Kent’s property and construction leaders share outlook for year ahead at annual industry event

Brachers, Crowe UK, and Caxtons Property Consultants bring together sector professionals to explore market trends, challenges, and opportunities

Law firm Brachers, accountancy firm Crowe UK and Caxtons Property Consultants, hosted the annual Property and Construction Outlook event this week, bringing together professionals from across the Kent to discuss the future of the region’s built environment.

Held at The Orchards Event Centre, the event welcomed over 75 attendees from across the property and construction sectors. The morning featured expert-led discussions and analysis of the current and future market landscape, with a particular focus on the ongoing planning related issues, and the economic environment.

A key feature of the event was the release of new data from a live survey of attendees, which revealed people costs particularly due to the rise in NI are having a significant impact. The findings highlighted the governments new planning reforms do not appear to go far enough and the market is still experiencing planning bottlenecks. The survey provides a snapshot of sentiment and expectations across the industry.

Sarah Gaines, Head of Commercial Property at Brachers said: “This year’s event has once again demonstrated the depth of expertise and collaboration across Kent’s property and construction sector. The insights shared today reflect both the resilience of the industry and the need for continued innovation as we navigate economic, regulatory, and environmental pressures.”

Simon Crookston, Tax Partner at Crowe said: “It was fantastic to see such a strong turnout at our Property and Construction Outlook event, held in partnership with Brachers and Caxtons. The level of engagement from businesses across the sector highlighted the importance of insight sharing and forward planning in what continues to be a challenging yet opportunity-rich landscape.”

Mark Coxon, Director, Business Space, M25 East, Caxtons Property Consultants said: “A review of the Kent Property Market 2024 shows plenty of sales and lettings activity in 2025 and although there is no indication of rents increasing, yields have held steady-all good news for the property market. Sentiments among those attending the Property and Construction Outlook were broadly positive. Although the jury is out on how effective changes to the NPPF will be, several previously stalled residential applications have now been approved as the government’s Grey Belt plans start to take effect. Caxtons’ view, built up over many years of the Kent Property Market Report, is that the Kent property market is resilient and there are many reasons to expect this to continue across 2025 with an uptick in 2026, if the economy obliges.”