18/11/2022
Always with a close eye on the PCL property market, Managing Director, Alex Woodleigh-Smith shares his thoughts on the latest Government budget: “The Chancellor’s announcement had some overly negative advance briefing – the reality is that there is nothing that I can see that will rock any particular taxpayer group. The freezing of thresholds must surely be easier to take than a headline rate increase. Plus, the measures to reduce inflation back to around 7% by the middle of next year will help people to realise that the current hysteria represents a more temporary blip, heavily related to the war in Ukraine and Energy costs. Perhaps something to watch is Stamp Duty – the recent measures to support the mainstream markets at lower levels are expected to be permanent, so the deadline until March 2025, whilst stimulating transactions in the short term, did come with a sting in the tail – it would be pertinent to wonder if there could be an increase for top levels when this ends, thereby motivating buyers to make purchases sooner rather than later.
My feeling now is that because renting has become so inflated (with average rents rising by 17.8% in Prime Central London), buyers will still be motivated to progress with purchases, but more laser focussed on an ‘armour-plated’ brief where only the absolute best properties will do. As a result, I think the demand for off-market properties will get even more competitive and further incentivise PCL buyers to use a service such as ours. PCL buyers will want fast access to properties which combine heritage, architecture, position, and services. Any property which requires lots of renovations, due to the inflationary effects we’re seeing with the cost of building materials, will be largely discounted, and properties with added services like a concierge will be favoured.”
