Look4aProperty Blog

French Riviera

Overseas home buying is down 80%, according to a property search website.

The steady exit of Britons from the overseas property market has now become a mass exodus.

look4aproperty.com has reported an 80% drop in inquiries about overseas properties over the last six months.

“There have been reports that the overseas market is doing well – but the truth is that market is looking pretty dead. Eighty per cent is a huge drop,” said Aaron Turner, CEO and founder of the website.

“People should not be fooled by reports claiming searches are up. They may be, but people are no longer serious about buying overseas – it’s all window shopping.

“On the positive side, we have seen a 28% rise in UK property inquiries over the same period. People are prioritising the roof over their heads rather than buying second homes in France and Spain.

“The lack of equity in the UK is affecting both markets – and with people struggling to get a UK mortgage or to pay off their existing one, they aren’t investing in second properties overseas anymore.”

Turner said the rise in UK property inquiries could be the first signs of the British market recovery, but he urged caution.

“It will be another three to four months before we can really say if these are genuine ‘green shoots’. We will have to see what happens before we can start celebrating.”

Airtime: Thurs. Apr. 2 2009 | 09 11 00 ET

Despite the recent global economic rally, a rise in UK house prices, and jump in mortgage approvals, Aaron Turner, CEO of www.look4aproperty.com still feels that it is too early to call a market bottom. He and James Caan, CEO of Hamilton Bradshaw Private Equity amd BBC Dragon’s Den fame discuss the topic further.

Too Early to Call Property Bottom?

Quantitative easing is the best solution to salvage the UK economy – but the Government’s “dribs and drabs” approach is too slow, according to property website www.look4aproperty.com.

Aaron Turner

CEO Aaron Turner said: “Money needs to be put into the economy in much larger amounts and not in dribs and drabs of £2billion at a time. “It’s totally inadequate. I would say the Government needs to inject at least £300-£400billion and in much larger blocks to really get the economy moving – the £75billion they have pledged might not be enough to be noticed.”

Turner welcomed the new lending from banks including Lloyds, RBS and Northern Rock – but said too much of this money would be going to business and not enough to ordinary home owners. ”

For example, out of the Lloyds announcement only £2billion of lending will go into mortgages – it is mostly going to business,” he said. “This will help because it could slow job losses and aid British businesses – but the amount of money is still too small and more money needs to go into the housing market. ”

People need to remortgage and buy properties – and once they can do that they will start buying on the high street again. ”

Whether quantitative easing works is a matter of time but I would say it will still take 18 months to two years for the country to get back on its feet – and even then, we won’t see 125% mortgages again, which is not a bad thing.”

Dragons Den star James Caan told a recent meeting of Oxford University students that despite the current downturn in the economy, the UK property business is still the focus of his investments.

And one of these investments is a website that helps residential landlords and tenants.

James Caan

Caan was invited by the university to speak to final year students about his career, his investments and his thoughts on the future of the UK economy.

Caan explained how he recently became chairman of the property portal www.look4aproperty.com after buying a 25 percent stake in the business, and that this was a clear sign of his commitment to the UK property market.

www.look4aproperty.com allows potential buyers and tenants to search for the right home for them, using properties submitted by estate agents up and down the country. The site features over 100,000 UK sale and rental properties.

www.look4aproperty.com is not tied to, owned or affiliated with any estate agency company, or any other property company or media group.

Caan has been working on a number of initiatives to put liquidity back into the housing market with his business partner Aaron Turner, CEO and founder of www.look4aproperty.com.

How BoE's Move Will Affect the Economy?

“We’ll wait and see how long it takes to filter through to the economy. Obviously it will put more money in people’s pockets which they’ll start spending again on the High Street,” Aaron Turner from look4aproperty.com said on the BoE’s decision to cut rates and boost money supply.”

Leading property portal website cuts staff pay by 20 percent

One of Britain’s leading businessmen is calling on bosses to offer staff a choice between pay cuts and redundancy in order to survive the recession.

Aaron Turner, founder of leading property website www.look4aproperty.com says UK businesses must face up to the facts: cut costs or die.

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And Turner is practising what he preaches at his own company, making 20 percent pay cuts across the board.

“All 20 of my staff have accepted a 20 percent temporary pay cut,” says Turner, “and I would advise other businesses to take the same action.

“My shareholders agreed that it was the best option, as at least it keeps my staff from losing their jobs. It wasn’t a reactive pay cut – I made this decision while things are going well to give the company extra leeway as the recession takes hold.”

He adds as long as staff are given all the information they need, and assured they would be compensated with larger rises once the economy recovers, cuts were not unreasonable.

“My staff understand that we all need to make sacrifices – it is better to cut back on the odd night in the pub to make sure we all have jobs.”
Turner predicts the housing market will continue to flounder, with prices falling another five to 10 percent in the next three to six months.

“In total that will mean prices will have fallen by 25 percent,” Turner says.

“Once that bottom level is reached, the market will start to pick up again because properties will have become so cheap.”

But he adds stronger government intervention is still needed, even on top of the bailout announced earlier this week, to stop the crisis spiralling further.

“I have been saying for a long while now that we need a lending ‘tsar’ to force the banks to start lending.

“We need to get financial products out there to help businesses keep moving. If loans are available, people can buy properties, and companies can keep moving. After all this Government intervention, where are they?”

In December, Dragon’s Den entrepreneur James Caan was made chairman of www.look4aproperty.com after taking a 25 percent stake in the company.

One of the UK’s leading property and finance experts has warned the Government’s second big bank bailout could flounder without more direct action.

Aaron Turner, founder of www.look4aproperty.com warned without new financial products on the market, this latest bailout may well not work.

“A lot of the loans that the banks have made in recent months have been to overseas companies, which means the British taxpayer is effectively bailing them out,” says Turner.

“While this new £200bn bailout might help, its impact is in danger of being limited. I have been calling on the Government to appoint a lending ‘tsar’ to force the banks to start lending for weeks, and I still think it would be the best solution.

“If the Government really wants to help homeowners and SMEs, they need to take on the position of the board of directors because they are effectively nationalised banks. They need to get new financial products out – within days they would start to see recovery.”

Turner adds that the housing market is still suffering, in spite of housing minister Margaret Beckett’s claims of an ‘upturn’.

“We are not seeing a universal pickup in the housing market,” he says.

“There will be pockets where it will happen but those are in isolated areas.

“Looking at the most recent data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, there were 47,000 mortgages agreed in November – in a normal market there will be over 100,000. I don’t think it is picking up and I don’t think it will do until there is action taken to get more products out on the market.”

In December, Dragon’s Den entrepreneur James Caan was made chairman of www.look4aproperty.com after taking a 25 percent stake in the company.

Two of the UK’s leading property tycoons have called on Gordon Brown to appoint a Lending Tsar to get the economy moving.

Dragon’s Den entrepreneur James Caan and his business partner at www.look4aproperty.com Aaron Turner say the government could use its new found influence with the banks far more effectively to kick-start borrowing.

The British taxpayer owns 58 percent of HBOS and will own 43 percent of the Lloyds Banking Group when the takeover is completed on January 19th. Caan and Turner believe this entitles the government a place on the board of both companies – something which should be used to rescue the flagging economy.

“The British public now owns a majority stake in two of the country’s biggest banking groups,” says Turner.

“With billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money invested in these banks, the public deserves to have a say in how they are run. The government needs to appoint a Lending Tsar to make sure that the banks operate in the best interests of the customers and the British public.”

James Caan snaps up the chance to bring ‘new deal’ to the UK housing market.

One on the UK’s highest profile businessmen has been appointed chairman of a leading property website, www.look4aproperty.com. James Caan says the move is a clear sign of his confidence in the UK housing market.

“This is the first stage in a number of initiatives we will be launching in 2009 through www.look4aproperty.com,” says Caan.

James Caan

Through the investment arm of his business empire – Hamilton Bradshaw – Caan has secured a 25 per cent stake in the look4aproperty.com site for an undisclosed sum which was founded by one of the country’s most successful young entrepreneurs, Aaron Turner.

Caan and Turner now plan to announce a series of new products to kick-start the struggling UK housing market in the New Year.

“I see this investment as an important move in the face of the current recession,” says Caan.

“Aaron Turner is one of the most innovative and successful entrepreneurs in the country and I am delighted to be working with him.”

Caan, famous for his role as one of the ‘Dragons’ in BBC show The Dragons Den, believes that Turner is one of the only innovative players in the property market.
“I invest in people,” says Caan. “I have been watching Aaron Turner’s career very closely and he represents one of those exciting and innovative entrepreneurs which this country needs.”

Aaron Turner first made his mark in the business world and on TV screens when he was chosen by Billionaire John Caudwell to run part of his Phones4U business in 2001. At the time the appointment made Turner one of the youngest Managing Directors in the country.

ENDS

About www.look4aproperty.com and Aaron Turner

Before setting up www.look4aproperty.com, Aaron Turner worked for 12 months as a ‘young MD’ for The Caudwell Group. The Caudwell Group is the parent company of several other major businesses, including Phones 4U and 20:20 Mobile Group. During Turner’s time at the company he was the subject of a BBC documentary for The Money Programme.

In 2004 he set up www.look4aproperty.com.

www.look4aproperty.com allows potential buyers or tenants to search for the right home for them, using properties submitted by estate agents up and down the country. It features properties both in the UK and abroad and has more than 100,000 properties listed in London alone.

Unlike similar sites, www.look4aproperty.com is not tied to, owned or affiliated with any estate agency company, or any other property company or media group.
For further information about www.look4aproperty.com, or to arrange an interview with Aaron Turner, please contact Alex Valk at Results PR on 020 7953 7529, or email [email protected].