Lockdown 2. The Housing Market is allowed to stay open.

Dear all,

What a year it has been; a stressful one for many, not least for those involved in the property market.

A second lockdown is upon the country from Thursday 5^th November, with many shops and businesses being forced to close their doors. 

Estate Agents have been largely exempt from the rules governing the lockdown; except that where we can, we must work from home.  Luckily, Belong was one of the first local Estate Agents to be completely cloud based, allowing us to work from anywhere without affecting our clients.  So, with the exception of weekends, when our office will be staffed (beacuse our colleagues cannot work from home), we shall be closed and working from home.

Clients can still visit us at the office, but Government guidance insists that this is by appointment only, and there should be no casual visitors to our premises.

We can still conduct accompanied viewings, but we should only arrange viewings for those who can proceed or have a reasonable chance that the person/s will be able to transact. Face masks and hand sanitiser will continue to be an integral part of our viewing protocols; and we will limit the number of visitors per viewing to two.

Therefore, all viewers will in the first instance be asked to use our 3D tours and videos to pre-view any house they are interested in, prior to a personal visit; but largely we have operated like this since we opened in 2017 anyway.

Moving home for all is still allowed.  Removal companies, solicitors and conveyancers are all expected to continue.  Sales and Rentals can still be agreed and we will play our part in getting people moved in a safe and timely manner.

Stresses and strains are running very high right now; and patience and compassion are important factors in the moving process.  For example, where people are buying new build homes in a chain, builders are struggling to source materials, adding to unavoidable delays.  Solicitors and local search companies have had staff on furlough and this too has added to the time it takes to move house; and then there are the horrendous inevitable occurrences such as death and redundancy.  Thankfully, however, at Belong we have been fortunate that most sales have held together and most clients have been able to move.

We don’t quite know what the future will hold, but one thing I do know is that everyone at Belong is sincerely determined to assist in any safe way that we can.

We will continue to provide a genuine 7 day service from our branch in Honley.  Please do not be afraid to ask for any assistance or information at any time.

Sincerely,

James White AssocRICS

Managing Director