David Jones, director of Allan Morris Estate Agents gauges the effect that the Election result will have on the residential property market.

For several weeks leading up to the 2015 general election, the very busy market that we have been experiencing over the last year or two did seem to slow down a little. Across the country, house buying and selling activity was put on hold by many would-be movers, as people awaited the election result. So the news that the country had emerged with an outright winner was met by those in the housing industry with a collective sigh of relief.

This wasn’t purely down to the political persuasion of the party that won, but more to do with the fact that at least we now have a much greater degree of certainty moving forward, in the knowledge that the property market will not be left in limbo during weeks and possibly months of political horse-trading and in-fighting.

Also, there will be an acknowledgement that the threat of mansion tax has gone. This was a significant concern towards the upper end of the market and although this particularly affected London, there were nonetheless quite a few ripples across the rest of the country. Another potential worry was the threat of rent controls which might have affected the buy-to-let market dramatically.

So now there is a clear mandate from the electorate and the economy has responded favourably. The pound is up; shares in major house building firms are up and at least 37% of the population feel a little more confident about the immediate future – buoyed by a trend of improving trade, employment and cost of living figures.

But let us all hope no matter which party we might have voted for – that the next government will, besides dealing with a small majority, a large deficit, Europe, devolution, world hot spots and many other incredibly important issues, at last get to grips with an effective and sustainable housing policy in the UK. It will not be before time