Phil Spencer Interveiw

Q How do you think the current world financial markets situation will affect the UK, local and international property investment?

A There’s lots of press looking at what’s happened to the American sub prime market, our market is very different to that, we are not as exposed, we have a far greater regulatory environment, I think its wrong for people to look at what’s going on in their housing market and think that it will happen in ours, there’s a lot of indecision around at the moment, there are a lot of people sitting on the fence wondering what to do and they’re not doing anything, so activity levels are way down.  If you’re asking me, well do I think my house will be worth more in 12 months time, yes I do.

Q How many properties have you brought and sold in the UK?

A I dislike moving with a passion, I try not to do it very often, so it’s a question of getting it right each time, I bought a flat and I converted it into two flats, sold one and lived in the other one, sold that and bought a house, did that up, sold that and bought the house where I currently am and I’m doing that up now. I’ve been able to take quite large steps up each time I’ve moved, by buying the right property at the right time and doing the right work to each of them, I have two investment houses in London and I have a cottage in Kent.

A No, of course there is a certain amount of luck involved and I’m conscious of that in terms of market timing.

Q What tips could you give for individual property speculators?

A The easy money has gone. There are still opportunities out there but you do have to be a lot more considered about what you buy and where you buy and why you buy it, so it’s just about being more strategic in your approach.

Q We don’t have HIPS (Home information packs) in Jersey, do you think they have been beneficial to the housing market and should we consider them locally?

A They haven’t made a jot of difference yet. From January you’re not going to be able to put a house on the market until you’ve got your HIP so that will make a difference, basically it transfers the time period from the end of the process to the beginning and it transfers the cost from the purchaser to the Vendor, there has been so much talk and so many miles of news print and debate about HIPS and do they achieve what they were set out to and I’m afraid in my book the answer is no.

Q As a qualified surveyor how did you make your transition into a property presenter?

A I don’t think I have... I’m a property person and I happen (at the moment at this stage in my life) to spend more of my time in the company of a camera but it is all related to property, I’ll be finding people homes long after, I’ll ever be on the telly. So I try not to take the programme thing too seriously.

Q How much has the property market in the UK increased in the last twelve months and do you agree with some critics that a noticeable down-turn is imminent?

  A There are five major house price index’s, I totted them all up and divided it by five and its just over 10%, however, if you look at the market for 5million plus houses, that’s climbed by 48%, London over a million and a half I think its 36%, country its like 29% so the markets incredibly polarised and the top of the market has been moving at just a phenomenal rate compared to the average which is £200,000.

A Its part of our culture and its something tangible, it’s something you can touch its something you can live in, I think it’s a little bit dangerous that we all now look at our homes just as investment.    

 Q So, property is it a long term investment?

A In my opinion yes, certainly that’s the way I have tackled it, its too expensive to get in and out of the market, to be speculative, some people make money out of it and good luck to them but it’s not my approach. Buy well and keep hold.

A My final word of advice for somebody thinking about investing in property is preparation and research, no ones going to do it for you look into your finances, get them sorted before you go out on viewings Whenever I’ve bought investments, I have analysed the market, worked out what I wanted, where I was likely to find it, what it was likely to cost, I am very location sensitive, its probably a good job I make the show called Location Location, so some people are very property sensitive, I knew I was location sensitive so that’s what I wanted to iron out first.