The most popular policy cited by the voters polled for Zoopla’s report was ramping up the construction of affordable housing. 44% chose ‘building more affordable homes’, followed by “tackling homelessness and rough sleeping” (41%) and “reducing the number of empty homes” (39%).
While support for first-time buyers seems to dominate most of the major parties’ proposed housing policies, this issue is not as important to voters as other problems, such as a lack of housing supply. “Helping first-time buyers get on the property ladder” came in fourth with 33%.
The manifestos of the major political parties all set targets of 300,000 homes built per year in England. However, this level hasn’t been achieved since the 1960s, suggesting it will be difficult to hit.
When asked how home building should be funded, 41% of respondents supported increased government borrowing, but only 26% agreed that taxes should be increased to help pay for new housing schemes.
Further Reading: Find out more about buy-to-let properties in Liverpool or learn how to buy more than one property with our investment guides.
