COVID-19 briefing: May, week 2

dbaranowski

We begin the second week of May with significant news from the Prime Minister, who stressed those who can't work from home should go to work, and specifically named the construction industry in his address. 🏗️ 🚧 👷

This encourages us in launching Kiko in the summer of 2020, and our early access promo is still open: you can now get 4 free months of rent guaranteed property management as one of our first landlords! Simply drop me an email at dawid@kiko.homes and I'll get you started.

Let's see what else is new in the real estate world this week for...

Tenants

Rental transaction volumes are fluctuating at about 50% of last year's level, but with occasional spikes. We interpret this as signs that tenants have returned to actively looking for homes, but finding the right one takes longer than usual due to fewer listings available.
Ad portal Rightmove has confirmed this, releasing data indicating they received increase traffic from tenants. The firm also revealed that their survey of tenants found that the majority planned to continue with their moving plans.

Landlords

In a move showcasing how kindness and understanding can be viable tools to tackle the outbreak, some landlords have turned to 'moral contracts' with tenants currently struggling to pay rent, granting extended rent payment schedules on a promise to repay.
The Housing Secretary has said that the ban on tenant evictions might be extended beyond June, depending on medical advice.

Firms

Airbnb featured prominently in the news, as the company cut a quarter of its global workforce and stretched its mandatory refund window until June 15. Other reports around the world focused on landlords who missed out on Airbnb rental income to the point of considering to sell their properties. We are happy to help any Airbnb landlords to switch to long term renting, which we see as a stable answer to these uncertain times for travel bookings.
More real estate developers are opening their sites, in a sign of confidence for the real estate sector.

Sales

Major estate agency Savills says the outbreak will not only lower real estate prices, but change what buyers want. Savills predicts increased demand for houses outside cities or in rural areas. Meanwhile, as tenants' appetite for homes in cities has not decreased, renting out properties in London may become more attractive than selling them.