It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.
It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.
Here we speak to Paul Brown, the Managing Director of Huddersfield-based Yorkshire Country Properties.
There’s no doubt that 2023 was a challenging year for the residential property market, both in Yorkshire and in the UK. Rising interest rates, the cost-of-living crisis and political uncertainty have combined to make many people wary about buying or selling a home. As new-build residential property developers, we have had to be patient and to be acutely aware of what buyers want from their new homes and why.
It is not all doom and gloom, however. Interest rates and inflation are slowly beginning to fall and, provided this trend continues, there is every reason to believe that 2024 will be a much healthier and happier year for the new homes market. Research has shown that there is still quite a lot of activity amongst key buyer groups, despite market headwinds, with the top reason for choosing a new build being low maintenance and renovation costs.
Not all parts of the new homes market are in decline. Our starter homes initiative at our three sites in West Yorkshire has been incredibly successful with first-time buyers keen to stop paying high rents and to climb on to the property ladder for the first time. There is also strong evidence to suggest that demand for well-built attractive family homes, correctly priced, remains healthy and should gather pace during the next 12 months.
Yes, 2023 has been tough, but we look forward to 2024 with hope.
