- Housing Secretary announces plan to enable people to move
home safely and to re-start the housing market in line with
social distancing advice
- Estate agents’ offices can open; viewings are permitted; show
homes can open; removal companies and the other essential parts
of the sales and letting process are re-started with immediate
effect
- More than 450,000 buyers and renters have been unable to
progress their plans to move since March.
- New guidance to allow extended working hours on construction
sites and to make the planning system operate remotely again
- A ‘Safe Working
Charter’ launched by the government and the Home Builders
Federation, enabling home builders to return to work safely
From today (13 May 2020) anyone in England can move home if they
follow new
guidance published by Housing Secretary
Robert Jenrick.
Since lockdown restrictions were implemented in March, more than
450,000 people have been unable to progress their plans to move
house.
All buyers and renters will now be able to complete purchases and
view properties in person, while estate agents, conveyancers and
removals firms can return to work while following social
distancing guidelines.
In another move to unlock the housing market, the Housing
Secretary has announced a series of measures to get the country
building homes for the future, including:
-
allowing builders to agree more flexible construction site
working hours with their local council, such as staggering
builders’ arrival times, easing pressure on public transport
-
enabling local councils and developers to publicise planning
applications through social media instead of having to rely
on posters and leaflets, helping to unblock the service
-
support for smaller developers by allowing them to defer
payments to local councils, helping those struggling with
their cash flow while ensuring communities still receive
funding towards local infrastructure in the longer term
A new Charter has also
been launched by the government and the Home Builders Federation,
helping construction sites reopen in line with latest health and
safety guidance.
Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:
Today I am announcing new guidelines to allow the housing
market to resume. Our clear plan will enable people to move
home safely, covering each aspect of the sales and letting
process from viewings to removals.
Our step by step plan is based on the latest guidance to ensure
the safety and protection of everyone involved.
This critical industry can now safely move forward, and those
waiting patiently to move can now do so.
Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the Home Builders
Federation, said:
Over the past week or so many house builders have commenced a
gradual return to work, in a structured way that ensures the
safety of its workforce and the general public.
The industry sustains hundreds of thousands of people in
numerous roles and associated sectors, boosting local economies
across the country. A resumption of work will play a major part
in helping the economy recover as well as delivering the homes
the country needs.
It should also provide the supply chain with the confidence it
needs to accelerate its own restart. The Charter is the
public facing evidence which supports the very detailed
protocols individual builders now have in place to ensure safe
working on sites.
John Newcomb, Chief Executive Office of the Builders Merchants
Federation, said:
Safety has the highest priority as the industry returns to
work. Over the past 3 weeks, since the publication of new
branch operating guidelines, we have seen increasing numbers of
merchants safely re-opening or expanding operations to support
their trade customers.
House builders structured return to site provides even more
confidence within the supply chain, and provides
further evidence of the construction industry’s determination
to assist in the recovery of the UK economy.
Guidance from Public Health England must continue to be followed.
For example, anyone advised to self-isolate should continue to do
so and not move home.
Government
guidance makes clear that tradespeople including fitters
can operate in homes, provided they do so in line with health
guidance.
Show homes can also re-open, following social distancing
guidance.
The Safe Working Charter compliments detailed guidance
available from the Construction Leadership Council on
further reducing the risk of infection onsite.
The government continues to listen to all parts of the housing
industry to see what further support may be required.
These measures build on action from the government to support the
economy and protect the capacity of the construction sector,
including:
- introducing more than £330 billion of loans and
guarantees to help firms continue operating
- deferring self-assessment payments until 2021 – crucial for a
sector in which many are self-employed
- providing households across the country with reassurance such
as 3-month mortgage holidays, including for landlords, alongside
a 3-month ban on tenant evictions
The Health Protection Regulations previously prohibited home
moves unless “reasonably necessary”.
The Housing Secretary has announced changes to the planning
system to help support safe construction, including:
- Allowing builders to agree more flexible construction site
working hours with their local council. This will make it easier
to follow public health guidance onsite and stagger builders’
arrival times, making public transport less busy and so reducing
the risk of infection.
- Enabling planning authorities and developers to publicise
planning applications through social media instead of having to
rely on posters and leaflets, helping unblock the service and
allowing it to support new development.
- Providing local councils with more flexibility to support
smaller developers by allowing them to defer Community
Infrastructure Levy payments. This will help smaller developers
struggling with their cashflow due to the pandemic while ensuring
communities still receive funding towards local infrastructure in
the longer term.
