Developers must focus on quality, say homes experts

Dec 7 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

The view from the restaurant terrace of the John Lewis store in the Liverpool One Paradise project development (320)

Tough market conditions ‘may hit standards’

A LEADING global property consultancy has said that developers need to improve their performance in Liverpool if they are to sustain growth in the market.

In Knight Frank’s latest annual Northern residential development review, the company claimed there is a risk that tighter lending conditions, deteriorating affordability and rising building costs will lead to design and build quality slipping down developers’ list of priorities.

“We believe this will only serve to weaken the market at a time when strong design and creating a ‘sense of place’ are emerging as key considerations for purchasers,” stated the report.

“The focus on quality is believed to have drifted on a number of schemes.

“Rising build costs and subdued price growth may be to blame but sidelining design standards will only weaken the market at a time when there is little margin for mediocre supply.

“As a result, design and build quality are likely to emerge as the key differentiating factors for investors and owner-occupiers in the coming year.”

It comes after the Daily Post revealed that the number of apartments sold between April and June this year, in Liverpool city centre, had plummeted by almost 30% on the same period last year. House prices in Merseyside are currently around nine times the average wage.

The key finding from the report is a call to developers to maintain a cutting-edge design principle to avoid apartments lying empty.

Jonathan Kennedy, associate at the Liverpool office of Knight Frank, said: “The Liverpool city living market is still relatively immature and a glut of below par residential developments is the last thing that the market needs.

“The developers who invest time and money in ensuring quality finishes and specification to create schemes which stand out from others are in the best position to ride out this period without too much concern, as the investment and rental market is still strong.

“There are a number of developments we are currently marketing that I could point to that are above and beyond the usual standard and have already taken this philosophy to heart.

“The Tarbock Hall Estate, by Belpool Developments, is a case in point with its sensitive restoration of a series of 17th- century buildings; it simply oozes class and modern sophistication.

“A city centre example would be City Lofts’ development, at Half Tide Dock, which has set a new standard for city living.

“The simple lesson from this report is that potential occupiers are now demanding more and more for their money and given the expanding pool of homes to choose from, it is those that invest imaginatively in design which will survive and hold value in the current market.”

But the report is not down-beat about the Liverpool city centre market, and predicts next year’s Capital of Culture celebrations will have a positive effect.

davidbartlett