The Property Sales People

 How many bloggers find that it's only something they do when they have found some time to fill, for whatever reason? I admit that there are companies and individuals who will write something for me on a regular basis, but my feeling is that it needs to be authentic and my 'voice'. When I get back to my keyboard to do this it makes me worry that the market may be changing and we'll need to start adapting again to new circumstances, new problems and constraints. The dreaded COVID has not gone away, just adapted itself. My wife Janet managed to pick it up from her 93 year old father after spending several hours with him coughing and sneezing on the way back from a trip to Wales. Her first time contracting it since the pandemic began and it's been 4 days now since she tested positive. My results are negative. I told my colleagues that's because I'm a 64 year old Teflon coated estate agent! But then, who knows when a variant particularly targeted at the property

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. 

If you would like to see what your conveyancer is being advised by the Law Society on how to deal with transactions at the present time follow this link: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/articles/coronavirus-covid-19-and-residential-conveyancing-transactions/

The following link will take you to that advice: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak