Covid-19 has imposed a ‘new normal’ for agents, many of which have had to adapt to the world of remote working.

For a number of people, the pandemic has normalised remote work. Will we go to the office again – and, if so, how often? What impact will a ‘hybrid’ way of working have on how we communicate, connect, sell and let homes? What will work mean if our offices are virtual and we lose those day-to-day social interactions?

We have attempted to examine what impact the coronavirus crisis has had on the estate agency industry, and whether recent trends could become a permanent normal, by conducting an industry-wide survey.

Interestingly, the findings show that that less than half of agency branches are fully open. And a significant over 5% are closed for the time being or permanently.

There has been a notable reduction in full time staffing of around 7%, while the volume of part-time staff is down 9%. If that is reflected across the industry it is a significant loss of people.

The 74% saying offices are open for similar hours to pre-pandemic suggests that most agents are physically available in-branch either by appointment or for walk-ins.

When it comes to workday start time, over a quarter of agents currently get started after 9am. Is this reflective of home working? Are more agents now taking their children to school before they start work?

Almost 10% of agents now finish work before 5pm, although the vast majority go on into the early evening.

Nearly 60% are currently working from the office, but as more branches start to fully open it is likely that we can expect that proportion to rise. It is not yet clear if working from home will be a permanent thing in agency.

Morning meetings remain essential for most teams but clearly there is significant use of online.

It is good to see that 77% of agents are not concerned about job security, which is up from 55% in June 2020, and 61% in July 2020.

Here are the findings from our poll:

Are you working in sales, lettings, or both?:

Compared to pre-pandemic (i.e. March 2020) does your office have more or less part-time staff?  

Compared to pre-pandemic (i.e. March 2020) does your office have more or less full-time staff?

Do you have morning meetings? 

Is your branch: 

Thinking about your job security: 

What time does day end? 

Where is morning meeting held?