There is one word that is banned in our office and that is the B word. It is not that we don’t feel like it will influence the market, because it already has, but at this stage, it is pretty much out of our control and making long term predictions without Parliament sorting out a deal is a guessing game. Also, we at David Astbury’s don’t feel Brexit should be used as an excuse for underperformance.

One thing is for sure though and that is the uncertainty surrounding the situation is the main contributor to a slight downturn that we are experiencing. The First Time Buyer (FTB) is still buoyant in Crouch End, and Toby Morris, our Sales Director, is doing incredible work getting a great number of completions over the line.

What we have found in the Lettings Market is potential FTB’s renting temporarily and an upturn in tenants requesting 6 month break clauses as they sit tight waiting for the dust to settle on Brexit before entering the sales market. This also saturates the demand in the lettings market, and we have found that rents are still rising in the majority of deals we are securing.

As an Agent, our job is to deliver for our clients no matter the market conditions. We pride ourselves in going the extra mile and working that much harder than our competitors in order to produce the desired results for them. The B word is banned in our office and will definitely not be used as an excuse for non-performance.

“How is the market”?

The above phrase is usually followed by “it must be very difficult at the moment”.

The fact is that creating and overseeing successful transactions in any market is always challenging; along with ‘Brexit’, there are plenty of reasons why I could simply nod and agree and say that business is difficult, whether it is discussing SDLT implications, taxation hurdles or the other negatives that cause pessimists to assume failure.

I want to state that there is more opportunity to this market than meets the eye. Whether it is due to favourable currency fluctuations, realistically priced property values, or the thought of a rising market, this year we have witnessed a strong start to 2019 with multiple transactions agreed in the first quarter.

The last two weeks have seen economic instability reach a tipping point; however we have seen a record amount of deals agreed/exchanged and completed in the same time frame. This proves that the market is trading and there are serious vendors and purchasers pro-actively looking to transact. We are under no illusion that more obstacles may present themselves this year, however, the facts remain, David Astbury’s wouldn’t be where it is today unless there was a market to operate in.

There will always be doubters but David Astbury’s as an ethos will continue to look beyond, and as a result, continue the success it has created.