamp duty unfairness has always revolved around the fact that it jumps from 1% to 3% the moment you pay more than £250,000 for a property, this is something that could also be amended so could have a another huge impact on the market.

Hung Parliament
If there is a hung parliament then it generally raises some uncertainties over the future direction of the economy and housing market, if this happens then what will be decided upon in terms of stamp duty, HIPS and the like? A lot of questions would remain unanswered and this uncertainty is causing the pound take a beating once more, all of which is not helping matters. As if times are not hard enough already those wanting to escape it all and go on holiday are not getting much for their pound, it also means the thousands of people emigrating or at least hoping to will have to shelf those plans as their dream home in the sun becomes that bit more expensive when converting the currency.

All will be revealed in the weeks to come, I think the race is going to be very close indeed but let’s just hope for all our sakes that there isn’t a hung parliament and that whichever way it goes, we’ll all feel more settled and happy knowing that the country is on course to get out of the problems that have built up over the last 10 years.

Graham Lock

Graham Lock, MNAEA, is co-founder of www.housenetwork.co.uk, a low cost nationwide estate agency which to date has sold over 2,700 properties using online marketing methods only whilst disregarding local newspaper advertising www.housenetwork.co.uk

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