While many parties are focusing on winning over the tenant vote, with scrapping ‘no fault evictions’ and going back and forth on the Renters Reform Bill, it is worth noting that over here in Wales, a lot of this won’t even apply to us.

The reason is because of the devolved powers that the Welsh Government has on housing.

Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016

The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 already addresses possession of a rental property, with an extended notice period of 6 months. It also deals with anti-social behaviour, with an immediate (same day) notice for possession, and protects the most vulnerable of contract-holders (the new term for tenants here in Wales!), such as victims of domestic violence and abuse. The Act provides for the removal of one contract holder while allowing the other to remain. The Fitness for Human Habitation Act also takes into account poor standards of accommodation, helping prevent serious injury and death in rental accommodation, such as from the effects of mildew and mould.

Let’s explore the policies of each party and how they could impact landlords in Wales.

Conservative Proposals

The Conservatives have outlined several proposals in their manifesto:

• CGT Relief: A new measure announced as part of the Conservative manifesto is a two-year temporary capital gains tax relief for landlords who sell their property to existing tenants. The party has also renewed their pledge to give local authorities the power to control holiday lets.
• EPCs: After scrapping plans to increase the minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating in rental properties to C or above last year, Rishi Sunak’s party has said they won’t create any further green levies – nor will they force people to replace gas boilers with heat pumps.
• Tax: The Conservatives have promised to abolish the main rate of self-employed National Insurance by the end of the next parliament and keep the rate of income tax the same.

Labour Proposals

• EPCs: Rental properties will need to meet new energy efficiency standards by 2030 (though it’s not clear which EPC rating will be the new minimum).
• Improvements: Energy efficiency changes won’t include the mandatory replacement of gas boilers.
• Tax: The Labour manifesto commits not to increasing the basic, higher, or additional rate of income tax. Corporation tax will be capped at the current rate of 25%.

Reform UK Proposals

According to the latest polls, Reform UK is now the third most popular party in the UK. Their manifesto includes:

• Tax Reforms: Plans to reverse Section 24 tax changes, increase the income tax personal allowance to £20,000, increase the threshold for higher rate taxpayers to £70,000, remove stamp duty for properties priced under £750,000, increase the minimum profit threshold for corporation tax to £100,000, reduce the corporation tax rate from 25% to 15% over five years, and abolish inheritance tax for all estates valued at under £2 million.

Liberal Democrat Proposals

• Tax: Cutting income tax by raising the tax-free personal allowance and reforming capital gains tax to close loopholes.
• EPCs: Reintroducing requirements for landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties to EPC rating C or above by 2028.
• Local Authority Powers: Giving local authorities powers to control second homes and short-term lets by allowing them to increase council tax by up to 500%.

Election Impact on Rents

While doing my research for this blog, I also came across an interesting statistic that rent prices tend to rise in the 12 months immediately after a general election, by an average of 1.96%, according to a new analysis of elections over the past 20 years. The study by Compare My Move says that on average, rent prices rise by 0.9% more under a Labour government than a Conservative government.

However, it is unlikely for such a sharp rise to occur after this election as rents are already at an all-time high going into the election. Personally, I think rental values are far more responsive to supply and demand. The lack of stock from landlords selling and a growing population that needs quality homes to rent will be the real reason. Perhaps the law of unintended consequences will have an effect here, especially in England where I suspect a fair few landlords will decide to sell if the no-fault eviction plan isn’t their cup of tea. This could put more pressure on the overall lack of suitable housing stock in the UK.