2019 Election result - What it means to UK property investors.

The pound has seen its biggest surge in a century, but what does the general election mean for investors in UK property?

Following last nights results, which, at the time of writing shows a massive win for the Conservative government, winning seats which had historically been Labour strong holds.

Whichever way your personal voting habits are, the result was a positive for property investors in the UK. But what will we expect to see over the coming years within the property investment industry?

Market Confidence

The market has been held back over the last 3.5 years due to a split government and uncertainty with Brexit, taxes and next steps within the cabinet.

With such a large majority, the market now has a clear understanding of what will happen next. Mr Johnson will push forward with Brexit negotiations, and has a much stronger hand to negotiate with Brussels.

For the property market Mr Corbyn’s plans would have been a painful blow for investors. With the vast majority of investors, a Corbyn government would have been a reason to slow down property investments while waiting out to see the various taxes implemented.

Stamp Duty

While it may take some time, Johnsons government have been making a drive to drop ground rent to a peppercorn payment, and lower stamp duty on properties, increasing the threshold to £500,000 spurring the market on.

In addition to this the Conservatives have suggested implementing a 3% additional tax on foreign buy to let investors, which while significantly lower than other countries will affect 70,000 purchases by foreign investors per year.

The expectation is that we will see a significant uplift in global investments in UK property over 2020.

Brexit

With a majority government it is now clear that Brexit will go ahead and expected to be confirmed in the coming month. This will leave a year to negotiate the terms of the withdraw, while completing negotiations with other countries for trade.

Overall

Property in the UK is primarily driven by supply and demand, and affordability. For us as investors we are also driven by the overall profitability of our investments.

While the benefits of Conservative majority will add sentiment to the market we are also likely to see a slight increase in profitability for investors, increasing when the stamp duty changes take place.

The stamp duty amends will not only improve purchases in years to come, but equally improve profitability on existing stock as the secondary market find it more affordable to buy property from us.