The Government have released their advice on home moving during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Estate Agents are able to market, launch and sell or let properties again now but under strict guidelines.

David Cox of Propertymark recently commented that, as an industry, we have the responsibility to unlock the economy, the Government have put a great deal of trust and responsibility to us, so we must act with the utmost respect to the situation. Hayman-Joyce will do all we can to go about our role in a responsible and safe manner, following Government and our professional bodies guidelines.

Whilst these guidelines are very general, we are working on the practicalities, including:

• Initial viewings should be done virtually wherever this is possible and property agents should help you to do this.
• All physical viewings should be limited to members of the same household and open house viewings should not take place.
• When physically viewing properties, where possible, you should avoid touching surfaces, wash your hands regularly, and bring your own hand sanitiser. The number of people on a viewing should be minimised to those from your household that absolutely have to be there.
• If people are being shown around your current home, you should open all internal doors and ensure surfaces, such as door handles, are cleaned after each viewing with standard household cleaning products.
• As most people choose to, we recommend that you vacate your property whilst viewings are taking place in order to minimise your contact with those not in your household.
• Anyone involved in any aspect of the home moving process should practice social distancing in line with public health advice.
• When moving between properties, you and those in your household should try to do as much of the packing yourself as you can. Where this is not possible, you should speak to removal firms in advance.
• If you are particularly worried about the risk of infection, then speak to the professionals involved, your landlord, estate agent or removers as they may be able to put in place extra measures.

Tom Hayman-Joyce says:

“We are pleased to be able to get back up and running and continue to help people buy, sell, let and rent their homes and investments. It’s not back to business as usual, but a new usual. We will continue to offer the incredibly high levels of service however with full respect to the current situation and guidelines to ensure your, our clients and the teams’ safety.”