The British Government’s appeal has been dismissed by the Supreme Court in the Article 50 case in preparation to trigger the country’s au revoir from the European Union.
Brexit is the country’s landmark event of 2017. Or, to be more specific, triggering Article 50 is this year’s biggest influencer when it comes to the UK’s economy and politics.
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The latest ruling by the Supreme Court means that PM May will now need the parliament’s support to trigger Article 50.
To see this as quickly through as possible, Brexit secretary David Davis promised to bring legislation before MPs “within days”, highlighting once again that the Government is still committed to its original timeline to kick off Brexit negotiations by the end of March.
Whilst the ruling also means that the Government has no need to consult regional parliaments, the Scottish National Party has already hinted at plans to lay out up to 50 amendments, one of them being a stronger role for Nicola Sturgeon.
Since the case was first heard, a couple of other Brexit developments have happened, the biggest one probably being May’s landmark Brexit speech. During the speech, the PM made her commitment to pulling out of the Single Market fairly obvious.
After yesterday’s events, the Sterling dropped once again against the US dollar, down to lows of $1.2438, before ending the day flat against the US currency.
So what does this mean for UK property investors?
Generally speaking, property investors can be divided into two groups: home investors and foreign investors. And although this is a worthwhile distinction to make, in most cases the biggest influencing factor when it comes to investing in property remains the same: the level of uncertainty that comes with an investment.
The ruling on Article 50 was the first stepping stone to chip away at some of this uncertainty. With the Government now promising an extremely quick turnaround to get the Bill before the parliament, we will hopefully get even more clarity shortly.
For home investors very little will change, especially considering the very quick turnaround the Government is hoping for. And whilst the parliament is completely right to scrutinise and debate the legislation, Brexit secretary Davis told City A.M. that he strongly believes that it won’t be used as
“a vehicle for attempts to thwart the will of the people, or frustrate or delay the process of our exit from the European Union.“
In addition to that, the recent decision has changed very little, if not nothing, about the two basics of the country’s property market: a lot of demand and not enough supply.
For foreign investors the bargain hunt may have already started. For those hoping to buy using a foreign currency it might be worthwhile keeping a good eye on the currency exchange, especially since the Sterling has already experienced a drop.
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When it comes to the Brexit decision itself, although probably not very investor will agree with what PM May and her Government have set out to do, “fear-factor uncertainty” is slowly being removed from the process. In addition to that, the Government appears to have already started working on new trade relations and partnerships with countries outside the EU, manifesting Britain’s position as a stable investment location.
