Post-Brexit blues and what next?

Never in my lifetime have I seen so much enthusiasm and passion for politics. Brexit awoke the sleeping dog in almost all of us, with everyone from Richard Branson to John Barnes declaring their voting intentions in the run up to the referendum.

Now the result is in, what next?

The fact is no one knows. Both the Remain and Leave camps used the ‘fear of the unknown’ to convince voters but perhaps this was just a massive bluff because the truth is, no one really does know what will happen in the months and years post-Brexit.

George Osborne and Nigel Farage both used this angle in their pre-vote arguments, scaring people into the belief that the economy and country would implode either way. When questioned on the specifics, however, there was little to no evidence to back up their propositions.

What we do have are knee-jerk reactions that, although severe, should be temporary.

I bookmarked over 20 online articles about Brexit and the property market, and there’s a reoccurring theme that made me think of the child’s song ‘There’s a hole in my bucket’.

This cyclical ditty is about deadlock and going round and round in circles. It sums up the post-Brexit landscape.

Conjecture, speculation and bluff saturated the press and there we were, trying to link trade relations, sterling, job prospects and two-way immigration to property.

Mortgages? Harder to get.

House prices? Dropping 18% by 2018, says Osborne.

First-time buyers? Faring better due to a fresh supply of starter home and better affordability.

Immigration? Skilled labourers leaving the UK and no one to replace them.

House building? Slowing. 

Landlords? Selling up in droves.

Rents? Dropping.

Rents? Rising due to a constriction in supply.

If you can make sense of the rhetoric, then why not get into politics?

Now for the post-Brexit landscape.

Home movers? I think they’ll go off and lie down in a darkened room over the summer to refocus, reenergize and wait for the dust to settle.

The seasonal marketplace always shows a lull during July and August, so trying to measure any immediate post-Brexit market is plain silly.

Let’s wait until October rolls around and see how things are shaping up in terms of moving intent, confidence and a new Prime Minister.

*Simon Duce is the Managing Director of ARPM Outsourced Lettings Support