New research conducted by FJP Investment indicated that some 54% of their clients had lost faith in Boris Johnson‘s government, based on its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic so far. This number jumped up to 62% when based solely on the company’s investors based in London.
The company’s survey also revealed that 57% believe additional financial relief is still needed to support businesses affected by the pandemic, with the UK entering its second ‘once-in-a-generation’ recession for the second time in little over a decade.
The research findings added that 42% of respondents want more to be done to help home-buyers and property investors, beyond the stamp duty holiday. Some 54% also think that the mortgage payment holiday relief scheme ought to be extended beyond October 31 2020.
Commenting on the findings, FJP Investment CEO, Jamie Johnson, said that investors were clearly worried about the long-term consequences of the pandemic and how it has been handled – with these fears only being compounded by the recent news that the UK had entered a recession. He continued:
“One of the key findings is that faith in Boris Johnson’s government is waning. While there is support for the financial support schemes and economic stimuli that have been introduced so far, investors feel that much more must be done if the UK’s post-pandemic recovery is to be successful.”
“The pressure is very much on the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak to allay these concerns. Boosting investors’ confidence will be vital in order to inject life back into different financial markets and bolster GDP.”
Despite these apparent criticisms, the company’s research also found that 24% of those surveyed were planning to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday, with this figure rising to 43% for those aged 18-34.
Of course the FJP Investment survey is not a perfect picture of the sentiment of all investors, and being property-focused, the company’s clients are naturally inclined to favour more accommodative property investment policy.