Category: General Section

Welcome News of Bounce in Housing Market

Property Surveying

A recent study from Lloyds TSB revealed that almost two-thirds of towns in England and Wales have seen year-on-year increases in house sales.

Home sales rose in 324 of the 500 towns tracked in the first half of 2012, compared with the first six months of 2011.

That is more than double the 151 locations where sales increased in the first half of 2011.

The port town of Felixstowe in Suffolk enjoyed the biggest homes sales increase, at 60%. Closely followed by ­Brighouse, in West Yorkshire, with a 53 per cent rise.

The Great Debate – To Build or not to Build?

PropertySurveying

The issue of whether or not Britain should be attempting to build its way out of a recession is the crux of a significant debate in the British media and property industry. In this article, we look at some of the key arguments and give you the opportunity to voice your own opinions.

The response so far has been fantastic; join the debate by having your say at the bottom of the article.

Proceeds of Crime Act – Brent to Receive Over £500,000 for Illegal Landlord House Conversion

Property Surveying

Norwich Crown Court has this month reached a decision on a case concerning a landlord in Brent, London who converted a house into 12 flats without the appropriate planning consent. He faces well over £1.4m in fines.

£500,000 of this will be due to Brent Council and the total of £1.4m constitutes the largest damages order ever seen for an incident of this type – reflecting the earnings Mr Ali illegally made from renting out the properties.

Follow this link or the one above to find a surveyor in London if you are planning on purchasing property or converting property to flats. A Chartered Surveyor will be able to advise on planning implications and meeting Building Regulations.

In Case You Missed It…… String of deaths leaves Britain’s most expensive house up for sale

PropertySurveying.co.uk

In our monthly newsletter, we highlighted a story concerning Britain’s most expensive home. A vast mansion in London with 45 bedrooms, a £300m price tag and a macabre past…

Read the rest of the article by clicking here

Five ways to help sell your home in a difficult market

A number of well peddled clichés surround the selling of a home, but some points slip under the radar. We expose five things you should address before selling your home, maximising its attractiveness to choosy buyers in a difficult market…

To see the rest of the article, and read inside tips from UK Chartered Surveyors, click here.

Draft Waste Plan Remains Viable for Worthing

Worthing Surveyor  – The withdrawal of one of the six waste disposal sites from a draft waste plan for West Sussex has still left it “sound”, the county planning committee was told.

Members heard that land at Decoy Farm,Worthing, had been taken out of the document following an objection from the borough council, which owns the site.

Some objections raised included the negative affect on house prices. Your local surveyor will be able to advise if you are worried about a local development affecting the value of your home. He can be found on either of the links above.

Devon Empty Homes Partnership Brings 1,000 homes Back into Use

Exeter Surveyors – Since 1990, Exeter City Council, working with local registered social landlords and the Homes and Communities Agency, has now brought 1,000 homes back into use.

Integral to the policy has been the Private Sector Leasing Scheme which works with landlords to bring their empty buildings back up to the decent homes standard.

Find a Devon Chartered Surveyor to supervise and advise on home / property refurbishments and extensions here

GE instructs Agent to sell The Ark

Hammersmith Surveyors – One of Britain’s most famous ‘white elephants’, (a building constructed at great expense but left unoccupied)  which stood empty between its construction in 1991 and an internal £20m refurbishment in 2006, is now being offered to potential buyers at an asking price of £78.7m. The property, known as ‘The Ark’ due to its shape, is the iconic headquarters of General Electric in Hammersmith.

This will give a 6.5% yield for the 166,000 sq ft building and interest is expected to be high as the Hammersmith and Chiswick markets have been thriving both in terms of occupier and investment deals in recent times. Find a local surveyor in Hammersmith and Fulham here or elsewhere here.

[contact-form] [contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” /] [contact-field label=”I found this interesting” type=”checkbox” /] [contact-field label=”I did not find this interesting” type=”checkbox” /] [contact-field label=”Comment” type=”textarea” /] [/contact-form]

England’s most expensive streets

Certain areas of Britain have also been shown to be extremely property rich recently. Around 185 streets in England has an average property price over £1m, with some of the most expensive being Scargate (Yorkshire), Sedley Taylor Road (Cambridge), Sandbanks (Poole), Quarry Park Road (Stourbridge) and Druidstone Road (Cardiff).

We have local, Chartered Surveyors in all of these areas. If you are thinking of purchasing property, or need a professional opinion on a property you already own, find your local surveyor here.

Birmingham Council most Successful in Floundering RTB Scheme

Birmingham Surveyors – Of the currently ailing Right to Buy scheme, Birmingham Council has received the most expressions of interest with 696, but sold just 65 properties in April.

A spokesperson for the Local Government Association blamed the mortgage market for the disparity. ‘The LGA will continue to press the government for a review of the right to buy policy after one year,’ he said.

The floundering Right to Buy scheme is the subject of a new article in our monthly newsletter. Subscribe via this link.