Shropshire estate agent echoes TVs Phil Spencer concerns

The joint Director of Shropshire estate agency Samuel Wood has added his voice to advice from TV personality and house selling guru Phil Spencer about the difficulties the housing market currently faces.

Russell Griffin is the Midlands Regional Executive on the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) Propertymark Advisory Board.

The board, works with Government to help shape legislation and advise on best practice across the sector and is the UK's leading professional body for estate agents, promoting the highest standards in the sector.

Last week, a partnership film between Mark Haywood, Propertymarks’ Chief Policy Officer and Mr Spencer was recorded to help get the message out about the difficulties the housing sector is facing in the midst of the pandemic.

Phil Spencer was made famous by popular home shows such as Channel 4s Location, Location, Location, Kirstie and Phil’s Love it or List it, and as a leading property expert he also runs MoveIQ, a website which offers property advice, guidance and tips.

He teamed up with Mark Haywood to create a YouTube film about the sector to discuss some of the current physical safety pitfalls facing estate agents and the industry, including barriers in home viewings and difficulties with travel across areas.

Mr Griffin says that as well as helping people buy, sell, let and rent properties across Shropshire, he is passionate about helping keep the property market regulated and buoyant.

“My colleagues at Propertymark approached Phil Spencer to come on board as a spokesperson for the sector.

“Phil and Kirsty have educated the public on the nuances of the housing market for nearly two decades and are extremely well-known and knowledgeable.

“Adding such a famous face to the discussion with Propertymarks’ Chief Exec Mr Haywood will hopefully help bring this important discussion to the forefront.

“Everything we are learning here at Samuel Wood within this pandemic, I feed back to the board and it helps to shape Propertymark policies and advice to the government. Now and in the future. I have recently consulted on a number of matters which have shaped Government white papers on areas such as improvement of the house buying process, conveyancing association Land Registry. 

“What we are seeing in this pandemic, is that difficulties in physical home viewing are adding pressure to the sector. We all want to keep things as normal as possible, and the property sector is very much open, but we have to be really careful how we operate in order to keep staff and the public safe.

“In particular, agents are being asked to ‘be flexible’ when applying rules on viewings. We have to take things into consideration now such as proof a potential buyer has the means to purchase the property, have sold their original home and we need to check and advise on where they are travelling from.”

“People can’t travel from England into Wales or Scotland to do viewings, but some agents are also saying no, for example, to people from outside their country or region,” says Mr Haywood in the film.

Phil Spencer says: “It sounds like people are interpreting the rules in different way to suit their own purposes, which is to be expected, but agents are at work and a workplace shouldn’t be a dangerous place to be. It’s difficult for everybody.”