Landlords could expect incentives to offer long-term tenancies as well as penalties for not offering them under the next Government.

Those are a couple of the bold predictions from the National Landlords Association ahead of the General Election on June 8.

The politically neutral membership group claims, based on last week’s local elections, that the Conservative party could gain a massive majority and as a result end up taking on issues that would have been in more Labour territory such as landlord licensing and reviews on repossession legislation.

The NLA said in a blog looking ahead to the poll: “After last week’s local elections, everyone is working on the assumption that the prime minister Theresa May and the Conservatives are on the way to a massive win. It is not a case of if but by how many seats (a far cry from 2015).

“Working on this assumption for a minute, (I am sure Oscar Wilde will forgive me this once) if traditional Labour areas were to go blue, traditional Labour Party issues could soon become Conservative issues too. Newly elected MPs will see their caseloads rise with issues that – traditionally – backbench Conservative MPs have not had to think much about.

“This will mean more pressure on Government and the leadership to act on them.”

You only have to look at the Brexit vote and Trump victory as warnings of just how wrong the experts can be, but here is what the NLA thinks a new Tory Government, if elected, would legislate for:

1. The Queen’s Speech will include plans for a new Housing Bill.

2. In the Budget the Chancellor will announce a crackdown on Housing Benefit and link it to the Decent Homes Standard.

3. There will be a review of the 1988 Housing Act legislation surrounding repossession.

4. Buy-to-let landlords will be incentivised in some way to offer/consider longer-term tenancies.

5. Later in the Parliament, landlords will be ‘penalised’ for not offering them to tenants.

6. The idea of a register of landlords will be consulted on within the next Parliament.

7. Current Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government Sajed Javid (if re-elected) will be demoted or sacked in the post-election reshuffle.

8. Current housing minister Gavin Barwell MP will be promoted (if re-elected).

9. There will be three different ministers for housing before the next General Election.”

* EYE has no position to take on the outcome of the June 8 election. We are simply reporting a blog.