DEVELOPER PREDICTS SILVER LINING TO THE CREDIT CRUNCH
 A
group of developers today announced “The Age of the Niche House
builder.”
As the property market spirals in the wake of the credit crunch,
many larger property developers continue to struggle, especially
listed companies. However, a prominent London developer has
predicted that the next 18 months could see a property market
dominated by niche, locally-focused companies.
Residential specialist Investland was set up during the economic
downturn of the early 1990s and now sees many of the same conditions
being recreated that saw them enjoy rapid growth. In the early
1990s, a number of factors came together to create the ideal
conditions for smaller scale developers, including:
KEY DRIVERS BEHIND THE AGE OF THE NICHE HOUSE BUILDER
1 – No share holders to have to report to, so bigger risks can be
taken
2 – Local knowledge, contacts and reputation mean they are more able
to spot the best opportunities in a depressed market
3 – Ability to enter deals and buy and sell properties very quickly
and with a lot of flexibility
4 – Able to continually prove liquidity through a number of small
scale deals (in contrast to the big developers that may completely
exit the market for months on end)
5 – Personal relationships with key investors, so not overly
dependent on the banks to get projects off the ground
Yuda Ambalo, managing director of Investland, comments: “The current
market conditions have been very testing for a number of developers.
Understandably, many of the bigger players are stepping back from
the market entirely. A lot of industry sources are even predicting
further falls, and so we could see the big-money end of the market
continue to be quiet for some time.
“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.
“The end result is that developers like us will keep the market
ticking along whilst these conditions continue. When the bigger
players come back, they could very well end up buying a lot of the
projects they’re missing out on now, with the niche developer
capitalizing on any planning work they’ve achieved on the sites in
the meantime
Ben Chesterfield, managing director of Urban Edge, comments: “The
current market makes for a depressing picture for a lot of the large
developers, but there are silver linings to be seen if you look hard
enough.
“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 house builder.”
Email:
gavin.collins@yourmandate.com
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