There is much talk around Brexit and the effects on the housing market, the Private Rented Sector (PRS) and the economy. The chatter online ranges from pure hatred, accusations of stupidity, wild predictions and even a few quick whiplash decisions being made by some rather influential people, but what are the most likely outcomes for our industry?

Overall the issues within the PRS, could come from many angles - housing supply due to lack of skilled workers, or a reduction in investor buyers from the EU countries, possible volatility in the market due to uncertainty from the sector financial suppliers, a lack of tenants due to less migrants coming into the country plus a possible reduction in house price increases...so where does that lead us?

From a personal perspective, our branches saw a major slowdown in April and May as the country worked towards the referendum, it was like the market took a big breath and paused, probably due to uncertainty of what was to come, but strangely June changed and all branches report near normal activity across the network now so nothing conclusive there, so what do the experts say?

NAEA, the National Association of Estate Agents, report that the actual process of the referendum itself, caused a 3 year low on demand for housing. Following a survey of its members, it found that due to the Brexit campaign, in May, the estate agents surveyed, showed an average of 37 properties available for sale per branch (up from 35)  but by comparison, showing a 6% fall in registered buyers, leading to the lowest demand figures registered in 3 years.