The Right Thing To Do
Spring is traditionally one of the busiest periods for house sales, and in ordinary circumstances this would be an exciting and active time for those of us involved in building new homes for families in Norfolk, writes Tony Abel.
But, of course, these are far from ordinary times. None of us could have dreamt that we would be in such a dreadful place as we are at the moment. It’s a time when we should first and foremost stand back and be thankful for the NHS, and all the other key workers who are making such heroic efforts to keep us all safe, well and fed.
A number of factors have led to us, along with all house builders, suspending activity on our sites for the time being. First, of course, is the need to protect our workforce and ensure we play our part in containing the spread of Covid-19 as far as possible.
Alongside this comes government advice that people should be delaying moving house for the time being if at all possible, and the practical difficulties of progressing sales of second-hand homes in particular, with surveys difficult to conduct safely, and viewings of what are people’s homes – and therefore their safe places – not possible.
Above all, with all of our attention focussed elsewhere, stopping work is simply the right thing to do. It has enabled our staff to stay safely at home with their families, and incidentally, it has also allowed us to donate personal protection equipment such as masks to the NHS, where their need is unarguably greater than ours at the moment.
Once again we can be thankful that we live in Norfolk, where the relatively low population density and availability of open spaces means that we can exercise safely and in accordance with the social distancing rules.
The fact that we have stopped building doesn’t mean that we have closed our business, because we know that when we finally emerge from this emergency, the demand for homes will quickly reappear. Interest rates are now as low as they have ever been, and the enforced period at home is giving people the time both to research their next home, and to get their current home in a good condition to put on the market.
We know from the statistics that property portals and websites are seeing increased traffic, and once the restrictions can be safely lifted, we are fully expecting the market to recover quickly and robustly.
Many of our office staff remain at work (from home) planning ahead so that our return to full operation will be as seamless as possible.
So if you are at home and have some time on your hands, do take a look at our website and whet your appetite for the ‘after Covid’ period. Meanwhile, stay safe.
