The Bank of England’s Phil Eckersley has addressed a property seminar organised by accountants & business advisers PKF, Ellisons Solicitors and Chartered Surveyors Fenn Wright.
Guest speaker, Mr Eckersley is Agent for East Anglia and the South East and he engaged the audience with an insight into the current state of the UK economy.
The annual Essex Property Seminar, which this year attracted 200 delegates, is held at Colchester United’s Weston Homes Community Stadium and has been running for three years. The objective is to update the regional property professionals on the status of the commercial and residential property market, legal issues and tax planning.
An audience feedback questionnaire at the seminar revealed that there was cautious optimism in both the commercial and residential property markets. Asked if delegates were more positive about the property sector now than twelve months ago well over half indicated that they were.
Ellisons’ property partner, Guy Longhurst chaired the seminar. Lewis Chambers of Fenn Wright talked about the regional property market stating: “We are in a very favoured part of the country and we have huge advantages in this area which have helped support particularly the residential market last year. Those advantages will remain with us through 2011 – there is no reason for us not to have cautious optimism.”
PKF partner, Peter Harrup, said: “There should be a strong accent on prudent tax planning for the residential and commercial property sector, particularly in this climate. We pointed out the importance of looking at areas such as pensions, inheritance tax, protecting properties, Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and VAT changes.”