Posts with tag: Labour party

Trade Union Backs Labour in Election as House Price to Earnings Ratio Hits 8.2

Published On: June 6, 2017 at 9:13 am

Tags: Affordable housing,council homes,general election,house prices,Labour party

Trade union GMB has backed Labour in Thursday’s (8^th June) General Election, following its pledges to build more council homes, after research showed that average house prices in England have hit 8.2 times typical earnings.

Trade Union Backs Labour in Election as House Price to Earnings Ratio Hits 8.2

The analysis by the London division of the GMB, based on Land Registry house price figures and Office for National Statistics (ONS) earnings data, showed that in the East of England, the average house price in March 2017 was £277,127, which is a huge 9.2 times the average full-time earnings for the area, of £30,000.

The situation was worst in Three Rivers, where average house prices are 15.9 times typical wages, followed by 15.1 in Hertsmere, 13.6 in Cambridge, 13.4 in St Albans and 12.9 in Epping Forest.

Across England as a whole, house prices were 8.2 times average earnings.

Warren Kenny, the London region secretary of GMB, insists that these statistics show that voters should back Labour in the General Election, due to its pledges to build one-million homes in the next parliament – half of which would be council houses.

Kenny explains: “GMB London region analysis of average house prices to average earnings in the East of England shows that the aspirations of working people on average earnings and below to own their own homes is no longer achievable.

“The Labour Party election manifesto pledges to build one-million homes in the next parliament, with half of them council housing. These figures show that more council homes for rent in all council areas are absolutely essential.”

He urges: “GMB is calling on the electorate in the East of England to get behind their Labour Party candidates in the area to realise this manifesto commitment.

“We have been talking about this problem for far too long. There can be no excuses for not providing housing to people that they can afford to live in on average wages.”

If you’re still contemplating who to vote for, this analysis by eMoov shows which political party has been best for house price growth since 1970: /best-political-party-house-price-growth/

New shadow housing minister announced

Published On: May 21, 2015 at 11:48 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Labour party,shadow cabinet,shadow housing minister

Despite ongoing uncertainty on who is going to take over Ed Milliband’s recently departed leadership role, the Labour party has moved quickly to announce a new shadow housing minister.

Durham MP Roberta Blackman-Woods has taken over the role as the party aims to regroup following its hugely disappointing performance in the general election.

Profile

Blackman-Woods hails from Northern Ireland and has been in Parliament since 2005. A sociologist with a keen interest in the housing market, she boasts a varied C.V. After being employed as a welfare rights officer at Newcastle City Council, she then took on a role as a university lecturer in social policy.

In the shadow cabinet, Ms Blackman-Woods has been minister for communities and local government. Additionally, the Durham MP has also been shadow minister for civil society and shadow minister for business, covering regional and economic policy.

New shadow housing minister announced

In September, she told a conference designed for planning professionals that the Labour party was hugely concerned over the capacity of planning departments. In her address, Blackman-Woods said, ‘absolutely everybody talks to me about this, and so we really have to think and we’ve addressed this a little with the Lyon’s review of how we get more resources into planning departments so they are able to undertake some of this preparatory work.’[1]

She continued by saying that, ‘I’m absolutely convinced that in the long-term, it will speed up planning because if you get consent early on, then we should be able to truncate some of the timescales in terms of getting planning approval.’[1]

Labour have confirmed that Ms Blackman-Woods will be responsible for both housing and planning. In the past, Labour had separated these two positions.

[1] http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/policy/politics/central-government/labour-appoints-new-shadow-housing-minister/7009861.article

Poll Suggests Landlords Backing Tories

Published On: April 24, 2015 at 10:38 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: general election,housing market,Labour party

A recent survey has suggested that the Conservatives can expect the majority of backing from landlords in the upcoming general election.

Despite official You Gov predictions estimating that Labour will amass 35% of the vote and the Tories 33%, research from online letting agent Rentify suggests a much different result.

Conservative Landslide

Rentify’s poll of over 1,200 UK landlords, which covered a range of ages and locations, resulted in 45% of respondents pledging their support for the Conservatives. However, it was a much bleaker story for the Labour party, with just 19% of landlords giving their backing to Ed Milliband.[1]

Poll Suggests Landlords Backing Tories

While support for the Tories has seemingly remained constant, the survey suggests that a number of former Labour supporters are switching to UKIP. One particular respondent went as far to describe Mr Milliband as, ‘kryptonite.’ 17% of landlords surveyed said they planned on voting for Nigel Farage’s party, while just 6% pledged their backing for the Liberal Democrats.[2]

Rentify Chief Executive George Spencer, said that Labour’s focus on the housing market may have backfired. Spencer said, ‘Labour has been hugely vocal on housing policy in the build-up to the election, but these results suggest they may have gone down the wrong path.’[3]

[1-3] http://www.propertytribes.com/labour-are-electoral-kryptonite-for-uk-landlords-poll-t-13920.html

Labour Proposing Landlord Register

Published On: May 29, 2013 at 4:31 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Labour government,Labour party

Those convicted of serious crimes would be banned from becoming landlords under proposals by Labour, who wish to improve the quality of the private rental sector.

The Labour party plans to create a national register of private landlords, of which serious offenders would be taken off, and therefore prohibited from renting to tenants.

Labour announced the plans in a policy review paper this week.

Labour Proposing Landlord Register

The review stated that “a small minority of criminal landlords who deliberately prey on the vulnerable”¹ damages the private rental sector. Councils supported the statement, saying that they are aware of about 1,500 serial rogue landlords.

About 3.6m (16.5%) households in England live in private rental accommodation. This includes 1.1m families with children.1

However, the Government have announced that 35% of private rental homes do not meet decent standards for repair, facilities, insulation, or heating. Comparative to 22% of owner-occupied properties, and 17% of social housing.1

Labour says that almost half a million families, and over 100,000 pensioners are living in these below standard properties.

Jack Dromey, the shadow housing minister, says: “The private rented sector has an important role to play in meeting housing need.

“But too many tenants are in poor and sometimes dangerous homes. That’s why Labour has set out proposals to drive standards up and bad landlords out.”1

Labour also believes that creating a national register will stop criminals entering the industry, and also ensure that landlords pay tax. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says that private landlords avoiding tax owe over £500m.1

Labour also wants to crackdown on landlords using “retaliatory eviction”1 against tenants who report bad conditions of their properties.

¹http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/may/28/national-register-private-landlords-labour