A Scottish agent preparing to open its doors once again after the coronavirus lockdown has a staggering backlog of more than 1,500 viewing requests to work through.

Tayside and Fife agent Thorntons will be one of hundreds of agents north of the border to reopen on Monday, after Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last week gave the property sector the green light to restart.

As well as Thorntons’ huge waiting list for viewings, the agent also has more than 250 market appraisals to carry out in the coming weeks, in a sign that the Scottish market is set to experience a similar post-lockdown surge in activity to that seen in England in recent weeks.

Thorntons managing director Peter Ryder told EYE: “We were at just over 1,500 outstanding viewings on Monday of this week and it’s going up all the time.

“The Scottish government only released the guidelines on viewings yesterday (Tuesday) and that could have had a major impact on how we work through them, but thankfully the advice is very similar to that in England, so we’re well prepared.

“We’ve managed to keep our operation open through the lockdown, with some staff not placed on the furlough scheme so they could man the phones and respond to requests on email.

“That’s meant we’ve built up this raft of viewings over the past 12 or 13 weeks, with the past three or four weeks particularly busy.

“All the viewings staff are coming back on Friday to prepare PPE and go over the health and safety guidelines ahead of Monday and some other members of staff, including myself, will be undertaking viewings, too.

“I’m hopeful we’ll be able to get through them all within three weeks.”

The potential for a strong bounce-back in the Scottish market has been echoed by other agents.

Director of Paisley-based Cochran Dickie Curtis Chisholm told the Herald newspaper: “We have one house in Castlehead, Paisley, which went live just before lockdown and now has 58 viewers lined up.

“People are also looking for a valuation of their own home. Many weeks spent at home may have highlighted the difficulties of current properties for some people, who are now looking to move on.”

Meanwhile, Chris Todd, a partner at RSB Lindsays which has branches in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow, revealed the Dundee office was expecting a backlog of as many as 600 viewings once the market reopens on Monday.

He added: “The signs are there for a strong bounce-back in Dundee. We’re seeing considerable interest in properties in the area and the volume of enquiries we’ve had during lockdown has been strong.”