According to a YouGov survey, which surveyed 1,744 UK adults between 6 and 7 January, the most popular solution to the housing crisis is increasing the percentage of new builds set aside for affordable housing with seven out of 10 Britons supporting the move.
YouGov noted that there was no law requiring developers to set aside a percentage of homes for affordable housing as decisions were mainly left up to individual local authorities.
It found there was also high support, 69 per cent, for increasing council tax on second homes. Owners of second homes can apply to their local council for a discount on their council tax, although there is a premium levied on homes that have been empty for two years or more.
Just under 60 per cent of Britons who took part in the survey opposed banning people from owning second homes.
Nearly 50 per cent supported banning non-domiciled property ownership, so forbidding people whose primary country of residence is not the UK from buying a house here.
Support among both Labour and Conservative voters was strong for almost all the policies YouGov outlined in its survey.
Labour voters tended to be more strongly in favour of these policies, with foreign investment in the UK house market more unpopular with Conservative voters. Over half of Tory voters, 56 per cent, said they would support an end to non-domiciled property ownership, compared with 45 per cent of Labour voters.
Two in three Britons, 67 per cent, also supported a cap on private rental rates and half said they would be in favour of banning BTL mortgages on newly built properties which would prevent new builds being bought up by landlords.
Britons were split on ‘indefinite tenancies’, where tenancies can only be brought to an end when the tenant wants to move or in cases of criminal damage or failing to pay rent.
YouGov found that 44 per cent of those surveyed supported the introduction of indefinite tenancies compared to 35 per cent who were opposed to them. Labour promised in 2019 that they would bring in this policy if elected.
