Are general elections good for Chichester’s property market?

In the run up to today’s general election I’ve been reading various articles about the housing manifestos for each party and what affect they might have on the property market.

Whatever the politicians throw at it though, the property market in Chichester is something of a runaway train whereby their meddling has little effect on the overall course.

It’s often mentioned in the press that the uncertainty caused by an election causes a downturn in the lead up to the opening of the voting booths. My analysis shows this to be completely untrue, as the normal seasonal pattern occurs whether it’s an election year or not; the number of properties sold dips around Christmas, rises in Spring and Summer and drops again towards the end of the year.

There’s little effect upon house prices in the run up to an election or straight afterwards either, with perhaps the exception of May 2015’s election. Here there was a sudden jump in the average house price in Chichester immediately afterwards, possibly because the electorate gave the Conservatives an unexpected majority, which many concluded would be good for the stability of the country.

The fact the Conservatives have since introduced spurious tax changes against landlords, which will ultimately lead to an increase in rents for tenants, may be a factor as to who landlords in particular might be voting for today. Unfortunately for landlords, the other parties plans show little sympathy towards landlords nor, in my opinion, any logical thinking towards the growing privately rented sector.

House prices nationally seem to have risen at a similar pace regardless of which party is in power. My calculations suggest Labour has the slight edge in house price gains during the past sixty years. They have overseen an average increase of 13.5% for each of the 24 years they’ve been in power, compared to an average increase of 11.3% for each of the Conservative party’s 36 years.

It won’t surprise many of you that Tony Blair resided over the biggest ‘boom’ in house prices of any British Prime Minister since data began in 1955. Under his premiership from 1997 to 2007, average U.K property prices increased 211%.

Gordon Brown remains the only Prime Minister to have seen house prices fall during their time in the hot seat. During his premiership between 2007 and 2010 house prices dropped by 7.2%.

If you’d like to keep up-to-date with how the election result could affect Chichester’s property market, you can sign up for the free weekly ‘Chichester Property News’ e-mail by visiting www.tinyurl.com/chipropertynews

(This article was featured in the Chichester Observer's property section on 8th June 2017) 

Clive Janes, CRJ Lettings.

www.crjlettings.co.uk

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If you are looking for an agent that is well-established, professional and communicative in Chichester, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

E-mail me on clive@crjlettings.co.uk or call 01243 624 599.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view my previous buy-to-let deals and Chichester Property News articles:

Follow The Buy-To-Let Property Investment Market in Chichester

Chichester Property Market LinkedIn Page for Clive Janes

CRJ Letting Agents Chichester Facebook Page

CRJ Letting Agents Chichester Twitter Page

Chichester Investment Property Management Specialist CRJ Letting Agents Website

c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP

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How has your vote affected house prices over the years?

In the run up to today’s election, I’ve been reading various sources about how house price growth has varied during each of the former Prime Minister’s terms.

It won’t surprise many of you that Tony Blair resided over the biggest ‘boom’ in house prices of any British Prime Minister since data began in 1955. Under his premiership from 1997 to 2007, average U.K property prices increased 211.3%.

At 21.1% per annum this, however, wasn’t the greatest annualised increase. That accolade is held by Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath, who saw property prices increase 32.8% a year (totalling 123%) during his time in office from 1970 to 1974.

Another fact unlikely to shock you is that Gordon Brown is the only Prime Minister to have seen house prices decrease during their time in the hot seat. During his premiership between 2007 and 2010 house prices dropped by 7.2% (I was actually surprised it wasn’t worse than this, remembering the headlines from the ‘credit crunch’).

Since then, the coalition government has overseen an average increase in house prices of 11.8% nationally.

One report, however, demonstrated how drastically property prices in London have outperformed in this time. When David Cameron came to power in 2010, his new home (10 Downing Street) was worth £4,574,831. It has since leapt 38% in value, now being worth £6,312,292, according to Zoopla.

One generally accepted reason for the U.K’s continual rise in house prices is that we aren’t building enough new homes. Research from Knight Frank showed how housebuilding has been on a continual downtrend ever since the Seventies. This has culminated in David Cameron overseeing the lowest number of new houses built per year of any Prime Minister’s term.

With 80% of people thinking there is a “housing crisis” in the country, the urgent need for more housebuilding has become a political hot potato of this election, with housing becoming a core focus of all the parties’ manifestos. 

History suggests, however, that there’s actually little to choose between house price growth depending on which party is in power. My calculations suggest the prolonged increases from Tony Blair’s time in power has given a slight edge to Labour, with an average increase of 13.5% for each of the 24 years they’ve been in power, compared to an average increase of 10.8% for each of the Conservative party’s 36 years.

If you’d like to keep up-to-date with how the election result could affect Chichester’s property market, you can sign up for my weekly ‘Chichester Property News’ via the CRJ Lettings website.

(This article was featured in the Chichester Observer's property section on 7th May 2015) 

Clive Janes, CRJ Lettings Chichester, www.crjlettings.co.uk

___________________________________

If you are looking for an agent that is well-established, professional and communicative in Chichester, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

E-mail me on clive@crjlettings.co.uk or call 01243 624 599.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view my previous buy-to-let deals and Chichester Property News articles:

Follow The Buy-To-Let Property Investment Market in Chichester

Chichester Property Market LinkedIn Page for Clive Janes

CRJ Letting Agents Chichester Facebook Page

CRJ Letting Agents Chichester Twitter Page

Chichester Investment Property Management Specialist CRJ Letting Agents Website

c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP

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