New poll reveals rent control is the most popular built environment election pledge in the North West

Rent control, investment in new roads and higher stamp duty for overseas UK property buyers are the most popular election pledges for the built environment in the North West, according to a new opinion poll commissioned by BECG.

Our exclusive survey reveals that policies relating to home ownership and the cost of housing seem to be the built environment pledges that have cut-through most to voters in the North West.

Jeremy Corbyn’s pledge to introduce rent controls which limit increases by private landlords to the rate of inflation, is the most popular built environment election pledge in the North West, with the policy backed by 72% of those surveyed in the region – the highest of any English region surveyed.

This was followed by the Conservative’s policy to invest £28bn in new roads, which was backed by 61% of those surveyed; and Boris Johnson’s pledge to introduce a higher rate of Stamp Duty on UK property purchases by overseas buyers (56% support).

The survey also revealed that the only built environment election policy which voters oppose more than support is Labour’s pledge to end the so-called ‘Right to Buy’.  41% of voters in the North West oppose the policy, with only 32% backing it.

The Liberal Democrats’ most popular property-pledge is the vow to raise Council Tax on second homes by 500% – a policy backed by 40% of North West voters.

Commitments around infrastructure, such as Labour’s rail re-nationalisation plans and the Liberal Democrats’s pledge to rule out any new airport runways appear to have significantly less support in the region, which is something of a surprise given the torrid commutes that many often have to endure.

With the general election almost over, this is a reminder that when it comes to the built environment, getting housing policy right is the nut that still needs to be cracked.

The survey of 2,034 people carried out in the first week of December by Savanta ComRes.  More details can be found here.

BECG is the sector specialist communications consultancy for the built environment.  You can sign-up to our general election bulletin here.