It’s All About Coming Home - 2020
Stay at Home - stay safe – save lives. These words will be synonymous with 2020 for ever.
People may well have spent more time in their homes than ever before. Maybe this will give home a new appreciation. It is the hub of our lives - it identifies our ambitions and allows individual creativity to run riot without recourse to others. So, will it change the emotional and practical value of home? Maybe.
It is all down to technology. Working remotely from home wasn’t an option for most twenty years ago. By nature humans tend to gravitate together so isolation has been a steep learning curve for many. Collective visual meetings and chats have come to the fore – distance learning at its best.
For many the lure of the office morning meeting and early evening drink will be what returns life to normal - the commute – the workplace banter cannot be replaced. For many home will have symbolised a sanctuary in difficult times and no doubt many of the jobs on the “to do” list have been achieved - DIY to the fore and gardens will have never been tidier!
It cannot go unnoticed that the economy will take a big hit, jobs affected and by default lenders will be cautious with lending criteria. On the positive side the renewed enthusiasm for getting on with life will quickly regenerate business and open opportunities for a fresh approach to living.
Multi- generational living was quite normal and in many countries still is. Pooling the capital created by the baby boom generation together with the enhanced income of current executives may create opportunities for the purchase of the country house, the waterside retreat or statement townhouse.
Whatever life’s needs home will be at the core - it is the constant – even if it changes over the years. Practically, financially and emotionally it gives focus and purpose. Home - It’s all about coming home.
Nigel Bishop.