Welcome to our latest edition of Rooftops. We trust that you and your families are well. After what at times has felt like an eternal winter, blue skies have returned and the English countryside is full of colour, causing a notable improvement in both colleague and client wellbeing, in addition to a welcome level of activity in the housing market.
The fallout from October’s mini budget created a level of uncertainty we haven’t experienced for a number of years, following a sustained period of rising property prices since the pandemic and demand on a scale we have not seen for decades.
Whilst inflation continues to challenge our leading economists, the economy as a whole has stabilised and the housing market has responded better than we initially expected. At the time of writing, there is a cautiously optimistic reporting of sales and lettings figures across the David Burr group.
Despite interest rates rising, first time buyers continue to enter the market with an increasing selection of mortgage products currently available to those with more modest deposits.
As we have experienced over the past three years, the country house market remains active with purchasers from the south and abroad attracted to
East Anglia by our lush countryside, excellent range of state and independent schools and relative value for money in comparison to London and the Home Counties.
As a company we have focussed on improving every aspect of our service by investing in our people as well as new ideas and technology. Ongoing training is essential to ensure we deliver the best customer service and this year we have been very proud to see so many of our wonderful staff progress and improve as a result. We are proud to have achieved Investors in People status once more and this is a benchmark of our ongoing commitment to continued development and achieving our full potential as a group.
Whilst sales levels have been extremely encouraging our lettings business has experienced a significant increase in activity with an increasing percentage of clients taking advantage of our full management service to guide them through increased layers of legislation.
Our holiday lets department portfolio continues to develop and booking levels at this time of year are in high demand, as the great British ‘staycation’ attracts holiday makers to our area. With another scorching summer forecast, we are expecting continued growth in this area of our business.
As always, if you are thinking of selling, letting or investing this year or simply require experienced, professional advice, please do consider David Burr.
And finally, an honorary word to our founder and friend David Burr who sadly passed away in December 2022. David was highly regarded throughout the region, not just as a successful businessman but a true gentleman and loving family man. In David’s memory we are raising money for St Nicholas Hospice via a number of fundraising events this year. If you would like to support us, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/davidburr2023. Celebrating our friend and founder David Burr, thank you
