18 Months Until The End Of The Credit Crunch? |
Residential specialists Investland have predicted that the next 18 months could see a silver lining to the credit crunch.
‘The Age of the Niche Housebuilder’ as Investland refer to suggests that it will be niche, locally focused companies that will prosper over larger, listed companies in the wake of the property market crisis.
Set-up during the economic downturn of the 1990s, Investland, the property development company believes it has seen some similar conditions being recreated, which in turn will generate the ideal conditions for smaller scale developers.
Yuda Ambalo, managing director of Investland, comments: ‘What we learnt from our experience at the start of the 1990s was to take exactly the opposite position. If you’re out of the market, you very quickly lose your reputation and confidence to take risks. The current conditions – challenging as they are – are perfect for local, niche developers that are quick on their toes and know their markets very well.’
As well as the advantage of risk taking, Investland believes that a good local knowledge and contacts mean that smaller companies are more able to spot the best opportunities. In addition, being able to provide small scale deals (in contrast to big developers that may exit the market for months on end), ensures ‘niche’ companies can continually provide liquidity.
Ben Chesterfield, managing director of Urban Edge, believes these reasons will see the silver lining to the Credit Crunch. ‘A lot of developers that have put effort into specific regions or niche types of housing have a huge opportunity to be the main driving force behind the industry. If everyone takes a big step back, they’re leaving a void which has to be filled by someone – to my mind, that someone is the niche housebuilder.’
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Posted On
27
August
2008
at
05:53
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