Following one of the most challenging times for the world to handle the pandemic has created an unprecedented demand on the property and construction world that no-one could have predicted - not even Jan & Gordon Dale, owners of Urban BASE, The New Homes Agent.
Having been at the forefront of the North East’s property industry for over 25 years Jan gives us an insight in to how the pandemic has changed our needs for enjoying the simple things of home-life and now working from home.
The government drive for employers to offer flexibility of working from home encouraged buyers to look outside of city for homes that offers more space, and enjoyment. The focus on the home has become a priority throughout the pandemic and the property market across our region has continued to see strong demand for moving home. The return of the box room is a must-have’ on most client’s needs now. Somewhere to work from home, somewhere for the kids to home-school, somewhere to start a new hobby – somewhere to enjoy this new way of living.
The government’s Stamp Duty cuts with timelines of March, June, and September this year created an enormous pressure on the industry at a time when staff shortage was at its highest across the sector – in estate agents, legal firms, and local authorities – the demands on the industry to meet demand to move home has been challenging to say the least. Good for business, but I believe challenging for staff moral across the whole industry.
Combined with the enormous demand on the new homes industry. The increased need to offer remote virtual tours of show homes has become the forefront of our marketing and collateral focus for supporting developers with the Buyer-journey. The ability to support and deliver new homes to our Buyers from our developer clients has been a main focus since May 2020, and has been massively affected by strong demand and limited labour resources, material shortages whilst trying to meet the SDLT timelines for Buyers to benefit from the government’s initiative to help people move. This comes to an end in September this year, and should remove the timelines for site teams to build homes faster than ever before. The whole industry deserves recognition for the effort that has gone in to providing these homes at this time, whilst working under strict Covid-rule conditions. Outstanding work by our team at Urban BASE and by our partners and colleagues across our new homes’ sites and I would like to take this opportunity to offer a sincere thank you for all of their friendship and support throughout.
In all this last eighteen months it would appear the property market has met a shortfall in the UK’s housing that should have taken twice as long. The increase in demand as a result has pushed house price growth beyond the reach of many first-time-buyers. The government is supporting the FTB with new mortgage products and schemes such as Help to Buy and Rent to Buy remain a great opportunity to get on to the housing ladder.
The wish list from the more established homeowner; a house near the sea, a room with a view, a bigger garden, or a simple extra box room’ – as we bring 2021 to the final quarter, the housing market is showing no signs of slowing…. and yes, I am writing this from the box room, at home!
