NORTHACRE'S CEO SHARES HIS VIEWS ON PCL OVER THE LAST 12 MONTHS
Niccolò Barattieri di San Pietro, CEO of Northacre shares his views on how PCL has fared over the last 12 months and his forecast for 2021…
If you had asked me for my predictions for PCL on New Year’s Eve last year, I don’t think anyone could have predicted the environment we are in now. That said, the market has been incredibly resilient over the past eight months and has built on the momentum it gained post-election.
I have been astounded with resilience of PCL overall and despite the restrictions in place, sales at The Broadway totalled in excess of £40m in the 6 months from March. The flexibility of the London Property Market, especially PCL, has been seen time and time again after Global recessions, stamp duty hikes and changes to non dom rules. It is abundantly clear that PCL property remains a prize asset which uniquely bridges the gap between East & West. When compared to its global competitors - Hong Kong, that had to contend with rioting immediately before Covid-19 and New York, which one may consider to be a harsher environment in which to lockdown in with limited green space within the city, London is better positioned than its main competitors to come out of Covid well.
The pandemic has not only provided pause for thought on our investments it has brought into sharp focus how we live, and how we want to live, and the great roles our homes play within that. But this is nothing new to us here at Northacre and these have always been at the forefront of what we do when building homes for generations to come. Whilst the glorious weather of the first lockdown left many craving green space and many predicted the end of urbanisation, I think it is here that London comes into its own. There are 35,000 acres of green space in this city and PCL benefits from many of those acres in its Royal Parks. Again, history has shown us how London continues to adapt and reinvent itself in the face of change. When the telephone was invented in 1876 many predicted the end of urbanisation, the absolute opposite happened.
The telephone created the ultimate opportunity for businesses to grow and expand and in turn accelerated urbanisation. Ultimately lockdown highlighted the greatest pleasure of all is human contact and that we are urban beasts. For many of our clients the pandemic has prompted families to look back and reflect ‘where is it I want my family to live’ and the answer is invariably London. Enquiries over the last 12 months have been increasingly focused and after those from the UK, enquiries from the US have increased substantially year on year. At Northacre we have been fortunate that technology has bridged the gap in human interaction and allowed us to react dynamically with our marketing campaigns. Our Northacre at Home series has been a fantastic platform for us to celebrate our project partners and industry colleagues and reach new audiences across social media.
Looking ahead to 2021 we remain positive as travel restrictions lift and foreign investors continue to perceive value in PCL. We must remember that we are most probably entering a prolonged period of zero interest rates. This no doubt will focus investors’ attention on real estate, and we are confident that PCL will be at the forefront of their desires. Ultimately, we believe that we are at the tail end of this bear market that started in back in June 2014.
www.northacre.com | E: enquiries@northacre.com | T: +44 (0) 20 7349 8000
