Q: I READ your articles with interest, though am unsure with all the political rhetoric that has been bounced about recently, what can we look forward to in respect of future housing policy and is this necessarily good news?

Mr A Taylor

A: The conservative Government if re-elected pledged to build 200,000 new homes for first time buyers under 40 at a 20 per cent discount.

You may have noticed - under 40 - as the average age of a first time buyer today who is not assisted by family is a staggering 39 years of age.

Before they reach this magic milestone the other dilemma is that interest rates are so low currently that saving makes this almost impossible.

To assist, the government are introducing new Help to Buy ISAs for first time buyers to help save for a deposit.

We all recall Margaret Thatcher selling off the council house, well David Cameron wishes to do similar though this time selling off all the Housing Association Properties, again with a huge discount and using the money raised to build more properties.

Yet some would argue that the very process of selling the council housing stock is what got us into this mess in the first place.

There has been much debate and attachment to our green field sites and it is encouraging that money will be put into generating industrial or brownfield sites.

Though one school of thought says brownfield sites should be used to generate industry and jobs to avoid us having to commute further afield as eventually we will use up all of this space resulting in both commerce and residential demands on our precious green fields.

An interesting benefit for those fortunate to already own our home is that the Conservatives plan to introduce a new £175,000 per person transferable allowance in inheritance tax for main residences.

Assuming the pledges go ahead, this is good news for developers and those employed within the industry and the associated supply chain as every new house built generates between three and four new jobs.

So what have we lost as a result of the other parties not being elected?

They too accepted that new properties need to be built, and wished to assist/fund by introducing the mansion tax for properties worth more than £2 million.

Though to be fair, this would not have effected many of us in rural Stroud.

Labour also wanted to abolish stamp duty for first time buyers up to £300,000 and to provide private tenants with a three year guaranteed rent freeze plus a ceiling on rent increases.

This would have been of interest to many tenants who feel insecure with the present two month notice from your landlord that currently exists with statutory periodic tenancies.

Now that the election is all over, this does provide some direction, though I fear that the net result in increased demand in London especially from overseas may not be to our mutual benefit.

Currently Britain is one of the fastest growing economies plus we have very low inflation and low unemployment which is envied by many other European countries and this will fuel property demand. Though as we have seen in the past high prices in London work their way out from London and prices increase.

However surely, this is not what first time buyers seek and unless there is more fundamental government strategies in place to curb house price inflation, the market cannot be sustainable and we grind back to a halt as along comes the next market crash.

Please continue to send in your letting related questions to steven@sawyersestateagents.co.uk