When election time rolls around, it’s always interesting to see what the priorities of each party are when it comes to the crunch. Of course, at ESPC we are especially interested in what our leaders (and aspiring leaders) think when it comes to housing. We hosted our first hustings recently, and following that, we expected to see housing high on the agenda, so it’s great news that this is indeed the case.

ESPC has been lobbying for changes to housing legislation over the past few years, pushing for policies that would make the process of buying, selling, letting or renting a home easier, and it’s excellent to see some pledges that are not unlike our suggestions.

But the question is, do these pledges go far enough?

Support for first-time buyers was what ESPC was lobbying hardest for, including changes to LBTT, the return of the First Home Fund, and a modernised Help to Buy scheme, which I firmly believe would help so many to buy their first home and keep the market thriving.

Scottish Labour’s pledge to raise LBTT relief for first-time buyers is a strong start, and I particularly like the idea of reserving mid-market rental properties for those saving a mortgage deposit. Of course, it’s great that the SNP plans to bring back the First Home Fund – we (and they) know from experience how huge the demand is. It’s especially interesting to see the introduction of the £300,000 cap, good news for those in more expensive areas like Edinburgh.

Speaking of LBTT, we wanted a zonal approach that mirrors local housing pressures in different areas and a higher first-time buyer threshold. To be frank, I expected to see LBTT featuring more within the manifestos overall, but it’s a step in the right direction to see Labour raising the first-time buyer threshold from £175,000 to £200,000. The Greens’ 15% mansion tax on £1million-plus properties is controversial perhaps, but not unexpected. The Conservatives and Reform UK have both pledged to abolish LBTT entirely which would, in theory, support first-time buyers, but without detail on the mechanics of this, it’s hard to pass comment.

I would have liked to see more support for landlords, such as a pause in the complicated and expensive Additional Dwelling Supplement. It does help to deter the purchase of unused second homes (which has hollowed out so many places in not only Scotland, but Europe too), but it’s off-putting for landlords, and we desperately need them.

Not everybody can (or wants to) buy their own home, so the rental market must have more to offer, and more should be done to entice landlords back into the market. The Conservatives and Reform UK have pledged to reduce and abolish ADS respectively which would appeal to landlords, while the Greens are pushing for a 2% increase, which I believe would have the opposite effect of what we need to achieve.

The SNP’s Right to First Refusal pledge is a novel one, with pros and cons; it’s certainly good for tenants, but landlords would rightly want assurance of receiving a fair market price. There are risks of course; what if the tenant neglects the property, to drive down the value and secure a cheaper sale? It’s an interesting idea, and it happens elsewhere in Europe, so why not in Scotland – but it must be fair for both parties to succeed.

Rent controls is something that most of the parties have featured in their pledges, albeit in very different ways. While Conservatives and Reform UK want to scrap all rent controls, the Greens want to restore and strengthen them, which isn’t as controversial as it might have been a decade ago but may still ring alarm bells.

It’s a conundrum; we’ve certainly seen a high volume of landlords exiting the market since the rent caps were introduced, so this could be off-putting for anyone considering re-entry, however it does provide a safety net for tenants. In any case, the rent caps appear not to have worked entirely as intended, with rental rates rising higher than mortgage costs, so more thought is needed overall.

We also pushed for a surcharge on overseas buyers, with funds ringfenced for affordable housing, and it’s great to see a similar proposal from the Greens. Their suggestion of a 20% surcharge feels rather high at first, but that money could be put to excellent use in terms of creating affordable housing and much more.

On the hot topic of building new homes, it’s encouraging that so many of the parties prioritised this, committing to creating housing and improving the planning processes to allow this to happen quicker, with some very common-sense approaches across the board.

I would have liked to see more clarity on the next steps around energy efficiency. Each party has approached the brief differently and so homeowners are in the dark about what happens next. We need to know what will be required from homeowners to make sure that making our homes and buildings more energy efficient will be safe, achievable and affordable for everyone.

We were firmly pushing for the swift remediation of unsafe cladding, and it’s disappointing that only the Lib Dems have mentioned this. We cannot forget that this is a huge issue, with human life at risk every day that unsafe cladding remains in situ, and I firmly hope that the winning party would integrate this into their housing policy as a priority.

To the credit of all the major parties, they have been creative with their thinking, and moved housing up the agenda, so it’s a promising start to see so many crucial issues being taken so seriously. Now just to see who will be handed the victory on May 7 – please remember to make your voice heard and cast your vote.