Diary of an agent: Shelley Stephenson and Jonathan Bramwell

Shelley Stephenson (SS) is based in Knight Frank’s Worcester office, where she specialises in the sale of country homes. Jonathan Bramwell (JB) is head of the Buying Solution, Knight Frank’s independent buying consultancy that provides search and acquisition services.

With the housing market in England edging back towards normality after been paused these past few months, the agents discuss the impact lockdown has had and the prospects for the remainder of the year.

What was the reaction to lockdown amongst clients?

SS - Acceptance. Vendors were very much of the mind ‘this is where we are’. After we went into lockdown, I phoned them individually to recommend that they remained on the market. Throughout lockdown we’ve continued to have internet generated enquiries, so remaining visible to potential buyers has been important. Another gratifying thing is that every single deal we had going into lockdown held together and made it out intact the other side.

JB – We’ve been very busy. I take day to day responsibility for the country market, and most of our business is done within a two and a half hour radius of London. It’s a truism that my clients’ biggest assets are their homes, so impartial advice and access to off-market opportunities has been in demand throughout lockdown.

Where has pricing headed since the market resumed?

SS - I haven’t had any buyers that had agreed deals before lockdown try to renegotiate the price since. In regards new instructions it’s a little too soon to say what will happen, however in the short term the scarcity of stock is helping. We actually did several virtual market appraisals (MAs) that led to instructions during lockdown. The number of MAs is now rising and it’s good given lockdown but we’re not where we’d normally be at this time of year.

JB –What’s the right price? That remains tricky, not least as half of the purchases we make are made off-market. What we can tell people is what the right location is, and this remains paramount. But demand is certainly there. Requests for a ‘country home’ to escape London have gone through the roof. In London, our teams have seen some retained clients revising their purchasing budgets, as they accept that the balcony, roof garden or communal garden they now desire after lockdown will cost them more.

How has lockdown changed the conversation with buyers?

SS - There’s a lot of people that have been forced to work remotely. That’s opened their eyes to the fact that perhaps they don’t need to be in London every day. We have also had interest from families that live apart and have realised that they want to be closer to each other. Although some of these conversations are with London buyers, a lot of the interest is coming from people based in Birmingham.

JB – Many Londoners that didn’t have a base in the country are now asking us how they change their lifestyle. For many, working from home – either their direct experience or through conversations with friends - has disabused them of the notion that you get slow broadband in the country. That means people don’t need to be in London all the time and that’s starting to push out the search radius, which was between one to one and a half hours from London typically around the M3, M4 and M40, to now include areas such as Dorset and Somerset that are two to three hours' travel.

We’re now a few weeks in since the resumption of the market, how is activity?

SS - We have been incredibly busy. There’s been a lot of potential buyers registering with us, more so than normal. I think it will be different going forward though. We will hopefully see more property on the market soon but it’s not going to be the same as a normal year. The big unknown is what will happen in regards unemployment once the furlough scheme ends, which will influence whether people feel confident and able to buy. However, mortgage rates are low and lenders have signalled they will transact, so I remain positive.

JB – The country market was torpedoed during what is traditionally its busiest time, so all the stock we were expecting was put on hold. Some of that will not now come up for sale this year. However, selling agents are reporting there is a market and we’ve seen an increase in people looking to sell off-market, as they attempt to gauge the situation, which is ideal for us in the part of the market we operate in. We have purchased four off-market properties in the last few weeks, so we are certainly busy.