Diary of an agent: Russell Grieve and Shaun Terry

Shaun Terry (pictured left) divides his time between Knight Frank’s Hyde Park and Notting Hill offices. Russell Grieve (pictured right) runs Knight Frank’s Haslemere office in Surrey.

Since the market reopened domestic buyers in London have capitalised on the absence of competition from overseas; the widespread adoption of working from home has seen people willing to venture further afield; but while the UK residential property market remains hugely busy, a note of caution is creeping in.

How have restrictions on international buyers affected the market?

Shaun Terry (ST) - Both Bayswater and Notting Hill have seen the emergence of UK domestic buyers taking advantage of the stamp duty holiday, and the lack of competition from international buyers. Of the deals I’ve done this year, less than 20% have involved international buyers, which is unusual.

How has working from home and the recent stamp duty holiday affected the market?

ST - I specialise in properties from £1m and up. Despite this, the stamp duty holiday has made the entire market very active. A lot of people have taken this opportunity to downsize or move to somewhere they wouldn’t have considered when commuting each day. 

Russell Grieve (RG) – While many of our buyers are coming from South-west London as they traditionally do, the market feels hotter right now than when I was an agent in London in the 1990s. We’ve got three times as many prospective buyers on our books as we’d normally have. It’s not just Londoners that are willing to live further out, either. With the adoption of working from home en masse, we have people in Haslemere saying I don’t need to commute anymore so I want to live in Dorset, Bath, the Cotswolds.

What is in demand?

ST – We’ve seen the resurgence of the house over the apartment, and the re-emergence of the garden flat. In the past garden flats have sometimes been unfairly maligned as being dark but now having your own entrance and a sunlight, outdoor space is very popular.

RG – We recently sold a six-bedroom property in Dell Quay, Chichester, and another house close to Aldwick Bay, Bognor Regis, which had five bids at guide price and two above in less than a week of being on the market. While property is so personal and subjective, people know what value for money looks like and are generally looking for more space and greenery since lockdown, in areas they may not have considered before. 

How is this shift in demand affecting pricing?

ST  - I listed a garden flat at the beginning of lockdown that sold quickly, but despite the strong demand, pricing must still illustrate value for money compared with what’s previously sold in the area. That isn’t Covid-19 inspired, but instead a continuation of what we’ve seen in the London market since the changes to property taxes in 2014. Soon after the market reopened, we were seeing competitive bids for properties around the parks, but the market has now rebalanced between buyer and seller.

RG – We’re seeing competitive bidding but off a sensible guide price. The buyers and sellers out there are intelligent, successful people and given the wealth of information available online, they know exactly the prices they should be paying.

How will the next few months play out?

ST - People are wary about what’s coming and want to capitalise on the autumn market. There’s a window of opportunity ahead, and people do not want to get waylaid by Brexit or the end of the furlough scheme. Both our Hyde Park and Notting Hill offices are set for strong years for transaction volumes. However, there is a growing caution in the market, which could affect discretionary purchases next year. By that I mean the likes of the buy to let landlords, as well as prospective buyers looking to upsize but whose children are already in the school they want, who are in the position where they can hold back on a purchase while the economic outlook remains uncertain.

RG - Barring any unforeseen circumstances we’ll be busy well into December. I think January and February will be very busy too, as people look to complete before the end of the stamp duty holiday. However, I don’t think it will end there, as a lot of people we’re talking to now are looking to sell in the spring. Crucially, prices haven’t got silly.