MIPIM is a vital forum for real estate, but is still haunted by the ghosts of its past

For many people in the property industry, LinkedIn gets a bit annoying in late March.

You’ll generally find the real estate professional’s equivalent of hot dog legs on the beach and couple selfies with captions that include the words ‘this one’. Except, in this case, it’s generally men in padded gilets chinking glasses of rosé and captions talking about ‘new connections’ and ‘meaningful conversations’.

MIPIM is a strange concept: each year, over 20,000 delegates from the European property industry head to Cannes in the south of France for an intensive week of networking events, panel discussions, media meetings and a chance to take the temperature of the market, all while – normally – enjoying a taste of sunnier climes.

However, this year – as sometimes happens – the sun didn’t quite play ball, and networking mainly happened under umbrellas and gazebos.

In many ways, the weather at this year’s conference was reflective of the mood in the market: changeable, with moments of optimism, but always the threat of a downpour.

Still, the more sombre weather arguably made for a more businesslike conference this year and reduced the temptation to post jealousy-inducing shots on social media.

And perhaps that’s a good thing not just for those who didn’t attend this year, but also for the industry as a whole. In the square opposite the Palais des Festivals – the main hub of the conference – it’s not unusual for demonstrations to take place during the event, and the protesters were back this year, highlighting the ongoing reputational issue that property has. The protesters’ main complaint was the price of property and rents, and there is a perception that this is an industry that helps the rich get richer at the expense of everyone else.

In a sense this is nothing new: ownership of property and land was traditionally the preserve of the upper classes. The rhetoric around the current reforms of the ‘feudal’ leasehold system in the UK or around rental regulation in certain European countries highlights how this is changing; it is also notable that many of the conversations at MIPIM over the last few years have been more focused on affordable housing, solving the housing crisis and transforming deprived areas. Yet our Responsible Business Report found that only 35% of people would score companies in the real estate sector as a 7 or more out of 10 for conducting business in responsible ways.

The growing popularity of UKREiiF, held in May in Leeds, is in part due to its less glamourous location which makes it less open to public scrutiny as a forum to discuss housing and UK regeneration. But, although it might be a more palatable option optically – and is certainly useful – it is not, and is not trying to be, a replacement for MIPIM. Where UKREiiF acts to bring together the property industry across the UK, MIPIM puts the UK on a global stage, highlighting opportunities to a much broader market of overseas investors. Sadiq Khan’s presence this year highlights its importance in this regard. Despite its reputation as a ‘jolly’, MIPIM still serves a vital purpose as a platform for opening valuable conversations that, ultimately, bring wealth into local communities.

After all, the reality is that – despite increased government focus on housing provision and planning reform – delivery will largely be down to the private sector and it therefore has to be profitable. This, along with a necessary reliance on public-private partnerships, is always likely to cause some tension, particularly if those partnerships appear to be brokered over glasses of rosé in the sun.

The dreary weather at MIPIM this year perhaps reduced the awkwardness of the juxtaposition between protesters and the industry, but we still have work to do if we want to improve the image of the property sector and demonstrate to the public that this is an industry that is behaving responsibly and serving society, as well as having an interest in profits.