Update on re-opening Humberstones Homes

Over 24 hours ago, estate agents were informed that they could now start opening for business again - it was a bolt out of the blue as many of us were expecting & preparing to re-open on the 1st June onwards. On one side this is great news, the housing market can get going again & that is always a barometer for the economy as a whole, but on the other hand I believe it is a touch too early & if the unscrupulous agents who were flouting the full lockdown continue to do business in a rushed manner then it will put the health & safety of the public & their staff at risk. There is also the potential of our industry looking mercenary when most of us cannot even go & visit our parents & our children their grandparents. Therefore a full reopening must be done in the correct manner & a phased manner. At Humberstones Homes we have actively advertised that we are open for appointment bookings. That is indeed true & have extended our phone hours back to normal weekday availability. However these viewing appointments will remain provisional/pending until we have all the procedures in place based on Government Legislation & the guidance of our regulators Propertymark. Don't get me wrong we have been planning for re-opening for the past 8 weeks or so but the devil is in the detail and there is a lot of detail & so there should be. The public are still massively wary of Covid-19 as they very much should be & as we are too. Our staff must also feel safe to go back to work & to undertake appointments, and 100% condident they have been given the correct guidance & training beforehand. Our clients, whether they be vendors, buyers, landlords or tenants must also feel 100% confident in our ability to keep them safe. We have been updating all our clients by phone & videos throughout lockdown & this will continue. So bear with us please - we will be ready to undertake viewings soon & our office will reopen sometime after the bank holiday but we will not be pressured into it until we're ready.