The market remains pretty much the same as it has done for
the last six months and probably will do for the next two years:.....a steady
stream of buyers, and a solid level of sales provided that asking prices and
vendor expectations are sensible.
The Leisure and Retail sectors remain extremely challenging
and with the seismic shifts happening in those sectors I doubt that things will
ever be the same.
As for Day Nursery sector there was an alarming suggestion
in the papers recently by OFSTED that the free childcare subsidy should become
means-tested. I think that such an idea would be hugely damaging to the
childcare industry and should be resisted at all costs. These people in the
civil service seem to exist in a parallel universe and simply don’t seem to
understand the financial constraints under which the vast majority of parents
are already labouring when it comes to paying for their childcare!
On the good news front we are seeing increasing levels of
borrowing as the major banks slowly emerge from rebuilding their balance sheets
and some but not all, are starting to lend more freely. We are also much busier
with viewings and offers at this traditionally quiet time of year than in
previous years which hopefully bodes well for the new year.
Deals however remain tough to do and are often taking many
weeks to complete. You as vendors and we as agents have to have the patience of
a saint to put up with the seemingly endless and annoying demands of purchasers
and their lenders!
