A large number of landlords don’t think much to any party’s approach on housing, signalling that they might end up voting for parties on other issues, a poll by SpareRoom has revealed.
On being asked which party has the best approach to housing, nearly a third (30%) answered ‘none of them’, followed by one in five (20%) that said they were unsure.
Unsurprisingly four in five (83%) landlords said they’d vote for a party reinstating mortgage tax relief, but that’s not on the cards.
The loss of mortgage income tax relief between 2017 and 2021, to be replaced by a 20% tax credit, has made it far more challenging for landlords to stay profitable, especially when mortgage rates have risen in recent years.
Almost two thirds of landlords, (62%) have decided who they’re voting for already.
Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, said: “The stats indicate a discrepancy between landlords knowing who they’re going to vote for, and landlords believing in the housing policies of the party they’ll be voting for.
“Either way, the General Election is prime time for both landlords and renters to have their say and drive for change.”
When it comes to the priority actions landlords want to see the new government implement, top of the list was ‘reinstate tax reliefs for private landlords’ (73%), followed by ‘get rid of 3% stamp duty for second homes if they are rental properties’ (65%) and ‘retain Section 21’ (63%).
