Given this week’s shock announcement of a sudden restart to the housing market, and Boris Johnson’s wider easing of current lockdown measures you may be tempted to feel a surge of optimism that everything is going to be all right in the end. After all, we have endured six long weeks of lockdown and the world – if you have not suffered a personal or family tragedy from covid-19 – has not ended: the NHS was not overwhelmed; restrictions are beginning to be eased; housebuilders and housing associations are everywhere trumpeting plans to re-open construction sites; and the talk among many is moving to managing the recovery.

Clearly this week has been a welcome tonic for those in the sector that fear the impact of a prolonged shut-down of the industry. But let us not get ahead of ourselves: For the economy, and by extension the residential development industry, the test posed by covid-19 has only just begun. Here is why.

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