Coronavirus: Latest updates from Nested

In uncertain times, we've taken every precaution to enable home sellers to continue where possible, in a safe manner.

December 21 Update

In response to the rise in Coronavirus cases in and around London, we have made the following changes:

1. Until 5th January, all first viewings will be virtual-only. We will still inform you that they are happening, but they will be taken care of by your agent. We will arrange in-person viewings in January for buyers who wish to follow-up.
2. Second viewings and pre-exchange visits will be allowed to go ahead as planned, but only with the consent of both parties in the sale and the Nested agent who will be hosting.

While we appreciate these measures go beyond government guidelines, I hope you understand the safety of our clients and colleagues is paramount.

November 2 Update

• The Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick, has confirmed that sellers and buyers will still be able to move home, with estate agents and removals companies able to continue working with the same safety measures in place.
• With the full guidelines yet to come out, we will keep you informed as we find out more.
• It remains imperative that we maintain our Covid-secure measures to protect sellers, buyers and staff. We continue to follow the government guidance in full which you can find here in section “2. Viewings”. We will continue to monitor and adjust these measures accordingly as further guidance is issued.
• We are confident in these measures, however, your safety and comfort is our priority so anyone who would like to adopt further measures or pause viewings entirely should reach out to their relationship manager.
• We know they make life harder but we have had fantastic feedback from customers on the measures we have in place and appreciate all our customer's support in helping us make it possible to safely move home at this time: "We really appreciated that Reiss religiously followed the COVID 19 precautions”.

Nested's policy for selling homes safely

Now that the government has lifted restrictions on in-person home viewings, the property market is moving again. Keeping our customers and employees safe is the top priority, so our policy for selling safely with Nested is:

• All buyers are offered a 360-degree virtual viewing when they enquire on a property
• We will only conduct in-person viewings for those buyers in a position to offer (e.g. you have a mortgage in principle)
• All buyers will be required to complete a form before their in-person viewings to check they have not been in contact with Covid-19
• We ask all buyers viewing a property in-person to wear a face covering. Our employees will always wear a face mask.
• All viewings are no-touch. Doors will be left open throughout the property.
• We aim to limited viewings to a maximum of two people in the property, plus our agent. We will not host open houses.

To stay on top of changes to the market, you can subscribe to our Market Pulse tool. Check it out here.

Monday 4th May: Coronavirus Market Pulse now available locally and rumours of restrictions being lifted

The Nested team have been making improvements to our Market Pulse tool to keep buyers and sellers completely up-to-date about the state of the property market. Since our last update, we've introduced a Market Health Index and local stats so you can see the effect of coronavirus in your area. Check it out here.

Meanwhile, there have been some rumours in estate agency publications that the housing minister Chris Pincher is planning to relax restrictions on the property market.

Friday 1st May: UK mortgage approvals hit seven-year low while there is a surprise rise in house prices in April

According to the Nationwide Building Society, house prices surprisingly rose 0.7% in April. Meanwhile, new mortgage levels tumbled to their lowest level in seven years in March according to the Bank of England (BOE).

Wednesday 1st April: Coronavirus Market Pulse launched to track the property market impact

We have launched the Coronavirus Market Pulse to keep homeowners informed of how Coronavirus is affecting the property market. The tool is free to use and you can subscribe here for weekly updates.

By subscribing, we aim to help you understand when the right time to sell your home is. You will get exclusive access to how property searches on Rightmove and Zoopla have changed since the pandemic was declared on 6th March, as well as whether more home sales collapsing or being withdrawn from the market altogether.

Thursday 26th March: Demand for housing down by 40%

Data released by Hometrack reveals that over the last week buyer demand has fallen by 40% compared to the previous week, as households are forced to self isolate. Pre-coronavirus, the property market was starting to recover with renewed consumer sentiment registering the strongest start to a year for half a decade.

Despite the considerable drop in interest, motivated buyers do seem to still be in the market place, with some sales still being agreed subject to contract. Agreed sales are down 15% over the last week, however only 4% down on this time last year.

On a more positive note, there is little evidence of major withdrawal of properties from the market. New stock has indeed been listed since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, however unsurprisingly at a much slower rate.

The Hometrack data suggests that sales volumes are likely to fall by around 60% before they start to recover. However, when the restrictions are lifted it is likely there will be a strong bounce back from both sellers wanting to list and buyers wanting to purchase.

Wednesday 25th March: Lenders to suspend physical valuations with immediate effect

With the new social distancing rules in full force and further confirmation from the Government about what home moves are considered essential, lenders have taken the decision to suspend face-to-face valuations with immediate effect. Santander, Halifax and Natwest are the latest banks to confirm that physical valuations will not be possible for at least three weeks.

Lenders are trying where possible to conduct desktop valuations, however this will not be possible for all cases. New builds, buy-to-lets, flats and properties over £3m will not be eligible for desktop valuations and so many moves will be forced to stall until the strict social distancing rules are lifted.

A Government spokesperson has confirmed that home moves are able to continue only if they are absolutely unavoidable and if those involved are able to practice social distancing safely.

“Home buyers and renters should, as far as possible, delay moving to a new house while emergency measures are in place to fight coronavirus.

“If moving is unavoidable for contractual reasons and the parties are unable to reach an agreement to delay, people must follow advice on social distancing to minimise the spread of the virus.

“Anyone with symptoms, self-isolating or shielding from the virus, should follow medical advice and not move house for the time being.”

Where moves do need to go ahead, all those involved should take care to follow Government guidance on social distancing and hygiene. See Public Health England guidance.

Tuesday 24th March: Further updates to sellers cancelling all viewings and photography

Nested’s primary commitment is keeping our customers, their families and our employees safe during the Covid-19 disruption. The fast-moving nature of the situation, including regular updates to official advice, require us to make frequent changes to our policies to ensure everyone’s safety.

We had already moved to digital by default and advised customers to minimise in-person viewings, however, we now need to go further, and stop all viewings entirely.

As a result of the government’s announcement to further restrict movement yesterday evening (23rd March), the following changes have been implemented immediately:

1. All in-person viewings have been cancelled. We will now offer strictly virtual viewings with 3D walkthroughs guided by one of our expert agents for all buyers
2. All home photography for sellers has been cancelled. If you have photography booked in for this week the photographer will no longer attend

If either of these changes affect you, please get in touch with your sales manager to discuss in more detail.

We will continue to listen to Government advice and review all our policies as guidance is updated. As ever, the policies announced today are subject to change. We will continue to update our customers and the wider market with any and all changes as we continue in our efforts to keep everyone safe.

Finally, I urge you to heed the government’s advice. Please stay at home, and only leave the house if it is absolutely necessary. Please be kind to one another and do not stockpile to give everyone the chance to access goods they need, including key workers.

If you have any questions at all please drop me or your sales manager a message.

Tuesday 24th March: New Government measures putting home moves on pause

Since Boris Johnson’s announcement yesterday evening, the housing market has effectively been asked to shut its doors. The Government has confirmed that no further face-to-face viewings or valuations should take place.

A statement has also been released from the British Association of Removers (BAR), stating that house moves should only be completed that are currently underway and that any move that has not yet started, should not go ahead until further notice.

The current restrictions will be reviewed in three weeks time, but there will be no guarantee that normal order will resume. Although these measures have put a halt to proceedings for most, it will give both buyers and sellers some time to analyse their moving decisions as well as give sellers time to make those home improvements they were always meaning to, but never had time for.

Friday 20th March: New measures for Nested agents to minimise in-person contact

The virus is still very early in its development in the UK and it is therefore unclear how this will play out, so this guidance will likely change over time. As such, we will be keeping a very close eye on government advice over the coming days and weeks.

We see it as our job to take prudent steps to protect the health and safety of our customers, buyers and our staff while we continue to work hard to get the best outcome for our customers.

As such, we are currently taking the following measures:

• We have rolled out virtual viewings for all first viewings to ensure that we bring only qualified buyers to your home and minimise disruption and social contact.
• All buyers scheduling viewings are asked about recent travel and any symptoms in advance. Anyone deemed to be at risk will be required to reschedule in accordance with prevailing government guidance around self-isolation.
• The Sales Associates conducting viewings use hand sanitisers before entering your property and will ask prospective buyers to do the same, as well as advising them to minimise touching of surfaces.
• If a buyer displays flu-like symptoms ahead of or on a viewing, your Sales Associate will immediately cancel the viewing and reschedule only after 7 days of no symptoms.
• All our staff are now working from home to avoid any unnecessary travel.

Wednesday 11th March: Communication to all current sellers from James Turford, Founder and COO

We wanted to update you on what Nested is doing to manage the risk of COVID-19 (aka coronavirus) with regards to your sale.  The virus is still very early in its development in the UK and it's therefore unclear how this will play out so this guidance will likely change over time.

It may feel early for us to contact you about this, however, we see it as our job to take prudent steps to protect the health and safety of you, buyers who view your property and our staff while we continue to work hard to get the best outcome for your sale.

As such, we are currently taking the following measures:

- We will be rolling out virtual viewings as standard for first viewings to ensure we bring only qualified buyers to your home and minimise disruption.

- All buyers scheduling viewings are asked about recent travel and any symptoms in advance. Anyone deemed to be at risk will be required to reschedule in accordance with prevailing government guidance around self-isolation.

- The Sales Associates conducting viewings use hand sanitisers before entering your property and will ask prospective buyers to do the same, as well as advising them to minimise touching of surfaces.

- If a buyer displays flu-like symptoms ahead of or on a viewing, your sales associate will immediately cancel the viewing and reschedule only after 7 days of no symptoms.

- All our staff are asked to work from home if they have any flu-like symptoms.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your Sales Associate who will be happy to address them.