It may still be 16 months until the furthest date for the next General Election but with party conference season in full swing, some property professionals are giving their view of how a poll may effect the housing market.

Robin Thomas, consultant at Recoco Property Search, says: “I have worked in property since 1978 and have been involved in property transactions during the past 11 General Elections from when Margaret Thatcher was first elected in May 1979 through Boris Johnson’s election in December 2019. 

“There is always a slowdown in the property market and in the number of property transactions in the run up to a General Election. However how far in advance of a General Election this starts to impact the property market varies considerably.

“What is just as interesting as the influence that a forthcoming General Election can have on the property market preceding an election is what effect the result of the Election then has on the property market. 

“In the late summer and autumn of 2019 the property market had been in the doldrums for quite a long period. A General  Election was then called for 12th December. The property market is usually at its quietest in December in the run up to Christmas, however, when the Conservatives were elected with an 80 seat majority, and there was certainty that Brexit would take place under Boris Johnson, the property market took off. 

“The market then continued with considerable activity and rising house prices in to the first two months of 2020 until it came to an abrupt halt with Covid and the national lockdown from March until June. 

“As the next General Election must take place in the UK before January 28 2025, it is most likely that this will occur in the autumn next year. Since July of this year, we have seen that the property market is already slowing down and clients are being more cautious and already talking about next year’s General Election as having an impact on both the market and property prices.”