Opinion
Maintaining property momentum Backing UK real estate Tony Geary National Head of Business Development Barclays UK
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ince the start of UK lockdown in March, the real estate sector has faced unprecedented challenges, from house sales delays to site closures to difficulty accessing building materials – and, more recently, getting the sector back to business after being given the green light from the government. Through our network of BDMs, we work closely with brokers to develop tailored financial solutions for their residential, commercial and industrial real estate clients – and we’ve been there during the pandemic with a package of support including capital repayment holidays and restructuring of facilities. We’ve backed clients facing reduced income from myriad factors, including commercial tenants being unable to meet payments while trading is paused and residential tenants seeking rent reductions due to unemployment or furlough.
Ready to reopen As the real estate market gathers momentum in a safe, socially distanced manner and we see resumption of property valuations and other related activities, an array of new challenges have presented themselves. Clients’ cash flow during this period of uncertainty has diminished. While contracted sales have continued and many developers have started selling online, new sales have been impacted due to office 50 | NACFB
closures – and there have been disparities in rent collection levels for property investors ranging from 25% to 95%. Some sectors which service hospitality, leisure and retail businesses have faced the largest challenges.
Building business resilience Government-backed schemes such as the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), as well as our existing bank loans, were just some of the ways Barclays had been there to support clients during such an immensely challenging time – and we continue to do so. As well as capital repayment holidays, we
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New sales have been impacted due to office closures – and there have been disparities in rent collection levels for property investors ranging from 25% to 95%
