We had been worried about our regular correspondents at Sellhousefast.uk, who hadn’t been in touch for a while. But fear not, they have not been furloughed. And, no doubt finding the business of selling houses somewhat slower than normal, they have returned to what they do best – polling the public.
SHF asked 1,220 people (online, one assumes) which fictional property they would most like to hunker down in for the lockdown. And their survey said Wayne Manor was number one, with more than a quarter of the vote. This will be no big surprise to regular Diary readers – after all, in January, Farawayfurniture.com’s vital research established that Batman’s family home was the British public’s favourite at the best of times, and a well-stocked mansion with its own technology-filled cave is even more ideal at a time of video calls and toilet paper-hoarding.
“The Burrow” (which, Diary is told, is the Weasleys’ house in Harry Potter) bafflingly comes in second, with the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s adopted home taking third spot.
People clearly crave luxury in a time of crisis – or seek comfort in places such as “the Friends apartment” (by which we think they mean Monica and Rachel’s, not Chandler and Joey’s, even though that has the sweet chairs) and the house from Up.
But Diary truly likes the style of the 8% of people who chose either Dracula’s Castle or the Addams Family Mansion at 0001 Cemetery Lane. If you’re looking to socially distance, that’s the way to do it.
Have gavel, won’t travel
Working from home can be a particular shock to the system if you’re an auctioneer accustomed to bringing down the gavel in front of a live audience. But Savills director and auctioneer Robin Howeson showed what can be done when he live-streamed the firm’s scheduled sale from his own home three days after the coronavirus lockdown was announced.
Aided by an IT expert and around 30 Savills staff all working from home to handle the remote bids, Howeson sold 45 out of 67 lots. Credit is also due to his wife Tanya, a nursery school teacher who suddenly found herself assisting with the sale of £18.5m of property. Such was the success that the Howesons will host next month’s auction from their home.
Meanwhile, another husband and wife team is pulling out the stops to keep SDL Auctions running through the crisis. Managing director and auctioneer Andrew Parker and his wife Rachael, who is regional property manager for the East Midlands, will run monthly remote auctions from the head office in Chilwell, Nottingham. They will be the only people in the room, so rest assured, social distancing will be fully maintained. Andrew will conduct the auctions from the rostrum and handle proxy bids as usual, while Rachael manages internet bidding. A remote team will take telephone bids as the lots go under the hammer.
Who needs Netflix?
Speaking of under the hammer, a certain BBC property show co-hosted by an ex-footballer may be winning new legions of fans now that the UK is (largely) working from home. Situated in the ideal slot for a quick TV break with a cuppa, Homes Under the Hammer (starring Dion Dublin) is the morning equivalent of Tipping Point – you would never tune in especially for it, but once your channel-hopping lands on it, you can’t tear your eyes away. However, what if you did make a point of watching HUTH (as devotees no doubt call it)? Not just one, but every… single… episode? Thankfully, the fine people at MyJobQuote.co.uk have wisely invested some of their newly available time in working that out. And to watch seasons 1-22 in their entirety would take 30 days and three hours – but what a glorious month it would be.
Astonishingly, though, that epic binge watch is trumped by another daytime property staple – you could view Escape to the Country for an unnecessarily precise 34 days, 13 hours and 48 minutes. A more reasonable ambition would be to see every Grand Designs in order, which would only take four days, 17 hours and 31 minutes – of which, one assumes, two days is spent on Kevin McCloud offering sage advice that the grand designers scrupulously ignore to their cost. Meanwhile, a blissful three days and five hours could be spent trawling the archives to marvel at Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s finest works – along with smiley, smiley Carol Smillie – with the genre classic Changing Rooms.
Others on MyJobQuote’s top 10 of the nation’s favourite property shows are: DIY SOS; Location, Location, Location; Property Ladder; A Place in the Sun; Amazing Spaces; and The Restoration Man, with a cumulative viewing time for all 10 coming in at a colossal 99 days, one hour and 52 minutes.
Now Diary doesn’t want to hear anybody claiming they’re bored and have nothing to do during this lockdown.
A knockout combination
We at EG welcome any good news at the moment – particularly when it shows that life still goes on, despite the Covid-19 crisis. Thus, we were delighted to hear that a famous East End of Glasgow boxing gym “now has one of Scotland’s largest property companies in its corner”.
The Scott Harrison School of Boxing, run by the former WBO featherweight champion’s father Peter, which has trained a number of professional fighters has a new custom-built home owned by Spectrum Properties.
Spectrum’s owner and director William Roddie stepped in when the club’s future was threatened as its previous premises became subject to a compulsory purchase order.
Roddie said: “Peter Harrison’s Phoenix Gym and the School of Boxing have become an institution in the East End of Glasgow. Peter is a remarkable man who has given his life to helping local youths to realise their potential. He has also had the insight and empathy to help East End lads in times of trouble and has been instrumental in turning many young lives round. Anything we can do to help him will be small reward in comparison to the effort he puts in.”
As well as subsidised rents, Spectrum Properties is supporting the gym with sponsorship and helping with kit costs – which should all hopefully ensure that it emerges from the lockdown fully fighting fit.
