COVID-19 briefing: May, week 3

dbaranowski

The main story last week has been the 'reopening' of the housing market: estate agents were allowed to open up their offices with social distancing measures in place, and physical viewings were allowed to continue.

Despite this, tenants are reluctant to simply go back to 'business as usual', still preferring virtual viewings that let them limit physical contact. Kiko is ideal for that - we can take photos and 3D tours of your property completely contactless, and tenants can view them any time, anywhere, in full safety. 📹️ 🖥️ 📱

Our early access promo is still open, so you can get up to 4 free months of rent guaranteed property management by simply signing up - contact me at dawid@kiko.homes and I'll be happy to set you up.

Let's examine what happened this week to...

Tenants

Despite tenants now being allowed to move house not only when absolutely necessary, tenants seemed cautious to go back to traditional viewings; with new tenancies at a level of 50% compared to last year.

Landlords

Landlords have been praised for their overwhelmingly supportive stance during the outbreak, with over 90% of landlords reported to have offered struggling tenants support when asked.
More landlords are pivoting to longer rentals; with some areas reporting over 30% of new listings made up of landlords who no longer want or can rent their homes for short-term stays.

Firms

Estate agencies have started reopening offices, with many preferring to delay the reopening day to set up necessary safety measures. In a notable example, Foxtons will be opening their branches only on June 1.
Despite some celebrations of the 'reopening' of the industry, investments remain largely on hold.