Everyone’s been saving

During lockdown it was reported that 60% of the workforce were working from home. With the average daily commute in the UK 59 minutes and an average worker spending £45 per week, a lot of time and money has been saved in lockdown.

If the average worker saved £45 a week for the last 18 weeks, that is a saving of £810. When combined with a reduced ability to spend (restricted Easter holidays or shops open) many households are better off as a result of the lockdown. As well as financial benefits, workers have saved on average 88.5 hours of commute time.

London workers have saved the most time and money, £58 a week and 79 minutes a day. Scottish workers normally have the lowest weekly spend whilst the North East have the shortest journeys.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development expect the proportion of staff mainly working from home to increase from 9% pre-lockdown to 22% post-lockdown. Such changes may cause a shift in property requirements.

Super Saturday, marking the reopening of hairdressers, pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants in England, saw an increase in high street footfall. PwC reports on money in consumers’ pockets – consumer spending trends are closely linked to housing market confidence.

PwC reported an increase in consumer sentiment in June, most households are so far unaffected financially and 1 in 5 households are saving money.

With more money in consumers’ pockets, VAT reductions for the hospitality industry, creation of the ‘eat out to help out’ scheme, we hope to see our economy recover swiftly. Potentially all that extra cash will be put into property, helping the market thrive.