Propertymark has published its manifesto for the looming December 12^th General Election called by Boris Johnson last week outlining its ‘must haves’ for the next government to tackle.

The industry association has managed to beat all the major political parties, who are all still scrabbling to put theirs together after Johnson unexpectedly won a vote to hold an election.

Parliament will be dissolved tomorrow, and electioneering will start in earnest the day after.

Propertymark’s manifesto hold considerable clout – ARLA’s David Cox and the NAEA’s Mark Hayward meet ministers on a regular basis and their advice plays a major role in policy making.

RoPA

The manifesto includes a plea for Lord Best’s RoPA proposals to be turned into law including licensing of agents, minimum qualifications and a code of practice.

Stamp Duty

Propertymark wants the government to abolish the additional 3% Stamp Duty that second home purchasers and buy-to-let landlords must pay when buying properties, a policy that has lead to stagnation within the private rental market.

Property MOTs

David Cox says the current discretionary licensing schemes that have sprung up all over the UK should be scrapped and replaced with a compulsory annual ‘MOT’ for all privately rented homes.

Downsizer

Pensioners wishing to downsize should be given tax and other incentives to make it more financially viable to sell up and move to a small home. The expense of the Stamp Duty has trapped many older home owners by making it too expensive for potential buyers to purchase their huge homes which in turn has been become a contributing factor to the slow sales market.

Housing court

The government is proposing to ban Section 21 notice evictions. Propertymark says that beforehand, it should set up a dedicated property court to handle the expected deluge of eviction cases that will follow the ban, or otherwise evictions may take even longer than they do now.