With the end of 2023 approaching fast and with many preparing to enjoy a well-earned rest, or to fly away for a winter holiday, it’s a good time to reflect on what’s happening in the market. Looking at the most recent batch of market surveys and reports from the likes of RICS and Hometrack/Zoopla, it is evident that the trends we’ve seen throughout the past year seem set to continue well into 2024.
The ongoing excess demand from tenants for new rental property, set against stagnating or reduced supply continues, and is not helped by an ongoing ‘drip drip’ exodus of landlords selling some or all of their portfolio. And yet, as we outline in our lead article on page 14, there are a number of ‘reasons to be cheerful’ ahead, with average rent levels still strongly increasing in many regions.
On page 30, Adam Lawrence dives deeply into the numbers in respect of residential sales market values, the economy and what may occur with interest rates in 2024. The sharp rise in borrowing costs in the last 18 months has had a clear impact on market sentiment and it’s quite evidently a buyers’ market in many locations, particularly in the
higher value areas.
‘Cash is king’ - is an old adage and for those fortunate to be in that position, it’s clearly a period of opportunity. Some who assumed the very low lending rates in the 2010’s would continue indefinitely are being caught out. For those relying on obtaining bank finance, prospects are less certain as lenders and valuers have tightened up their criteria.
However, as you can read on page 18, none of the above seems to be deterring Arthur Dallimore from continuing his remarkable journey in property investing. And he is not alone in having done some great property deals as the winners of the Property Investors Awards were recently revealed - see page 37 to learn more.
So notwithstanding being in a ‘cash rich’ position to ‘bag a bargain’, just where are the opportunities to be found in 2024 and what do we need to consider? On page 26 Ritchie Clapson gives some clues, as does David Kemp on page 22, as they highlight the implications arising from the Autumn Statement and in particular the proposed changes to permitted development rights (PDR).
The proposal announced in the Autumn Statement by Jeremy Hunt, to allow flats to be created from houses without needing planning approval, is one that many have welcomed, but until the consultation period ends in January, we can’t be certain just what could be allowed.
On behalf of the team at Property Investor News our best wishes to you for 2024.
