The housing market is on the up according to a newly-appointed director of land and new homes at a regional estate agents.

Lewis Cawtheray has joined the David Burr Group in a newly-created role at the company which involves looking  for new homes sites across Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. 

The industry is going through a tough time at the moment but there is a lot of pent-up demand for homes, he says.

"We are still getting a good amount of viewing numbers. It's generally taking less viewings to get things sold. I think we are on the upturn," he says.

The UK has faced a number of events - Covid, Brexit and political turmoil - which have made people uncertain about the future.

But a more settled period post-election will help the market, he hopes.

"We are still crossing our fingers for base rates to drop," he says. Finance rates for builders are "crazy" at the moment, he adds. "It's also the cost of the materials - that's a conversation I have daily with builders."

These headwinds are affecting land values, he admits, and his job was about "being honest" with landowners selling potential development land.

"There's still a massive appetite for builders. There are a lot of builders looking for land with either no planning, full planning or outline," he says.

Although the price of homes has gone down nationally following a huge pandemic lift, prices in East Anglia are pretty much where they were pre-Covid, he says.

"I think we are in a good little bubble in East Anglia - we are in a good, popular area."

He is "happy to be here" in his new role at David Burr, which has offices in has offices in Bury St Edmunds, Castle Hedingham, Clare, Leavenheath, Long Melford, Newmarket  and Woolpit , he says.

"We are in a very good agricultural area throughout this part of Suffolk where landowners are looking to maximise options on their assets," he adds. "There are a lot of new homes being created in this area."

Director Nicholas Mills welcomed Lewis to the company.

"We are very lucky to have been able to appoint Lewis in this exciting role," he says.

"Lewis joins us with a huge amount of experience working with various land owners, planners, developers, etc. and will be well placed to develop this ever-growing part of our business. 

"Lewis has worked with a range of national house builders through to developers building one or two units a year, each marketing campaign is specifically tailored to each site and supported by the extensive network of offices that we have throughout the region."