Habitable Rules

New legislation means that tenants can now potentially sue a landlord who fails to adequately maintain their property.

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 means that tenants can take direct action over substandard property, rather than having to rely on their local authority to pursue a landlord who fails to adequately maintain it. Courts will not only be able to force landlords to carry out repairs, but can also award damages to tenants.

The scope of the legislation is wide-ranging, … Continue Reading…

Other Forces

There was a day when a slight shift in the bank base rate or change in stamp duty could have a profound effect on property market sentiment. Yet the Bank of England’s continuing consensus to maintain interest rates at very low levels (albeit tweaked with the occasional 0.25% here and there) is possibly the strongest signal to date that the British property market is actually driven increasingly by factors other than such things. The general economy, oil prices, employment, and … Continue Reading…

March Market Comment

Sensation sells! The press is having a field day with all sorts of Brexit-related headlines and claims about how the current state of confusion is negatively impacting on the housing market. The reality is that latest figures published by respected sources support our own view that it’s not quite a buyers’ market yet, even though, according to the Nationwide, house prices are just 0.4% higher than this time last year.

The latest Propertymark Housing Report found that NAEA members report a … Continue Reading…

Low up-take of online estate agency

Some local sellers have approached us to sell their property following a less-than-impressive performance by an online alternative to “proper” estate agency. Although it is always tempting to say “I told you so”, we wouldn’t be so harsh with someone who has just been through the mill with the wrong choice of agent.

And it seems they are not alone. In fact, a survey* of over 14,000 sellers, the largest ever undertaken, has demonstrated that 93% of people would prefer to … Continue Reading…

The Advertising Myth

It would not be unreasonable to assume that as a property comes onto the market, the instructed estate agent will post the property details on various property portals and wait for the enquiries to roll in.

However, this approach is somewhat simplistic! We take a much more strategic and proactive approach to handling new buyer enquiries. There is a fallacy surrounding adverts in that many people think that a property sells as a direct result of the publication of its corresponding … Continue Reading…

February Market Comment

It’s a funny old thing, the British housing market. Just when you might expect the political uncertainty prompted by the “B” word to dull the market further, it leaps! That’s the way things look from where we’re standing anyway! Not only have we experienced an extremely strong start to the year, both in terms of new instructions and offers agreed, but this appears to be supported across the board.

For example, a founder of MyHomeMove, a major conveyancing firm, reported that … Continue Reading…

Buyers Warm To a Real Fire

The fireplace was traditionally the heart of every home, but changing lifestyles over the past four decades have relegated many of them to the scrap heap, with many families choosing to huddle around the TV instead.

However, the fireplace has seen a huge resurgence in popularity as a design feature among buyers, so if you are considering selling, it might be worthwhile investing in a fireplace or revamping your old one before going on the market. There’s a huge choice.

If you … Continue Reading…

December Market Comment

As we approach the end of the year we find ourselves in politically turbulent times, with the Brexit debate continuing to undermine confidence, but only slightly. Certainly there are some scary concepts being tabled, not least the Governor of the Bank of England suggesting that a no-deal Brexit could trigger property price falls of up to 35%.

Far be it for us to argue with the Governor, but this rather dramatic suggestion relies on a) a no Brexit deal and, b) … Continue Reading…

Winter Checklist

Household emergencies generally occur during the depths of winter, but we recommend that homeowners undertake a pre-winter checklist now to prevent unforeseen property headaches in the months to come, especially remembering last year’s weather! Here are some pointers:

• Don’t wait until the really cold weather arrives to discover that the central heating is not working. Time your central heating to click on for one minute a day throughout the year to avoid it seizing.

• A sudden cold snap can burst … Continue Reading…