Mayfair-based firm adds new recruits to cover Cornwall, Devon, Dorset & Somerset as part of regional expansion strategy.
Property buying agency Black Brick has set up a new arm covering locations across the West Country.
The Mayfair-based firm’s new country and coast department, launched to coincide with this year’s spring market, will be overseen by two new recruits – both of whom will be based out in the field.
Anna Sharp will be representing Cornwall, while Rupert Stephenson will be heading up Devon, Dorset and Somerset.
Sharp brings over a decade of experience in the prime Cornwall market, having started her career at Savills before moving over the buying side with Recoco. She is also currently working on her fourth renovation project in Falmouth.
Stephenson started out in property in Central London in the late 1990s, before going on to cover the markets of Surrey, Sussex, and Hampshire – and specialising in the prestigious St George’s Hill. After twenty years of running his own land and estate agency, he also started renovating properties and relocated to the Devon countryside, transforming a farm and outbuildings overlooking Dartmoor.
Founded by Camilla Dell in 2007, Black Brick is one of the best-known buying firms on the PCL property scene, and has advised on over £2bn worth of transactions to date. The coverage also includes the Home Counties and the South East, and there are plans afoot for an expansion into other regions over the coming year.
More traditional conditions have resumed in the South West market since the end of 2022, said the firm, with a higher proportion of properties being sold off-market due to a lack of demand, making it “hard to navigate” for new buyers.
Camilla Dell: “After an incredible start to the year, we are delighted to expand into the West Country with the addition of Anna and Rupert, who will be a tremendous asset to us. This is a pivotal moment for the firm as we expand outside of London and the South East for the first time.
“I’ve chosen these areas first, in an operation to rollout into other parts of the UK over the next 12 months, as I believe they will have a revival of popularity. With the need for buying agents growing, particularly in popular rural and coastal areas where stock is limited, we are now expertly placed to assist buyers looking to relocate or buy a second home in some of the UK’s most.
“As the world continues to get hotter with global warming, summers in Europe are becoming unbearable for many, and we believe staycations will become more appealing for those wanting a holiday without the extreme heat. Cornwall and Devon are areas of outstanding natural beauty and offer buyers the perfect blend of stunning natural landscapes, rich cultural heritage, an amazing food scene and a relaxed coastal lifestyle. Anna and Rupert are highly experienced and talented buying agents and I have no doubt will make a huge success of their roles as Regional Directors for Black Brick West Country.”
Anna Sharp: “Now is a fantastic time to buy in the South West. With demand in the prime, particularly coastal areas being fairly low, coupled with interest rates at a more reasonable level, we have a high number of off-market properties up our sleeves to offer buyers. On average, last year, Rupert and I sold 60% of properties off-market for clients.”
Rupert Stephenson: “The West Country has always attracted second homeowners and, despite recent adverse tax adjustments for holiday homeowners announced in the March budget, demand in the second home market remains strong with buyers still actively seeking holiday homes in the West Country this year. With the advent of working from home in recent years, this has offered much more freedom to buyers who, up until the pandemic, were mainly tied to their offices with the weekly commute into London and the big cities.
“We have acted for an array of clients recently who are looking for the perfect house. Interestingly these houses are often intended to be used initially as a second home, for family summer holidays and weekends away, and as ‘lock up and leave’ properties, but then with a view to moving full time to the West Country.”
