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Panel Talk: The London Housing Market

On Monday I was invited onto the NRLA London: Housing Market in London panel.  The webinar was a lively discussion about the state of the London housing market.  I was grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts on what I believe we can expect for 2021 in the property market following Brexit, Covid, the stamp duty holiday and so on. 

My personal view is that we are likely to see a double dip recession.  The economy alongside the housing market, as they go hand in hand, will steadily fall (not sharply) at the beginning of the year around March 2021. Largely I believe this will be due to the stamp duty holiday ending. The threshold of £500k being reduced back down to normal. That is stamp duty land tax being paid on properties that cost more than £125k or £300k for first time buyers, together with changes to the Help to Buy scheme that will come into play in April. No longer will Help to Buy be open to those that have owned before as it is now.  I suspect it will just be for first time buyers in addition to any other changes they make.   

Furthermore, I believe the downturn will linger at the bottom for a while whilst new Government schemes are being introduced; new ways of working are being created and the pot of jobs that are left will be scrambled on a first come first served basis.  Hopefully young people will find employment to make them eligible again to seek mortgages. 

At this point I feel we will see again a steady rise and recovery almost back to where we were. However, this will come with caution and may be short-lived because the full effects of Brexit will not have been felt and the cost of Covid will still to be lingering in the background with the furlough scheme ending. It is these factors coupled with cautious lending and down valuations of property that will suddenly throw us back into another recession of the same U shape. Therefore, double dipping us.  

It seems quite a few housing experts have an optimistic view on the state of the property market come 2021, with Rightmove stating that despite a steady increase in house prices, there will still be buyer demand because “there is strong evidence that people will continue to prioritise their housing needs despite current uncertainty”. This isn’t entirely surprising considering the stampede of buyers even within this pandemic and although there hasn’t been a clear explanation for this surge, it is probably fair to say that the Stamp Duty Holiday coupled with other factors such as money saved due to some still earning during lockdown has played a big role in this. 

As always there is a real mix of opinion; with some experts stating house prices will increase while some claim that there’ll be a fall in prices. One thing that is certain though there will be mass unemployment as a result of COVID-19, especially among young people. We will become a nation of renters and we don’t need statistics to tell us that the average person will still be living at home in their thirties as they simply cannot afford to buy.

What are your thoughts?

GOOGLE: The State of Black Women UK Summit 2020

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking at Google’s event entitled: The State of Black Women UK Summit 2020. In 2018, Google launched this campaign internally in order to promote a sense of belonging for black women within their organisation. Clearly Google recognised that we are not all equally represented, particularly black women. This without doubt I felt was a brave and bold move for such an organisation.

This year’s initiative was centred around equality and with the events and movements that have taken place this year, I can’t think of a more fitting topical focus. 

I find opportunities like these quite surreal as it fills me with a sense of optimism and hope that slowly but surely we are nearing an age of real change. I consider representation to be a key part of diversity and inclusion. Therefore, as a black woman, I feel proud that I was given this amazing opportunity to share my story alongside Ayesha Ofori and Faith Locken – who are two incredible black women kicking up a storm in property. A big thank you also to the powerhouse Google organisers: Melissa Milgate, Naomi Ventour, Camille Addo and Fauzia van der Leeuw.

As we step into the New Year I’m hoping that together, we continue working towards creating a united society that is accepting of all people. And I will be continuing the conversation with a new initiative called The Business of Black with Marina Conway Gordon. It will be a safe platform for these conversations to be had. We very much want as many people as possible to join in the conversation. www.thebusinessofblack.today

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking at Google’s event entitled: The State of Black Women UK Summit 2020. In 2018, Google launched this campaign internally in order to promote a sense of belonging for black women within their organisation. Clearly Google recognised that we are not all equally represented, particularly black women. This without doubt I felt was a brave and bold move for such an organisation.

This year’s initiative was centred around equality and with the events and movements that have taken place this year, I can’t think of a more fitting topical focus. 

I find opportunities like these quite surreal as it fills me with a sense of optimism and hope that slowly but surely we are nearing an age of real change. I consider representation to be a key part of diversity and inclusion. Therefore, as a black woman, I feel proud that I was given this amazing opportunity to share my story alongside Ayesha Ofori and Faith Locken – who are two incredible black women kicking up a storm in property. A big thank you also to the powerhouse Google organisers: Melissa Milgate, Naomi Ventour, Camille Addo and Fauzia van der Leeuw.

As we step into the New Year I’m hoping that together, we continue working towards creating a united society that is accepting of all people. And I will be continuing the conversation with a new initiative called The Business of Black with Marina Conway Gordon. It will be a safe platform for these conversations to be had. We very much want as many people as possible to join in the conversation. www.thebusinessofblack.today

“I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people” – Rosa Parks

The Business of Black

Welcome to a monthly series of online, panel-led conversations supporting Black Lives Matter, with a focus on brands, entrepreneurship and business. With these discussions, and a growing online community, we hope to further expand understanding of racial inequality, inspire positive action, and build unity in business and in life.

Continue reading “The Business of Black”

When “Opportunity Knocks”​

The title of this article was inspired by a British talent show, originally hosted by Hughie Green called Opportunity Knocks. I used to enjoy watching this programme with my family. It was one that most families back then watched. I remember being in the playground with my friends and talking about the show and every child thinking one day an opportunity will knock for me. Many stars were born out of there.

Today I wonder how many opportunities did knock for us later in life. Did we catch them all? The worst thing would have been to miss one or be too afraid to take it when it knocked. I certainly know I caught one of mine and I talk about it briefly on BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey.  

So last Sunday on November 15th, I had the pleasure of joining the amazing Nicky Patrick on BBC Radio Sussex & Surrey along with my business partner, Delores Coombs, to discuss very briefly our journey to Property Development and where it all began. 

It is no secret that my partnership with Delores emerged as a result of an unintentional email that she sent to me but wasn’t actually for me! This led to us partnering up to, essentially, find homes for young people that are in need of housing and looked after by the Borough. Eventually, we decided to step outside of our comfort zones and try our hand at buying and renting this type of accommodation ourselves. 

Today, we still make mistakes but continue to learn as we pursue our Perfect. I always enjoy sharing our story as well as my personal experience as a Property Developer because there is hope it will encourage those who may be anxious or apprehensive to take their first step in their next pursuit. Especially with regards to women as I know many of us often feel deterred from certain career paths that seem male dominated and this is also something that Delores and I touched on in the interview. 

I’m delighted that I was able to once again share my story alongside my wonderful business partner and if you didn’t get a chance to tune in, you can find the interview in the ‘Download’ button below! 

Croydon’s crisis

As a previous Croydon resident, and someone who now invests and develops in Croydon you can only imagine my shock and horror when the announcement fell last week that the Council was on its knees. I asked myself why Croydon invested in so many huge projects with no realistic plan or strategy.  Even as a small developer I have a plan and I stick to it with regular reviews.

On Wednesday, 11th November, Croydon Council issued a Section 114 notice which was essentially a declaration of bankruptcy. They are the only other Council, in the last twenty years, to issue this notice. 

What does a Section 114 notice mean? 

A Section 114 notice means that no new funds can be spent by the Council unless for statutory services and providing aid to vulnerable people. 

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has put a massive financial strain on this country and as a result it has left many Councils in a dire state, struggling to fund local services and also on the edge of bankruptcy. However, a “damning” report put together by Grant Thornton highlights how Croydon’s downfall was largely due to the gross negligence of Croydon’s administration. An article stated that  “The local authority’s former leaders had ignored more than three years of internal warnings about its finances.” After making risky investments and taking out hefty loans with no significant return it is clear that the effects of this pandemic was just the tip of the iceberg. 

The effect on Croydon and its people? 

With mass redundancies on the horizon in a bid to cut costs, there’s no doubt that unemployment is a key aspect that is certain to have a devastating impact on Croydon’s people. Additionally, despite the Council stating that they shall still fund statutory services, Labour’s analysis has shown that the only way they can avoid eating in to the money set aside for social care is by closing down all libraries, children’s centres, leisure centres, turning off all street lights and carrying out no winter gritting and that is just naming some of the things listed. All things considered, it seems very much like a lose-lose situation and the livelihood and general well-being of many individuals is currently hanging in the balance.

The effect on private landlords

Although there currently isn’t any clear-cut information on how all of this will impact landlords that doesn’t necessarily mean that we are in the clear. 

LB Croydon is known to go after developers and landlords to generate income, taxing them heavily on licences for each rental property that other boroughs do not have to pay.  In my opinion they seem to forget that without private rental properties the local authority would be even further on its knees trying to provide housing for those without it. With 250,000 people on local authority housing waiting lists this issue is huge and should not be ignored by any Borough.

As Croydon makes more and more people redundant because of their failure to control spending and not solely because of COVID-19 private landlords will see a steady increase in tenants unable to meet rent payments and further will be unable to evict them at this time.

As a landlord with a social conscience, I see the other side and understand all too well what this will mean to tenants evicted or unable to secure accommodation because they don’t have sufficient savings for deposits and upfront rents. 

Watch this space as Croydon outlines its plan to recover.  

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