As the Labour Party leadership election enters the final two weeks the so-called right-wing press have been waxing lyrical about the left-wing policies discussed by leading candidate Jeremy Corbyn. Many of these policies include nationalising an array of businesses and taking more control of markets throughout the UK. Against this background you may be forgiven for wondering why the UK property market appears unconcerned at this moment in time.
Even though the battle between left-wing and right-wing politics makes for good reading across the UK media many are sceptical as to whether leading candidate Jeremy Corbyn will win the leadership election. If he was to win the leadership battle it would be a large jump to win the next general election and become Prime Minister of the UK. Let’s not forget that Jeremy Corbyn was put forward as a “stalking horse” by some politicians as a means of expanding the debate with nobody giving him a chance.
Would capitalism suffer?
If all of the policies which Jeremy Corbyn has discussed were to be implemented this would not exactly be the perfect environment for capitalism. There would be more state control, there would be tighter regulations across the board and in simple terms the rich would be expected to shoulder more of the financial burden going forward. It would be foolish to ignore the plight of Jeremy Corbyn completely, as we have seen the emergence of left-wing politics across Europe, but the title of Jeremy Corbyn PM is still some way off!
Tighter control of property markets
Recent governments have taken a particular interest in the UK property market with the ever increasing price of property obviously catching their eye. In these times of austerity politicians simply see the UK property market as a meal ticket and another income stream.
On the flipside there has been a need to control the buy to let market with some landlords flouting regulations in pursuit of fast money. In theory this strategy has had the desired effect with many of the more dubious landlords falling by the wayside. Whether the current regulations have gone too far in favour of tenants as opposed to landlords is debatable because at the end of the day it is the landlord who is investing hard earned cash.
Does politics impact property markets?
We wrote about the plight of the UK property market ahead of both the UK general election and the Scottish independence vote. While there was some concern as we neared these two significant events it did not take long for markets to recover once the “more preferable” decisions had been confirmed. The simple fact is that the UK property market has been through a number of different political environments in years gone by and investors always learn to adapt.
In some ways, bearing in mind the size and influence of the UK property market, very often it is the tail which wags the dog with politicians forced to support the market in troubled times. Indeed, when you look at the general electorate what is the one major asset they will acquire in their lifetime on which their whole future is based?