Property owners and other real estate firms have been given tentative signs of how their businesses will gradually exit the coronavirus lockdown during the coming months – but the government has warned that its multi-phase strategy “is not a quick return to normality”.
Prime minister Boris Johnson wrote in the introduction to the 50-page document, titled Our Plan To Rebuild, that his government aims to set out “a plan to rebuild the UK for a world with Covid-19”. Here’s what property needs to know from the plan.
Back to work? Maybe not just yet
If workers can continue to work from home, they should, the government said. “This will help minimise the number of social contacts across the country and therefore keep transmissions as low as possible.”
Those who cannot work at home can travel to work if it is open, the document added, including sectors such as food production, construction, manufacturing, logistics, distribution and scientific research in laboratories.
Changing journeys
The government is working with public transport providers on strategies to bring services “back towards pre-Covid-19 levels as quickly as possible”, but said that people should try to cycle, walk or drive, rather than rely on public transport. More money will be ploughed into widening pavements and creating pop-up cycle lanes as a result.
“Social distancing guidance on public transport must be followed rigorously,” the government said. “As with workplaces, transport operators should follow appropriate guidance to make their services Covid-19-secure.”
If there is no alternative to using public transport and social distancing will be difficult, the government is recommending the use of facemasks.
“Homemade cloth face-coverings can help reduce the risk of transmission in some circumstances,” the government’s report said. “Face-coverings are not intended to help the wearer, but to protect against inadvertent transmission of the disease to others if you have it asymptomatically.”
Rethinking the workplace
As workplaces slowly reopen, employers are urged to reduce the risks of spreading Covid-19 in workplaces where practical by changing shift patterns and rotas to have smaller, contained teams. The latest plan also said workplaces need to be well-ventilated to reduce the chances of transmission.
For offices, the government is consulting with businesses on guidelines including the redesigning of workspaces to reduce contact and the chance of infection per contact.
The government will also call for the collection of data from the workplace as it establishes a Joint Biosecurity Centre, which will provide real-time analysis of infection outbreaks at a community level. This will include working in partnership with ministers, businesses and local partners on whether schools or workplaces would need to be closed again in places where infection rates have spiked.
A reprieve for retail…
As part of step two on the road to Covid-19 recovery, from next month the government may allow shops selling non-essential goods to reopen, subject to retailers being able to follow yet-to-be-issued Covid-19-secure guidelines
“The intention is for this to happen in phases from 1 June,” the plan said. “The government will issue further guidance shortly on the approach that will be taken to phasing, including which businesses will be covered in each phase and the timeframes involved.”
…but leisure and hospitality will suffer for longer
Other sectors currently closed, such as hospitality and personal care, will face a longer wait, until at least early July, before they can reopen.
Businesses likely to be allowed to open from this point will include hairdressers and beauty salons, as well as food service providers, pubs and hotels, public places such as places of worship and leisure facilities such as cinemas.
Openings in these higher-risk sectors will be phased amid trials to test firms’ ability to adopt the new Covid-19-secure guidelines.
The government will also establish a series of task forces to work with stakeholders in these sectors to develop ways in which they can make these businesses and public places secure.
However, in a boost for sports centres, from 13 May sports such as tennis and golf can played once again, but only with one person from outside of an individual’s household.
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