The UK has voted to leave the European Union – on a 72.2 per cent turnout – with 51.9 per cent in favour of leaving and 48.1 per cent in favour of remaining.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will resign and that the new PM should be the one to decide when to trigger Article 50.
Although the landscape may be highly volatile in the short term, there are efforts underway to minimise the financial upheaval with the Bank of England saying it has “undertaken extensive contingency planning” and is “working closely with HM Treasury, other domestic authorities and overseas central banks”.
Stabilisation measures should minimise any impact on capital values of property, although key indicators such as the level of Sterling against other currencies may be volatile.
The falls seen in the value of the Pound in the hours immediately after the referendum result have made London and other British property effectively cheaper – by as much as 10 per cent – to overseas investors who wish to buy in the immediate term – according to Lana Wrightman of Benham & Reeves Residential Lettings.
Strutt & Parker’s senior partner Andy Martin responds to the vote to leave the EU by saying: “The market has shown signs of volatility in the lead up to this vote and we have seen a real cutback in trading due to uncertainty. I suspect our clients will continue to tread with caution until they can see the outcome.”
London: the independent city-state?
Many FT readers are mooting the idea that London (which voted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU) should declare independence from the rest of the country.
Kaye & Carey tell us to “remember the property market always has a strong human element. We have the three D’s – death, debt and divorce. People do move for other happier reasons too – marriage, births and job relocation.”
Kate Faulkner of Property Checklists says: “Don’t panic!
This is all a bit scary and we don’t know what will happen next economically and property wise. However, it’s important to bear in mind we’ve all pretty much just survived a terrible economic and property recession in 2007/8 and the world is in a better place economically than it was back then.”
For the time being it’s wait and see.
