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In this month’s edition … we look at what happens when you build outside the planning specification, highlight the hidden dangers of home security systems, discuss the number of older workers priced out of house buying, and discover how to protect our homes from Legionella
The Property Market Monthly Fact File
The property market fact file is a collection of data compiled each month by our Chartered Surveyors and the propertysurveying.co.uk team; collating survey data, statistics, trends and information from the property market. This aims to provide a single place where anyone with an interest in UK property can find the information they need.
House not built to planning permission specification at risk of demolition
Two retrospective planning applications for a house in Lightwood, Staffordshire, have been rejected by Stoke-on-Trent Council, after the property was found to have been built with a ridge line 75cm higher than the planning permission.
Buying a house (as we know it) could soon change
The company that owns Zoopla, Prime Locations and uSwitch has received a £2.2 billion takeover bid from American private equity firm, Silver Lake Partners. What could that mean for the UK property sales industry?
Home security technology – and its hidden dangers
Many of us are fascinated by smart devices, installing the latest technological gadgets that give us remote control of the heating, lighting and security alarms in the home. You don’t need to be tech-savvy when it comes to home technology, so it is important to be aware of the hidden dangers when it comes to family security.
Legionnaires’ Disease: Legionella in domestic property and landlords’ responsibilities
Routine water sampling by Shropshire Council and Public Health England revealed a second case of Legionella at The Feathers Hotel in Ludlow. The news came just eight months after the death of a 69 year old woman, who had contracted Legionnaires’ Disease on a visit to the hotel in July 2017. We consider whether home owners should be concerned about Legionella in the home, and how responsibilities for tenants’ safety can impact on private landlords of rental property.
Report that Japanese Knotweed ‘cannot be eradicated’ sparks horrified industry reaction worthy of Knotweed itself!
Japanese Knotweed is a problem. It is hugely invasive, can prevent you from selling your home and, indeed, mortgage lenders are unlikely to lend on a property which has it. A team of bioscientists at Swansea University has concluded that ‘no treatment completely eradicated’ Knotweed …
HM Land Registry registers its first digitally signed mortgage deed
It is hoped a new service will solve some of the more tedious aspects of buying a property, which include time saving and the risk of lost documents.
Older households being priced out of house buying
Rising house prices have resulted in more people aged 35 to 54 being priced out of house buying over the last ten years, a survey has found. Many older people have missed out on the financial incentives afforded to first time buyers, and people in older age groups are more likely to become ‘accidental renters’ through employment insecurity, mounting debts or relationship breakdown.
Hanky panky stops for Welsh landlords
Ministers of the Welsh government are clamping down on advertisers of rental property with strings attached. Adverts for: ‘Tenant with benefits wanted’, ‘Maisonette share, very low cost, with dominant strict gentleman’ or ‘Female with whom I can come to an arrangement’ are seen as a growing menace by the Welsh government, and a by-product of a housing crisis where young people are unable to afford somewhere to live without spending excessively.
Thinking of moving home? A dramatic move in Hemsby, Norfolk, follows in the footsteps of bigger house moves!
Residents of homes along the sandy cliffs of Hemsby, on the Norfolk coast, are no strangers to coastal erosion. Indeed their homes have been tumbling down the sandy cliffs for years, and many remain at ‘high risk’.
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Written by Independent Chartered Surveyors
of the UK wide network of Property Professionals
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