Pent-up demand to boost housing market as it bounces back to life

The housing market is now open for business but what does it mean for buyers, sellers and prices?
More buyers will get the keys to the door thanks to government relaxing buying and selling rulesMore buyers will get the keys to the door thanks to government relaxing buying and selling rules
More buyers will get the keys to the door thanks to government relaxing buying and selling rules

The largely dormant housing market was turbocharged this week when Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick announced that it could reopen for business.

Surveyors and estate agents can visit homes to do valuations and take photographs and would-be buyers can view properties in person. Removals firms can also operate. However, Mr Jenrick stressed that the process of finding, buying and moving into a new home must now be done differently to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus.

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“This will include doing more of the process online, such as virtual initial viewings, vacating your current property while other people are shown around and ensuring your property is thoroughly cleaned before someone else moves in,” said Mr Jenrick.

Critics of the decision to allow the housing market to operate near to normal have argued that the Government’s decision is purely financial as sales equal Stamp Duty payments that will boost Treasury coffers.

However, agents have welcomed the news and many have had a rush of enquiries due to pent-up demand. Visits to Rightmove were up 45 per cent on Wednesday morning compared to the previous day, following the Government’s surprise announcement to allow business as usual. Email enquiries sent to agents rose by 70 per cent and new listings on the property portal rose, with 2,115 new properties added in just five hours.

Simon Blyth, of the Simon Blyth estate agency, says: “More people now want to move, including those who have become fed-up with their home during lockdown and want more space and a larger garden. Then there are couples who are splitting up, grown-up children who don’t want to be locked down with their parents any longer and vice-versa. This period has also given people the time to consider life-changing decisions, such as early retirement and downsizing.”

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He adds that low interest rates will be a stimulus for first-time buyers and those moving up the property ladder.

Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacre, Son & Hartley, agrees and adds: “The Government’s plan to re-start the housing market is very good news. On Wednesday, the day restrictions were lifted, we agreed a sale at 9.15am so things are looking positive.”

Edward Hartshorne, managing director of Blenkin & Co, which operates mainly in York and North and East Yorkshire, says: “We expect a considerable bounce back. Pent-up demand in the housing sector has been building over this period.”

He believes that people in the UK could soon have a legal right to work from home and that this will create new opportunities for sellers, along with an exodus from London to Yorkshire.

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“Some London buyers with young families will make it their top priority to move to Yorkshire, not only seeking safety and space but spurred on by a transformation in remote working.

“It is likely that those selling desirable properties with a home office, decent broadband, gardens and rapid access to a mainline station will be in the money. We may even encounter some house price hikes.”

Mr Hartshorne also foresees a generation of active downsizers leaving country homes to seek city and town properties with easy access to facilities and fast broadband.

There will be no shortage of buyers if downsizers sell their rural idylls, says estate agent Tim Gower, who heads Robin Jessop’s Leyburn office. His phone started ringing at 8am on the morning that Robert Jenrick threw open the doors of the property market.

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He believes an escape to the country was already a dream held by many and their ranks have swelled during lockdown. “It’s being driven by a greater appreciation of space, of the outdoors and the countryside, of wanting views of beautiful scenery and having cycling, riding and walking routes on the doorstep,” says Mr Gower.

Working from home also figures highly and many Dales villages now have good fibre or wireless high speed broadband.

Demand for rural homes is likely to outstrip supply and he believes that a “rural premium” may now have to be paid for the most desirable country properties.

As for house prices in general, Patrick McCutcheon, of Dacre, Son & Hartley, says: “We anticipate minimal short-term pressure on prices. There may be some opportunistic attempts to reduce an agreed price, but we very much anticipate these being in the minority. Unlike the last market jolt in 2007/08, funding remains readily available and that can only help the liquidity of the marketplace, which in turn will support buyer confidence.”

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