Since lockdown, the property market freeze has created a worrying environment for all stakeholders in the home buying and selling process.
The inability for surveyors to complete physical surveys and valuations, in particular at the early stages of lockdown, caused lenders to lose confidence in approving mortgages on many properties, creating a sense of increased uncertainty.
Whilst many lenders became a lot more responsive to automated valuations (AVM), desktop valuations and remote valuations, the ability to carry out physical valuations will instil a new confidence in the market and encourage lenders to approve more mortgages.
Now, the property market is open for business, sentiment is shifting, and the market is facing huge demand once again.
Today’s Conveyancer’s Ask an Expert, Rachel Griffiths, head of panel management at SDL Surveying, part of the MSS group, has taken the time to discuss the impact Covid-19 has placed on the surveying sector and the wider property market.
Throughout the video, Rachel Griffiths, head of panel management at SDL Surveying, part of the MSS group and Chris Harris, CEO of Lawyer Checker, discuss the positive attitude of lenders during lockdown, the sentiment about restarting physical valuations, the capacity of work and noticeable blockages, staffing issues, the split between remortgage and purchase mortgages, accessibility, and the fact that the sector is in a service rather than a credit crunch and the strain this is placing on servicing the rising demand.
