Conference Speakers

LLAS/ATLAS & partners are proud to announce Shaun Williamson as the Host of 2019 Conference and Award ceremony 

Shaun is best known for his role as Barry Evans in EastEnders, (a BBC1 soap) appearing in over 700 episodes. He is also known for playing a satirical version of himself in the BBC/HBO sitcom Extras. After spending 10 years in EastEnders, he decided to leave and took another career path in which he played Mr. Perks in the hit stage adaptation of The Railway Children at London's King's Cross theater, then later the same year played Baron Bomburst & Lord Scrumptious in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang musical at the London Palladium, and as Captain Hook in Peter Pan at The Hawth, Crawley.  As well as host the event, Shaun will also perform a short comedy act on the night. 

Keynote Speaker 1  -Mr Richard Bowser 

 Opportunities: What next for the property market? Where will the next opportunities be, How to get yourself ready and prepared for the market opportunities that lies ahead in 2019 and beyond. 

 As well as being the editor of - 'Property Investor News' - the UK’s leading property investment magazine which he founded in early 2002, Richard has been a hands-on landlord and active property investor for over 25 years . He was also for almost five years, the editor of 'Successful Renting', a magazine he produced for the national landlords group NFRL, which merged with the NLA in 2008. Having lived in London for over 45 years Richard is now based near north Oxford with a residential portfolio in north London and Durham and he is still looking to acquire good quality property assets in both locations - but only at the 'right' price!

Synopsis of Richard's  Presentation

As any motorist will affirm driving in thick fog is very demanding if you want to arrive at your destination safe and sound. 

For property landlords and developers peering ahead into 2019 presents both risk and opportunities with the political drama of Brexit impacting the wider economy and consumer confidence. Fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) is  in play and it’s definitely a factor which has been affecting the property market in the last two years, particularly in London. 

Recent data shows that landlords are exiting the market due to the tax changes via Section 24 while increases in SDLT for second homes are also acting as a barrier to entry. 

So what should landlords be considering for the year ahead and perhaps more importantly how are they positioning their property businesses for the upcoming years. 

In his presentation Richard Bowser will pull together some very recent data to underline the detailed market research that his team at Property Investor News do every month on behalf of their magazine subscribers.

Keynote Speaker 2: Mr Tony Gimple - Tax & Succession Planning Specialist

Challenges:  How are landlords responding to the substantial changes they are facing in financing, regulation and taxation? What impact will Brexit have on the sales and lettings market long term and what of the government’s plan”?

Tony Gimple has a varied and interesting background with experience gained in Loss Adjusting, the Military, Financial Services, Consulting, Insurance Broking and Law.  He has worked for leading companies including Legal & General, American Express, Towergate, Chancery Law Group and Bowling & Co Solicitors (a Leading Legal 500 firm where he was Estate Planning Director). He has a wide range of cross-sector executive experience as well as being the subject of a Cranfield MBA thesis on entrepreneurship.  An active networker with many high-level contacts, Tony is an accomplished public speaker and has written for professional publications and national newspapers, often being asked for comment as a thought leader. A natural leader, organiser and communicator, Tony is known for his creative and original freethinking and his ability to motivate and mobilise people to achieve their goals.

Synopsis of Tony's  Presentation

As the old Chinese curse has it: ‘May you live in interesting times’, looks like it’s coming true in 2019.

What with Brexit uncertainty, Comrade Corbyn’s and MacDonald’s radical socialist agenda, the property industry press pendulum of saying all is well one day and all is woe the next, plus the media in general living up to its motto of not letting the truth get in the way of a good story, it’s hardly a surprise that there are so many differing views on what’s going to happen to the PRS.  Add to that unholy mix the classic British habit of buying in at the top and panic selling at the bottom, coupled with the brutalist approach that political parties of all hues have taken with the buy to let sector, then anyone who wants to get out has been handed an easy excuse for selling up.

So will 2019 be any different?  The short answer is probably no; in that anyone who is yet to wake up and smell the coffee is in for a nasty shock, especially if they’re banking on S24 being repealed or hoping that house price inflation will save them the trouble of having to run their property portfolio as a proper business.  Likewise, the rush to incorporate will see landlords painting themselves into a corner, as we’ve yet to come across a single one who has been told the full cost and implications of their headlong rush down that one-way street.

In summary, with the real ‘accidental’ landlords starting to leave the sector, and nature abhorring a vacuum, those PRS landlords who have access to capital and who are ready, able, and willing to embrace licensing as well as taking a positive attitude to working with local authorities, will undoubtedly succeed, particularly if they can keep borrowing below 65%, yields above 7% and, most importantly of all, stop letting the tax tail wagging the planning dog.

David d’Orton-Gibson – CEO of Training for Professionals- LLAS/ATLAS Conference & Award Ceremony Chair

David has worked for many years in the letting industry and has first-hand experience of most roles involved in lettings. For the last 30 years he has worked full time running training and consultancy for landlords and agents throughout England and Wales. He teaches public courses as well as running In House courses for local authorities, letting agents, landlord associations, housing associations, colleges and other bodies. Widely respected for his technical knowledge and teaching style, David combines an authoritative understanding of the legal framework with practical suggestions on working with people and presents in an engaging style.  For more info visit www.tfponline.co.uk