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Property expert Jonathan Rolande sets out what he would do in his first 100 days if he was in Government

Frankly, we may as well stop pretending each new government has to invent housing policy from scratch. With so many Housing Ministers (12+) in the last decade you’d think that by now, if there was a winning formula, they’d have found it by now.

Look at what 10 years of faffing has given us. Too few homes. Too few sales. Too much tax. A planning system that can take years to say no. And a rental sector where both landlord and tenant feel like victims.

The parties disagree about much. But there are a few things they could agree on, and certainty would be worth nearly as much as the policy.

If I were the next minister in charge – and frankly it seems most of the population would get a go – these are the things I’d look to do in my first 100 days.

1. Stop tinkering

Property is slow. Houses take years to plan and build. Mortgages run for decades. Buyers, sellers and investors all bet on what the rules will look like in ten years.

So naturally, governments change the tax, the planning rules and the rental rules every couple of years.

We need a deal on the basics that outlives a parliament. Argue about the finer details. Leave the direction alone.

2. Get people moving

3. Fix planning, not the target

Every government announces a big housebuilding number. Then comes the hard part, which is building the houses.

Planning departments need money and staff. The rules need to be clearer and the decisions quicker. Developers should not sit on land for years. Councils should not take years to make up their minds.

Homes do not appear because a minister said a big number on the radio.

4. Make downsizing worth it

Thousands of family homes hold one or two people who would happily move. They cannot find the right smaller place, or the move costs more than it saves.

Build good homes for older buyers. Cut the tax on moving. Give people a reason to hand back a house they no longer need.

Nobody should be pushed anywhere. But the system we have punishes the ones who have no choice.

5. Stop kicking every landlord

The rented sector needs reform. Bad landlords should be run out of town. Tenants deserve a decent home and some security.

Squeezing out the good landlords helps nobody. It cuts supply and pushes rents up. Ask any tenant queuing with twenty others to view a one-bed.

None of these five belongs to the Left or the Right, which is rather the point. Housing runs on a twenty-year clock and we govern it on a five-year one. The most useful thing any politician could do this year is admit they do not have to disagree about everything.

The property market is integral to the British economy and our way of life. Politicians need to agree with each other and rescue it.

Property expert Jonathan Rolande is one of the UK’s leading authorities on issues related to housing. For more information visit: rolande.property