Well, I wasn't expecting that!!
At around 8pm last night (12/5) we all got the message that from midnight Estate Agent could open their doors again.
'Great News!' I thought initially, but then I started to think things through and got a little concerned……..
While I'd been itching to get back out there again, I had two main concerns:
1 – A week ago I'd watched a webinar from Rightmove and PropertyMark where they discussed draft guidelines for conducting viewings, but nothing had been officially confirmed and we hadn't received anything at all in writing.
2 – I was having the kind of nagging doubt about safety that I think most people are having on going back to work. For me specifically I was wondering 'How can it be OK for me to go into a strangers house, with another stranger, and then another house with someone else etc, etc, but I can't go into the homes of my friends and family?'
Something to sleep on. I woke this morning to lots of heated discussion in estate and letting agent forums about what we should be doing. Exactly how could we start workign again? What did we need to do to be responsible? What additional safety measures do we need? In teh office? In empty properties? In people homes? Some were planning to be out and about today, others were adamant that they would stay closed until 1st June as originally planned, and many just wanted time to plan and get all their ducks in a row.
At around 10.30am today the Government issued further advice on home moving which we now need to read and absorb, then at some point in the next 24 hours we should receive further sector specific advice.
Armed with all of this information, every business owner will then need to work out how best to open their office. We need to be able to serve our clients and keep the property market moving, while also keeping ourselves, our tenants and prospective customers safe. I still have a nagging doubt about overall safety and want to do everything possible to reduce the risks.
At a top level my plan is to
1 – do as much as possible remotely via video and the virtual world
2 – keep face to face meetings to an absolute minimum.
Full details will be available by Monday.
