The 2017 Property and Construction Outlook Report from accountancy firm Crowe Clark Whitehill revealed that 47% of property professionals felt the EU referendum result was unfavourable to the UK property and construction industry, while 44% said they weren’t sure if it was favourable.

At a recent seminar discussing the report, Stacy Eden, head of property and construction at Crowe Clark Whitehill, said: “That is a very similar result to 2016, so the level of uncertainty on the answer to this question is still at the same level that it was just after the EU referendum, which is still a bit staggering…”

The report found that 41% of property professionals preferred a soft Brexit, while the same number would prefer no Brexit at all, with just 18% in favour of a hard Brexit.

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The report also asked what factors posed the most concern to respondents’ property businesses:

• UK economy – 27%
• Brexit negotiations – 22%
• general election outcomes/political uncertainty – 14%
• planning regulations – 11%
• lack of skilled workers – 10%
• access to finance – 8%
• taxation – 6%
• global economy - 1%
• other – 1%

Three-quarters of respondents (75%) felt that the current policy around green-belt protections wasn’t conducive to solving the housing crisis.

Meanwhile, 72% did not think the current tax system was favourable for property developers and investors.

“The green-belt protection zones – and hopefully the Budget will do a little bit on this, that is just our view, but most people think that it is not conducive to the housing industry,” said Stacy.

“This leads us [to] calling for maybe a reduction in [green-belt] restrictions in certain parts, in areas that aren’t really green-belt land, as well as a reduction in SDLT [stamp duty land tax].

“This would hopefully boost housing transactions and the economy.”

Crowe Clark Whitehill also found that 77% of respondents felt the effect of the general election was unfavourable to the UK property and construction market.

“In summary, there is a lot of uncertainty,” added Stacy.

“…That does give opportunity, but there is a lot of uncertainty politically regarding Brexit, regarding the UK economy – that is obvious and that is a repeat of last year.

“In some cases, where you hoped there would be more certainty, that hasn’t come to fruition.”