House Critic

Wallpapering is more effort than painting but on most walls it’ll look better.

Ms Millard’s article here really makes me laugh. I’m sure she should go and perform at the Fringe next year

“How cheaply can you wallpaper a room? Marks & Spencer, Cath Kidston and Laura Ashley sell wallpaper hovering around the £20 per roll mark. Homebase has a sale at the moment with a wide range of wallpapers at about £13 per roll. ”

Well she’s clearly wrong on price here! You can buy woodchip for next to nothing and do a whole room for a few quid. Of course it’s woodchip which means it can be painting year after year, it’s hard wearing and survives the odd attack by felt tip pens, kids or pets. And did I mention you can paint over it year after year? If you’re in a rented flat then you’ve probably got woodchip on the walls.

Slightly dearer is blown vinyl available in a huge range of designs. All of which can be painted over too. £3-4 a roll for that. Whilst it’s not the most beautiful stuff in the world, it’ll not go out of date as quickly as some mad flowery designs and it’s cheap!

You can find sale ends at most wallpaper shops and if you’re only after doing a feature wall then you’ll find that a more affordable way of wallpapering!

I read somewhere that people might be put off buying a house because it has renewable energy technologies installed!
It was quite a shock to me to read that! I can’t see how the idea of lower (or no) fuel bills would be unattractive to anyone! I suppose though if you don’t understand the technologies involved then you might worry about maintenance of systems.
Solar panels should be washed down once a year apparently – but that could be done by your window cleaner perhaps! Air source heat pumps need leaves removing from around them and that’s about it! Whilst systems can be checked to make sure they’re working right these checks are fairly simple and easy – and are often included as part of installation plans.

Would you say no to free heating and electricity?

Not that I’m incredibly impatient but on 23 August 2011 a property got added to my local listings. But with a placeholder for a photo saying photo coming soon.
It’s now 27th and still no photo! Have they forgotten to upload it? Or has interest been so great already they can sell a house without sticking a photo up?

Maybe they can – it’s a more expensive than average property in a nice location so maybe someone has been waiting to buy it!

Not so long back I posted about the wall across the road in Chorlton.
Well I’ve just got to page 189 of Restoration Home and it’s about walls across roads. One particular one in Bromley Kent was put up to prevent the tenants of the London County Council estate taking the shortcut to town through the private houses. It was built in 1926 and despite protests by the council and attempts to knock it down by residents, the wall remained until 1939 when it was removed to allow fire engines easy access.

There is a photo of the wall in Restoration Home: The Essential Guide to Tracing the History of Your House and it looks very grim. It wasn’t the first time walls had been used and in some areas gated communities had been created to keep out certain types of people.

The book is really interesting and very much a social history view of housing.

There is a photo of the wall in Bromley on this page – it says the wall was placed across Valeswood Road, at its junction with Alexandra Crescent. On google maps the wall would be here

I think this is a sensible decision to say no to turning pubs into houses.
The Britannia Inn, at Penny Bridge in South Lakeland has been overpriced for sale says the council.

One of the ways a property owner can apply for commercial to be turned into residential is by showing no one will take the lease or buy the property. Of course marketing it at too high a rent or sale price will prevent it being sold.
In some areas profits might not support the high prices and so no one will buy it.
Rather than lose local facilities it is better for an area to retain some pubs or other commercial enterprises.

Whilst there may be a housing demand locally this would be better dealt with building genuinely affordable housing somewhere near by.
Keeping pubs and shops is essential for an area to remain a nice place to live and visit.

Near me in Failsworth there have been lots of pubs closed down. The Brown Cow is now flats.It would be sad if all pubs were converted into flats when they shut.

ADDING VALUE TO YOUR HOME
Most people think that adding value to your home means a total renovation project
to make a ‘show home’ that will have people falling over themselves
to buy off you!!! You’ll be glad to hear that this isn’t the case
at all. There are a number of things that you could do to add value to your
house – most importantly, simply!

Think about Adding an Extension to your House
Is your home getting too small? With a growing family or live-in relatives,
you just don’t have enough space. You’ve considered moving but don’t want the
upheaval or cost involved. Simply put, you don’t have the money to ‘upsize’,
you love your existing home and its quirks, you love your neighbourhood and
you’d like to stay exactly where you are!

Move vs. Extend: The Benefits of a House Extension
Whether you have an expanding family, you work from home and could do with a
study, you fancy a home gym or you’re just a bit of a hoarder, it is easy to
find yourself in a position where lack of space is an increasingly important
issue in your life. It’s a case of finding somewhere larger (this is not
in your budget) or creating more space in your existing house (can I afford
it?). You’ll be pleased to hear that not only is having an extension less
stressful, it’s invariably the more affordable option too!

Moreover, you can maintain the comforts of your current lifestyle and living
environment, albeit a little noisy and dusty for the duration of the build,
whilst providing some of that extra space you so badly need. To top it all off,
your investment in the build will almost certainly be reflected in the value
of the house. Think of the difference in price of a 2 bedroom house as opposed
to a 3 bedroom house, or a house advertised with a ‘home gym’…
you get my drift.

You Might Not Need Planning Permission for Your Extensions/Alterations
‘Surely not?’ I hear you say – well this little nugget of
information could be very valuable to you.

Changes to Planning Laws have meant that Planning permission is no longer required
for the majority of household extensions or alterations! This is known as ‘Permitted
Development’. Examples of such extensions or alterations include loft
conversions, porches, rear extensions to make a family sized kitchen and even
outbuildings. However, this doesn’t mean that you can just go ahead and
build your extension or make alterations – there are certain strict constraints
and you still have to apply to the council for a Certificate of Lawfulness,
which proves that your proposal does not need traditional planning permission.
You will also have to get Building
Regulations approval to ensure that your extension is structurally sound.

Unfortunately, these rights only apply to houses – so if you live in a
flat or maisonette, a Listed Building, a World Heritage Site, Conservation Area,
National Park, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Norfolk or Suffolk
Broads sadly they do not apply. It’s likely that you will need planning
permission to make any alterations or build an extension.

The Most Common House Extensions/Alterations to Add Value:

Kitchens: are increasingly becoming the most ‘deal breaking’
consideration of a house sale. In the modern house the kitchen is the heart
of the home, rendering the ‘family sized kitchen’ as all important. Whether
it’s a large extension to achieve a kitchen worthy of an average sized family
or a simple refit or refurb, you can be sure that whatever work you do to the
kitchen will improve the value of your house.

Loft conversions: utilise useable loft space in your house.
The average house has approximately 40m³ of ‘wasted’ space which could
be converted to create extra living space, a master bedroom complete with en-suite
or perhaps a couple of extra bedrooms for your growing family. Think of the
value you could to your house with an extra couple of bedrooms!!

Porch: Benefits include enhanced kerb appeal, added security
(if you have an enclosed one), less heat loss in winter and most importantly
adding value to your home.

Outbuildings: Perhaps you fancied a Garden Room, a Home Gym,
a Home Office or even a Granny Annex. For that little bit of extra space.
If you are thinking about building an extension to add value to your home,
My Plans Permitted would love to help you – you might just be surprised
at what you can do!

This is a guest article written by Harriet of My Plans Permitted.

Maybe you already know my thoughts on twigging – these twigs in the bathroom strike me as misplaced.

Maybe you think it’s normal to put twigs in the bathroom?

Have you seen any examples of extreme twigging?