Tim Grey is a Director of Multi award-winning family-run housebuilding company Llanmoor Homes, which has more than 50 years’ experience of the South Wales market.
The coronavirus pandemic and the government enforced lockdown has put much of normal life in the UK on hold for the foreseeable future.
The housing market is no exception. Across Wales, estate agents have shuttered their businesses and workers have downed tools on new housing developments. The lockdown came at the start of spring, traditionally one of the busiest seasons for new home purchases, and there is currently no certainty of how or when it might end.
The unprecedented nature of our current situation makes any prediction on the future of the housing market difficult. But while we are heading into somewhat unknown times and nobody really knows what we face with regards to our livelihoods and the economy as a whole, I think things could bounce back relatively quickly.
Firstly, at Llanmoor Homes we haven’t seen anything like the drop-off in interest we might have expected. Customers have still been contacting us to discuss the likely completion date of the purchase of their property and also potential new buyers enquiring about reserving a new home at one of our developments. The sheer number of continuing enquires we are receiving suggests people are planning ahead and are keen to purchase a new home as soon as the situation allows. This has been reflected elsewhere in the market too, with many property websites reporting excellent traffic.
Secondly, we have seen lots of people talking on social media and elsewhere about using the lockdown as a chance to put some money aside and save for a new home, or to take the opportunity to improve their own home with some DIY or redecorating ready to put it on the market as soon as they can.
Granted, we may have a little while to go as to the lockdown being relaxed, but both of these things show people are planning for the future and a return to normal life once this is all over, and that gives us confidence that the demand will be there and the market will recover quickly.
It is also important to remember that we have been through major economic shocks as a nation in the past. The financial crash of the early eighties had a profound and long-lasting effect on many sectors of the economy, especially the housing market, as did the more recent crash in 2008.
Nevertheless, the market did recover and businesses like ours, which were strongly rooted in their local communities, managed to weather the storm and emerge in a stronger position as a result. We’re confident that the same is true of this situation and the indications are that the housing market will recover very quickly once this is over.
Of course, we know a lot of people will be affected by coronavirus and the lockdown, whether financially or in terms of their health and wellbeing, and we should not overlook that fact.
We pride ourselves on being a family business and right now we are 100% focused on the safety of our families, the people who work with us and the communities in which we operate.
As a business we took the responsible step of suspending all our building projects as soon as the Prime Minister Boris Johnson made his address to the Nation on 23rd March 2020. We did this to ensure the health and safety of our employees and contractors and to allow them to be with their families at this difficult time. While we have a skeleton number of staff covering calls, e-mails and ensuring that the business continues to operate in terms of payment of our employees, sub-contractors and suppliers, the majority of our employees are currently not working but are on furlough pay under the Government Job Retention scheme, as is the case with many businesses and their employees across the country.
So for us, like most people, it is definitely not business as usual for the time being. But we intend to reopen as soon as it is safe and legal for us to do so, pick up where we left off and go back to doing what we do so well as a business. I’m confident that the housing market will do the same.
