Reacting to the details of the biggest quarterly decline in construction output in five years, Managing Director Blane Perrotton said “Britain’s housebuilding boom is no longer providing a ‘get out of jail’ card for the struggling construction industry. At best it’s sugaring an increasingly bitter pill. Both commercial property and infrastructure construction suffered a steady loss of momentum during 2017, as investors have continued concerns over the future course of the economy.”
Giving commentary to the discussion around residential property market booms and commercial decline in Property Wire, Managing Director Blane Perrotton said “While a loss of momentum in commercial property and infrastructure work dragged down both output and sentiment in the latter part of the 2017, Britain’s house builders continue to buck the trend, posting a sixteenth straight rise in monthly output and injecting a defiant note into an industry which has been hit hard by rising material costs and had its confidence eroded by months of Brexit negotiations. There are some bright spots. Construction firms’ order books are far from empty and on the front line we’re seeing consistent appetite among developers to convert office buildings into residential units under the extended and popular Permitted Development Rights […].
From Red Flags to Rate Rises – Read Naismiths Director (National Head of Building Surveying & Asset Recover Solutions), Gareth Belsham’s handy insightful survival guide for developers…
Few industries are more reliant on sentiment than construction. Long timeframes and high upfront costs force developers to bet on future demand, and confidence is invariably a key factor in any investment decision.
So it’s ironic then, that developers – so well versed in reading the runes of the market when building their business case – can sometimes be unaware of changes in sentiment once construction is underway […].
Naismiths has been popping up in the press, post-budget, to share analysis on yesterday’s announcements.
Our Managing Director, Blane Perrotton, has been summarising his perspective;
“The Chancellor presented a multi-faceted strategy for tackling the housing crisis, but you do wonder whether simple would have been more effective. When it comes to housebuilding, the more measures, guarantees and capital funding initiatives there are, the harder it can be to track progress and see concrete results. The 100% council tax premium on empty properties may not amount to much financially but it represents a tougher stance by the Government that should be applauded. The Chancellor’s call for an urgent review into land banking will also cause some in the development sector to sit up. The tide may be turning against them.
If this Government is genuinely going to make a difference to the level of house building, the gloves need to come off, and you sense they are.”
We are off to a great start on our new framework agreement with a major healthcare investor. The Naismiths national building surveying team have recently provided pre-acquisition technical due diligence advice on a multi-million pound deal across a portfolio of 80 properties around the country. As this valued client’s primary trusted adviser, we are very proud to support their ambitious program of acquisition and development across the U.K.