Happy New Year to everyone reading.
There’s no one size fits all response to the “How was 2016 for you?” question, but the “Not bad, thank you” response seems to be reserved, for the first time in 100 years, to anyone working outside London and maybe even the south-east – unless you’re a letting agent, in which case it’s the best time in London since the last load of accidental landlords happened along in 2009.
Soliciting a tear for anyone struggling in London is a tough ask, even if some of the best-known and most surprising names are in real trouble, close to and even going over the edge.
I’ve banged on for years about how sucking the life out of the top end of the market, easily dismissed as irrelevant by the majority, has an entirely disproportionate affect on lower value properties.
I’ve even spent [literally] hours on various radio stations over the holidays bringing this up, to be repeatedly asked if I was losing my marbles. Luckily, once given a chance to explain, I stopped being considered a winsome blast from the past.
2017 is the UK in general’s chance to shine, at last. Nominal property prices that, by and large, are less than they were ten years ago have led investors to abandon London to seek returns.
Level-headed home owners are moving wholesale to towns and cities like Brighton, Ashford, Reading, Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol, Birmingham, etc etc…
I think some are going over the top, though. Student investment has, in my view, reached peak madness with the Fizzy Living model being applied to Russell Group University towns resulting in weekly rents of £200 and more.
What happened to sharing a house with seven other spotty, pissed mates all trying to eat your green fuzzy yoghurt out of a filthy fridge? Maybe that’s where the Me Generation, currently being spoiled by the last baby boomer parents, is going wrong and raising future housing expectations too high. Frankly, after one year of living in Nine Tree Hill in Bristol, running water seemed like a bonus to me.
No, 2017 is going to be the first year in my 38th in the industry where those making positive noises aren’t making them about London.
* Ed Mead was until last year a London agent, with Douglas & Gordon. He is now a director of outsourced viewing service www.Viewber.co.uk and an independent property consultant / commentator: ed-mead.com
No idea what this is about, except for the title ‘some of the best know names in London are in real trouble’. Isn’t this stating quite the obvious?
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Sorry, Ed, can you re-word this into a coherent article?
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Was this article submitted by dictaphone tape after Ed had one to many sherberts?
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Oh dear Ed, as others say, there is no structure to your article and mentioning all those radio articles is just trying to say you are still relevant. More articles like this and the phone will go quiet as you are not adding to any debates with this type of article and doesn’t inspire others now you are an outsourced biz these days.
I would add, that anyone who has had any dealings with portfolios and the student rental market will know many still live in hovels and live off stale food and in filth as they always have. They just pay huge weekly figures for the priviledge.
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As a parent paying for my student daughter’s accommodation in London £200 per week I know all about this.
My son starts uni next year too.
So that’s 2 kids accommodation to pay for.
After work I’m gonna sit by a train station with a placard asking for help-all donations gratefully received.
Might get a dog to sit next to me as people like dogs, don’t they ?
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I like dogs, we have a rescue one. A couple of weeks ago we went on a family outing to see the high street Christmas lights. We saw someone find a twenty pound note on the pavement, pick it up and immediately give it to some poor guy who appeared to be settling down with a blanket to sleep in a shop doorway. He didn’t have a dog, but he soon got up and moved off. Probably went down to the local pub to have a beer and sit by the log fire. That’s what I would have done. So if you lost twenty quid in Stratford-upon-Avon high street a week before Christmas….at least you know it brought some festive cheer to someone less fortunate!
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This all makes complete sense, doesn’t it ?
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Whilst bizarrely vague- what I read here is that there is huge opportunity in London for quality, efficient, boutique agents to gain market share. As most fo us know, tough markets mean tough times for poor operations whilst quality agents tend to do well. As Ed mentions, 2009 was one of our best years in growth- but not because of accidental Landords but because it was (for nearly 6 months) a tough lettings market where rents intiially slid around 20%. This meant the old trick of high valuing massively backfired leaving agents with huge portfolios of unmoveable stock. Advising clients accurately on the state of the market, rather than bombarding them with sales hyperbole, won instructions and got deals done. Personally, I think its an exciting year both in London and UK-wide for agents that know their market, offer quality service and that continue to evolve and innovate.
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When I write long researched articles, I usually copy and paste snippets of research into my notepad to look over later. Then, I try and edit those snippets (that currently have no order or meaning as a whole) to come up with an engaging and insightful piece of content.
Only the first part has been done; not very well I might add.
After reading the headline…
‘Some of the best known names in London are in real trouble’
…I was looking forward to some names. But no London agent was even mentioned.
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