PENSIONS A-Day - April 6, 2006, could spark a second property boom, local experts predict.

Money is expected to flood into property again from April 6, 2006, because investors will be able to include residential property in their pensions.

"I reckon it will be a heck of a boost," Spetisbury Construction MD Dennis Jones told the Lloyds TSB property forum at the Mansion House, Poole.

Sandbanks-based Harbourfront Properties MD Christopher Culley added: "It makes it better for developers. You can keep a couple of units and pop them into your pension fund."

Interest rates could also have stopped rising when the new pensions legislation comes into effect - fuelling further investment in property.

Lloyds TSB senior corporate manager Mike Bilson said interest rates were expected to peak at 5.0 per cent - "maybe 5.25 per cent if we are really unlucky" - "then stabilise for some time."

Mr Jones said the prime residential property market locally was "still moving - it doesn't seem to be slowing down."

Developers from London and Manchester were buying up land that had been stockpiled by local developers, forcing up prices.

Mr Culley said: "We are finding it really strong in Sandbanks. The enquiries are phenomenal.

"Many purchasers are paying £2 million for a plot then getting a builder to build them a house. A lot of cash buyers are coming down from the Midlands and Manchester."

But Coles Miller Solicitors partner Carol Elliott said: "In residential (conveyancing), we are starting to see a drop in the number of transactions.

"There's always a drop in the summer - the peak tends to be in the spring - but overall we are seeing a slowdown in residential," she added.

First published: October 18