How does Your Garden Grow?
After a year of being in Lockdown, outside space of kind became extremely important and very much sought after. A report by the Office of National Statistics showed that "the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its behavioural impacts (including many people working from home and spending more time at home in general) may have had some effect on people's preferences for properties, increasing the focus on space - including outdoor space - and reducing the focus on proximity to offices." But it is the fact that outside space regardless of whether it is a balcony, court yard or garden was clearly at the top of the wish list for many tenants.
Research by Rightmove found that the priorities for both buyers and renters had similar skews towards properties with bigger gardens or access to one, and properties that were generally bigger by measure of square footage.
The Roadmap towards lifting Lockdown in England - The Return of the Soft Edges
It has been over a year since the first Lockdown and just over 3 months since the third, we have experienced drastic changes to our professional and personal lives. Children and students have had their education turned upside down. We have realised the importance of face-to-face social interaction and the fact that the “soft edges” have been missing from our lives, the things we have always taken for granted.
On April 12th, 2021, Stage 2 of the roadmap towards lifting lockdown comes into play and those “soft edges” will be re-introduced slowly into our lives, the escapism, the meeting face-to-face with family, friends, colleagues, sitting outside a cafe for a coffee or a beer, a long awaited visit to the barbers or hairdressers, going to the gym or swimming in a pool. Eventually, with sensible and measured protocols own place, we will hopefully work our way back to some sense of normality.
Boris Johnson’s Roadmap Announced
On 22nd February 2021, the Prime Minister announced the lockdown ‘roadmap’ that should bring England out of Lockdown. His announcement was filled with a certain amount of trepidation and caution, making it clear that there’s still quite a way to go before resuming “normal” lives.
Key Dates
8th of March: All schools reopen for all age groups. However, work-from-home guidance stays the same.
Prime Minister's address to the nation as Third Lockdown for England is announced
The Transcript of the Prime Minister’s Speech made this evening at 8pm is as follows:-
Since the pandemic began last year, the whole United Kingdom has been engaged in a great national effort to fight Covid.
And there is no doubt that in fighting the old variant of the virus, our collective efforts were working and would have continued to work.
But we now have a new variant of the virus. It has been both frustrating and alarming to see the speed with which the new variant is spreading.
Our scientists have confirmed this new variant is between 50 and 70 per cent more transmissible – that means you are much, much more likely to catch the virus and to pass it on.
As I speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from Covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic.
In England alone, the number of Covid patients in hospitals has increased by nearly a third in the last week, to almost 27,000.
That number is 40 per cent higher than the first peak in April.