Archived Entries
April 2009
Has the Chancellor gone far enough in helping the housing market in these troubled times?
In his speech to the House of Commons, Chancellor Darling outlined a £600 million package of new measures aimed at stimulating the beleaguered housing market. In his attempt to stop the slide in property prices and entice new buyers and movers, the Chancellor is to extend the stamp duty holiday on properties worth less than £175,000 which was due to end in September. Homes sold for less than £175,000 will now be exempt from the charge until the end of December. After this, the 0% threshold will fall back to £125,000.
Currently, properties worth more than £175,000 incur 1% stamp duty. If you purchase a home worth between £250,000 and £500,000 you will continue to incur an eye watering 3% charge and buyers of homes priced at more than £500,000 must pay 4%.
The stamp duty waiver is intended to offer an incentive for first-time buyers to step on the property ladder this year, but housing experts fear it could only harm the market's recovery at the beginning of 2010. In a classic smoke and mirrors manoeuvre by the Chancellor, the stamp duty holiday is considered to be nothing more than a gimmick with most homes in the south east exceeding the £175,000 barrier anyway. Additionally, what incentive does this really offer to those homeowners whose properties are worth more than £175,000? From bitter experience, I have recently had to pay 3% stamp duty on a £500,000 purchase. A stealth tax I remain resentful at paying. If the Chancellor really wants to send out a positive message that his government is keen to get people moving again, how about halving these quite preposterous charges or better still, removing them altogether?
Whilst stamp duty is an issue, the main obstacle to recovery is the lack of available mortgage finance at reasonable rates of interest for first time buyers. If people cannot secure mortgages at reasonable rates of interest, what incentive is there to buy a home?
For many, extending the stamp duty holiday will do little if anything in convincing them that now is the right time to move. The Chancellor has wasted a real opportunity to show that his government really does care.
Orchard Planning welcomes Your Move Jameson Owen
Orchard Planning Solutions is delighted to welcome Your Move Jameson Owen Estate Agents as its latest advertising partner.
Your Move Jameson Owen is a locally owned and family run business operating within a national network of estate agents. Founded in 2004 by Eoin Fahey, the company runs 2 offices (Luton and Dunstable) and is registered with the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) and a member of the Ombudsman for Estate Agents. With over 17 years experience in the business (of which 13 have been spent in the same Dunstable office), Eoin has gained a thorough appreciation and knowledge of the local housing market in terms of property sales and lettings.
For Eoin, he sees a synergy between the estate agency profession and the website concept. For him, he believes that the website will offer the estate agency profession an opportunity to broaden its customer base and reach a wider audience.
In an increasingly difficult housing market, Eoin is finding that more and more potential sellers are unsure if they should move or simply improve their existing homes by adding an extension or converting their loft for example. He sees www.doineedplanningpermission.co.uk as a vehicle to help householders decide if they should move or indeed improve their homes. In order to help householders decide, Your Move Jameson Owen is pleased to offer a no obligation valuation service to those trying to decide what route they should take.
Is Renovating my Property a Financially Savvy Proposition?
For many of us, the first question we will often ask is: Will I get the value of the renovation back on my property? For those with a vested interest such as builders, the answer given is often that you cannot lose money in bricks and mortar. However, is that really the case? In this time of economic instability, the answer to this is not necessarily - unless you live in a "property hot spot" of Mayfair or Sandbanks in Dorset for example.
Take a loft conversion as a typical home improvement project for example. With stringent building regulations in place (they are there to protect you, your property and the public at large), it can often be found that the monetary value gained would only cover half the cost of the work. When measured against house prices in that area, the proposal was not financially viable.
If you are thinking about undertaking a project, one way to get a rough idea of what your extension would be worth is to simply look around estate agents local to you for properties of a similar size to yours or similar to your theoretical finished property. After all, that is what valuations are based upon, comparing like for like and what they sold for. Whilst this will prove a valuable exercise (no pun intended), try to be open minded and appreciate that money does't always make the our lives go round. Home improvements are more about how to meet our lifestyle requirements. I remain personally convinced that in the long term (and as statistics demonstrate), any home improvement will prove a financial investment also.
Making the most of our homes when moving is not an option
Research published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has found that two million households (April 2009) have either negative equity or too little equity to finance a house move. With moving home becoming less of an option, more and more of us are thinking of creative ways to increase our living space within our existing homes.
With a little imagination and creative thinking, your home may in fact offer more potential for expansion than we actually realise. You simply need to be pointed in the right direction to spot those hidden opportunities to either add more space or improve the existing layout.
Start by looking at all of the options for your particular house type, from extending up, out or down to changing the existing room plan. Then decide which option best meets the needs of your household and your available budget. Bear in mind that even if your extension adds less to the value of the home than what it costs, providing it gives you the space you need when moving is not a real option. Above all, please remember that we have been through property slumps before and any kind of improvement work you carry out will offer you the potential edge when you do finally come to sell and in the meantime, provides improved accommodation levels.
Five steps to increasing living space:-
- Establish your budget; to help you with this, why not visit the extension calculator located on the home page? This will give you a rough estimate of anticipated costs.
- Understand your property works for you; for example, would a single ground floor space be more beneficial when compared to 2 reception rooms?
- Identify potential constraints; for example, do you live in a listed building, has the house been the subject of previous extensions,
- Consider the potential options your house offers; for example, terraced properties offer considerable opportunity for remodelling and semi-detached properties off opportunity for loft conversions.
- Seek the advice of a building consultant; use their experience to help guide you.
Damp - how to find and solve its main causes
With an average annual rainfall of 25,000 gallons (113,650 litres) per year, it is no surprise that one of the most common problems experienced by UK homes is damp. Whilst the problem is quite often easy to fix, it can be an indication of a more serious cause. Our aim is to help you find and solve the main causes of damp.
What are the main causes of damp?
Leaks:- If you notice localised damp (in one area of one wall for example), the cause may often be a leak.
- One of the most prevalent causes of localised damp is faulty guttering and down pipes. Begin your investigative work by checking these. Make sure the guttering is clear of any debris such as leaves and moss for example. Test the flow of water through the guttering by filling it with water; this will also help identify that all the joints are tight. If the joints are found to be faulty either seal them or replace them;
- If you have a flat roof, check that the felt is sound;
- If you have a damp chimney breast, check the flashing and tiles around the chimney stack to make sure you have a snug fit;
- If the damp is below a window, check the windowsill and window frame. Badly fitting frames can let damp penetrate the room, as will a bridged drip groove on a windowsill.
Other causes of Damp
If none of these seem to be the likely cause of localised damp, make sure the damp proof course is not bridged.
- Unwittingly, we can pile earth for example against the house, which can allow water to penetrate above the damp course. If you are not sure where a damp proof course is located, go outside your home and examine the brickwork. Approximately 150mm above the external ground level (2 brick courses), you will often notice a material protruding the mortar joint; this will be the damp proof course.
- Spalled or cracked bricks and broken pointing can be another point of entry for water. Once the face of the brick is removed, water will soon work through the porous brickwork.
Condensation
Damp may not always be coming from the outside of your house. Condensation can also be another cause of damp problems, especially in rooms with little or no ventilation and a lack of heat. It is caused when warm air meets a cold surface (such as a metal window). If improving ventilation is an issue, you might need to improve the insulation and increase the heating to that room. Other than increasing the level of heat to that room, one solution is by using polystyrene-backed paper fixed with fungicidal adhesive. You can also use polystyrene lining paper. Before doing this, make sure that the surfaces are as clean as possible. If condensation is on windows, a cheap solution may well be the installation of secondary double-glazing as an intermediate solution. The preferred solution is however the replacing your widows with double-glazing.
Rising Damp
If damp is worse at the bottom of a wall than at the top, the damp proof course we mentioned earlier is probably to blame. Once you have checked that the damp proof course has not been bridged (by earth piled against the wall), and assuming it has not, your next option is replacing the whole damp proof course. This will normally be the job for the professional and, by using a contractor; you will receive a damp proof certificate, which will prove extremely useful when selling your home.
