Property

More than 16,000 new homes could be built across London on land occupied by unused or rundown garages owned by councils, according to new research. A study of local authority-owned lock-ups in the capital revealed 24 councils own a total of 53,640 - with 41 per cent empty or in disrepair. Demolishing them and replacing them with affordable one-bedroom flats could go someway to solving the London housing crisis where the average home now costs £475,000. The figures were revealed...

December is a busy time for PRs, many of whom struggle to cut through the noise with even the most worthy of campaigns. Which is why you have to salute the inventors of the Yule Log Clog. This Christmas, as families huddle together under the same roof, there is one housing component that all too often goes unnoticed; the drain pipes. With the average Brit consuming nearly 6,000 calories on Christmas Day alone (and a whopping 210g of fat) and more...

By Bea Patel, TLE Property Editor and Director of Shop for an Agent Landlords are being warned to look out for tenants who go away over the Christmas holidays and sublet their rental properties without consent. Total Landlord Insurance has revealed a 14 per cent increase in the number of malicious and accidental damage claims received this year, as a direct result of illegal subletting, through holiday rental sites such as Airbnb. Airbnb, synonymous with the ‘sharing economy’ has seen...

London’s prime-resi property market has accelerated notably in recent years, particularly in highly desirable areas like Mayfair. Listings in this sought-after part of central London are up 67 per cent compared to 2014, and up 25 per cent compared with last year. One of the area’s most prestigious and longstanding estate agents, Wetherell, notes in a recent report that there is currently £750 million worth of residential property listed for sale, an impressive figure when looking at the impact of...

In the weeks leading up to the June 23 Brexit referendum, the Bank of England warned that a vote to leave the European Union could result in a recession, raising fears that housing prices could plummet. Yet in the months following the controversial vote, inflation rates have stabilised and housing prices have slowly risen. Between May and August, housing prices increased by a total of 0.87%, with growth rates of approximately 0.15% each month. And as described below, a 0.063%...

By Bea Patel, TLE Property Editor and Director of Shop for an Agent The Beacon, due to complete in 2018 has launched as the world’s most sustainable residential tower. It will save residents up to £11,000 a year in living expenses. Located 24 minutes from London Euston, bordered by over 400 acres of protected Boxmoor Trust Green Belt land at the heart of Hemel Hempstead’s regeneration district, the 17-storey tower will generate sufficient heat and power from on-site renewable energy...

Many people want to own their own home, but despite this desire, selling a property can be a long and stressful slog, even in London where the market has started to slow. The best way to sell a home is obviously to sell it quickly - to do that you need to make your property as attractive as possible to potential buyers. Fortunately, there are a few tips and tricks of the trade that will convince your viewers to make those...

By Bea Patel, TLE Property Editor and Director of Shop for an Agent According to the Aldermore First-Time Buyer Index, getting on the property ladder is ‘extremely difficult’, said nearly four in ten first-time buyers. The two biggest obstacles were raising a large deposit and increasing house prices. We compare the original monopoly board, just over 80 years old with the new 2016 board created by Barratt London, which features the 22 cheapest boroughs in the capital for first-time buyers....

Every weather forecast on the BBC this month has sent chills down the spine of landlords and home owners across the UK as ‘grim up North’ weather parades itself around the country like a Gallagher caricature. Let’s hope that 2016 doesn’t have too many visitors from ghosts of Christmas past and the floods that battered large swathes of England are in semi-retirement now. It is a safe bet though that the rain will pour and the snow will fall, so...