The Black Death And Giambattista

The Black Death has had all sorts of unforeseen consequences for our lives.

Following the lifting of the spring lockdown, many citizens forgot how to drive, so the school run would have a Kamikaze pilot sweating. Ladies discovered that spending fifty pounds a month on beauty treatments is not mission critical. Many husbands are in the doghouse for saying “told you so”. Gardens are manicured to within an inch of their lives.

It is all a bit strange and the Private Rented Sector is no exception. Some of the changes in the market are down to Covid-19 and some down to well meaning, but counterproductive, legislation. The combination of these two factors mean that some rents have gone through the roof and the number of rental property units available is shrinking.

We are seeing a trend for young professionals moving from houses of multiple occupation into smaller properties. They are now increasingly working from home so, need a further small bedroom they can convert into a home office. It would be nice if they would engage a psychologist before arranging the background to their Zoom meetings but that is not my concern.

In other news, landlords are unloading. The Tenant Fees Act was greeted with glee by tenants’ groups. It means, letting agents cannot charge tenant fees. But those letting agents must pay staffs, rent, admin costs and call-out charges for problems. So, shall we take a wild guess where those fees ultimately go? Yep. Onto the monthly rent.

We are seeing rents in Heaton increasing by as much as two hundred pounds a month since the start of the pandemic and are receiving instructions from landlords to sell. The cancelation of stamp duty for most buyers was a move to stimulate the housing market during the pandemic. It has worked. But with unforeseen consequences. Landlords, fed up with increasing legislation and a buoyant market for first time buyers are simply cashing their chips. Selling up and sailing into the sunset. You do not need to be an economist to understand how increased demand in a declining market works.

This pandemic is the worst thing that has happened in our lives, unless you once told a Hells Angel that Harley Davidson is tractor technology. One of my few regrets in life.

If you can see light at the end of the tunnel, drop to the deck. It is probably an express freight train heading your way. I am not sure we will ever get back to ‘normal’. So, we shall do the best we can. Reconfiguring properties, restructuring our business to ensure our tenants and landlords have what they need to get through.

I leave the final word to my Italian ancestor, Giambattista Vico who died in 1774. He said, “Uniform ideas originating among entire peoples unknown to each other must have a common ground of truth”. I haven’t a clue what he was on about and I doubt Giambattista would make much sense of our current situation.

So, it is down to me. And my team. We shall do our best. Stay safe.