Lib Dems make housing pledges in manifesto

Election fever is now in full swing, with all of the key political parties unveiling their manifestos for the coming years.

Yesterday saw the Liberal Democrats unveil their plans, which centered around calling another EU Referendum, in the unlikely event that they get voted into office.

Housing and Landlords

Like the Labour party, the Lib Dem’s back the controversial ban on letting agents’ fees levied on tenants throughout England.

What’s more, the Liberal Democrat’s called for:

• Tenants to be given first refusal to buy the property they are renting from their landlord, should they decide to sell up during the tenancy

• Increased tenancies, of three years or greater, with inflation-linked annual rent increases to give tenants more security

• More protection against rogue landlords through mandatory licensing, with full access for tenants to a database of rogue landlords and agents

• A ban on letting agent fees, with the addition of capping upfront deposits and increasing standards

• Assistance for helping young people into the rental market by introducing a Help to Rent scheme. This would provide tenancy deposit loans for all first-time tenants under 30

For wider housing issues, the party’s manifestos calls for a new ban on new homes being advertised overseas, before they are marketed to UK residents.

Under the Liberal Democrats, there would also be at least 10 new garden cities and an end to some housing association Right to Buy pilot schemes.