When the country went into lockdown last month most people expected that it would last for a few weeks and then life would return to normal.
It is becoming clear that this is not how things are going to turn out and that the return to normal life is going to be a gradual process that happens over many months.
It is also becoming clear that during this period some businesses will be allowed to open sooner than others, and the debate is under way about which businesses should be allowed to open first and why.
The horticultural industry has made a very strong case for itself.
Apparently it has a direct value to the UK economy of £12.6 billion per year and an indirect value to the UK economy of £24.2 billion per year.
It employs 568,000 people which is 1.6% of the workforce and 65% of all the adults in the UK have visited a garden centre at least once in the last year.
The risk of transmitting the virus during a trip to a garden centre many of which are mostly outdoors is low and therefore there is a strong case for garden centres to be allowed to open soon.
Judged by these criteria estate agents also have a strong case to be allowed to reopen their businesses sooner rather than later.
The residential and commercial property market has a value to the UK economy of over £100 billion p.a.
It directly employs over 1 million people and indirectly supports 1 million more.
In addition to its economic value the financial and human consequences for people who are forced to delay their move can be enormous.
It is relatively easy to maintain social distancing whist conducting a property viewing so the health risks are fairly small.
It seems likely therefore that estate agents will be allowed to open, or at least partially re-open, in weeks rather than months.
This is not a case for special treatment it is a statement of the facts and this means that you really do need to start preparing for the event.
The housing market is not going to recover overnight so it is essential to prepare a month by month cash flow forecast to ensure that you have the funds necessary to get through the period of recovery.
When do you expect the cash from your pipeline to come in ?
How many staff can you afford to bring back from furlough leave and when ?
How will you decide which staff these are?
How will your staff cope with childcare arrangements if you reopen before their children return to school ?
Will you need to make some of your staff redundant when the furlough scheme ends and, if so, how will you fund their redundancy costs?
When will your office reopen to your staff and how will you maintain social distancing ?
When will it reopen to the public ?
How will you manage your workload if there is a backlog of viewings to do by a reduced team of staff ?
How will you deal with elderly or otherwise vulnerable vendors and purchasers ?
How will you deal with people who still refuse to allow viewings ?
The more time you spend thinking about these things now the quicker your business will be able to get back to normal again, and in these very difficult times, every day and penny will count
Adam J Walker is a management consultant and business transfer agent who has worked in the property industry for over 35 years.
Comments (5)
Tenanted properties have to be a no go for physical viewing for the time being surely? You could ask tech savvy tenants to send a video or lots of photos and the lead can do a drive-by, but that would be all that’s safe or enforceable.
That pretty much leaves Sales out in the cold for a while – you can let a property on a video, but not many buyers are going to want to commit without setting foot inside. Maybe when things are loosened off, we could do accompanied viewings of houses when the residents is out – but it’s pretty risky all round. The dreaded facemask option looms, but I can’t see that that will make much difference
Might be a surge in new home sales
It’s all very perplexing and frustrating. My role is 90% Lettings. At my firm there’s a skeleton staff still working, holding the fort (mainly the directors/owners) all the front line salesstaff are furloughed.
Last year was all tenant fee ban and this year its covid19, let’s hope there’s a massive upturn in the property market after all of this!
Im exactly the same – myself (Director) and one other working in the office. Also, 90% letting business. Not moaning at all – but I’ve never worked harder in my life, and I’ve got fruit picking and factory work on my CV!
The market here is desperate to get going again. We’re still getting lots of enquiries.
That’s good to know, this time of years is normally the busiest. At least the August dead month won’t happen as most holidays have been cancelled!
I’ve been furloughed until 1st June, the house has never been cleaner!
How do we carry viewings out of an occupied house? Trying to get viewers to do what they are told and not touch anything or open cupboards is very challenging. Would only empty properties be allowed to be viewed?
Also, if half the country is still locked down and is uncertain if their jobs will be there, what measures can be put in place for that?
I’d be interested to hear what other ideas agents have.
I’m currently furloughed and can’t get back to work soon enough!