Brexit is now single biggest worry for property industry - claim

A survey of owner-occupiers, landlords, property investors and insolvency practitioners has revealed that Brexit is the single biggest concern when it comes to the housing market.

The study, by John Pye Property, found that 38 per cent of respondents highlighted uncertainty around Brexit as the biggest challenge affecting the property sector, with 24 per cent pointing to higher taxation. 

Stricter lending criteria from banks were also a concern for 17 per cent of those surveyed.

However, despite these concerns, the majority of responses painted a positive picture of the market with 44 per cent saying that more property sales were taking place compared to five years ago and 56 per cent feeling that regional markets were experiencing growth.

The results also suggested that property investments were becoming more accessible to investors with 62 per cent seeing an increase in the number of affordable properties coming to market; 56 per cent of those surveyed said they felt that there were more appealing investment opportunities available compared to five years ago.

Respondents also noted a change in the variation of property available on the current market.

Some 60 per cent agreed that there is a greater range of property investment opportunities available now compared to five years ago with almost 70 per cent noting an increase in the number of mixed-use opportunities available.

In terms of future plans, figures suggest that investors plan to diversify their portfolios and focus more on securing long-term tenancies for their properties rather than pushing up yields.

No fewer than 82 per cent said investors were increasingly diversifying their portfolios in response to market conditions while 72 per cent said that securing a longer-term tenancy was more important than achieving the highest possible rental yield.

“Some of the results weren’t surprising as Brexit uncertainty remains a challenge for many and investors are choosing to diversify their portfolio as a result of taxation changes. We were interested to gather insight on investor behaviour and increasing confidence in the regional markets” explains Richard Reed, head of property at John Pye Property.

Part of John Pye Auctions, the UK’s largest auction house, John Pye Property holds more than 900 online auctions annually from regional hubs in London and 24 sites nationwide.