The slump in the UK housing market has led to a surge in the number of property professionals seeking work in the UAE and wider Middle East, according to recruitment experts.
A recent report by the UK-based Centre for Economic Business Research (CEBR) said estate agents in the UK would be worst hit by the market downturn, with an estimated 15,000 expected to lose their jobs by the end of the year. But the slowdown has also had an impact on other workers in the property sector, including those who structure finance for property deals, architects, quantity surveyors, facilities managers and mortgage brokers.
CEBR predicts that a further five per cent of those working in the UK property sector will lose their jobs by the end of next year as banks rein in lending and the rate of housing transactions continues to slide.
But the influx of property professionals from the UK could now help to plug the skills shortage gap that the regional property sector has been grappling with in the last few years.
William Buck, an international director at the recruitment firm, MacDonald and Company, a UK company with offices in the UAE, said the firm had seen an increase in the number of UK applicants in the past six months.
"Because we're a UK company, we've always had a large number of applicants from the UK, but the downturn there has certainly seen the number of strong professionals coming here increase," he said.
"We also expect to see more from the UK and other faltering markets internationally, which will naturally affect recruitment here. But the situation has definitely helped to fill skills shortages here. It will also help employers in the long term and shift the balance from where we currently are."
Mr Buck added that the biggest take-up in job applications had come from property investment people who structured the finance in property deals such as joint ventures, followed by property agents and project managers.
"But as more areas of the property sector in the UK get even more depressed, we're seeing applicants from across the board," he said. "Also, people from the UK are more open to coming to the UAE than they were before, although now it is a necessity, as there is nothing for them to sell back home and there are no new developments coming onto the market."
Fewer housing transactions in the UK and tighter home loan conditions from banks have also led to an increase in the number of mortgage brokers seeking work in the region.
The sector for mortgage brokers in the UAE has strengthened in the past few years as more banks have started to provide property loans. At the same time, home buyers are beginning to turn to mortgage brokers to facilitate their transactions.
"Mortgage brokers work on commission, so if the market's buzzing and they're selling mortgages, then great, but when transactions stop and banks are reluctant to lend, then they either get a new job or carry on trying to sell where they are," said Chris Dommett, the chief executive for the Dubai subsidiary of the UK-based mortgage broker, John Charcol.
"We've seen some movement from our UK office to Dubai. It's not that we're poaching - if there isn't much business happening, then people want to go where they can earn money.
"Also, Dubai has had a lot of publicity in the UK over the last few years, and people are looking towards a place where transactions are being made."
But despite the upturn in the number of professionals looking for work on the property side, the construction sector is still struggling to draw key talent from the UK.
"There has definitely been an increase in the number of people coming here - we don't have to go hunting for them as much as before, as they're coming to us," said Nigel Timms, a recruitment manager at Millennium Solutions. "But from a construction point of view, the trend isn't so much that the highly qualified engineers are coming here - it's more tradesmen, such as people at foreman or site manager level, who want to work their way up the ladder."
Mr Timms added that while high profile construction projects in the UK were under way - such as the development of the site for the London Olympic Games in 2012 and the widening of the M25 - fewer top construction professionals were attracted to the UAE.
"These are good jobs to have on their CV, so any opportunity here has to be good enough for them to make the move."
@Email:agiuffrida@thenational.ae
Inside%20Out%202
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EKelsey%20Mann%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Amy%20Poehler%2C%20Maya%20Hawke%2C%20Ayo%20Edebiri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELeap%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ziad%20Toqan%20and%20Jamil%20Khammu%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Stage 5 results
1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 3:48:53
2 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team -
3 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott -
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:04
5 Ilnur Zakarin (RUS) CCC Team 0:00:07
General Classification:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 20:35:04
2 Tadej Pogacar (SlO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:01
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 0:01:33
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:48
5 Rafał Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:11
The%20Specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.6-litre%204-cylinder%20petrol%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E118hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20149Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Six-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh61%2C500%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5