May 2019 Property Surveying Newsletter

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In this month’s property surveying newsletter … we look at the point at which an estate agent’s commission is due, discuss the merits of off-market home buying and look at the amount of home equity now being released by the over-55s 

The Property Market Monthly Fact File

The property market fact file is a collection of data compiled each month by our Chartered Surveyors and the propertysurveying.co.uk team, reflecting survey data, statistics, trends and information from the property market. This provides a single place where anyone with an interest in UK property can find the information they need.


Court House in LondonLegal Article: Wells v Devani

Intention of the parties over-riding an inadequate contract. In Wells v Devani, an estate agent claimed that commission was payable to him by the vendor on completion of the sale of flats to a purchaser whom the estate agent had introduced. However, the vendor claimed that the agent had failed in his duties under Section 18 (1) of the Estate Agents Act 1979.


Planning an ‘off-market’ home purchase or sale?

Have you ever spotted a house that offers everything you have always desired in a home? It could be in a perfect location or have a spectacular facade – but despite years of waiting patiently, the property frustratingly never seems to come onto the market. Maybe it’s time to consider an off-market home purchase.


55-plus free up a billion pounds through home equity release in Q1

In the equity release sector’s busiest start to any of the six years on record, nearly a billion pounds was raised by the over-55s in the first quarter of 2019.


Cottage to let sign displayed in house window‘No DSS’ removed from Zoopla property websites

One of the largest property listing websites and online property portals in the UK for people looking to rent or buy has at last announced that it will now take measures to reduce restrictions on people receiving housing benefit across its property website.


New houses roofs“Together we make a home” … but there’s a snag (or 700)

Reading Persimmon’s confident website ditty, you might think that buying a newly built property would give you the peace of mind that comes with a 10-year warranty as well as a developer’s warranty for fixtures and fittings. You may be disappointed.


Half of babies born into rented housing

An increasing number of young families are starting their lives in rented accommodation, according to a  new survey. Figures show that, of around 365,000 babies born in Britain each year, half are born into families living in rented accommodation.


Quarter of properties still on the market after six months

A new survey has shown that a quarter of all properties for sale on Rightmove are still being marketed after six months. If other properties are selling and yours isn’t, your asking price may be too high – but there are other reasons that buyers may be put off your property.


Tired of tidying your child’s bedroom?

A Japanese tech team is in the process of developing a robot capable of cleaning up after you and your children. Using ‘deep learning’, the artificially intelligent robot will be taught to deal with menial day-to-day tasks around the home. Robots may soon carry out day-to-day tasks around the home but (like some people) cannot compute mess or disorder.


new electrical safety rules to come into forceNew laws on electrical safety

Landlords of private rented property will soon need to ensure that the electrics in their properties are checked to ensure they are as safe … as houses. This naturally follows similar mandatory gas safety checks that have been in effect for years.


Social housing compared to Victorian slums

Research warns that a lack of social housing across Britain is leading to cramped, overcrowded and unfit conditions for some of Britain’s low income families, in what some people have compared to the slums of the Victorian era.


New houses are “shit”!

Well, not all of them are, but they may soon be part-built with it! The UK and Europe’s largest sewage treatment works in Beckton, in the London Borough of Newham, is supplying dried sewage to create building blocks that will be used to build new homes and commercial properties.


And finally …

Downton Abbey? More like Downton Shabby!

Hopwood Hall has been purchased by a member of the Hopwood family, aptly named Hopwood DePree, an American writer, actor and filmmaker based in Hollywood Hills. DePree hopes to save the derelict building and restore it to its previous, rather grand, glory.


Written by Independent Chartered Surveyors
of the UK wide network of Property Professionals

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