10. OH, JEREMY CORBYN…
There are very few people in real estate who relish the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn winning a significant majority at the next election and implementing what would be a radical socialist agenda unseen in the UK since the 1970s.
“A choice between Corbyn and no deal is like a choice between catching the black death or Ebola,” M7 Chairman Richard Croft said. “I’m a student of history, and I know that with the black death you had a chance of survival, so I’d probably take Corbyn, although I think the chance of him winning is zero.”
“Real estate would be fair game,” Prestbury Chairman Nick Leslau said. “He would be happy to dismantle the industry. Taxation would rise, he would expropriate land, impose rent control and reduce security of tenure.”
Experts predict international investors would be disinclined to invest in UK property until there was a greater certainty about how a Labour government under Corbyn would see the industry.
“It would be extremely difficult for foreign capital to invest in the UK, because of the uncertainty on how they would be taxed and how the sector would be treated. Until there was clarity on that, there would be a period of wait and see,” Leslau said.
In terms of Brexit, Labour’s current policy is to hold a second referendum where remaining in the UK is one option, and a new deal struck by Labour is the other.
If you think in that second referendum the UK votes to stay in the EU, go to section 12.
If you think the UK votes to leave with a deal struck by Labour, go back to section 1, and swap the references to Boris Johnson for Jeremy Corbyn.
Don't like where you've ended up? Start over!