Breaking Property News – 24/11/2023
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.
Is Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement – Good or Bad News for property sector?
Let’s see has the Chancellor of the Exchequer brought the cavalry racing over the hill to save the stalling housing market? In a word No. No changes to SDLT, so no stimulus here to help the flattening residential market. No revival of Help-to Buy (version two), which would have helped the national homebuilders who are quietly shuttering divisions of their operations due to the downturn.
If you want to read through the full text of the Autumn Statement click on this LINK though I am going to warn you in over 100 pages there is not a lot of great benefit for the property sector in the UK. There are some marginal gains as many of the agencies in the UK have self-employed owners, so they will get a minimal amount of new relief, and also there is further support for business rates.
The Chancellor has played around with the planning application system looking to speed the decision making process with financial inducements, but given that interest rates are so high, the cost of materials and labour is through the roof, I do not see this as a fiscal stimulator.
The rental sector was also untouched apart from the Local Housing Allowance being raised, which will help those in the PRS and LHA, helping some households. Just under £450 million will be allocated to the Local Authority Housing Fund, meaning 2,400 new homes, and consultation on a new Permitted Development Right which allows any house to be split into two flats is to be undertaken.
In fact as I listened to the whole of the Chancellor’s speech live on my mobile as I walked across the fields with my co-director Zara, before she went in search of squirrels, it felt very much that Mr Hunt wanted to look after the interests of some big businesses, and was letting the crumbs fall to those most in need, and I am not being partisan.
ClicPad – Off plan investments platform for investors looking to buy in UK has launched
Full disclosure, through my day job getting Proptech founders from MVP to exit, I have known the very capable Rich Wynn for some years, (he is not a client) and I had promised to catch up with him to discuss clickpad which launched recently. Here then a few weeks late, is all you need to know about ClicPad, a one-click platform for investors wanting to buy UK off plan properties; with digitized and refined processes providing a seamless property investment purchase experience.
Having looked at the platform my thumbnail sketch is that a buyer once registered on the site can search for UK Off plan property choosing from a selection of curated potential opportunities. Then make an informed decision using the latest analytics and research. Reserve their property. Select and instruct a solicitor. Complete their Anti-money laundering (AML) and Know your client (KYC) verification. Submit documents to complete the contract. All whilst on one single platform.
Wes Snow’s from Acendix’s stateside views on the big events hitting property technology in November
Many people are amazed at how much I know about everything across the plan, build, lease sale and the management of property assets and the ever changing themes and drivers of digital transformation in real estate. Key to my knowledge gained in the last seven years, is doing private research and analysis and talking daily with the brightest minds globally about what is going on, leveraging my knowledge base.
A huge example of a really great mind in the reale estate/proptech space is Wes Snow CEO and Co-founder of Ascendix Technolgies, and I asked him to give our readers here in the UK a whistlestop, top of the mind tour of what is happening, as seen through an American lens. Also if you are looking for a really compident pair of hands to help you solve some problems he really is one of the topflight people to talk to.
So Wes, what are the big trending items that are happening in the industry as you see it?
Wes Snow CEO of Ascendix Technolgies, ‘Hey folks! Well Andrew I know everyone heard about WeWork announcing its bankruptcy, I was left as speechless as you are now. So let’s start with them.’
#1: WeWork Files for Bankruptcy Amid Office Market Downturn ‘The hottest news tending, blame it on inefficient management, the pandemic, or economic downturns, but WeWork, the once high-flying desk-renting startup, has filed for bankruptcy. WeWork plans to convert $3 billion of existing loans and bonds into equity as part of the restructuring. The bankruptcy filing seeks to terminate 69 leases, emphasizing the importance of rationalizing its office portfolio.
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