Business and market update - July 2026
Hello and welcome to the latest update on my property business and the UK property market.
Read on to see what I’ve been up to since the start of 2026…
A photo from one of the dozens of properties I have viewed over recent months. Always a highlight to meet a (friendly) dog on a viewing!
It’s been a while since I wrote one of these but to say I’ve been busy would be an understatement. My feet have barely touched the ground over the last few months!
I mentioned in my last update that I was looking to grow the sourcing aspect of my business. The aim is to make that part of the process more efficient and less reliant on me to do everything. The aim is to have solid investment and development opportunities sourced on a regular basis to enable me to cherry pick the best for my business and sell on some other leads to other developers and investors.
Last month, I recruited an assistant who has been helping me to target off-market leads. So far, we have been writing to landlords looking to exit the market - sending over 150 letters per week. In recent weeks, I have been working through the leads we have generated and it’s been really encouraging. It’s a time-consuming process though - meeting owners, viewing properties, appraising potential projects and negotiating.
The great thing about off-market negotiations is the opportunity to be creative with purchase strategies to suit both the vendor and my needs - or those of a developer client. I get to speak one-on-one with the vendor to find out why they are looking to sell, what they want to achieve and how they want to achieve it.
It’s easy to assume everybody wants to sell properties as quickly as possible for as much as possible but that’s not always the case. Speed might be of the essence but a vendor might be willing to compromise on price to achieve that. Likewise, price might be the priority but the vendor might be in no rush to get it.
I still work with estate agents but it’s not my primary strategy now that I’ve got our in-house sourcing process up and running.
A sneak peak at my next project - I think this wallpaper may already have come back in to fashion?!
Ironically, given all the work I’ve put in to building an in-house sourcing element to the business, I recently had an offer accepted on a local property that was on the market.
The vendor accepted an offer lower than they were asking for in return for a quick sale - proof of what I said above that price isn’t always the priority!
This one is a small detached house in Formby that’s only 5 minutes walk from my home. The plan is to buy it, carry out a full refurbishment, and get it back on the market to sell as soon as possible. Living in Formby, I’m really confident on my numbers and what type of finish will do best in the market.
I plan fully fund this project with private finance, rather than use any institutional finance. In total, there is the opportunity for an investor to provide £320,000 which will go towards both the purchase and refurbishment works. In return, the investor will get a fixed return of 10% per annum. This will be secured by a first charge on the property - the same legal security a mortgage or bridging lender would have - so it’s the ideal project to work with a private investor on.
If you or anyone you know might be interested in working together on this please get in touch and I can provide further details. I am confident this opportunity won’t be around for long but I am always keen to expand my list of potential funding partners.
All being well with the conveyancing process, I will provide a further update later in a couple of months - hopefully to confirm the purchase and show some ‘before’ photos.
An overview of the number of sales agreed since June 2022.
We have had a lot happening in the world since my last update but the UK property market has remained relatively resilient.
Hometrack report that house price inflation is now at 1.4% across the UK, with the North-West continuing to perform better than average at 3.5%.
Mortgage rates peaked at 5% in April but have been falling steadily since. They are now approaching 4.5% which is not a million miles away from the 4% rates we had at the start of the year.
The number of sales agreed so far this year is down by 7% compared to 2025. That’s not particularly surprising given the huge amount of uncertainty we’ve had over the last few months - international warfare and prime minister resignations to name just two that spring to mind! With mortgage rates calming, it is expected sales agreed will recover in the second half of the year.
That’s all from me for now. I’ll be back soon with more but please do follow me on Instagram if you want more regular updates.
Thanks so much for reading!
John