Sales

Yes it’s a cliché but will 2025 be a case of ‘New Year, new home?’ If you are serious about purchasing a property, almost everything will be dictated by your monetary situation. Here’s how to get your finances in order before you start looking for a new home.

It is one of the most unusual property phenomena but the Boxing Day bounce is real and potential sellers can prepare for it now.

Data held by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government estimates there are almost 5 million leasehold homes in England alone. As a result, many people buy, and subsequently sell, a leasehold property.  

Many things have changed since the Covid pandemic but no one would have predicted how two new habits with no direct links to the medical world would radically shift our perspective, perhaps forever. Even more surprisingly, both habits have a direct link to property sales.

There have been multiple surveys of prospective buyers, asking them what would put them off buying a property, and one thing crops up time and time again – clutter.

Before you lament about the amount of rain we’ve had this summer, remember the old adage ‘it’s good for the garden’. In fact, the wet conditions may help budgets as well as flower beds, if new research is anything to go by.

As we write this blog, the temperatures are rising to the mid 20°C, the air is filled with the scent of barbeques and sales of sunscreen are soaring. We are, however, about to break the early summer spell by mentioning the C word. Christmas.

If you have a passing interest in property, you will know that some people ‘stage’ their homes during the marketing phase in order to increase the appeal. Common tactics involve dressing sofas with stylish cushions, removing bulky items of furniture to create more space and using vases of flowers to add colour. There is, however, a more unique trend that’s found its way into the national press.

Everybody needs good neighbours but what if the people next door are a nuisance? When it comes to selling a property, the requirement for full disclosure means admitting if you’ve ever complained about the people living either side of you, or if you’re currently involved in a neighbourly spat.

The new year has started with some bright news from the mortgage lending market. Rates attached to home loans have been steadily falling and in January, some of the most substantial rate cuts were made by leading banks and building societies.

How do Artex ceilings, avocado bathroom suites and rotten window frames make you feel when looking at properties for sale? While some purchasers will recoil at the prospect, others relish the opportunity to rip out, refurbish and make their own mark.

After a long period of stability, mortgage rates have hardly been out of the news headlines. In September, everyone held their breath as the Bank of England - responsible for UK-wide monetary policy - made its latest announcement.