The UK’s largest housebuilders and major developers have announced plans to reopen sales offices following the government’s green light to return to business.
Persimmon, Redrow Homes, MJ Gleeson, Cairn Homes and a number of developers in London are to restart sales in the coming week.
Persimmon said it will reopen sales offices on Friday 15 May, following construction site restarts on 27 April. It said it will enforce strict social distancing and additional hygiene measures.
Redrow will reopen sales offices and show homes from Monday 18 May. The housebuilder said it has fitted adaptations to its offices and site facilities and invested in digital alternatives to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
John Tutte, executive chairman at Redrow, said: “This will allow existing customers already midway through the process to recommence their property transaction and for new customers to make appointments to view and reserve a new home.”
MJ Gleeson said it will begin to reopen sales offices this week, on a regional hub basis. It expects to reopen 19 sales offices within two weeks, covering all 67 sites.
Irish housebuilder Cairn Homes said it will initiate a phased reopening of its 15 construction sites from 18 May. However, it added that new site commencement would likely be postponed until later this year.
London developers Avanton and Aitch Group will both open marketing suites from today (14 May).
It follows announcements from Taylor Wimpey, Crest Nicholson and Weston Homes of new steps to resume activity yesterday.
The government effectively froze the housing market in March with a call to halt all but non-critical home moves.
After seven weeks, housing secretary Robert Jenrick announced yesterday that estate agents were able to reopen, with viewings permitted and other essential parts of the sales process restarted with immediate effect.
A RICS survey revealed that during the lockdown some 80% of respondents saw buyers and sellers pull out of transactions, with 62% calling for a stamp duty holiday to help sales recover.
Knight Frank has subsequently revised its house price forecast for the year, expecting a fall of 7% for the UK, down from declines of 3% set at the start of April. The agent said its expectation of 526,000 lost residential sales may have been “slightly pessimistic”.
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