Rental Property Market Growing Due To Film And TV Productions

With high-end TV production spend at a record high throughout the world, the film and TV industry is interestingly becoming an important sector for landlords.

In the U.K., due to the pound being weaker and the well-known film industry tax breaks the country offers, Hollywood stars, production teams and crew are renting apartments and houses across London and its surrounding areas that are close to their respective studios. Especially now as there are a growing number of TV productions with longer shoots. The same is happening across North America as production filming ramps up across the states.

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recently announced it will be moving the filming of its titular production The Rings Of Power from New Zealand to the U.K. to take advantage of tax breaks and the currency. A mammoth production that will help see a swell in the rental property market in the territory.

“Demand is already through the roof,” said Harriet Gore, head of the film and media team at Knight Frank. “The ratio of prospective tenants to available properties is 10 to 1 and higher in some areas. My message to landlords is that if you can furnish your property to a good standard, you can charge a premium of between 20% and 30% compared to the long-let market.”

The number of enquiries and deals agreed from the film and TV industry are on track to be more than a third higher this year than in 2019, Harriet said.

Tenancies from the film and TV industry are usually in the six months to two years range because of production. Due to the steady and growing nature of the sector, the tenants are also seen as very reliable.

The pandemic caused a noticeable strain on productions with many being delayed as a result of restrictions. Budgets have taken a knock on some shows as a result. Knight Frank’s data showed that in the first six months of this year, the average weekly budget for tenants in the film and TV industry fell 2% compared to the same period in 2019, from £2,870 ($3,346) to £2,810 ($3,277).

“The pandemic means productions have been delayed or stretched over longer periods of time, which has reduced budgets,” said Harriet. “On top of that, more TV shows are shooting, which means a growing number of tenancies are being agreed on a long-let basis.”

According to figures published by the British Film Institute (BFI), spend on films and high-end TV in the UK was £2.84 billion ($3.31 billion) in 2020, compared to 2019 the numbers are down by a fifth. Even in light of this, however, £1.19 billion ($1.38 billion) was spent in the final quarter of 2021, the second highest ever figure over three months.

Key insight

John Seaman of JC Property Professionals saw success in turning his company into a one-stop-shop for all property needs, building the houses that were turned into tailored dream homes for their clients.

Commenting on the growth of the sector through film and TV and other industries he said, “The current real estate demand issue stems back to this shortage of tradesman and people to build the homes, so the demand is incredible, and the monetary income is unlimited because of that.”

“Raising awareness about the financial possibilities that can come with getting into the blue-collar industry now should be a goal for all of us, it’s mutually beneficial for anyone who wants to keep a roof over their head.”

He continued, “We project to have 100+ units under management in the next two years. Additionally, we plan to do everything in our power to help with the current housing shortage due and the inflation it’s causing. Some specific projects include building specs, home flips, and the creation of more multi-family housing.”

As well as generating growth in real estate across the U.S. to help place people Seaman also saw an opportunity in growing the demolition end of his business. With studios popping up, and other infrastructure in the creative industries and beyond, the opportunity for growth into other sectors to help facilitate these elements was a factor for the company.

“We now are focusing our efforts in JC Grading and Demolition where we offer every aspect of site work from demolition, lot clearing, septic installs, retaining walls, drainage, driveways, commercial site preparation and more,” he said. “We want to continue to scale the grading and demolition business in the next 5 years until we completely dominate our market.”

Competing in the property market in the U.S. – commercial or otherwise and in regards to the creative sectors or any other – is no small feat, with numerous players across the U.S. aiming to stake their claim and seeing that the growth opportunities are plentiful.

On his next steps Seaman concluded, “One of the most important lessons I learned on the road to becoming a successful business operator was that when it came to accomplishing your dreams, the most important thing you had to do was just start.”

“Overthinking the process would only kill your progress, and failures will come regardless of how hard you try to achieve perfection. The worst thing you can do is stop yourself from moving forward because of hindering doubt.”