Month: May 2012

Yellowford Farmhouse

Yellowford Farmhouse is a spacious detached house with 3 reception rooms, 6 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Within its garden is a swimming pool. Adjacent to the farmhouse is a range of agricultural buildings.

There is a detached 4 bedroom cottage and 2 3-bedroom semi-detached cottages.

A cricket pitch in the centre of Thorverton.

In all about 335.91 acres.

For sale as a whole or in up to 8 lots.

Residential property fund

FSA gives thumbs up to landmark residential property fund
Residential property fund managers David Gibbins and Lucy Hawkins will manage the fund, with the aim of tracking the House Price Index by investing in private rented sector housing across the UK.

Hearthstone’s target for the fund is £250 million in the first 24 months of launch, rising to potentially more than £1 billion in the longer-term.

So will this drive up prices of property and rents at a time when more people are struggling to manage financially, or will it be a lame duck and no one want to invest in housing?
Is this a shoe shine boy moment?

All private tenancies to be registered with council

All 257 private rented properties in the Little Ilford ward of Newham, London, have now been licensed.

The ward, which has been designated a Neighbourhood Improvement Zone, is seen as just the start by the council. It wants to extend the scheme to cover the whole of Newham. Consultation is currently under way.

In Little Ilford, the council is using the Proceeds of Crime Act legislation to tackle landlords who flout the conditions of their licences.

Story on Landlord Today

This is the same Newham council which wanted to move 500 families to Stoke!

Newham Council press release about this story – Newham Council achieved the milestone earlier this month (May) in Little Ilford. That ward – which has been officially declared a Neighbourhood Improvement Zone (NIZ) – is seen as just the start by the council. It wants to extend the scheme to cover the whole of Newham. It would become the first borough in the country to license all private landlords. Consultation is currently underway.

Will this improve rental properties in the area?
What is their overall aim of the scheme?

Is a further burden of regulation needed in the private rented sector?

Wickes Great offers

Want to do some home improvements? Wickes have some great deals on

Offer: 25% Off ALL these Categories (Top Selling): Deck
Boards, Deck Lights, Trellis, Garden Sleepers, Border Log Rolls, Landscape Fabrics
and 2.5L Apply & Protect Decking Stain
Other Categories: Screening, Wooden Border Edging, Bamboo Edging and Garden Hand
Tools.
Starts: Friday 18th May 2012
Ends: Monday 21st May 2012 (at 23.59pm)

Plus for a limited time only our 2.4M and 4.2M Deck Board will be 50% Off

Offer: 50%
Off 2.4M and 4.2M Deck Board
Starts: Friday 18th May 2012
Ends: Monday 21st May 2012 (at 23.59pm)

10% Off All Timber French Doors

Offer: 10%
OFF ALL Timber French Doors
Starts: Friday 18th May 2012
Ends: Monday 28th May 2012 (at 23.59pm)

Tiny houses have no storage

This shouldn’t be news to anyone who’s been inside a new build.
Without storage for things like vacuum cleaners, ironing boards and Christmas trees, houses just don’t have enough room.

The modern town house style built up into the roof space also deprives people of storage space there. A few eaves cupboards don’t make up for a roomy attic.

Article here by RIBA about how some houses don’t have room for a vacuum cleaner

They list 8 key things people want in their home
The first two are:-
1. Long-term and short-term storage for functional items, and for personal possessions people have chosen to keep during their lives
2. Dedicated space for domestic utility tasks, such as vacuum cleaners, washing, drying and ironing clothes as well as storing rubbish and recycling

Christopher Robin’s house

Delightful Cotchford Farm enjoys
Delightful Cotchford Farm enjoys a fascinating provenance with both literary and musical connections. In 1925, the house was bought by the renowned author, dramatist and poet A.A Milne as a country retreat for himself, his wife and son, Christopher Robin. It was here, amidst the beautiful Sussex countryside and surrounding woodland where the wonderful stories of Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh came to life, now world famous childhood classics.

The local area is now commonly referred to as \’Pooh Country\’ and places in the books such as the 500 acre wood, Galleons Lap, Poohsticks bridge and Pooh Corner are all based on nearby locations, where Christopher Robin used to visit with his bear \’Winnie The Pooh’.

Green houses in Oldham

Contour Housing are going to be building some passivhaus houses in Oldham – Contour Homes is developing 93 new homes on the 2.2 hectare flagship site and four homes will be built to the ‘Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6’, the highest level of sustainable construction which offers many benefits to residents and the environment.
The two Passivhauses are being built alongside four Code 6 carbon-free homes, all set to be complete by the end of 2012.

It says just FOUR homes will be built to the level 6 standard and just 2 passivhaus.
It is good that they are building some to this standard though and maybe in future developments they will all meet these higher standards.

It’ll be interesting to see what people think about living in them!