Residential Transactional and Living Markets
Investment
Overview
`Price discovery phase’ was something that we referenced several times in our Q2 update and this is still very much the case for our market as transaction numbers are down across the sector and the number of buyers has also dwindled.
Residential Development
Overview
It’s no secret that the land and development market has been slower this year. The significant interest rate rises and build cost inflation over the past 24 months has impacted the viability / profitability of several schemes. This was then compounded by the fire safety regulatory changes and the second stair core debate which took place during the first 6 months of the year culminating in a final decision which now requires second stair cores in buildings over 18m as of July 2023. This combined with the new building regulations coming into effect from June this year has seen a perfect storm of increased costs negatively influencing land values and this has been hard for landowners, developers and contractors alike, with subject to planning deals being renegotiated and planning consents often having to be amended prior to implementation, and contractors falling into administration, leading to further construction delays around the country.
Student Housing
Overview
Although investment volumes have fallen by 40% year-to-date compared to 2022, this headline does not accurately represent the optimistic outlook on the robust occupational market and the abundance of capital poised for investment in the sector..