Leadership or General Election? – what property professionals want

Liz Truss became the shortest serving UK Prime Minister yesterday, resigning after just 45 days and prompting a new Conservative Party leadership election.

While most new Prime Ministers usually get a honeymoon period, Truss has had the holiday from hell since replacing Boris Johnson.

The mini-Budget that she and then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng compiled riled financial markets last month.

Despite u-turns on contentious and unfunded tax cuts, and the sacking of Kwarteng, mortgage pricing has been pushed up to 6% and the Bank of England is rumoured to be planning more interest rate rises.

This, alongside the cost of living crisis, has prompted fears of a housing market downturn, with first-time buyers unable to afford loans and homeowners set to be in for a shock when they come to remortgage.

Not everything can be blamed on Truss, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine cited as an inflationary cause.

But the prospect of yet another new Conservative leader may concern agents who were looking forward to at least some political stability or to get to know the current Housing Secretary or Minister before they are replaced.

Buyers and sellers don’t like uncertainty and many may delay property-related decisions until they see who is the new-PM and what their policies are.

There are then no guarantees how long a new Tory leader will survive for, so would the property market be better served through a General Election, which may create months of stability but at least the electorate will eventually be certain of who is in charge.

We asked Estate Agent Today followers on LinkedIn and Twitter if they would prefer a Tory leadership election, a General Election or neither.

Most readers and respondents to the poll have backed a General Election rather than yet another Conservative leadership vote.

Three quarters voted yes in a poll on the Estate Agent Today LinkedIn page when asked if there should be a General Election.

In another poll on the social media page, 54% backed a General Election, 27% supported a leadership vote and the remaining said neither.

Two thirds backed a General Election over a leadership vote on an Estate Agent Today Twitter poll.

There may not be a General Election (yet) but our social media polls are still open if you want to share your views.