When we published our inaugural Investing in Living report back in 2021, the pandemic was receding, Brexit was (sort of) done and we dared to hope that the Living sector had resilience and opportunity on its side for 2022 and that things were looking up. There was definitely some optimism in the pages of our report although this was tempered by the supply chain issues earlier that year, ongoing materials and labour shortages and upcoming legislative change to contend with.
But 2022 had other plans for us: Partygate, the Ukraine War, energy prices, inflation, three Prime Ministers in the space of six weeks, the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the days of reckoning in the bond markets after the Truss/Kwarteng “mini budget”. The news cycle has been fast paced and exhausting. And all the days and weeks dealing with these huge events were days and weeks where the Department for Levelling Up Housing & Communities (and other ministries of course) could not deal with the issues our sector needs to see resolved.
Turning back to the Living sector, what will the last year’s events – macro and micro – mean for the sector? There are some chunky issues on the agenda, affecting how investors and developers will view the various asset classes in the sector - how will these be resolved? Is there still cause for optimism?
This report is less of a rollercoaster than the last few months but certainly does not shy away from discussing the good, the bad and the ugly.
You can read all the related articles to this report below, or alternatively, download your own copy of the PDF using the download button.
Kirsten Hewson, Partner and Head of Real Estate
