Now that plans have been announced to ease the lockdown, what effect will that have on town centres like Watford?

Shops can reopen, but will trading levels bounce back? Many tenants of shops and offices have been in discussions with their landlords over the difficulty of paying rent when income has been severely limited. Both the owners of shopping centres and the occupiers will suffer. Well-known brand names may disappear as a result. Will this mean more empty retail units?

Some shopping centres in secondary locations may close altogether.

Those who have learned to work efficiently from home may want to continue to do so. The need to make offices safe may mean fewer people can work there at any one time. This will mean fewer office workers crowding into sandwich and coffee bars at lunchtime or pubs after work. This could reduce the number of eating and drinking establishments in the town centre. Other shops may also suffer as a result.

Many will not want to take the train to work. The already unsatisfactory road network may become more congested as a result. This, in turn, will encourage more home working and less town centre footfall. It may reduce the demand for office space or, paradoxically, it may mean an increase for towns around the M25 with some office jobs migrating out of central London.

During the lockdown the rise of internet shopping and home deliveries has come to the fore.Will they want to pay to use town centre car parks or carry heavy shopping on a bus? As town centres suffer, there may be pressure to build more warehouses on the outskirts of towns to cater for internet shopping.

Whatever may happen, the world we knew will change. Individuals and businesses will need to be flexible and adaptive to be resilient in these disruptive times.

  • David Marsden is a partner at award-winning law firm VWV, which has offices in Clarendon Road, Watford