Four months in...... Were we right?

Below is a little overview we did for a client at the back end of the year. Interesting to see now four months into the year how it is panning out.

What is 2021 going to look like and where are the opportunities?

Place North West’s take on the NW property market in 2021

Towns are the new cities. Councils and developers are weighing up the role and will have to decide the fate of their town centre high streets and shopping centres. Expect more repurposing and council intervention fuelled by reduced prudential borrowing rates from November’s spending review. 

Logistics to remain hot, putting pressure on local authorities to consent more large sites and require developers to drive home the job creation story of industrial with greater urgency.

Housing remains strong underpinned by monetary policy, changing behaviour – gardens and working from home – and cheap mortgages. Social and public housing will be seen as a safe haven for private money with guaranteed long-term returns. Developers are positioning themselves to deliver more affordable housing and sign partnerships with registered providers.

Senior living and the associated healthcare facilities are about to have their time after years of talk. Millions of baby boomers are retiring and have money, but who has really designed and built for them yet? GM Ageing Hub, inside GMCA, worth tracking.

A lot of eyes will be on impact of Manchester’s replacement for Eddie Smith, Louise Wyman, to see if she starts delivering on her more ‘liveable city’ manifesto with greater emphasis on quality of place rather than purely economic growth.

Office pipeline has largely frozen and could remain that way depending on more transactional evidence and mood of corporate market – will the lawyers and accountants continue to take large Grade A space at historic levels? See Deloitte giving themselves optionality by taking WeWork space as a stop gap.

PlaceTech on Technology and Innovation in the UK property market in 2021

Developers are demanding their project teams deliver smart buildings, without really knowing what that means, they just want smart buildings. The proof will be in procurement; whether innovation gets value engineered out or stays on the table. This means seamless user experience through buildings and all its systems – booking, lighting, billing... Customer experience is followed closely by energy and facilities management as factors driving the smart building charge. All are pointing to greater monitoring and measurement of buildings and automated remote maintenance and management. 

Turmoil in retail property is prompting greater interest in data tools to monitor exactly who shoppers are down to granular level, so developers can better decide what to do with assets: age, ethnicity, family status, interests...

Logistics and industrial will lead the way in tech adoption both in software for tracking leads and leases, and in hardware, to use robots for picking and more sustainable materials and systems for low carbon buildings.

Tenant engagement apps have seen acceleration of adoption by office operators and landlords, which will continue, with a proliferation of suppliers flooding the market.

Fair to say so far so good. If you are after clear advice and insight to help you grow your business, give us a call. It's more than just advertising you know.