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As much as you love your home, it’s time to move so you have an estate agent over to value your property. They come in, tell you how lovely it is and much to your surprise value it for a hefty chunk over what you expected for it. You’re delighted. A few months later after agreeing to their high fees and you still haven’t sold with the few viewings you have only generating one offer for well below asking price. What has happened to that hefty chunk the estate agent promised and why won’t they let you leave your contract to go with another agent that has buyers waiting? The above is quite a...
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In the right hands, gas is safe, however if things go wrong gas appliances can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous substance produced by the incomplete burning of carbon-based products, such as natural gas and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). This happens when a gas appliance has been incorrectly fitted, badly repaired or poorly maintained. It can also occur if flues, chimneys or vents are blocked. Carbon monoxide is known as the Silent Killer, because you can’t see it, taste it or smell it and it can kill quickly with no...
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Prices in Dalston could be up by as much as £126,000 by 2020 Dalston has shown its mettle in the last few years and remains a particularly buoyant and robust part of the UK property market. In the aftermath of the credit crunch, some parts of the UK saw prices fall by as much as 8% (2007 vs 2009), but here in E8, prices held steady and have risen consistently since 2000. For that reason, we are confident that house prices in our area will see a strong growth up to the end of the decade. Since 2000, prices have increased by 21.6% per year, and if that pattern continues for the next...
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It’s getting harder by the year to be a bad landlord and rightly so. From the day of Charles Dickens and the age of reform where landlords could get away with murder (quite literally) to today where increasing regulation helps weed out the worst of us. The most recent tool against rogue landlords and agents is from the Housing and Planning Act 2016, in particular, rent repayment orders. As with most punitive action this hits landlords where it hurts; in the pocket. A landlord may be forced to repay up to a year’s worth of rent to tenants if they: Use violence to secure entry to the...
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Not everybody has the luxury of wealthy parents to help them buy their first home and with house prices usually going up faster than wages, the government has stepped in to help first time buyers and to a certain extent, house builders. There are currently two schemes available, equity loans and a help to buy ISAs. For the equity loan, the government will lend you up to 20% of the property value (capped at £600,000 for the total purchase price) interest free for five years. All you need do is find a 5% deposit and arrange a mortgage for the remaining 75%. If you’re in London, they will lend...
