How does the partial reopening of the Welsh property market affect the wider UK Property Market

How does the partial reopening of the Welsh property market affect the wider UK Property Market

SDL Surveying are a national residential surveying business and Panel Manager for a number of major mainstream banks, carrying out and distributing Mortgage Valuation work across the UK.

My role as Head of Panel Management, means I am responsible for ensuring all mortgage valuation and survey work not completed by our 110 staff surveyors is efficiently and compliantly completed by our third party surveying network and panel firms, with the same service objectives.

This of course comes with its own challenges, influencing surveying businesses up and down the country to complete approximately 10,000 mortgage valuations per month within the SDL Surveying market leading Service Level Expectation.

This Expectation has been met for the last 2 years and I am proud to have bought the network and panel firms along our journey, built on communication and reciprocal trust.

Overnight on 23rd March 2020, the whole of the UK grind to a halt, with Lockdown for us all. SDL Surveying have worked hard throughout this period to maintain our relationships and communicate with all third party partners throughout. This has been paramount to the success of SDL Surveying playing its part in getting the house market moving again.

Perhaps a bold statement, however with our communication to our lenders, our staff and our third party surveying partners throughout the period of lockdown, our roll out process to carry out Physical Inspections upon the ease of lockdown in England and Northern Ireland has been well prepared, thought out and considered. Our Lender clients have acknowledged that SDL Surveying’s ability to get the pipeline cleared down, has enabled them to carry on lending throughout this time, with products and rates the broker market are favouring for their applicants.

Today at 12.30pm on 19th June, the first minister for the Welsh Government, Mark Drakeford announced the partial re-opening of the housing market in Wales to be Monday 22nd June 2020.

For all of our Welsh third party surveying partners (many with Estate Agency practices), this is the news they have been waiting for. Three weeks ago on 1st June, they were instructed to use the next three weeks, to think about how they would carry out their work upon lockdown ease. All our partners found this frustrating and difficult, feedback given to me during this period of time:

  • “House listing enquiries are strong”
  • “We continue to work behind closed doors carrying out 100’s of virtual viewings”
  • “Sales are progressing with a very small fall through rate”
  • “The rules on what we can do and can’t do are unclear”
  • “My private survey enquiries are through the roof”
  • “There is a particular interest from English applicants looking to view property by the coast”

The feedback and regular communication from our Welsh surveying partners on the activity in the property market throughout lockdown, has been consistently positive.

Thankfully the Welsh Government’s five mile Coronavirus travel restrictions are to be lifted for the property sector from Monday 22nd June 2020.

SDL Surveying have in excess of 600 on hold mortgage valuations to place across Wales. As a part of our communication strategy and trusted third party relationships, these are booked and due to be carried out over the coming weeks, clearing down the pipeline of on hold cases to enable our lender clients and mortgage brokers to instruct new cases, utilising the excellent products and rates to get the market moving in Wales.

Jump forward to 6th July, when travel and tourism restrictions are planned to be released, the Welsh property market will be open for not just virtual viewings, but hopefully for the wider world …. with social distancing measures in place of course.

The future short term property market looks to be buoyant, not only with clearing down on hold pipelines, but with new instructions too. The long term, unpredictable in these unprecedented times.  I do believe that collaboration and communication across all property sectors can enable us all to be better prepared for whatever the outcome.

Rachel Griffiths is Head of Panel Management at SDL Surveying

Rachel Grifiths

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