London Residential Development Market Prospects 2009-2010
Tuesday 3rd March 2009, 9am London W1
THE annual event for the leading firms in the London Residential Development Market.
It is a chance to learn what might happen to the industry, have your questions answered, network and meet the right people.
In these uncertain times attendance is critical.
Leading Market experts will discuss the following topics:
- Market Outlook
- Land Market
- Government Intervention
- Banks and Funding
- Build Costs
- New Home Sales
The full agenda, and a list of the expert speakers who are taking part is included below.
This event sold out last year. This year, as places have sold so quickly, we have had to change the venue to accommodate more people. Do not miss out.
For more information or to book, call the bookings line on 020 8877 0088
Places cost £299 plus VAT per person
The Event takes place in London, W1
The Agenda for Tuesday 3rd March 2009
Opening Address : Strategic themes for 2009/2010 – 9.30am
Nick Jopling, Executive Director, CB Richard Ellis
Nick is chairing the event and is keen to generate debate and discussion throughout; he sets the scene for the day. While not going into detail on all the issues, Nick will elaborate on the opportunities for the build-to-let sector. He will also touch on how the government and the Homes and Communities Agency should/will seize the opportunity to crank the development wheel.
OUTLOOK: The depth of the downturn; the shape of the recovery – 9.50am
Jim Ward, Director, Residential Research, Savills.
Jim runs through facts and statistics to put into perspective where we are and what might happen next: (1) Demand for homes/ jobs and redundancies/ repossessions/ the rental market (2) The shortterm overhang of new stock v structural longer-term scarcity (3) Investor buying – the exchange rate/ the need for yield (4) Affordable housing – what will HCA/ GLA do to bring it forward?
The good news – BUILD COSTS are coming down – 10.15am
Mark Farmer, Partner and Head of Private Residential, EC Harris
With the residential land and sales market in the middle of a major downward correction it is easy to dwell on the bad news and forget about the parallel adjustments now being seen in the construction tender price market. Because workloads in the residential and commercial development sectors have fallen away, build costs are falling significantly with downward pressure on contractor margins, self employed labour costs, commodities prices and even energy costs. Mark will discuss how this represents an opportunity for developers and funders to take an outturn viability view on schemes going forward, whilst also recognising how to manage the risks of contractor default by heeding the lessons learned from the last downturn in the early 1990’s.
De-risking SALES – 11.30am
Dominic Grace, Director, Head of Residential Investment and Development, Savills
We have all learned to be humble when times are hard and over the coming years the sales focus has to be on the requirements of the end user more so than ever. Potential buyers are elusive and once found need to be convinced that new homes product is absolutely correct – both in terms of quality and price. Dom runs through the lessons learned during the last year, then changing requirements in the market place and consequent adjustments developers should make to move schemes forward.
FUNDING prospects: where debt and equity can it be found – 11.50am
Michael Lister, Partner, Clydesdale Bank and Principal, Michael Lister Private Equity
The banks are busy sorting out their existing loan books, trying to work out exactly where they are – they will not be in a position to lend again until after (1) this is done, and (2) the loan book has been reduced. Mike will explain how far through this process we are, and what you can expect during the next year in terms of loan availability, terms and requirements to get through credit committees.
How the LAND market is likely to evolve in 2009/10 – 12.15pm
Jonathan Vandermolen, Director, The Mount Audley Group
With little buying/selling of land due to a lack of bank lending, the type of activity in the land market will alter. London still needs homes and land owners still need to release their equity and debt – for these reasons land market activity will occur but not through land being sold. Jonathan discusses what to expect and how such things as joint-ventures between developers, RSLs, contactors, banks and funds will emerge simply to get some value from existing positions and to minimise exposure and losses.
