The Property Sales People

It seems hard to believe that this COVID19 situation has been with us for just over 4 weeks. It actually feels like at least 2 months. If you can bear to watch the daily briefings from the government without reaching for a razor blade then you will be hearing that, just maybe, we are reaching the apex of the death rate curve and, just maybe,  there will be a relaxation of movement and a return to economic activity by most of us, subject to social distancing, masks etc. From a property market point of view, I've been decrying the gloom merchants who have been talking about 16% price falls. This is for reasons that beyond economics, people go their own way and predicting human sentiment to situations is not an exact science. I came across this article by a well-respected commentator called Roger Martin-Fagg who seems to see things my way - or I see things his way!  You have the time available so I recommend that if you want a spoonful of positivity then read this post: https:

Renting?  Helpful information here:  https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/articles/property-news/renting-and-not-sure-what-to-do-sign-up-for-our-new-webinar/?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=sharing&utm_campaign=news

These are unusual, dare I say unprecedented times. People are losing jobs and being laid off or ‘furloughed’. The latter is an American word and the best definition I’ve found is: 1:  to grant a leave of absence or  furlough  to (someone) a soldier being  furloughed, a  furloughed  prisoner 2 :  to put (a worker) on furlough:   to lay off (a worker) for usually a brief or temporary period Apparently, the earliest use of the word as in case 2 was 1781 ! At least in the 2020 use of the word government are proposing in the UK to pay furloughed workers 80% of their basic pay. The employer needs to pay it then claim it back from HMRC. But not everyone is that fortunate and the self-employed have a more difficult route to follow although they are intended to be supported. If you are a tenant, then we recommend you visit the following webpages: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus  Scroll past the black background page to page 2 These are the relevant links.