By Jess Macaulay
Thank you to everyone who joined us at July’s meeting in London. We packed it full of speakers and information because we know that with the market changing almost daily at present our members are seeking guidance and insight so that they can make effective and strategic decisions. If you couldn’t make it, I really would recommend catching up on The Vault as so many of the questions we’re seeing in the groups and from members were covered at the meeting.
After the initial room introductions Ian Walmsley from Planning Geek kicked off July’s meeting. One of the questions we’re hearing from members regularly is around serviced accommodation and the possible impact of planning requirements being brought into this area of the property sector. Although nothing currently exists Ian mentioned that it is worth preparing for the unexpected here. It is expected that something will come in, although the specific format is not known. We are lucky to have people like Ian in our community as we know that he’ll be able to update as soon as anything changes so that we can weather the storm as best as possible.
Next up was Kerri Johnson from Insurance-Desk. Providing the latest details around property insurance she also mentioned the growing need for elements such as cyber insurance as part of the wider business needs. An issue they’ve been seeing recently is landlords forgetting to mention flat roofs within their policies so one to watch if you have that within your portfolio.
Adam Lawrence one of our founding PIP partners took to the floor to discuss some recent research he’d undertaken within the property market to support our members. Adam shared lots of compelling insights, such as the incredible fact that housing is more affordable now than in 1989 and real rents are also approximately 16-17% lower. If you want the detail or information as to where, what, and how Adams investing currently, you’ll have to catch up on the vault.
Next up in this monster session we had Mike Bristow of Crowd Property, who has already received £2.5 billion of funding applications this year for development finance. Mike shared the details of their recent market survey in terms of how the property market was impacting what developers would be investing in and developing out, where they saw interest rates over the next 3 years as well as many other market insights. He also identified some of the hot areas within the market currently such as portfolio exits amongst others, so definitely one to catch up with.
Peter Vandervennin from the Mortgage Consultancy led the final session of the day. He shared insights such as corporate debt being at the lowest it’s been for almost 20 years and the debt would need to increase by over 800% for it to impact the country negatively. The level of insolvencies was also not of major concern, and when it happened this was being seen in the SME communities rather than larger corporates. Lots of stress testing and modelling was good news for our economy reducing our exposure to greater risk. Lenders are doing their best to do deals but with the market being exceptionally volatile it is difficult, and rates are regularly being pulled. The commercial sector is probably the most concerning with rates and loans being pulled across the board. One to discuss regularly with your broker if you are seeking to raise finance at the moment.
All the presentations will be available for members that could not attend on the PIP Vault.
Next month we are meeting at the Dickens Inn on Thursday the 10th of August, 9.30-4pm with networking post meeting. We will be hearing from our sponsors as well as being joined by several of our PIP members. August’s meeting has a focus on our PIP London members and the property investments and developments they have been involved in. If you’re interested in becoming a member and joining us, please visit the membership page here.
We’re looking forward to seeing you all next month, Jess, and Sue.
