Labour Pains, Cuts and the Housing Crisis

In this episode, Mark talks about the current state of the financial market, housing policies, and UK politics. From unsettling economic data to proposed changes in landlord regulations, Mark discusses the latest news and updates relevant to property investors and entrepreneurs in the UK right now.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  Financial markets are unsettled due to worsening US economic data, this could lead to interest rate drops of around 1% in the US by the end of 2024, with the UK likely to follow suit. The UK government is considering French style hardship tests for tenant evictions, potentially banning evictions if renters are found to be worse off, which could lead to stricter tenant referencing and higher rents. Labour's promised "biggest house building program in Britain for two generations" is met with scepticism, as similar promises by previous governments have failed to materialise due to lack of resources and planning reforms. Rent prices in the UK have hit record highs, with the average rent outside London reaching £1,314 per month, driven by a lack of supply and increasing costs for landlords due to regulations and taxation. The Labour government's first month has seen a short honeymoon period, with concerns raised about potential tax increases and the handling of recent protests and riots across the country. Mass immigration is a significant concern for many UK citizens, with over 700,000 people entering the country on a net basis in the last 12 months, putting pressure on housing, schools, and public services. Mark criticises the Rwanda deportation, it feels like the plan was a "scam," especially after Dominic Cummings' revelation that Boris Johnson knew it would never work due to ECHR constraints, despite allocating £10 billion to the project.   BEST MOMENTS   "I studied economics. The first module I did was the supply and demand curve. It's very, very simple. If demand remains the same and supply reduces then price has to go up and that's what's happening to rent." "About 6% of the land in this country is built on 57% is agriculture and 35% is natural or semi natural land. So, you know, do we want to get rid of all the farms? Absolutely not. Do we want to produce food? Absolutely." "What happens is on a flat that ordinarily might have been rented for £800 and you've got an old tenant in there maybe paying £650 because they're on a, some sort of protected tenancy or rent control or whatever that property comes back on the market, it might rent for £1400, £1500, £1600." "I think a lot of the sort of levelling up fund was marketing. I think there were a lot of sort of gimmicks in there." "I think if Starmer really wants to gain credibility over some of the core issues that are going on at the moment I think he needs to find a genuine solution to stopping boats and remember the boats are only 30/50,000 people a year, reducing legal immigration, which is probably a bigger problem." VALUABLE RESOURCES  https://www.youtube.com/user/progressiveproperty https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/the-progressive-co-founders/ ABOUT THE HOST Mark has bought, sold or has managed around 1,000 property units for himself, Rob, his family and his investors since 2003. He is a system and spreadsheet geek and has developed a complex, confidential deal analyser system of buying residential, commercial and multi-let properties. CONTACT METHOD Email: [e-mail] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive ‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/