What next for the luxury property industry?
It was great to have our Partner, Andrew Paulson on the panel of the latest Luxury Property Forum webinar. The subject was:
Back to Work:
What Does The “New Normal” Mean for the Luxury Property Industry?
The session provided some fascinating insights into how organisations in different parts of the industry have handled the unique scenarios that Covid-19 presented us all with. Andrew gave the designer’s perspective, while Charlie Willis of The London Broker talked about the luxury real estate market, Mark Passfield of Adair discussed the impact on procurement and construction sites, while Andrew Deverell Smith of Deverell Smith gave an insightful presentation from a recruiter’s perspective.
Over the course of an hour the panel discussed their personal experiences of keeping things moving during lockdown and speculated on what the long-term impact on the industry is likely to be. A few take-home points raised include:
employers will be much more open to flexible working
candidates for jobs will put more emphasis on the office set-up when identifying prospective employers
technology that has existed for a while but which we have only now become reliant on, such as Zoom, will become the norm.
remote meetings can often be much more efficient than meetings in person!
there will be a general relaxation in how business is done
some professions need to return to the office, at least part-time, as a matter of urgency now. As architects we thrive on each other’s creative energy and the need to be part of the office culture and values system is vital. In particular, any new starters will struggle to adapt if they have never even met their colleagues!
as Architects, our Architectural Assistants learn so much “on the job” - they need a strong professional support network to guide them and there is a limit to how well this works remotely.
contractors have had to up their game in terms of how they run their sites and there has been a need for contractors and consultants to work together more collaboratively - it would be great if this could continue.
as leases come to an end there will be a lot of down-sizing. Until then more joint tenancies and sub-lets are likely to be agreed.
Matterport has come of age, both for virtual viewings of properties by agents and as a construction site record, avoiding the need for the design team to visit site so frequently.
there will be a greater reliance on virtual and augmented reality to present design schemes to clients, which they can do from anywhere in the world.
design briefs will now include new requirements such as air filtration and purification, touchless technology, less open-plan living, better sound-proofing within homes - the list goes on!
A recording of the webinar will be available for anyone who missed it to catch up. Visit the Luxury Property Forum’s website for details.