This week we head to East Anglia, where leading regional estate agent Cheffins operates in some of the area’s property hotspots and residential sales director Mark Peck can offer unique insight into what new homes buyers can expect to find there.
Hi Mark, please tell us a little about yourself and Cheffins.
Cheffins is one of the country’s leading firms of surveyors, valuers, property advisers and auctioneers. Established in 1825, the firm has six offices in Cambridge, Ely, Haverhill, Newmarket, Saffron Walden and Sutton. Cheffins is the leading estate agent in the mid-Anglia region and dominates the local market in all of the towns in which it operates.
Cheffins’ professional services include residential sales, residential lettings, fine art auctions, commercial property, agriculture and rural business services, vintage and classic auctions, planning and development, property auctions and tractor and plant machinery.
How has business been in the first months of 2017?
We have been incredibly busy across all of our offices at the start of this year. Whilst the buy-to-let market has suffered slightly, the local market remains active and we haven’t yet seen a drop in transactions. The upper end of the market is continuing to sell well and we are still seeing London-based commuters looking to buy in East Anglia. There have been a number of new developments launched in the first quarter of the year and these have sold well to a mix of local buyers and those moving to the area.
New build prices in East Anglia are among the fastest-rising in the UK - are there clear reasons for this?
Cambridge is one of the fastest-growing cities in the UK and has become a commercial centre for some of the largest corporations in the world. There has been a tidal wave of companies all relocating to Cambridge at the same time; this force is currently being led by the pharmaceutical giant, Astra Zeneca, with the likes of Amazon, Spotify, Google and others hot on their heels. This has resulted in a boom in the population and has had a knock-on effect on other towns in East Anglia, with Ely, Newmarket, Saffron Walden and Haverhill all seeing demand for housing intensifying as more people come to work in Cambridge.
The disparity between supply and demand in Cambridge and the surrounding area and the growth of the Cambridge Phenomenon has meant that property prices in the region are staying strong and there hasn’t yet been a drop in transaction levels. Cambridge is our London in this area. It gives us our own micro-economy, with buyers getting pushed out of Cambridge and turning to other towns in the area as alternatives. Additionally, East Anglian towns offer a fantastic lifestyle. We have some of the best schools in the country, pretty villages, expansive countryside and the majority of the towns in the area are still quaint and unspoilt.
Is affordability a major issue in your region and are Help to Buy/Shared Ownership doing enough to assist people into the market?
Affordability always has been an issue in our region and whilst Help to Buy and Shared Ownership have helped to a certain extent, there is a lack of housing which needs to be addressed. We have also seen a number of Community Land Trust schemes in East Anglia, which have helped the local market to get onto the housing ladder. The landmark Ely North development which is currently in progress will provide another 3,000 new homes and should hopefully help our local market in Ely in particular.
Cambridge has been a hotspot for some years now - where else in the region is showing especially strong demand?
Ely and Saffron Walden in particular are currently experiencing incredibly strong demand. We have seen a number of houses sell via sealed bids in the past six months and price rises have been level with those in Cambridge over the last year. Newmarket is another of the region’s success stories and has also benefitted from corporate buyers who are looking to be within commuting distance of Cambridge. According to leading online property portals, Newmarket’s house prices have risen by almost 40% in the past five years, mainly because of the town’s incredibly strict planning policies.
There is a shortage of supply in Newmarket and the surrounding villages and any properties which do come to the market are usually snapped up by Cambridge commuters, or the wealthier members of the horseracing industry. There is little new development in the pipeline for Newmarket so we are expecting prices to continue to rise there and in the town’s surrounding villages which are some of the smartest in the country.
What sort of variety are you seeing in the new homes developments you are currently marketing?
We are currently marketing a Community Land Trust scheme in Stretham just outside of Ely which consists of 75 properties, 25 of which will be available to let by the local community. The properties here are built in a contemporary style and include high-specification interiors. With 13 properties now sold and six owners moved in, there are only four remaining plots available in phase one of the development. Prices range from £295,000 to £499,950.
Meanwhile, our Saffron Walden office is marketing a smart development of new homes by Enterprise Property Group. This includes 35 new homes with two to five bedrooms and also 12 affordable homes. A number of the houses include features reflective of the Arts and Crafts movement and each one has been built to be in-keeping with the local area and prices range from £395,000 to £1.075m.
The most contemporary development we are currently marketing is Barley Mews in Great Shelford, six miles from Cambridge city centre. This is also developed by Enterprise Property Group and includes eight terraced houses with two to four bedrooms with garages and private terraces. These are priced from £465,000 to £675,000. Specification for new homes has really improved in the past two years and we are now seeing developers provide a higher level of fit outs which haven’t been seen before.
Online and hybrid agencies are promoting themselves very strongly - are you feeling the effects of this and what still brings buyers and sellers to a traditional estate agency?
We have only been marginally affected by online agencies in our region and we are generally finding that any sellers which do instruct and online-only agency are often returning to traditional estate agents having found that they haven’t experienced the service which they would have expected. The majority of people do still turn to traditional methods as they appreciate the importance of print advertising, professional advice and negotiation throughout the process.
In addition, local knowledge always comes up trumps when selling a home. Online agents rarely have that experience of the local market and therefore often struggle to correctly price a property. We have taken on a number of new instructions across all of our offices recently where sellers have struggled to sell via online agents. Our cross-selling between offices is particularly important and buyers across the region appreciate our ability to market their home throughout all of our key locations and also via our London office.
Another point to remember is that we often sell properties before they come to the open market. This is never an option with online agents, so it is essential to be able to provide both traditional and digital elements throughout the sales process.
The housing White Paper and spring Budget came in quick succession - what are your thoughts on the points they did and didn't bring up?
The Housing White Paper was another effort from the government to increase productivity for housebuilders and try and speed up the planning process. There is a fine balance to be found here and we must ensure that our countryside is protected from inappropriate development whilst still providing enough new homes built to meet the UK’s chronic levels of demand.
Neighbourhood plans also came under fire and the announcement that these should be revised to ensure that plans meet their fair share of local housing need and delivery across a wider local area can only be a positive. This is certainly something which strikes a chord with those living in our region where the development of Local Plans have been particularly slow-moving. As one of the areas with the largest disparity between demand and supply, the mid-Anglia region really does need to be helped to deliver on housing and infrastructure, and anything which could help speed up the process is essential.
We have been disappointed that stamp duty has not been addressed as it really has had a negative effect on the buy-to-let market and we are all hoping that this is something which might be repealed over the next few months.
What are your predictions for the property market in East Anglia for the rest of 2017 and into next year?
I forecast that the East Anglian property market will stay strong for the rest of 2017 and into next year as Cambridge continues to grow and affect the rest of the region. We may see a slight readjustment of pricing and a slow in transactions during the Brexit process, however as one of the fastest-growing locations in the UK, we are confident that 2017 will be another extremely busy year for the property market.