The country is in lockdown but life hasn’t come to a standstill. Take the property market for example.

Traditionally March, April, May, June and July through to when the schools break up for the summer holidays are peak season for house sales. This year the virus looks like putting paid to that.

However as often happens when unforeseen circumstances can knock the stuffing out of a business, up pops an ingenious way to come to the aid of the party.

Matthew Brazier, regional sales director at Shanly Homes, says video tours of furnished show home interiors have become a popular diversion for stay-at-home families. The trend originated as a marketing tool to boost interest in a site ahead of the opening of a show house.

In the present circumstances the ploy is doing a sterling job in attracting possible buyers without any fear of contravening the government’s keep-your-distance guidelines.

“Over the past few years we’ve seen increasing demand for virtual viewings,” reports the sales chief at Shanly’s Beaconsfield office.

“The remote service ensures that buyers can view several properties quickly and efficiently. It helps them build a relationship with the sales team before they even arrive on site.”

Estate agent Mullucks Wells agrees. The company with offices in Herts and Essex hires a Creative Media Producer to make videos of houses for sale as part of the firm’s marketing package.

Twenty-two-year-old Jesse Todd is the agency’s cinematic tour de force. He studied film production at uni.

He says: “The videos last from one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half minutes depending on the size of the property filmed. The turnaround [editing] time is as little as 48 hours [from filming to being uploaded on the agency’s website]. The average number of hits is between 5,000 and 10,000 viewings.”

He uses a Sony A7 III camera with a DJI Ronan gimbal to help stabilise the shots as he moves around. The finished full length film can be viewed on Mullucks Wells’ website, Facebook and YouTube but if you’re pushed for time, there are shorter versions on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Jesse confirmed: “The response to what we have filmed has been amazing. For example we filmed a barn conversion a few weeks ago and got nearly 15,000 views. In fact throughout the whole of last year there were over 80,000 minutes of video watched on our social media pages.”

His estate agency client Daniel Galati, MD of Mullucks Wells, is cock-a-hoop. He told the BFP: “The vids provide an insight into what a property is really like which photos alone can’t provide.

“When people have time on their hands, property can be a fantastic distraction. We know this, not only from viewing figures on our website and portals like Rightmove every Boxing Day but also at lunchtimes, evenings and weekends.“The unprecedented and difficult times we are currently going through has provided people with an opportunity to sort out their plans for the future.

“In the last couple of weeks we have seen a huge spike in the levels of our social media interaction because we are sharing content about our wider community too.”