As we went to press on this edition the base rate was lowered once again, down 0.25 percentage points to 4.5%, making it the third time the Bank of England has cut the rate since August 2024, and with further reductions in the base rate predicted for later this year, it should encourage some movement in the property market for current and new investors alike.
I am sure that Rachel Reeves recent announcements have been analysed thoroughly by now, but her apparent determination to push through various airport expansions, including the somewhat controversial third runway at Heathrow, and the ‘Silicon Valley’ of the UK in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, should give some pause for thought on where to invest or not, as the case might be.
In this month’s magazine we have looked at the market overseas, with the lead article on page 15 assessing some options and where there has been significant growth in recent years, which could tempt some to dip their toes into warmer waters.
We also have an interesting interview with Charlie Parkes on page 18, who took a chance on a derelict building containing squatters, in a prime location in Reading and turned it into an award winning 38-unit HMO!
David Kemp analyses the luxury retirement market on page 24 and what the future holds, after changes to the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework) have opened up the opportunity for savvy developers, who are keen to provide a premium product for the over 65s looking to spend their retirement in fancier surroundings.
On page 32 our resident commercial property expert, Suzi Carter, looks into healthcare property and what opportunities are available to SME investors, in what she describes as a ‘stable and high-performing niche within commercial real estate’.
We look at Wolverhampton on page 38, where Mark Hempshell investigates what’s happening with the various regeneration and development projects in the city centre, along with the improvements in transport infrastructure, not to forget of course the outlook for the property market as a whole.
The Renters’ Rights Bill rears its ugly head once more, as on page 49 Des Taylor comments on whether property Investors require a proactive and strategic approach to navigating the abundance of changes proposed to the PRS.
Finally, on page 26, Wendy Whittaker-Large offers her expert opinion on the HMO market, where she predicts what the future holds for HMOs, with all the various regulatory changes proposed, and how your reaction to them will determine their success or failure.
