Plenty of spirit on show at the ARLA Conference 2017
The annual ARLA Propertymark conference is one of the year’s key industry events. 2017’s recent gathering was the biggest – and we think the best – yet.
Held at London’s ExCeL, the conference provided a much-needed focus point for a sector with plenty to talk about. With many delegates concerned about the impact of recent legislation, Right to Rent checks, tax changes and the agency fees ban, there was lively debate throughout the day.
Keynote speakers at the event were William Hague MP and ITV’s political editor, Robert Peston, who predicted a mix of short-term uncertainty as the Brexit process unfolds and a longer-term healthy future for residential lettings.
While no one was thrilled by the prospect of short-term uncertainty, or indeed potential redundancies as the sector restructures to cope with the fees ban, the event proved something of a rallying call for an industry feeling the brunt of red tape and Government policy. We saw great fighting spirit in action at our photo-booth, where we invited delegates to get their positive industry message in front of the camera. Thanks to everyone for getting stuck into our morale-boosting exercise.
The lettings business is changing, probably not in ways we would all like. Organisations like ARLA – which has seen its membership grow rapidly – and its annual conference are a fantastic way to make sure agencies are fully informed and ready to meet any future challenge.
