Can you still move home in lockdown 2021?

Can you still move home in lockdown 2021?

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On 4^th January 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced another National Lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus cases, as they continue to rise rapidly across the country. The first and most important point to make is that the housing market is permitted to stay open during lockdown.

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 As your trusted independent estate agent in the Sittingbourne area, our priority will always be the safety of our staff and customers. Many of you will be wondering how the new lockdown measures will affect your plans to move home in 2021.

The government guidance states you must not leave or be outside of your home except for a specific permitted reason, listed on https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home

The government has published specific guidance for home-movers during lockdown 2021:

“You can still move home. People outside your household or support bubble should not help with moving house unless absolutely necessary.”

“Estate and letting agents and removals firms can continue to work. If you are looking to move, you can go to property viewings.”

“Follow the national guidance on moving home safely, which includes advice on social distancing, letting fresh air in, and wearing a face covering.”

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The guidance also states you can leave home “To carry out activities related to buying, selling, letting or renting a residential property.”

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Quealy & Co Estate Agents helping you move home safely

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We had already taken tough measures to protect the safety of our staff and our customers and will tighten those arrangements. In order to maintain service levels and protect our customers and staff we will operate as follows from opening on 5th January 2021:

• Keep our office closed to casual visitors, only contractors collecting keys or deliveries will be allowed
• Prospective tenants will be offered a Live Stream Viewing in the first instance and only if an application is successful will a physical viewing be allowed
• Only prospective buyers who have agreed a sale on their own property and have mortgage arrangements in place will be able to view properties for sale
• Any viewing will be restricted to two people and we will not be able to show children around
• Any representative of Quealy & Co meeting clients will wear a mask, gloves and will have sanitized prior to the meeting. Customers will be expected to do the same and we will have masks and gloves available if a customer does not have them available
• Many of our sales properties do have 360 degree virtual tours available on our website, www.quealy.co.uk , and we will be rolling that out to pretty well all our stock. These virtual tours do enable you to walk around a house and see it all at your leisure. We are available to answer and questions that you may have
• We are available to value properties for sale or for let. If there is no immediate urgency we would prefer to operate a remote service which we can do very easily as we have comprehensive access to detailed information about every property in our area
• We are always available for Zoom/Teams meetings to discuss any requirements for purchase, sale, renting or letting. 

If you have any concerns or questions please contact us on 01795 429836 or email  hello@quealy.co.uk. We will continue to safely provide help and support to those moving home throughout lockdown in 2021.

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Keeping our customers and our team safe

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The fact we can stay open means we must take extra care and remain vigilant in the efforts to keep colleagues, clients, and our local community safe. We will continue to apply strict Covid safety measures according to government guidelines whenever you come into contact with the Quealy team.

Click here for specific guidance on home moving during the coronavirus outbreak from gov.uk.

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We thank you for your support during these challenging times. Stay safe and please get in touch if you have any concerns or questions about moving home during lockdown.  We are here to support you with all your property need throughout 2021.