Mark Hayward the Chief Executive of NAEA Propertymark, one of the two key professional bodies regulating estate agency in the UK, spoke on an industry webinar on Tuesday 14th and informed agents watching that the government are already looking at how they can help the housing market recovery.
Mark said that the NAEA has been in regular discussion with the government over the last few weeks and whilst there were somethings he was not in a position to comment on, he could say that a forum for Public Health England was looking into producing guidance as to how the industry could perform normal estate agency functions when the lockdown is lifted, that would be followed up by practical guidance being issued to agents. Also, the government was looking at ways by which they could aid recovery in the housing market, as they appreciated it was a big part of the UK economy.
He also inferred that recently there had been some inappropriate scaremongering in the press. He confirmed that activity in the market at the end of December until early March was much better than previous years, as a consequence of pent up demand from the Brexit delays and election being released. He also commented that there was still a limited supply of stock in the market and people still have to move.
Mark considered it to be a time for reassuring movers and not talking ourselves into a situation where prices get reduced. He said that he knows the government, has plans to encourage homeownership particularly amongst first-time buyers and was confident that they would help keep things moving.
The Robert Bell & Company Team.
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