The majority of letting agents and landlords responding to our recent poll
believe that allowing letting agents to re-open in England was a good idea. 80% of respondents agreed that the decision was the
correct one and just 4% felt it was not.
The poll, aimed at both agents and landlords, followed the announcement
that agents in England were able to re-open on the 13th of May
and conduct property viewings. This decision formed part of a raft of
measures aimed at easing the lockdown restrictions in England, which
provoked much debate following the announcement.
Despite this wider controversy, the ability of letting agents to begin
operation again has been welcomed by those within the sector. In addition
to the positive attitude towards the decision, the majority of agents that
responded do plan on re-opening their offices. Just 5% are
not planning to open in the short term. It was also interesting to note
that 50% of agents operating outside of England would open
their branches if they had the choice.
While the decision was welcomed by many, only 1/3rd of respondents felt that the announcement
had been handled well by the Government. The primary issue raised was the
relatively short notice provided, which did not give much time to prepare.
In a clear sign of eagerness to get the student housing market moving again 90% of respondents were willing to conduct viewings of
properties. Of these 40% would only conduct a viewing of a
vacant property. This is despite the relative lack of certainty about the
government’s guidelines on conducting viewings safely, with only 44% clear on the implications of those guidelines https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
‘Pent up’ demand
While the wider property industry has ‘talked up’ the prospect of pent up
demand following the easing of lockdown, those in the student accommodation
sector are a little more cautious. Around ¼ of those
responding were anticipating a busy period, with students eager to secure
housing for the next academic year. However 50% were not
sure if this demand would materialise, reflecting the lack of clarity from
Universities on their status in September.
Despite this, both agents and landlords are reporting healthy levels of
viewing requests and 20% of those responding to the poll
had enquiries from students who were looking for viewings with explicit
social distancing arrangements in place.
This experience mirrors that of Accommodation for Students, which has
continued to experience year on year growth in enquiry levels and more
students requesting special viewing arrangements. This reflects the
confidence among many students that they will be returning to University in
September.
