With over 80 developers, conveyancers and estate agents at Tech City’s flagship hotel, M by Montcalm, there was a lively panel discussion entitled ‘How can we kick-start the sales in the new-build market?’
Sponsored by Yourkeys, the chair for the evening was Giles Barrie, Ex Editor of Property Week, who introduced various members of the panel. Dave Bexon, Sales & Marketing Director of Redrow kicked off by stating that right now is a critical time for the new-build market especially due to the uncertainty of Brexit having caused dire sales results in December and January.
However, possibly following the way consumers voted, he stated that the North has performed significantly better with sales results compared to the South. Dave also stated that one of the main issues supressing the level of housebuilding is the archaic planning system, although he did recognise that the government was trying to address this issue. With regards to technology, Dave stated that technology could help to accelerate sales by completing the avalanche of documents digitally. It could also help for communication between all parties so that fewer sales fell through if the exchange process could be accelerated.
Paul Smee on the board of the Conveyancing Association, believed that Land Registry was one of the biggest bottlenecks in the process but stated that they are trying to digitise the entire process in 2019 and that things would improve once that had been completed.
Paul also believed that although the property industry is slow to adopt technology and introduce it into the sales process, when they do, they will see rapid results and benefits so will quickly adopt these new technologies.
Riccardo Dawson, the founder of Yourkeys, pointed out that his previous experience of having built 2,500 homes, meant he has seen the massive inefficiencies in the sales process and was the catalyst for his creating Yourkeys to make the process far more efficient. He stated that due to massive automation and digitalisation of the process, his Yourkeys platform can ensure that housebuilders can achieve exchange of contracts in just 21 days.
Andrew Frankish from The Mortgage Advice Bureau, gave insights into how the financial market will improve massively in 2019 due to open banking and automation. This will provide instant ‘Affordability Passports’ due to rapid affordability checks which look holistically at a buyers financial history and is therefore much more accurate. Andy then went on to state that technology has created more available time for his team to speak directly to buyers providing a more personalised service, improving both sales and long-term relationships.
Nick Wright, Head of Innovation from CBRE, stated that technology allows for a fully transparent and streamlined process. However, buyers will still want short bursts of human interaction. Therefore, technology can create the ideal flexible hybrid model between human interaction and technology, providing a more personalised response to a buyers own requirements.
In conclusion Riccardo quoted Jeff Bezos, who said: “For a business to be successful, they must focus obsessively on the customer”.
Therefore, in order for the property industry to improve, we must begin to focus obsessively on the buyer’s journey. That also means making the process easier and streamlined for all the stakeholders.
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