The Property Investor & Homebuyer Show, the UK’s most comprehensive property exhibition, gets underway tomorrow at London ExCeL and is free to enter. However, all visitors attending tomorrow or Saturday are required to register before entering the hall. To avoid the queues on visit day, you can register online now by clicking here. 

After the relative calm of 2015, the 12 months that have elapsed since last Autumn’s renewal of this event have been anything but.

The dominant theme of the early part of the year was of course a number of government initiatives in the buy-to-let sector. Taking effect in April, changes in the new rules over the accounting treatment of mortgage interest costs and the introduction of the new stamp duty levy continue to frustrate the sector and fill many printed and digital column inches.

But the sector is not passively sitting back and accepting the changes – far from it. Visitors seeking the latest status of the opposition challenge should make time to attend the ‘Tenant Tax’ debates taking place on both days of the show and/or visit Axe the Tenant Tax at stand 368. This not-for-profit and volunteer-led campaign aims to abolish Section 24 of the 2015 Finance Act.

And if Section 24 was not enough, a country that went to bed on 23 June expecting a vote to remain awoke of course to a very different scenario – the beaming faces of Boris and Nigel Farage … and sterling plummeting against the world’s major currencies. So as we sit and wonder if – or more likely when – Mrs May and her Ministers will trigger Article 50, many sections of the market are pondering what to do next.

As we all learned in the 2007/8 recession the one factor that all business sectors abhor is uncertainty – which it appears is what, in the short term at least, we face. 100 days on from the UK Referendum visitors can absorb a selection of views at the exhibition stands and in the seminar theatres. In particular the event’s international partner Guides. Global will be hosting a Brexit debate on both days – sessions well worth attending.

Those looking beyond the UK can meet a broad selection of companies at the event weekend – exhibitors presenting investment options from a list of countries that includes the USA, Spain, Cyprus, France, Nigeria, Hungary, Romania, Germany and Ireland.

A quick look at the event website confirms that the exhibitor ranks include a broad mix of investment types – with a particular spotlight being thrown on both high-yielding HMO Property and the burgeoning property technology (PropTech) sector. Other exhibitors in the hall include specialist lenders, furnishings firms, insurers, auction houses, tax specialists, lawyers, tenancy deposit schemes, landlord/tenant services and crowd funders – a mix indicative of a diverse and healthy sector.

A diary fixture since the late 1980’s, this is the benchmark event for the residential sector – and the largest gathering / networking hub that the industry has to offer.

To those heading to London ExCeL do stop by at the Angels Media stand (number 4 – near the main entrance) and say hello to the Property Investor Today team. We’ll be delighted to see you.

The event and all seminars are free to enter, however all visitors are required to register before entering the hall. To avoid the queues on visit day, you register online now by clicking here.