What a difference some nice weather makes… oh and the outstanding performance of Team GB at the Olympics.
For those of us not even enjoying a staycation this summer, the Games have been a welcome distraction from the unknowns and uncertainties thrown up in the wake of the Brexit vote.
But silly season will soon be over and it’ll be back to business. The question is: how much?
Judging by the flurry of deals this week in the Manchester area, the outlook is pretty good for the office and residential sector in the heartland of the northern powerhouse.
Not so for the office sector in London, however, according to Derwent London, which has cut its rental growth forecasts and is expecting occupier demand to fall in wake of the EU referendum. Meanwhile, the IPD Monthly Property Index paints a mixed picture in terms of capital values, having recorded a 2.8% fall in July, the worst monthly decline since March 2009, although not as bad as some feared in the first fortnight after the vote.
The IPD doesn’t major on the resi sector, of course - one of the markets that is hardest to read at the moment. The vote may have thrown the challenges faced by the housing market into sharp relief, but it has not fundamentally changed anything. Prime London resi is still slowing and at the other end of the affordability spectrum, the chronic supply shortage continues to be a chronic problem.
Could modular housing be part of the solution? The government certainly seems to think so. As we report, it is currently looking into off-site construction and officials have been taking notes from the likes of L&G and Berkeley.
Needless to say, modular construction is set to be one of the key themes at this year’s RESI Conference on 12-14 September at Celtic Manor in Wales, with Berkeley’s Tony Pidgley and Urban Splash’s Tom Bloxham among the industry heavyweights in this year’s stellar line-up.
I would say this, of course, but in my humble opinion this year’s agenda and line-up are the strongest yet.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the pre-eminent event in the resi calendar and under the umbrella theme of ‘Housing: the next generation’, some of the biggest names from the worlds of property and politics will be exploring not only the potential of off-site construction, but also the impact of Brexit, prospects for the PRS, who the game-changers will be and how the development needed to tackle the housing crisis will be financed.
Housing and planning minister Gavin Barwell and London deputy mayor for housing James Murray will reveal how they plan to deliver on their ambitious housing targets. Other big-name speakers include economist Dame Frances Cairncross and YO! Company entrepreneur Simon Woodroffe, who will be talking about his modular venture YO! Home, and we will be announcing many more in the coming days.
We know you have lots of questions. If you want answers, come to RESI. What’s that I hear you say? You don’t think you can afford to? In these uncertain times, my response is simple: you can’t afford not to.
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