Page 29 - Future Demands Jan 2021

With this in mind, once the pandemic is firmly behind us – which we all hope will be sooner rather than later – we anticipate the feel-good factor will likely return to cities, and young professionals will be enticed back into urban lifestyles.
We have also seen a growth in the number of clients looking to ‘buy and improve’, and in many ways the market has gone back to basics, with buyers focussed on making money from property. To back this up, we’re seeing many people looking to remortgage within six months of completing their purchase, in order to start works, and in many cases converting a ‘standard’ property into an HMO.
Looking forward to 2021, this rise in buying to improve is likely to continue, and a number of our
clients have shown a desire to purchase properties in Q1 this year, when they anticipate a greater number and variety of opportunities will emerge.
Meanwhile, holiday lets threatened to gain momentum in 2020, but constantly changing COVID-19 rules meant that this didn’t really translate into significant levels of business.
However, if the vaccine proves to be a success and Brexit goes relatively smoothly, this will be an area to keep an eye on over the next twelve months.
Finally, our analysis predicts the growth in purchase activity may take a little more of a back seat in 2021, with the remortgage market heating up and lenders jostling for rates and market share.
All of which is largely positive stuff, and I’m optimistic for the BTL sector in 2021.
However, wider than the immediate concerns of our individual sub- sections of the market, I can see a short-term future in which we all come together to make our entire property sector as dynamic and productive as possible for all. That, I believe, will be the legacy of the pandemic on our industry.
As the late, great Bill Shankley once said, “The socialism I believe in is everybody working for the same goal, and everybody having a share in the rewards. That’s how I see football, that’showIseelife”.Iamcertainthat if we apply his words to our industry the rewards will be game-changing.
FUTURE DEMANDS
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