At the beginning of 2020, all eyes were on the new Conservative government, with Boris at the helm having successfully secured an overwhelming majority, winning 365 seats and loudly promising to get Brexit done (remember Brexit?). Fresh from victory, the Prime Minister quickly set out how the Tories were going to inject a bit of life back into the UK property market by committing to build 300,000 new homes every year by the mid-2020s (1m new-builds by 2025), stamp duty reforms including a 3% surcharge for non-UK residents, raising the threshold to £500k and even hinting that the tax could be overhauled completely - paid for by the seller, not the buyer. Exciting stuff!
Following 2019, a year in which landlords, in particular, perceived they were under direct attack from the government due to a seemingly never-ending carousel of regulatory changes and punitive tax measures, you could be forgiven if in January 2020 you were thinking that maybe, just maybe, this might be the year for UK property.
House price growth had risen to 4% (Halifax), property sale fall-through rates were at a six-year low (Quick Move Now) and rents were up 3.5% (HomeLet) with confidence in the PRS growing by the hour. Yes! This is it! 2020 you absolute beau....what's a Coronavirus?
A statement issued by Propertymark on the afternoon of March 24th read: "Propertymark has spoken to a senior civil servant at Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) this morning. The civil servant stated that agents are not 'essential businesses' under the new rules and therefore their view is that agents should close their offices immediately.
"Furthermore, they stated that there should not be any in-person viewings, routine inspections or house moves."
The rest, as they say, is history. And as the majority of us hunkered down post-March 23rd and tried to work out what Joe Wicks was, the UK property industry quickly worked out that it was going to have to adapt if it was to survive.
Peter Joseph - The Moving Hub: "The pandemic has clearly made most businesses have to change down a gear or two and in some sad cases led to businesses stalling. The property industry has suffered from this, but for a few; of which we are one, the award-winning technology that we have heavily invested in over the past few years has seen us not changing down a gear but merely lifting the foot of the gas slightly. Having the ability to overnight have our dedicated staff work from home on systems that mirror our workplace has seen a successful and seamless transition into what may now become part of our daily working environment."
Chris Norris - NRLA: "The Covid-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented event, and landlords have had to play their part in supporting tenants through it.
“What we have seen during the pandemic is that landlords have been doing their bit to help tenants. To help households, which are struggling financially many are showing a willingness to adapt and have been offering rent deferrals and reductions where they can in order to sustain tenancies. Away from their purely business interactions, some landlords have also been helping in practical ways such as offering to do shopping for vulnerable tenants or volunteering in their local communities."
Paul Shamplina - Landlord Action/Hamilton Fraser: "We have adjusted remarkably well. We have 215 employees at Hamilton Fraser all working remotely for our brands My Deposits, Total Landlord Insurance, The PRS, Client Money Protect, Landlord Action, H F Assist, Landlord Zone, as well as our Aesthetic insurance business.
"Really, everyone has just been firefighting. Cash flow remains king. Landlords and agents are continuing to offer the best service they can, as the tenant is the customer. It's important that agents show high levels of communication and prove their worth in managing properties. Virtual viewings have been vital to ensure that properties could still be marketed throughout lockdown."
Warren Lewis, Property Reporter editor: "I read that due to natural gasses and not enough topsoil, some of the mink began to rise from their graves like tiny, luxurious zombies."
Also rising was the use of technology. Across the industry, in what is arguably proptech's finest hour to date, thousands of companies rushed to work out how to use their existing technology to their advantage during lockdown. Spare rooms were converted, kitchen tables became desks creating virtual branches of offices and, most curiously, people started to notice the Microsoft Teams icon that had lay dormant on their taskbars for months. Then Zoom took off and virtual viewings became essential rather than 'just because you could'.
Landlord and property management portals eased the pressure allowing instant access to accounts, reports and surveys, as well as maintenance. After some initial nerves from vendors, online auctions exploded, providing flexibility for clients, with bespoke auction dates and the added security of registered and anti-money-laundering-checked bidders paying a pre-authorised deposit before they bid.
Iain Martin - Revere Contracts: "We had forecast in advance that we would go into Lockdown here in Scotland, based on what other countries were doing, so thankfully we were able to plan ahead. We used the weeks leading up to Lockdown to focus on our systems of operation; how we could operate without a physical office, how we could distribute our information effectively and efficiently to our contractors, clients, architects, and building control officers.
"We moved everything to video meetings and remote site surveys for example, and this saved a colossal amount of time. We also moved everything to cloud-based systems and invested in a number of different kinds of software to get us ahead of the competition.
"In addition, we changed from one business to a group structure to protect all the different areas of trading we have – separating commercial and domestic work for example. As bad as Lockdown was, it was a great time to really look at the business model objectively and see how we could improve."
Ben Lamb - Clarion: "Virtual meeting software such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams has played a really important role in being able to have face to face meetings and may mean that going forward this is used more when needed. From a legal point of view, we have adopted tools such as electronic signatures to enable deals to be completed while physical distancing is in place."
Nick Jones - Roma Finance: "In practical terms, the shift to remote working was managed incredibly quickly and efficiently and is going to change the way we work beyond the pandemic. Local lockdown measures have meant that Roma has had to operate remotely for much of the year with only limited colleagues back in the Manchester head office. We’ve been utterly reliant on technology to help us achieve this, like so many businesses."
Iain McKenzie - The Guild of Property Professionals: "While estate and lettings agents will now be able to conduct physical viewings, virtual tools and tech services will still be heavily relied upon until the COVID-19 pandemic has been conquered.
"Much has changed over the last few months and things are continuing to evolve. It will take some time for ‘consumers’ to ease into the new way of doing things, however, the more agents interact with their customers virtually, the more trust they will gain, and people will become comfortable with the process."
Jamie Cooke - iamsold: "The popularity of online and now virtual auctions has been steadily rising, fast-tracked by Covid-19 taking traditionally in-room auctions online. We’ve pioneered combining the benefits of the Modern Method of Auction with the online format for over 10 years and it’s never been such a valuable method, getting vendors moving quickly, securely and safely."
As you can see, Proptech is no longer just a 'nice to have' addition for forward-looking property firms; it has clearly become a 'must-have' for all firms in order to meet the growing demand of expectations surrounding higher standards of healthier, safer cleaner and more efficient workplaces.
However, despite living in the 21st century, with all the trappings of modern life and exponentially rising technological advancements, an ancient microscopic force has altered the way we live and work, maybe forever. But, surprisingly, it's not all bad news. I mean, it doesn't look great for the mink, I was referring to the general outlook for the industry. The future. For people.
There has been a real spirit of getting things done in the face of adversity, particularly with businesses rallying together to think of creative solutions for new problems and although it's easier to be pessimistic, a degree of optimism is key to going forward.
Edward Heaton - Heaton & Partners: “2020 has been an extraordinary year and defied all expectations. Who could have anticipated that in a year that saw a global pandemic and businesses shut down for three months, would prove to be one of the best years for those operating in the prime property market?
“There is real scope for there to be a whirlwind of activity in the first quarter of next year, as mainstream buyers also seek to complete their purchases before the stamp duty holiday ends. I predict there are going to be some extremely stressed conveyancing lawyers in the early part of next year.
“What the future holds for the property market is frankly anybody’s guess. We have an extremely diverse, hugely talented and successful client base, whose range of views on the matter are equally diverse. For sure, interesting times lie ahead.”
Stuart Grimster - Old Mill: "Whilst there’s no doubt that the economic shock caused by this pandemic has been significant, and there have been some tough stories, there are also many property and construction businesses doing really well right now despite the restrictions so, in many respects, 2020 has been a strange year for the sector.
"South West house prices have increased more than any other region in the country fuelled by the stamp duty holiday combined with behavioural shifts boosting activity as people reassess their housing needs as a result of life in lockdown.
"The government also signalled its intent to “build, build, build” as we emerge out of the pandemic and a relaxation of planning regulations to cut out unnecessary bureaucracy will create momentum.
"So, having adapted to the restrictions imposed on the industry, many of our clients are going into 2021 with optimism and a healthy project pipeline."
Iain Martin: "Revere Contracts is continuing to grow through Glasgow and central Scotland and we are due to start operations in Manchester, with our first batch of contracts starting there in January 2021. The city is going through serious regeneration and it's great we're going to be a part of it. We're looking at around a 30% growth for the financial year. Considering we were shut for three months in 2020, it’s been pretty positive overall."
Anna Clare Harper - SPI Capital: "While 2020 brought a host of challenges for many businesses, it has also brought opportunity.
"Despite the uncertain environment, residential property has remained a strong asset with resilient rental returns in 2020. 2021 will see some of the shifts we’ve seen in the market begin to crystallise. Residential property is expected to continue to perform well since we all need a roof over our heads. As a result, it will continue to be a key component of individual investor portfolios, with tangible assets delivering stable returns over the long-term.”
The big question here is what will happen to the market after the stamp duty holiday deadline? According to figures from Rightmove, there are an extra 650,000 home purchases in the pipeline compared to last year, with thousands of buyers fuelled by months of lockdown and desperate to complete before April. As MPs remain tight-lipped over any possible extension, it's all eyes on March for what will certainly be a period of heightened activity. Beyond this, who knows?
This year gave us zombie mink, anything could happen.
