Housing will be one of the biggest issues facing the country at the General Election in May. Polling by Ipsos Mori suggests that the cost of housing is of growing importance to British voters; 5% ranked it as their biggest concern in February 2010 but by May 2014 it had almost trebled to 14%. This could be one of the reasons that there were four different housing ministers appointed by David Cameron in just a three year period, making the management position at QPR football club look reasonably secure in comparison.

But before we take a look at each party's manifesto for improving the state of the housing market/shortage, let's be clear about one thing. If you are lucky enough to own a portfolio of residential properties in the UK, hopefully with some focused on high rental returns and others focused more on capital growth, if is very unlikely that 'the housing shortage' is going to keep you awake at night.  

However, were a radical left-wing government to soar to power in the UK, (as has happened recently in Greece and is starting to look possible at the end of this year in Spain), and they came out 'all guns blazing' planning to build 400,000 new homes per year, well that might leave some of our readers tossing and turning in the early hours of the morning.

I know I am generalising here, but more often than not the 'haves', (that usually means landlords) tend to lean a little to the right politically for wealth protection, while the 'have-nots' (most tenants) tend to lean to the left looking for assistance in gaining greater wealth. Across Europe this is creating a north/south divide with regards to political preference, as has been the case in the UK for decades.