Diary of an agent: Laetitia Hodson and Stuart Baillie

Laetitia Hodson (LH) specialises in sales in Provence and the French Alps as part of Knight Frank’s International Department. Stuart Baillie (SB) is head of Knight Frank’s expanding Town Planning team, which works on everything from council estate regeneration to mixed-use projects and across UK residential and commercial sectors.

With the housing markets open again in France and England, the duo discuss their expectations for the remainder of the year, including how lockdown will re-shape development.

How did lockdown affect your role?

LH – As part of the International Department I work with a network of associate agents in France. I cover the Alps with Roddy Aris and Provence, which is my baby. Although France has reopened for business, there was a period where we had to switch to virtual viewings. That worked better for properties in the Alps, which are often investments where people are willing to offer without seeing the property, than it did for Provence. Provence is about buying into the lifestyle and people need to visit to get the feel of the place.

SB – Our teams in London and Bristol have been fully operational during lockdown as planning authorities and clients have embraced virtual technology to keep the planning system moving. We have a residential pipeline of some 14,500 homes and our partners include Redrow, Barratt Homes and Galliard Homes as well as housing associations and investor developer clients. Instructions during lockdown have tended to be advisory, tweaking schemes or testing options to improve viability rather than new large-scale planning applications.

What has happened as a consequence of the pause in the markets?

LH – The majority of my clients are British, approximately 85%, and they are looking to buy second homes in Provence. Nine out of every ten buyers that we had before lockdown remain very keen. If anything, the experience of lockdown has driven people to want the authentic living that Provence offers.

SB – We’re seeing pressure within the public sector to bring more sites to market. Although this existed before, it has been accelerated as there is now a black hole in the public finances. Retail landlords, who were already grappling with the shift to online sales before the pandemic, are exploring more mixed-use development.

How is the remainder of the year shaping up?

LH – As a general rule there are always more buyers than sellers in Provence. The lead up to the Brexit decision and weakness of Sterling put some people off acting before. However, people decided at the start of the year that they no longer wanted to put things off and this sentiment has survived lockdown.

SB – The government remains committed to reaching its housing target of 300,000 new homes a year by the middle of this decade. Although we’ve had a pause in building activity the pent-up demand remains, and the market will come back strongly. We have a plan to grow our team from 12 to 20 this financial year and I’m still expecting to do so.

What are you looking forward too?

LH - I typically travel to Provence three times a year to talk to the vendors and enhance my local knowledge of the area. While conducting virtual viewings has been a new, and useful experience, I am looking forward to resuming this.

SB –Lockdown has dragged the planning system into the 21st century. Pre-application meetings have been online and much more efficient. There are other archaic paper-based procedures that have been temporarily parked but should be consigned to the bin to help streamline the planning process permanently. The Government is also proposing a raft of new planning procedures including zoning and fast track planning permissions, so watch this space.

What comes next?

LH - While the French economy’s performance will ultimately have an impact, most vendors are not under pressure to sell at present, so I do not expect prices to fall in Provence. I’m hoping the Brits will feel confident enough to travel later in the year to experience the region. If so, the signs are that we will still have a strong season.

SB – The rise of working from home poses questions that will need to be answered, such as will there need to be increased space or a change to the layout in new homes? Alternatively, to appeal to young professionals working in a flat, you might need to design in greater sound-insulation so that they don’t constantly interrupt each other with noisy Skype calls.