BREAKING PROPERTY NEWS – 15/11/2021

Estate Agent Networking Breaking News

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.

 

  1. RICS: Housing market sentiment is cooling
  2. Portfolio Landlord Action Group (PLAN) to be headed up by Marcus Selmon
  3. Satoshi Block Dojo seeks construction industry corporates collaboration

 

RICS: Housing market sentiment is cooling

The latest Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) housing index report suggests that both the number of new properties coming to market and the number being sold has slowed or dropped back by almost 10%. This means the impetus in the bullish market now seems to be flattening.

RICS also reported that the number of new sales being agreed fell back by a fifth, which means that there are fewer properties being sold and the stock levels of all agents is low. In fact, in a separate report conducted independently, it was found that a typical agent might have only 15 properties on their books – an all-time low.

Simon Rubinsohn, the chief economist at RICS, said that there was an ongoing imbalance between demand and supply. “The inventory on agents’ books appears to have slipped back towards historic lows and this seems to be underpinning both the current price trend and expectations for the next year.”

In 1988 there were two million completions, compared to around one million in the previous years. Why? The reason was that the Chancellor at the time played around with MIRAS, creating a rush to buy. Then from late 1988, the market languished for about three years as prices went backwards. Only those needing to sell did so. As a result, fewer properties came to the market and fewer sold.

Over three decades later in 2021, we will have an uptick in completions to 1.5 million (from the usual 1.1 to 1.2 million) by the end of the year. Why? Because our present Chancellor, who would have been eight years old in 1988, played around with SDLT. Is history repeating itself?

A low amount of inventory equals fewer people moving. Fewer listings means low market activity.

Also of course in 1988 onwards we saw interest rates climb, reflecting a likely event from the seven wise people at the bank of England who meet again next month to decide on the BoE base rate policy.

 

Portfolio Landlord Action Group (PLAN) to be headed up by Marcus Selmon

There are nearly 4.5 million households in the PRS, but nearly 60% of landlords only own a single property, with around 7% of landlords owning two or more properties. There is a concentration of large property portfolios being held by a relatively small number of people.

The term ‘institutional landlord’ has been bandied around a lot, with both Lloyds and John Lewis making big noises about wanting to get into the letting nexus, either as build to rent or acquiring up to 50,000 rental properties.

Marcus Selmon has started a new venture, seeking to give a collective voice to the big landlords, and he has called the entity PLAN, the Portfolio Landlord Action Group. It hopes to be the central organisation looking after and articulating the interests of its members. It has been reported that it will also make its memberships’ views known to the government.

Another aim of the body is to look at how proptech can be used to create efficiencies in the lettings verticals, obviously with large portfolios comes great opportunity to digitally transform the paper-based, analogue ways that many landlords still run their property empires with.

In Selmon’s own words, he wants to “bring portfolio landlords together in order to discuss the specific challenges we experience and share information face-to-face and online about how to support ourselves – including how best to use tech to improve our service and source funding.”

In some ways, the organisation may be like the 90,000 strong NRLA, as it looks to represent and help the big players at every level going forward.

 

Satoshi Block Dojo seeks construction industry corporates collaboration

At the start of December 2021, Satoshi Block Dojo, a dynamic incubator, is holding an ideation hackathon event in central London. It is looking for enlightened construction industry corporates to attend. The event will play host to a number of great minds, all focused on solving themes around Hackitt’s ‘golden thread’.

The focus is to get national homebuilders, commercial builders, and commercial real estate corporates together in a room with the next generation of problem-solving founders. These founders will then start to put together useful, commercially focused solutions for the big problems that face the construction industry.

The event is free and the impetus behind it is to give a chance for the industry to discuss its pain points, also for groups on the day to start the genesis of the answers to solve them.

Presently, 75% of capital projects in the UK are over budget and 20% of cost overruns are caused by errors, such as inefficient project governance and poor project control. Not surprising then that the average margin for the UK contractors declined below 1.5%.

Add to this that construction is a paper led and analogue-based industry, the recent cladding issue putting into relief the challenges that need to be overcome to develop solutions quickly and at scale and in a transparent way. More than ever before pressure is increasing on contractors and capital projects to deliver on time and on budget. Optimisation and efficiency are key.

It is hoped that the insights and experience that corporates who come on the day will mix with the brightest solution finders, resulting in some big wins for all stakeholders.

For anyone corporates in the construction industry sector who feel they can add value to the event please contact me at andrew.stanton@proptech-x.com for more information.

Andrew Stanton

CEO & Founder Proptech-PR. Proptech Real Estate Influencer, Executive Editor of Estate Agent Networking. Leading PR consultancy in Proptech & Real Estate.

You May Also Enjoy

Property for sale
Estate Agent Talk

5 Top Tips for Increasing the Value of Your Home

For some people, buying a home, working on it and then selling it is the primary goal to keep upgrading homes. Whether you choose to re-decorate or re-model the property, a renovation of your home can help to keep the ball rolling towards enabling you to secure a profit on your next house sale. Whilst…
Read More
Breaking News

Sdlt Hike Spurs Record Home Sales by Auction

iamproperty is crediting the recent Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) hike and rising consumer awareness as the reasons behind a record-breaking quarter for Auction. The market conditions led to an 11% increase in the number of iamproperty Auction sales in the first quarter of the year, compared with the same period last year. iamproperty’s Partner…
Read More
Breaking News

Changes to mortgage affordability to support sales as house price growth cools

House price growth has slowed to 1.6 per cent annually, down from 1.9 per cent at the end of 2024, as buyer interest cools and the number of homes for sale continues to expand Buyer demand is one per cent higher than a year ago, while the number of homes for sale is 12 per…
Read More
Love or Hate Rightmove
Breaking News

Rents rise to new record despite boost in supply

The average advertised rent of homes outside of London has risen to a new record this quarter of £1,349 per calendar month (pcm), however it is the smallest increase in rents at this time of year since 2020: London rents also rise by 0.1% (+£3) to a 14th consecutive new record of £2,698 pcm this quarter…
Read More
Breaking News

Size Matters in Planning

The House Builders Association (HBA), the housebuilding division of the National Federation of Builders (NFB) has reignited its campaign for the planning system to adopt five clear site size definitions, replacing the current, arbitrary ones of ‘Minor’ (one to ten homes) and ‘Major’ (ten and above). Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the NFB, said: “In…
Read More
Breaking News

Popping the Asking Price Bubble

Where in the Uk Can Buyers Snap Up Property Bargains and Where Properties Go for a Premium Above Asking Price   New research from fast selling property company, Upstix has uncovered the UK’s most surprising postcodes for snapping up a property at bargain prices this year, highlighting a widening gap between sellers’ expectations and the…
Read More