In the News

Did you know that home staging your property prior to selling is one of the best investments you can make, not only helping to speed up the sales process but also adding as much as 10% to the value of your house?

Add to this the fact that prospective buyers form an opinion on a property within the first 7 – 10 seconds of seeing it, then it makes sense to create the very best first impression.

You needn’t spend a fortune getting your house viewing-ready, a quick tidy up out front and a window clean will instantly add to your home’s kerb appeal, while inside you should start by ticking off all the jobs on your DIY to-do list. Then, to ensure everything’s spick and span, have a serious declutter and tidy, and perhaps a new lick of paint where needed. 

You could even consider putting some of your furniture in storage to create a greater feeling of spaciousness. 

Finally, allow in lots of natural light and light-up those dark and dingy corners with strategically placed lamps – et voilà!

It looks like the issue of whose responsible for potentially dangerous and costly cladding in the light of the Grenfell fire tragedy isn’t going away anytime soon. 

For a fifth time, the government recently opposed an amendment to the fire safety bill intended to protect leaseholders living in affected high rises, but those involved have vowed to continue fighting. However, some progress has been made in reducing the number of wall safety surveys requested by lenders, with new guidance recently issued by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. 

The guidance advises that only leaseholders in buildings at high risk should be asked for EWS1, the external wall safety forms, when they sell or remortgage, and that those in low-risk buildings should be exempt. It is hoped that there will now be a significant reduction in EWS1 requests and the severe delays they were causing, while allowing more focus on the assessments of higher risk buildings.

For obvious reasons, 2020 was a challenging year for the London property market. 

However, the sector picked up a pace in 2021, especially in March and April with the stamp duty holiday extension helping to bring it back to life. We’ve seen a healthy 59% rise in people looking to buy in the capital, while property viewing and offers made increased by 38% and 31% respectively. In addition, there’s been a 40% rise in new properties coming to market. 

Meanwhile our West Essex Office continues to trail blaze high levels of sales activity, and prices are rising aggressively as a result of demand outstripping supplies. With regards to lettings, prices were significantly down in London and up in West Essex, but now both markets have settled down nicely, with few properties remaining vacant for long.

It’s good news for animal lovers who also happen to be tenants because, providing their pet is well behaved, they’ll be able to secure leases more easily under the Government’s new Model Tenancy agreement. 

Currently just 7% of private landlords advertise pet friendly properties, but all that is set to change with the new agreement having consent for pets as standard. 

As a result, landlords will now have to opt out by objecting in writing within 28 days of a written pet request from a tenant and provide a good reason why they wish to decline. 

The change comes in response to the huge increase in pet ownership as a result of the pandemic. Indeed, the latest figures show that more than half of UK adults now own a cat or dog.