The British Property Federation has said it does not expect clarity over a Covid-19 lockdown exit strategy for the property industry while it remains “overshadowed” by the government’s daily firefighting against the pandemic.
The government has yet to announce exactly when the lockdown will end, and prime minister Boris Johnson’s first speech made since recovering from coronavirus signalled the measures will not be relaxed just yet.
Johnson urged the country and British businesses to “contain your impatience” and stick to lockdown, saying a second spike could result in a “new wave of death and disease” as well as an “economic disaster”.
His comments follow on from views outlined by foreign secretary Dominic Raab on Sunday, who said an exit strategy has not been published as specific proposals had not yet been bolstered with evidence and would therefore be “misleading”.
The BPF said it is in talks with the government on guidance for the industry both during and post-lockdown, but that it did not expect the government to put its immediate focus on a holistic exit plan.
Ghislaine Halpenny, director of strategy and external affairs at the BPF, said: “An exit strategy for the economy and detail within that for specific business sectors, including guidance on social distancing for businesses as staff return to their place of work, will be vital.
“We are talking to the government about life post-lockdown, and what the property industry and our customers need now and in the longer term to enable economic recovery, but the prospect of [a] holistic exit strategy sooner rather than later is being overshadowed by the government’s daily firefighting.”
Halpenny said the government is ensuring that as many businesses as possible can get through the next few weeks and months before looking beyond the short term.
However, property leaders are urging the government to publish plans to ease out of lockdown and for more clarity on how real estate can support this.
Countries recently outlining plans to ease their lockdown restrictions include Italy, which aims to restart the majority of business activity from 4 May.
Bruntwood SciTech chief executive Phil Kemp told EG the industry needs clarity over which parts of the economy can go back to normal operations again, and when.
“You need that broader plan in place because it all affects us as individuals as to how we gear ourselves up to get back to work, whether that’s childcare or other things that we need to do our day to day activity,” he said.
“There’s a requirement on us as a business to look at what that means in terms of our own colleagues and staff and what that means in terms of how we support businesses in our space.”
He continued: “By publishing an exit strategy, it enables us to get further as an employer, and also as a property provider, to make sure we have got the right kind of support in place for customers to get back into our buildings.”
Capital & Centric co-founder Tim Heatley said property is one of the most “hyperconnected industries in the world”, and is vital to help the country get back on its feet after lockdown.
“We’re the gatekeepers to people’s everyday lives,” he said. “With that in mind, we do need to be able to help people get back on with their lives and help get their businesses under way and get staff back in.”
He added that organising how to come out of lockdown should be devolved to the regions. “Let the regions decide what is best for them and how they do it,” he said. “Let them decide within their framework what localities and what industries switch on, as each region has its own economic driver.”
Caddick Group director Jonny Caddick agreed that companies need to be notified with enough time to kickstart business again.
“Businesses can’t just go from zero to 100 overnight,” he said. “You need time to gear things up accordingly.
“It’s only fair for business leaders to be able to plan out the future for the next few weeks – we’re not expecting the government to say too much or too little, but to give guidelines so we can start to prepare.”
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