“The priority has to be keeping safe” - Estate agents welcome a return to work after lockdown eased

That means estate agents were thrust back into the world of work, and are now coming into contact with members of the public.

Ami Baxter, who owns Baxter’s Estate Agents in Elland, said: “It felt good to be at work again and seeing people.

“Avoiding going too close to them and covering my face however doesn’t feel great at all, but I am proud to be able to help the economy get back on its feet and the charity work I do it so important to my business so I need houses to sell in order to make my donations.

“After losing my mum, I donate to stroke research every time I sell a house.

“I do however still worry about the implications of passing on or catching the virus when we are still not out of the woods.

“My customers come first and I would never put them in harm’s way so on viewings I am requesting people to wear masks or face coverings at viewings, not to touch anything and wash hands or put gloves on at the door before they go in.

“I am opening the doors and waiting outside to answer any questions. I am also wearing a mask and sanitising my hands.

“The market is going to pick up, I have no doubt about it. In fact, I feel like I have just picked up from the day we locked down so that’s positive and buyers are still out there so the local market will continue to thrive.

“We simply don’t have enough properties to sell to our buyers so in need of new business. We have more properties sold subject to contract than we do available which shows how good the market is.

“My staff are still on furlough due to having children at home so I am on my own running the fort but I just love it so I really don’t mind!”

Claire Sheehan, who runs her own estate agents in Hebden Bridge and is secretary of the Hebden Bridge Business Forum, said: “I am obviously very pleased that restrictions have been lifted although a little surprised at the way it was announced - 8pm on a Tuesday evening - and a little annoyed that it was announced without the disclosure of the full facts and regulations.

“We started to undertake viewings straight away, although these were on empty homes to rent.

“I booked some sales viewings on a few houses starting last weekend, on homes that are empty.

“These are for applicants that have been in contact with me over the past couple of months and have wanted to view but couldn’t whilst the restrictions were in place.

“I also have a couple of viewings ready to book on occupied homes but I am waiting to hear if my vendors want these to go ahead.

“Ultimately, it is down to each and every client of mine as to whether they feel comfortable allowing viewings in their own homes. Some have already advised they would rather wait a while longer, others are less concerned and feel the guidelines we have provided offer adequate safety.

“It is a very personal choice and I totally respect that, given the severity of the situation.

“I will not open my Hebden Bridge office just yet, as I can work from home with family support - my daughter works part time for me and is currently a member of my household anyway.

“If all goes well this next couple of weeks, I will bring staff back from June and look to open the office then. It seems only fair as the business owner that I undertake the initial viewings, I would not want to put any of my staff at risk.

“I have heard many estate agency workers, particularly those that work for large corporate companies, complaining that they do feel unsafe and do feel it is somewhat reckless to go from 0-60 in this way.

“Also some employers are worried about any repercussions, should staff fall ill having picked up the virus in their day to day activities.

“I believe the Government is being rather vague and almost passing the buck in failing to set proper guidelines as to who should be working, who should be exempt etc - no one wants to be responsible if things go wrong.

“Employers are fearful of future tribunals and are sometimes caught between a rock and a hard place - yes let’s get the economy moving - but let’s keep staff and customers safe.

“We do have a lot of pent up demand, both people wanting to buy houses and people wanting to sell and our rental market is always busy. So it does make sense to start things moving again.

“The priority however, has to be keeping safe. So I think everybody will have to work at a much slower pace than we are used to - this is the new normal.”

Chris Bottomley, from Linsey Champion estate agents in Brighouse, said: “We’d not planned to be doing viewings until probably after June 1 but it’s been forced on us a little bit by the government by declaring that everything’s good to go now.

“Yet nothing’s been put in place, there’s no saying what we should do, so everybody’s making it up.

“We’ve bought gloves and masks and we’re going to do set view days where people will be allowed to do a viewing at a set time and leave at a set time.

“They’ll either bring their own gloves and masks or we’ll supply them, and then at the end of the viewing we’ll whip round and clean all the door handles, and tell people not to touch as many surfaces as they can.

“That’s the only way we can see it working at this stage.

“It hasn’t really been thought out. There was talk that estate agents would be one of the first to re-open and I was thinking ‘why should we?’

“I feel as though we’re the whipping boys at the minute.”

Dacre, Son & Hartley has welcomed the Government’s plans to re-start the housing market and has re-opened its offices.

Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacre, Son & Hartley, which has an office in Elland and 19 other offices in West and North Yorkshire, said: “The Government’s plan to re-start the housing market is very good news.

“The whole sphere of buying and selling a property is very personal, and it can be a worrying time as well as a joyous one.

“However, it’s important to note that the market doesn’t simply turn on and off like a switch, and it will need a few days to re-boot.

“We will be re-opening our offices as soon as the final deep cleans have taken place and relevant signage and health and safety measures are properly in place. In the meantime, we are continuing to successfully work remotely by phone, email and video and are readily accessible to our clients.

“We agreed our first sale at 9.15am on Wednesday, May 13, the morning after the housing minister’s announcement, so things are looking positive.”

Taylor Wimpey Yorkshire have begun a phased approach to reopening its sales office and show homes across the region, with staff and subcontractors operating under a robust set of revised health and safety practices and protocols. 

Calder View in Sowerby Bridge will open its doors to customers on Friday with strict social distancing requirements in place.A new set of safety measures have been introduced which include the installation of Perspex screens and marker guides for social distancing. Show home viewings will be unaccompanied and only one family at a time will be able to view each home.

Ross Clarkson, sales director for Taylor Wimpey Yorkshire, said: “Reopening our sales offices and show homes is a significant step for both staff and customers. I want to assure the public that we are not prepared to compromise on health and safety, which is why we will be operating our Calder View sales office on a strict appointment-only basis.

“I am confident that our revised health and safety protocols and guidelines mean that we can operate safely and I know our sales executives are looking forward to safely welcoming customers once again. I also understand that some customers may still prefer not to visit us in person. Our sales team has been working remotely over the past few weeks, helping customers through each stage of the homebuying journey and we will continue to offer remote appointments.”