Author: Diane

Amazing pictures of an ivy covered house in Chelmsford.

The house should sell for £350,000 – even in today’s market – but the agency is asking for offers above £120,000. The highest bid has been £172,000.

The google streetmap link – click here

The daily mail says that A spokeswoman for Bairstow Eves estate agents in Chelmsford said they are not marketing the property on the internet or in their shop window because the owner does not want the sale made public.

Should I modernise a property?

If you inherit a property then you might think about doing it up to sell it
and make more money. Is this a good idea?

In a rising market, when many of the Sarah Beeny episodes were filmed, she
pointed out that people would have made as much money by not doing any work
at all.

In a falling market there’s a risk you’re wasting money on doing
up a property.

If you are a builder or have lots of good DIY skills, then it might be something
to do. But it’s probably best to get it on the market and see how it goes.
Sometimes a renovation project can really fire people up. It’ll get interest
from builders, from first time buyers looking for a more affordable way of getting
on the property ladder, and people who fancy doing a renovation for fun.

If you did start renovating, then how much should you do? You have to be aware
that starting a renovation project generally makes things worse before it gets
better. Sometimes it can get a lot worse.

If you rewire, then you need plastering work done, which probably means redecorating
every room in the house. If you get the central heating boiler replaced, then
this might need new pipe work, or ripping up flooring to get to pipes hidden.

If you need new windows and frames then this will also cause plastering work
to be done, needing some redecoration again.

There are some basic things you can do, like remove old nasty carpets, paint
rooms a neutral colour and leave the place clean but empty for viewings. A blank
canvas might inspire people to put a bid in and ideally if you price it right
you’ll generate more interest. If you get lots of viewings you might get
some competing offers too.

Housing

1.119 The affordable supply of new homes in the right places helps to create
a dynamic economy and a flexible labour force. Housing supply is constrained
by the lack of viable land for development. As set out above, the Government
is announcing reforms to the planning system which will increase the amount
of land brought forward and improve incentives for local communities to support
development.

1.120 Over the long term, increased macroeconomic and financial stability will
create a favourable environment for house-building. Stability in the labour
market and the availability of mortgage finance will support sustainable demand
for housing. The associated increase in certainty for the construction sector
will aid the supply of new homes.

1.121 The Budget provides help for homeowners and new buyers, and supports
the capacity of the house-building industry to ensure a more efficient housing
market:

* The Government will help homeowners facing difficulties by extending for
a further year temporary changes to the Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)
scheme. The 13-week waiting period and £200,000 limit on eligible mortgage
capital will now remain in force for new working age SMI claimants until January
2013;
* the Government will provide £250 million to support first time buyers
to purchase a new-build property. The FirstBuy programme will assist over 10,000
households with equity investments jointly funded with house-builders; and
* the Government will strengthen demand for residential property by reforming
the stamp duty land tax rules applied to bulk purchases. This will reduce a
barrier to investment in residential property, promoting private rented housing
supply.

1.122 The Government will announce the outcome of its review of the stamp duty
land tax relief for first time buyers in autumn 2011.

1.123 The Government will make Real Estate Investment Trusts easier to set
up and more accessible to investors. This will encourage investment in the private
rented sector over the longer term.

The budget today 23rd March introduces a shared equity style scheme for first time buyers to get help with an interest free deposit from the government when they buy a new build.

I think this is an appalling idea for several reasons:


1. It does nothing to address the fact that people are priced out of the housing market. The average wage is about £23k in the UK, yet the average house price is £164k. That’s many times the income – and many more than the 3.5X income that is a historical figure in the pre-housing boom days.

2. It encourages more debt.

3. It means the government is helping builders not first time buyers. If builders have to put in a percentage themselves, then they will surely just price their houses more to start with.

4. It will not help those not on the scheme and make things harder. If house prices weren’t being propped up then they would fall making housing more affordable for all.

5. It’s a very limited scheme. First time buyers only.

6. It’s a very limited scheme. New build only.

7. Older properties will not be included – which means there’s no influx of FTB into the housing chain anywhere. This means existing property may struggle to sell more.

8. Once a builder can sell a house under this scheme it prices all their properties at this higher rate. This makes it worse for anyone else interested in a new build.

Builders shares rose after this announcement. It is only good for builders.

It’s a brand new feature on rightmove – zoomable floorplans. I’ve seen one or two estate agent listings that don’t feature it yet, but found one on one of my searches.



To find one you’ll need to look for the floor plan tab.

* Description

* Floorplan

* Map & schools

* Street View

And click on that. There’s a slider for zooming in and out and you can move the plan around with the mouse or the cursor above the slider. It’s a nice feature that we hope more estate agents will make the most of by having floorplans uploaded!

Here’s one for you to try out on rightmove.

When you put your house on the market you should always ensure you check over the listing before it goes live. Some estate agents allow you to adjust the listing until you’re happy with it, offering sensible practical advice to ensure the photos show off your home as best as possible.

Some seem to think it’s ok to throw any old photos up and expect to sell the house.
This photo of this kitchen is a typical one that you might see. It’s very poorly lit making the kitchen look dark and unwelcoming. It’s not a place you’d want to spend time in and isn’t going to help sell the property at all.
So what could the estate agent have done? They could have added more light to the picture using artificial lights and lamps, bounced light into the room using a flash and a screen, or taken the picture from a different angle, or at a different time of day.
Is it wrong to ask an estate agent to change photos you’re not happy with? I don’t think so – you both want to sell your house for as much money as possible – if they’re on a commission fee anyway!
It’s also important to declutter rooms before taking photos and to keep them decluttered when you have viewings. This might mean spending hours putting away junk or throwing stuff away, but it’s important to make your house feel more spacious and have room for the potential buyer’s clutter.
If your house is full of your clutter then they might think there’s no room for theirs! If you make your room look like it’s clean and organised then they’ll see that there’s lots of room for all their bits and bobs too.
In a kitchen you want to keep a few lifestyle items on display such as a bowl of fresh fruit, or a large bouquet of flowers. Leaving the toaster out and clutter on all the worktops makes it look like it’s impossible to be organised in that room.

It’s a question that rarely seems to get asked these days, as we all automatically expect to have nice warm houses. It’s not that long since it was rare to have central heating though and there are some properties coming on to the market that don’t have it.

Hopefully they will be reduced in price enough to make installing a central heating boiler and radiators a sensible option, but what if you won’t be able to afford to install this for a few months?
For some people it would be a disaster! If you’re nesh as they say in various parts of the UK, it’s unlikely you’d want to live in a house without heating.

Some houses have individual room heaters, even gas fires in each room to compensate, but it’s not as automatic as having heating come on a timer when you want it, or as thermostatically controlable.

Would you swap your central heating for a wood burning stove? There are some clever models that can heat water and radiators too so it’s possible to reduce your energy bills from £1000 a year to a few hundred or even less if you can savange free wood!
The disadvantages again are the effort involved in keeping the fire going, although you can buy systems that autofeed woodchips into the boiler!

When you next view a house, have a look to see where the radiators are – or what heating it has! It’s important to know before you put an offer in so you can adjust your offer accordingly!
Prices for a full new heating system are from a couple of grand upwards depending on the number of radiators and type of boiler you have installed. Gas systems should always be installed by Gas Safe engineers.

Don’t forget that having work done will disturb current decoration and other patching up work might be required. If the property doesn’t have a gas supply then this can cost several hundred pounds upwards to get installed depending on the location of the nearest gas main!

Would I live in a property without central heating? I might if it was otherwise my dream property – but I’d want to be installing some renewable energy systems like solar hot water, maybe ground source heat pumps for underfloor heating and lots of lovely wood burning stoves!

What are local searches? When you buy a house you’ll pay a solictor for local searches but what does that actually mean? What is included in the local searches?
Con29R is the form used to request searches.
* Planning and Building Regulation Decisions and Pending Application
* Planning Designations and Proposals
* Roads
* Land required for Public Purposes
* Land to be acquired for Road Works
* Drainage Agreements and Consents
* Nearby Road Schemes
* Nearby Railway Schemes
* Traffic Schemes
* Outstanding Notices
* Infringement of Building Regulations
* Notices, Orders, Directions and Proceedings under Planning Acts
* Conservation Area
* Compulsory Purchase
* Contaminated Land
* Radon Gas

The form contains the following questions:

CON29R QUESTIONS

1. PLANNING AND BUILDING REGULATIONS
1.1 Planning and Building Decisions and Pending Applications
Which of the following relating to the property have been granted, issued,
or refused, or (where applicable) are the subject of pending applications:-
(a) a planning permission;
(b) a listed building consent;
(c) a conservation area consent;
(d) a certificate of lawfulness of existing use or development;
(e) a certificate of lawfulness of proposed use or development;
(f) buildings regulation approval;
(g) a building regulation completion certificate; and
(h) any building regulations certificate of notice issued in respect of work
carried out under a competant person self-certification scheme?
1.2 Planning Designations and Proposals
What designations of land use for the property or the area and what specific
proposals for the property, are contained in any existing or proposed
development plan?
3.1 Land required for Public Purposes
Is the property included in land required for public purposes?
3.3 Drainage Agreements and Consents
Do either of the following exist in relation to the property:-
(a) an agreement to drain buildings in combination into an existing sewer by

means of a private sewer; or
(b) an agreement or consent for (i) a building, or (ii) extension to a building
on
the property, to be built over, or in the vicinity of a drain, sewer or disposal
main?
3.5 Nearby Railway Schemes
Is the property (or will it be) within 200 metres of the centre line of a proposed
£2
railway, tramway, light railway or monorail?

3.6 Traffic Schemes

permanent stopping up or diversion
waiting or loading restrictions;
one way driving;
prohibition of driving;
pedestrianisation;
vehicle width or weight restriction;
traffic calming works including road humps;
residents parking controls;
minor road widening or improvement;
pedestrian crossings;
cycle tracks;
bridge building?

3.7 Outstanding Notices
Do any statutory notices which relate to the following matters subsist in
realtion to the property other than those revealed in a response to any other
enquiry in this Schedule:-
(a) building works;
(b) environment;
(c) health and safety;
(d) housing;
(e) highways; or
(f) public health?
3.8 Contravention of Building Regulations
Has a local authority authorised in relation to the property any proceedings for
the contravention of any provision contained in Building Regulations?
3.9 Notices, Orders, Directions and Proceedings under Planning Acts
Do any of the following subsist in relation to the property, or has a local
authority decided to issue, serve, make or commence any of the following:-
(a) an enforcement notice;
(b) a stop notice;
(c) a listed building enforcement notice;
(d) a breach of condition notice;
(e) a planning contravention notice;
(f) another notice relating to breach of control;
(g) a listed building repairs notice;
(h) in the case of a listed building deliberately allowed to fall into disrepair,
a
compulsory purchase order with a direction for minimum compensation;
(i) a building preservation notice;
(j) a direction restricting permitted development;
(k) an order revoking or modifying planning permission;
(l) an order requiring discontinuance of use or alteration or removal of building
or works;
(m) a tree preservation order; or
(n) proceedings to enforce a planning agreement or planning contribution?

3.10 Conservation Area
Do the following apply in relation to the property:-
(a) the making of the area a Conservation Area before 31 August 1974;
(b) an unimplemented resolution to designate the area a Conservation Area?
3.11 Compulsory Purchase
Has any enforceable order or decision been made to compulsorily purchase or
acquire the property?
3.12 Contaminated Land
Do any of the following apply (including any relating to land adjacent to or
adjoining the property which has been identified as contaminated land because
it is in such a condition that harm or pollution of controlled waters might be
caused on the property):-
(a) a contaminated land notice;
(b) in relation to a register maintained under section 78R of the Environmental
Protection Act 1990:-
(i) a decision to make an entry; or
(ii) an entry;
(c) consultation with the owner or occupier of the property conducted under
section 78G(3) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 before the service of
a remediation notice?
3.13 Radon Gas
Do the records indicate that the property is in a "Radon Affected Area"
as £2 identified by the Health Protection Agency?

A local search also include a LLC1 which asks for a formal search of the local register of land charges.

The Parts of the register record:
Part 1 General financial charges.
Part 2 Specific financial charges.
Part 3 Planning charges.
Part 4 Miscellaneous charges.
Part 5 Fenland ways maintenance charges.
Part 6 Land Compensation charges.
Part 7 New towns charges.
Part 8 Civil aviation charges.
Part 9 Opencast coal charges.
Part 10 Listed buildings charges.
Part 11 Light obstruction notices.
Part 12 Drainage scheme charges.

Form CON29O
Includes optional searches

Road Proposals by Private Bodies
Public Paths or byways Advertisements
Completion Notices
Parks & Countryside
Pipelines
Houses in Multiple Occupation
Noise Abatement
Urban Development Areas
Enterprise Zones
Inner Urban Improvement Areas
Food Safety
Simplified Planning Zones
Land Maintenance Notices
Mineral Consultation Areas
Hazardous Substance Consents
Environmental and Pollution Notices
Food Safety Notices
Hedgerow Notices
Registered Common Land and Town or Village Green

Common Land Searches must be submitted as an optional enquiry using Form CON29O

Part 1 Gives a description of the land and the date of when it was made Common
Land or a Village Green;
Part 2 Gives details of who has common rights over the land;
Part 3 Gives details of ownership of the land

Things not included in the local searches:
Most importantly it doesn’t tell you about any local planning applications. You can search for local planning applications online with most councils or pay their planning department a visit and look at the maps. Staff can be helpful. It can be of great use if there is any land that could be developed near your potential new home to check whether or not any planning applications have been put in.

CON29DW is the form for water company searches for water and drainage.

It’s an upside down house with the first floor measuring 6.1m x 2.2m and containing the lounge and kitchen area.
The bedroom on the ground floor is 4.95m x 2.21m.

It says it has a paddle staircase which I assume to be one that just has the footstep sections on.
I think it’s quite cute but far too small for me!

This one on Aldeburgh seafront is even smaller!