Welcome to IN THE
COUNTRY &TOWN
Creating the inspiration to move Forget Forecasting The House Market!
Welcome to Autumn 2020 edition of this magazine, which sets out to showcase some of the most exquisite homes as well as deliver engaging editorial content and of course comment on the house market.
For the first time in my business life I have decided to suspend obsessive business planning because nothing has turned out as expected in 2020. With the world turned upside down due to Covid-19, the reality is that we have nothing to hang our hat on in terms of business modelling based on historic events or information.
When we entered lockdown earlier this year, I planned for a very slow recovery in house sales with the inevitable squeeze on costs and the risk of job losses etc. The real outcome post lockdown could not have been more different, with the demand from house buyers taking off in May and at a rate we struggled to keep up with initially. The stamp duty boost introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak wasn’t really necessary because the house market was already performing well, but that intervention simply added to the positive momentum.
The New Market Drivers?
During this summer of high buyer activity, the motivations and drivers behind the buyer demand became clearer to see and understand and appear to be three distinctly different influences. Firstly the much talked about fact of people wanting to leave large cities and move to the countryside or small town or village. That is happening, but it is not restricted to buyers leaving London because the same trend is happening at a local level. The second driver of demand has an introspective aspect, because Covid-19 and lockdown allowed people to reassess their life aspirations and moving to that home with a little more space and a larger garden became something not to defer any longer. A life’s too short thinking has added that extra get up and go factor. The third influence is working from home and having a home with a study or home office and fast broadband speed are now important factors.
In the short to medium term there will be a strong house market with buyers highly motivated. Any longer term market comment is irrelevant, because the new drivers be they economic or personal circumstances are very much evolving.
The Covid Rules Must Continue
Throughout this pandemic we have rigorously applied the Public Health England guidelines and this will continue for the foreseeable future, despite the fact this has brought about many challenges from buyers unhappy with young children not being allowed to view a house, through to taking decisive disciplinary actions if a member of staff did not follow the training and guidelines we set out to protect our clients and their homes.
John Holden - Chairman and Managing Director McCarthy Holden
On the Cover: xxx. Published by TBC Publishing Limited, Telephone: 01763 810042 ©TBC Publishing 2020 All rights reserved. Reproduction is forbidden except by express permission of the publishers. The content of this magazine is believed to be correct but its accuracy is not guaranteed and it does not form part of any offer or contract. TBC Publishing Limited cannot accept responsibility for any omissions or errors.
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