Somewhere, over the rainbow

Things were going so well–but the health of the housing market before the coronavirus crisis hit indicates that it can and will recover

- Penny Churchill

IT was a sign of the strength of the housing market when Liam Bailey’s morning market update from Knight Frank Research on March 31—a mere fortnight ago—highlighted the announcement from the Bank of England that mortgage approvals for house purchase had climbed to 73,500 in February. This is the highest monthly level recorded since January 2014, signalling, Mr Bailey believes, ‘the potential pool of demand once conditions improve’.

His contention is supported by the experience of leading country-house agents who have seen buyers, sellers and lawyers working at remarkable speed to seal high-level deals despite the lockdown. A prime example was the sale of Garlands at 12, Nuns Walk in Surrey’s prestigious Wentworth Estate: a newly built, fully furnished, 10,000sq ft mansion set in four-fifths of an acre of grounds. It came to the market at the back end of last year, at a guide price of £7.5 million through Savills, Knight Frank and local agents Barton Wyatt.

‘The eventual purchaser, an international buyer, viewed the house a week before the lockdown and swiftly agreed a sale for close to the guide price, whereupon the parties involved pulled out all the stops to exchange and complete simultaneously in the first week of April,’ reveals Trevor Kearney, of Savills.

In contrast, it’s been a long haul to the finish line for Knight Frank’s country department and receivers Sanderson Weatherall, who, following best and final bids on tragic, Grade I-listed Parnham House, near Beaminster, Dorset, managed to exchange and complete on the deal, even after the outbreak of Covid-19.