The easing of the lockdown has led to a mini-boom in the housing market for some Cumbrian estate agents.

Cumberland Building Society, Hunters Cumbria and South West Scotland have all seen an increase in enquiries from first-time buyers and a scramble for new properties with some getting 10 viewings in a week.

Lewis Benson, area manager for The Cumberland believes it is unlikely to be sustained if the UK slips into a deep and prolonged recession.

He said: “We have seen something of a boom over the last month and I think a lot of that comes from the fact that, apart from essential transactions, the housing market slowed right down during lockdown.

“We have seen properties come on the market and be sold within a week. Mortgage applications for June are on a par with last year, but the big increase has been in enquiries from first-buyers, up 170 per cent.

“We are seeing pent up demand coming down a number of avenues, but anecdotal feedback from mortgage advisors suggests the big increase in first-time buyer appointments is because they see now as being a good time to get the ball rolling and want to get that advice from a real person with local knowledge.

“If we do go into a recession we will need to see what happens to house prices, but we have not seen much movement yet. It will depend how long and deep the recession is, but Cumbria has some strong key employers such as Sellafield and BAE Systems that you would expect to continue providing well paid jobs for that supports the Cumbrian market.”

Graeme MacLeod, managing director of Hunters Cumbria and South West Scotland, endorsed the view that the local housing market was bouncing back. He said: “The pent up demand has been huge. Sales prices have also been robust.”