UK house prices: What the General Election means for the property market

Yet another General Election in the UK means one thing for those trying to sell their homes: uncertainty, in spades, according to the UK property market.

What does it mean? Here’s what experts think.

Read more: Want to buy a house? London’s bad but the rest of the UK isn’t much better

Lessons from history

“Past trends show a clear correlation between general elections and the level of transactions in the property market,” said Alison Platt, chief executive at estate agent Countrywide. “Analysis of sales transactions over the course of the last nine general elections indicates there will be a dip in activity pre-election.”

But she continued: “What’s different here is that we don’t have the same long run up to the election – it’s around seven weeks between the calling of the election and the ballot date, compared to the usual six months… The short timescale between now and the election also means that any consumer hesitancy pre-election will have less of an impact on transactions overall.”

Read more: London house prices set to keep falling in the near-term

After the election: expect a bounceback

However, things are likely to pick up after the vote.

“Post-election there will be a bounce back in the number of sales in the market. The highest levels are typically in the three months immediately following the election of a new government, where you’re looking at around 13 per cent higher than the average expected levels.

“What’s different here is that we don’t have the same long run up to the election – it’s around seven weeks between the calling of the election and the ballot date, compared to the usual six months. The short timescale between now and the election also means that any consumer hesitancy pre-election will have less of an impact on transactions overall.”

Ed Heaton, the founder of property search agency Heaton & Partners, agreed.

“I see the decision to hold a General Election in June as a positive for the property market, particularly as the snap nature of the announcement, means that there has been no long build up with buyers and sellers wanting to hold off.”

Read more: London has fallen out of the top 50 global cities for house price growth

If the Tories lose: hold your breath…

However, he added that uncertainty will be a problem.

“While the outcome is widely expected to be a Tory landslide, the element of uncertainty is limited because of this. The prospect of five more years of Conservative rules will be seen by many as a real positive.”

Read more: UK house price growth has fallen to its lowest since 2013