House moves and viewings have resumed in England

House moves and viewings will be able to start again in England from Wednesday this week, under new UK government coronavirus rules. The changes were included in the updated lockdown regulations presented to Parliament on Tuesday.

However, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors - RICS warns that the housing market could take up to a year to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

House moves and viewings were halted at the beginning of lockdown, with buyers and renters urged to delay moving. And the impact of the coronavirus crisis is to be felt for months to come, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which anticipates house prices to be lower as the market begins to reopen. 

The latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey, which highlights the impact of lockdown on house sales, revealed that in April 80% of respondents saw people pull out of transactions.

Simon Rubinsohn, Chief economist at RICS, said:

“Not surprisingly, the latest survey shows that housing activity indicators collapsed in April reflecting the impact of the lockdown. Looking further out, there is a little more optimism but the numbers still suggest that it will be a struggle to get confidence back to where it was as recently as February. 

“Moreover, whether this can be realised will largely depend on how the pandemic pans out and what this means for the macroeconomic environment.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52641373

https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/news/housing-market-reopens-but-rics-warns-of-year-long-recovery/