ESTATE & LETTING AGENTS IN EAST DULWICH & SURROUNDING AREAS

At the end of the first day back in 2021, and before we get another national lockdown, I thought I’d send you a picture of the team that’s working for you – and will be continuing to work for you whether from home or from the office (and whatever last -minute announcements come out of the blue this week!
 
I think I let you know last year that the Roy Brooks team won a Best Agent Award from Rightmove (one of only 5% of agents in the country), but as the certificate arrived today, I thought we’d take a souvenir shot and share it with you: that’s Harris in the middle, Andre on the left and James on the right!

Actually, talking about this being the ‘first day back’, that’s not strictly accurate. Harris came in for a few hours on New Years’ Eve when I noticed lettings applications in post@roybrooks.co.uk soaring and thought there would just be too much to deal with on our return. Thank you Harris!  
 
Until we are told otherwise, the protocol we are following at the moment is to ensure that first viewings will be by video: in-person viewings will follow only if there is a strong urge to make an offer. We have already made 14 viewings appointments today for live viewings this week .
 
So far, it looks like it’s shaping up to be a very busy January. We have never been so inundated with interest so early in the year. If you have properties anywhere that are not getting the attention they deserve, or if you would like an update on sales, please call our team on 020 3206 3063.

Living in the ‘New Normal’ brought many home-owners to the conclusion that they wanted move their lives on. Spurred on by the stamp duty (SD) incentive, they sprang into action to pursue their search for a new house, a bigger garden or a move to the country.

Most acted immediately on their instincts with the net result that estate agents across the UK have put together sales in numbers we haven’t seen for many years. But some people are slower burners, who have taken longer to arrive at the same decision, or have had other considerations like schools or ‘finishing works to the house’, and are preparing to sell soon.
 
A sale put together in December or January will have a tough (but not impossible) time tucking itself through before the SD deadline of March 31st – that is, unless Rishi makes a last minute concession, to extend the holiday or at least taper it off rather than have it fall off a cliff, (and he’s shown himself well able to make last minute manoeuvres, so we will wait with baited breath).
 
Right now, however, there are 10 working days till Christmas and I’d like to put you in mind of the fact that every year, without fail, Rightmove and Zoopla browsing activity spike by 40% – 60% in the days between Xmas and New Year, as people spend their free time planning the future.
 
If you would like to focus your thoughts just a little earlier than they do, then your home could be one of the many bookings we will have for the first week of January. If you were thinking of going on the market in January or thinking of changing agents to get a sale, consider getting yourself ahead of the crowd by calling us out today. We can still get you launched by Christmas Eve… 

The last few months have proven to be such a merry-go-round in more ways than one so I thought it an opportune moment to provide an update:
 
THE MARKET
The 300 or so properties that we now manage seem to have come through the first lock-down (and related furlough period) relatively unscathed with only 4 properties having had short-term re-negotiations, and to date, all bar one of these have now had the balances paid up to date. Presently though, as we have been through another lockdown (and thankfully another generous furlough scheme), there is far more property available on the market than is usual for a November. This seems to be the result of:

• Tenants leaving London
• Tenants wanting a garden or space to work from home
• Tenants splitting up, having different priorities

Fortunately, for November, there are also just enough tenants still looking around to take up the properties available. However this is not a time for putting rents up, it is a time for being more than usually amenable and accommodating: if tenants want a room painted or new blinds – just say ‘yes’.

Demand and availability is very finely balanced and slightly skewed towards the latter, and Harris, Andre and James are working exceptionally hard to ensure that movers choose our properties rather than those of our competitors. I know they are all very good at this because we received a call from RIGHTMOVE last month, who bestowed an unsolicited BEST LETTINGS AGENT award on the Roy Brooks Team.
 
ROY BROOKS TEAM
Roy Brooks Lettings team is in the top 5% of Lettings agents in SE15 and SE22. In fact, we are the ONLY agent for these postcodes who enjoys this status! RIGHTMOVE monitor agent performance, taking into account factors such as ‘click-through rate’ (reflecting on how well photographs and write-ups entice a mover to ‘read more..’), and the speed at which a property goes from TO LET, to LET AGREED.

It is a reflection on the Roy Brooks team’s very quick response to market changes that they have won this. Well done to the team. We are very proud of them. And there is much they, and you, have had to take on board recently.
 
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Please be aware we have protocols on place to protect you, your tenants, your properties and our staff. Though we are in another lockdown,  estate agents continue to work within government guidelines which includes temperature checking of staff, observing tenants who need to self-isolate and carrying adequate PPE to appointments and observing relevant protocols. As long as we continue to do this we can continue to:

• Show properties
• Prepare homes to move into
• Assist tenants in moving home

The show goes on!
 
EVICTIONS AND NOTICE PERIODS
Section 21s (though they are up for review) still stand and at present you can issues this notice to reclaim your property however the required notice period which until May was 2 months, is now 6 months, and in the event that eviction proceedings should be required these cannot be set into motion until the end of the 6 month period. This 6 month period is due to stay in place until March 2021.

Furthermore, if the court should have already granted an eviction, bailiffs have been requested not to impose (with a few exceptions) this during the national lockdown. Combined with the current ‘winter pause’ whereby evictions will not be imposed between 11th December and 11th January, this means that most evictions cannot be enforced until 12 January 2021 at the earliest.

(Exclusions include anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse, fraud, and illegal occupation.) The government also intends to introduce an exception for extreme pre-coronavirus rent arrears, and will provide more detail on this shortly. Read more
 
GAS AND ELECTRICAL SAFETY INSPECTIONS
Within the prescribed Covid-19 protocols, landlords (or their appointed agents) must make every effort to abide by current gas safety regulations in the carrying out of annual safety checks. In addition, the electrical safety regulations came into force in June 2020 requiring that new properties or new tenancies as they arise acquire an Electrical Safety Certificate. Read more
 
THE SALES MARKET
This had been running exceptionally healthily until 2 months ago when the banks withdrew 90% mortgages with the net result that buyers who liked the £500k flats they were viewing were told by their brokers to start looking at £400k flats instead. Inevitably, they found them rather less appealing and went off the idea of buying at all. More and more stock came on the market at prices that would have worked in June, but these are now seeing price drops of £50k to £80k from sellers who just ‘want to move on!’.

For Landlords who are in this for the long term, there are now some real buying opportunities out there in case you are interested in expanding your portfolio. News of the vaccine seems to have given a fresh boost to scene. A list of recommended BTL opportunities will follow.