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Europe is the next stop on our list as we compare Milan and Madrid, with a focus on relocating and finding a rental property.

Whilst we have all probably had our fill of hearing and reading about coronavirus, it continues to consume our daily lives. It has also consumed many livelihoods and businesses – from sole traders to mature high-street brands – locked down for good. 

The impact of COVID-19 has been unfairly polar. Hospitality and travel businesses struggled to stay afloat while IT-based services surfed the crest of a wave, as a “new world order” swept across the globe as quickly as the pandemic did.

For many businesses, the lockdown was a “wait-and-see” moment. But the moment was long and painful and had significant consequences.

Our series of city ‘head to heads’ continues, and we travel ‘down under’ to discover the relocation and rental markets in Sydney and Brisbane.

In the first of Klippa Relocation’s new head-to-head blogs, we pit Silicon Valley against Los Angeles to provide you with a relocation and rental market snapshot.

With most of us spending more time where we live than ever before and even top-flight professionals working from home, the desire to create comfortable surroundings can’t be suppressed. As the saying goes, ‘there’s no place like home’ but what if your home has been decorated by someone else and you don’t have the right to change it?

That is the scenario faced by many tenants who inherit a bland interior from a landlord and are contractually prohibited to wield a paintbrush. But is personalising the interior of a rented property as restrictive as it’s made out?

There is a mighty tussle playing out in the media concerning the return to offices across the UK. In very late August, the director-general of the CBI shared the same sentiment as our Prime Minister, claiming ‘getting staff back to offices was as important as children being in school’. She cited office workers as huge drivers of the economy and lifelines to dry cleaners, sandwich bars and barbers, to name a few of the businesses who are suffering as a result of the WFH (work from home) revolution.

Many aspects of our lives can be conducted digitally or without leaving our own living rooms – banking, food shopping and exercise among them – but there is one area where the need for a physical visit persists – choosing a new home. 

An in-person appointment is even more pertinent in the relocation market, as many professionals are moving from a completely different country and therefore have little concept of UK property. A viewing also provides the assignee with an initial orientation opportunity and when accompanied by a property professional, provides a degree of welcomed reassurance.

Klippa Relocation has formed an alliance with ExpatRide to launch a new business – relodrive.com. This safe, affordable and responsive way for people to settle into a new destination is applicable across 53 countries and removes the need to be personally chaperoned by an agent upon arrival – a vital elimination in our new global normal.

“Relocating on an international basis has changed drastically over the course of 2020. We have been offering remote services since 2017, however when Jesper Lovendahl of ExpatRide approached us with his idea of combining our services with the Tripit app and his transportation solutions. We quickly saw the need to push our concept forward and create a new style of destination service provider. One that respects social distancing, yet offers a bespoke relocation solution,” says Rupert Houghton at Klippa Relocation.

While it has been much easier to put the buying and selling market on hold, the nature of lettings means tenancy agreements continue to expire during the UK’s strict lockdown phase. Although Klippa Relocation must stress that tenants and landlords should work together to postpone moves – by extending current tenancies and delaying the start of new ones – we are aware extenuating circumstances may prevent this from happening.

Brexit? A new points-based immigration system? The weak pound? Who knew one of the biggest threats to the business world would actually be a highly contagious epidemic. 

Coronavirus has become such an international threat that it has put the brakes on tourism, manufacturing and the movement of people. Forecasters are warning the global economy will take a financial hit, with HSBC and Apple already alluding to profit and productivity setbacks as a result of the virus.

The start of a new decade always feels like we are on the cusp of something fresh and exciting. In the case of employment, the 20s – as they’re being referred to – are shaping up to be the years that the workplace takes on a radical new look.