Property industry leaders to discuss key points to boost UK housing market in wake of the election

Property industry leaders to discuss key points to boost UK housing market in wake of the election

myhomemove, the UK’s leading provider of mover conveyancing services, will be hosting its housing conference on the 20th May at Hilton, St George’s Park, Burton-upon-Trent.

The event will include a panel discussion between high profile property industry leaders who will share their views on what could lead to major changes in the market. The panel includes:

  • Miles Shipside, Rightmove
  • Bob Young, Fleet Mortgages
  • Steve Goodall, L&G Surveying
  • Mark Hayward National Association of Estate Agents
  • Michael Bruce, Purple Bricks

Some comments from the panellists setting out their views on key issues that will be developed at the conference can be found below.

Doug Crawford, CEO at myhomemove, comments on the housing conference:

“We are thrilled to have such a high calibre of industry experts joining us for our housing conference to discuss the UK housing market, particularly as the new Conservative Government considers the detail of its policy agenda for the market over the next five years.

“The conference will be a forum for experts across the industry to discuss the future of the market, and we look forward to the insightful views that the panellists and other keynote speakers have to offer. The political uncertainty in the run-up to the election caused a slight decline in the UK housing market, so it will be interesting to see, in light of the results, the conditions our speakers believe are needed to balance supply and demand and create a sustainable housing market.”

Steve Goodall, Managing Director at L&G Surveying, comments on the tipping points that could lead to a substantial improvement in the supply of quality residential property:

“New build property was a significant manifesto commitment of the new government and now people expect delivery. Whether it is creating new garden cities, making better use of brownfield sites, creating quality privately rented housing or housing for owner-occupiers, the important thing is to deliver the significant increase in building the right kind of housing that the UK needs.

“Understanding the fundamental pressure points in the market and across the value chain means we can identify how better transparency between planners, residents, lenders, housebuilders and surveyors can make a real difference.”

Bob Young, CEO at Fleet Mortgages, comments on the tipping points that could lead to big increases in buy-to-let loans:

“On the supply side, the availability of buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages is very healthy, with borrowers benefiting from more choice and lower rates because of competition between providers, fuelled partly by new entrants like Fleet Mortgages.

“To see a big increase in the number of loans, we need more activity on the demand side. The potential for growth comes from the mid-term choices investors have for their savings; Bonds yield virtually nothing, Stocks are bordering on overheating, leaving investing in property via BTL. Add to this the new pension freedoms introduced at the start of April, there is the potential for retirees to opt to put their savings into a BTL deposit, rather than in an annuity, Bonds or stocks; meaning we could see a big increase in the overall size of the buy-to-let market.”

Miles Shipside, Commercial Director at Rightmove, comments on the tipping points that could lead to a substantial increase in volumes of residential property transactions:

“The most important factors that could improve volumes in the property market are, in the short term, some political certainty and in the longer term, a big increase in housebuilding. The results of the General Election last week have given us the political certainty, and the proposed extension of the Right-to-Build scheme may provide the longer term improvements that the market needs.

“On a more positive note, as part of their manifesto the Conservatives promised increased housebuilding, so the hope must be that much needed new housing will be delivered. This will, however, take some time to increase property supply.

“Wages are finally rising faster than inflation, so people have more money in their pockets.  This should improve consumer confidence and lead to an improvement in house purchases – as long as politics doesn’t get in the way.”

Mark Hayward, Managing Director at the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) comments on the tipping points that could significantly impact the number of estate agents operating in the UK:

“House purchase volumes have recovered dramatically from their lows after the financial crisis to reach over 800,000 per year in 2013 and 2014.  But they are still a long way short of the volumes that we saw before the financial crisis of over one million a year – all our members would like to see them recover further.

“However nearly half of our members (46%) have reported a cooling in the market leading up to the general election. Estate agents are also concerned about the impact of a rise in interest rates on the property market, which is currently very sensitive to external shocks.

“If consumer confidence grows because of the election result and more stock is offered for sale, we could see the kind of increase in sales volumes that will provide a boost to estate agents and bring new entrants into the market.”

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