Reasons to be Cheerful For 2024

Reasons to be Cheerful from 2023

Some good things have happened in 2023 for landlords. There are reasons to be cheerful.

First, the government has put the ending of fixed term tenancies and the section 21 route to regain possession on hold pending improvements in the court system. With the usual glacial progress in any works done by the government, this could take a long time, Mr. Oates! The court system is not exactly known for being a change driver.

Second, it has also kicked into the long grass a requirement for landlords to make their properties more energy efficient (grade C on the EPC scale) or face being unable to let. This has been shelved for now.

Third, in the last two months, they have said that student lets will somehow be allowed to keep some form of fixed term tenancy in place, reflecting the academic year. They are now figuring out how to deliver that.

These are three good things, showing that this government is finally listening to those voices saying that the private rented sector could shrink as more landlords exit than join the business due to too many new rules and regulations and far too many tax increases over recent years.

Clearly, the government were worried this would lead to more homelessness, more fast rising rents – and new problems for the government.

So, there are reasons to be cheerful as we enter 2024. But what about the longer term?

As landlords and property investors we must occasionally look up from our desks to see what big things are coming up. One of them is surely AI.

The AI Future – A Reason to Be Cheerful? Or Fearful?

I saw an interesting piece in “Property Investor News”, penned by Peter Hemple on the topic of AI.

It is well worth a read, as is Property Investor News anyway. I have been on the mailing list for donkeys’ years. (Do donkeys have longer years? Perhaps they meant to say “ears”?).

It is quite a wide-ranging piece, but some interesting facts are in it.

Did you know that the respected MIT have done a report saying that 60% of workers in the US are now employed in occupations that did not exist in 1940?

So will it be the same with AI? That would be nice.

Hemple reports on a Capital Economics report that says whilst AI will be significant, the impact of technological unemployment might be overdone.

It is hard to say – and AI could be very significant indeed – and even a threat to humans too.

One interesting idea connected to AI is how cars will be used in future. Driverless cars would have an impact, once safety issues are resolved, but there is also the question of how many cars there will be in the future too.

Certainly, the aim of some technocratic globalists would be for private cars to be eliminated entirely, this is especially the case for those that believe we are facing a climateageddon scenario if we don’t significantly reduce or simply cut out carbon emissions altogether.  

Cars take up a lot of space – and, of course, so do roads. Reducing both would allow for far more space in cities for housing. This could ease pressure on land and reduce house prices

The article goes on to discuss some of the activities in real estate that could be replaced by AI. These are many, if some are to be believed, ranging from automated property valuations, instant matching of buyers and sellers and faster planning application approvals. I especially like the last one as will anyone who has waited months for a local authority decision on a planning application.

Whether AI is a thing to fear or a reason to be cheerful is hard to say, but all we can do as property people, is to be alive to the changes and plan for them, just as we have always done.

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