Tackling energy bills ranked as top property priority for PM

Tackling the cost of utility bills has been highlighted as the top priority that new Prime Minister Liz Truss should focus on.

A poll on Estate Agent Today’s LinkedIn page asked readers which property priorities should rank highest for the new Prime Minister.

More than 200 people responded and 80% voted for the cost of utility bills and 11% highlighted stamp duty reform as a major issue.
Housebuilding and planning laws were ranked as top priorities by 5% of respondents each.

It comes after Truss revealed a package of support for households last week that would see typical energy bills capped at £2,500 for two years.
 

Property professionals have come up with plenty of other ideas since Truss entered Downing Street and took over from Boris Johnson last week.

Law firm Irwin Mitchell earlier this week called for the "revolving doors" of housing ministers to support the housing market.

Agents have highlighted issues such as housebuilding, planning laws and stamp duty reform.

Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, said:  “The spiralling cost of household gas and electricity bills has put the energy efficiency of our existing housing stock into sharp focus. With unilateral EPC rating targets looming, there is currently no long-term plan that sets out how they will be achieved. 

“Propertymark is a strong advocate of making homes more energy efficient as the best solution to bringing down bills. However, it is unlikely that significant progress can be made until Ministers better understand the current housing stock and then apply realistic targets based on properties' individual characteristics with sustained funding for homeowners."

On housing supply, Emerson added: “It's no surprise that boosting housing supply topped our poll. Our latest market insight reports show for every rental property available there are an average of 11 applicants, while home buyers are outnumbering sellers by seven to one. 

“This is creating affordability issues, particularly in the private rented sector.

“We believe that gap can be closed through measures that bring the many tens of thousands of long-term empty properties back and the introduction of focussed targets for new homes that are based on an identified need for each tenure across the country.”