Of course there are always landlords who will consider tenants with pets, and it is worth checking the tenancy agreement to see whether consent will not be unreasonably be withheld and to contact the landlord to see if they will consider it. It is always worth making the best case for your animal: landlords are much more likely to consider a cat or a small dog, over a Great Dane!

 We managed to secure a beautiful house in Chelsea for a couple who had a much adored (and pampered) dog who was very much a part of the family. In this case, when briefing the search to all the relevant agents we always specified at the beginning that they had a small dog, and that the landlord would need to be ok with this. The landlords of the property that they loved were dog-lovers themselves which meant that they were quite flexible on the issue once we had vouched for the dog’s good behaviour! However what also helped our clients is that they were renting a freehold house, so the only potential obstacle was the owner.

 When renting a leasehold property, as the majority of flats in London and Brighton are, it is not simply the landlord’s discretion which matters – this is because there is an overall freeholder for the building and many of the head leases for properties in London and Brighton specify that there are to be no animals kept in the flats which make up the building.

 This is therefore also an issue for people looking to buy their own flat. You could be forgiven for assuming that if you are the owner of a property, your cat, dog, or parrot can live there with you but this is often not the case; if you own a leasehold property this may be forbidden on the lease. It may be worth contacting the freeholder to see if they will make an exception, however this can be a lengthy process and more often than not the freeholder will say no, as they have to consider the other owners of the building.

 That doesn’t mean that you should give up hope. Last year we found our clients a wonderful pied a terre in Shad Thames in a well-known block. Their dog was not to be a permanent resident, which no doubt helped their case. The management company granted permission for the dog   Having written consent we advised the Porters, who man the reception 24hrs a day, to let them know that the dog was not to be refused entry and that we had the appropriate permission, and the dog happily visits on weekends, so all may not be lost for your property search.

 If you are looking to rent or buy in London or Brighton and have a pet that needs to be taken into consideration, please call the UK’s Best Property Finder on 020 7923 7564.

Technorati Tags: buying, freehold, leasehold, pets, property search, renting

The link is expected to cut journey times between London and Birmingham by 30 minutes. Commuters who traverse this route will benefit from shorter journey times but it is the disruption during construction and the on-going noise created by trains travelling at speeds of up to 225mph in 2026 that is causing concern for property owners.  A Department of Transport Report from 2009 predicted that 21,300 households would experience an increase in rail noise, which in our experience is not what people look for when buying a house.

If your house is under the route then you can expect to receive a compulsory purchase order from the government, however not until 2015. The government has promised that property will be purchased based on the open-market value, “as if unaffected” by the scheme. Owners will also receive a home loss payment of 10% of the property’s value and reasonable costs will be paid. The problem with this is that many of the affected areas have already experienced a decline in house prices because the scheme has been years in the making and it is not clear if these home owners will be bought out at pre-HS2 prices.

Perhaps those in a worse position are those whose homes will not be considered for compulsory purchase, but who will be affected by the noise.  The government says that 3,100 properties will experience a “noticeable” increase in noise. Homeowners will be able to claim for any loss of value on their property resulting from noise, vibration or artificial lighting, but only once the railway has been open for a year. There is no amount of secondary glazing or sound proofing that can help you to enjoy your garden in peace and quiet and it is these homeowners who may have trouble selling their properties even at lower prices. The good and influential people of Primrose Hill were successful in making enough of a fuss so that the proposed route under Primrose Hill was changed so that they would not be negatively affected by vibration from the trains. Unfortunately the good people of Belsize Park have not been so lucky, Adelaide Road, Fellows Road and Eton Avenue are now likely to be affected instead.

What will happen to property prices in Birmingham and London? The value of property in Birmingham is likely to increase, as demand for property in Birmingham increases, becoming more attractive to those who may not have considered commuting this distance before now. As for London, will an extra rail-link into Euston boost property prices in this area? It’s unlikely that there will be that much of an increase; Birmingham is not as enticing a location as Paris and so proximity to this rail-link is unlikely to be at the top of many property buyers’ wish lists.

Technorati Tags: Birmingham, high speed 2, House Prices, House prices in London, HS2, London Buyer's Agents, Primrose Hill

The Directors have believed for a long time that our truly bespoke approach, finding property off-market if necessary sets us apart from everyone else.  Last year 68% of our Clients fell for properties which we sourced just for them.  These were all properties which were not on the market and which our Clients wouldn’t have found for themselves. In this market, with everyone nervous about whether prices are going to stay strong, “off-market” has become the new buzzword in property because vendors and developers want to try to charge a very high price – sometimes more than double the true worth of a property, and sometimes uninformed overseas investors in particular, will be prepared to pay these highly inflated prices.  And so agents have started ‘offering things discretely to a select few’ as they put it, which usually means, offering things to a few nutters who might be prepared to pay well-over the odds.

We’ve been sourcing property off-market for decades, but we do so by identifying properties which would work perfectly for our Clients and then taking the time to get to know the owners of these truly great properties and persuading them to let us show our Clients and then negotiating a fair price reflective of the market price – not a crazy price, at least from the buyers point of view!

Anyway, I digress.  It is great to hear our Clients say good things about us and lovely to receive some public recognition.  So to all our Clients, thank you, for making our job such a pleasure to do – we hope to work with you again soon!

According to some solicitors there has been a 20 per cent increase in the number of people attempting to sue their surveyors. Falling house prices have led home-owners to launch proceedings against surveyors for over valuing their properties in the first place.

For most buyers, a valuation for mortgage purposes is for the bank – not the buyer.  This means that there is no recourse for the buyer if the valuation is incorrect, even though it is the buyer who has to pay for something that is essentially worthless!

Although we are property search agents, our job does not end once we have found the client their perfect property – and we always recommend that our clients pay that little bit extra for a full structural survey and valuation, whether they are buying a pied a terre in the city or a mansion in the countryside. Without a good survey you don’t know what you’re investing your money in, and although obvious warning signs such as subsidence cracks and damp can be readily spotted, more serious structural issues are often not as obvious.

If your dream home should be hiding any problems then you can decide whether to walk away, or re-negotiate the deal to compensate for any work that is recommended by your surveyor. At Manse & Garret Property Search we do everything within our reach to ensure that our client is buying at the right price.

Technorati Tags: House prices in London, London Buyer's Agent, surveyors

A 1% annual tax applied to houses worth more than £1 million was first proposed at the Liberal Democrat party conference of 2009. The suggested threshold was later increased to properties worth more than £2 million, and this year the policy was refined further, with the Liberal Democrat Party suggesting that there should be a levy of 1% on capital gains tax from the sale of a property after the first £1million. .

This is an obvious attempt to make owners of high value property in the UK, whether British or foreign citizens, to pay up in order to share the burden caused by the national deficit, a questionable source of revenue when you stop to consider that an overhaul of the current council tax system has been estimated to cost upwards of £250million.

Although unlikely to temper overseas buyers’ zeal for good quality, high-end property in prime central London, a “mansion tax” is likely to dissuade middle-class British buyers from progressing up the property ladder. They are instead likely to decide to remain where they are, which would decrease the amount of property below £1million that comes onto the market, negatively affecting both ends of the market.

It is also possible for an astute property investor to buy property below the £1 million mark, and develop the property sufficiently after its official government valuation and still benefit from their investment, which makes the £1 million threshold seem rather arbitrary indeed.

There would be an uneven burden on home-owners in London and the South-East where the value of property continues to increase despite the recession. Eric Pickles rightly said last week that it would be, “imposing taxation on the back of changes in property value”. Following Eric Pickle’s interview it seems unlikely for now that any version of the “mansion tax” is likely to be passed under this coalition government, however much the Liberal Democrats want to replace the 50p tax rate for high earners with a tax for so-called “unearned wealth”. This would negatively affect people who are house-rich, but cash-poor, and whose life earnings have been channelled into their property, with a view of it being a retirement safety net, or a legacy for their children. Many people view their home as an investment, and I don’t believe that people should be taxed for choosing to invest their money well, and having their savings in bricks and mortar.

Technorati Tags: Buyers agents, government policy, Hackney house prices, House prices in London, London property, mansion tax, Property News, recession

I must admit that I do have my favourite planning departments: Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster provide the least painful experiences! Equally, I also have a few that I dread dealing with (although I won’t name any for fear of reprisals!)

From the midst of the planning process, preserving the character and appearance of our streets can seem like a bit of a hassle, yet you need only look at a beautiful streetscape in Hampstead Village to know that it is worth it. This is why I am still in a state of disbelief over the report of a developer in Twickenham who bulldozed a semi-detached Regency house, without permission in January of this year.

I may perhaps be slightly biased, as in terms of architecture I happen to be very fond of the housing stock which has survived from the 1820s, but even without my personal aesthetic preferences, I cannot believe that anyone could demolish a house that was attached to another without permission, in order to cut their own developer costs.

The developer was fined £80,000 by Richmond Council, and also had to pay Richmond councils £42,500 legal bill to cover the cost of taking legal action. I imagine that this will serve as a warning to other developers who may be tempted to subvert, or indeed, simply ignore planning regulations in future.

Technorati Tags: Buyers agents, London Buyer's Agents, London Property Buyers Agents, Planning, Planning Permission

City buyers like Islington and parts of Hackney for the 20 minute commute to Bank.  Canary Wharf workers like Greenwich and Blackheath for similar reasons.  One of our Clients can get from his front door to his desk in 17 minutes.  But all of these areas were hit in the downturn and in our view Islington agents were the first to lose face back in 2007 when Lehman Brothers went down and Northern Rock followed.  So we tend to suggest prime areas, which are likely to weather future storms much better.  And are relatively immune to rioting.

As I write, the skirmishes in Hackney look relatively minor but this London Buyers Agent is under no illusions that we may see a different picture in the morning.  During the first six months of the year, Hackney house prices had increased by 4.1%, the third highest house price rise by borough across London according to the Land Registry.

Islington has also been a winner to date, with prices rising 5.5% year on year, but there was rioting there too at the weekend and now we hear Highbury resident BoJo is cutting short his holiday and  coming home to save the day.

Likewise, Lewisham which incorporates a small part of Blackheath and is the closest DLR to some of the lovely heath facing properties in West Blackheath, has seen violence today.  Property prices overall in the borough had increased by 3.2% year on year to June, but this rioting underlines the issues about the area.  One of our Clients who settled in Greenwich was considering moving to Lewisham at one point.  We strongly suggested they settle at least initially in Greenwich or Blackheath, which was admittedly more expensive, but what price do you put on safety?

I bet they are grateful today that they listened to our advice and although they paid more than they wanted to, we negotiated a significant proportion off the rent.

So I don’t regret being firm about areas with Clients.  Our job as London Buyers Agents is to find perfect properties on and off-market, negotiate great deals for our Clients and make sure they are buying in the right area for them in the first place.  London is a series of villages and although confidence and house prices in affected boroughs will almost certainly be hit, there is sure to be the right village for you.

Technorati Tags: blackheath, Hackney house price rises, Hackney house prices, hackney riots, House Prices, Islington house prices, Islington riots and house prices, islinton riots, lewisham house prices, lewisham riots, London riots

Other areas to have performed well during the first six months of the year include Hackney, where prices have increased by 4.1% year to date and where prices rose by 1.8% in June, second only to Harrow where they rose by 2.4% in the same month.  Westminster, home to Mayfair and parts of Belgravia, Marylebone and Bayswater rose 3.4% year on year, although the best properties have had a good year if priced well.

In our capacity as prime London Buyers Agents, we’ve been in several sealed bid situations this year so far as prime property continues to be in short supply and so well-priced property has sold well during the first half of the year.  We always have searches in Mayfair and there has been a real dearth of good flats this year, apart from the odd portfolio sale, so the few deals we have done here have been off-market.

Now we are in holiday season, the market feels softer, as vendors and buyers retire to their second homes for the summer, but people have to live somewhere and although transactions are down overall year on year the numbers of prime properties changing hands in London is still up on last year.  Interestingly, the number of properties sold in London for over £2million doubled between April 2010 and April 2011 from 71 to 141.  I would be very interested to know how many of those completed before April 5th, when the new 5% stamp duty came into force for properties over £1million.  If the experience of this London Property Buyers Agent is anything to go by, quite alot, I would imagine!

All statistics provided by the Land Registry House Price Index July 28th

In 2008 Brighton and Hove Council opted into the Sustainable Communities Act, which enabled the local authority to adopt an environmental strategy as part of its core policy. Citizens of Brighton and the local council have already implemented some strategies; increased energy efficiency measures in all planning applications for private and public housing; the Council has already achieved an enhanced environmental management system; there are training plans in place to educate Council tenants in energy efficiency. The Big Lemon bus burning used cooking oil as fuel has been running between the city centre and the universities for several years in certain parts of the city. THere is a 20mph traffic limit to cut both carbon emissions and accidents. In addition the Council has set challenging carbon reduction targets for public transport, increased cycle lanes and installed charging points in the centre of the city for electric vehicles. The people of Brighton are forward looking in aspiration and deeds and strive to make Brighton a beacon of sustainable living. We are doing our bit at Manse & Garret Property Search in London, with the use of electric cars and we are looking to roll out the scheme to our Brighton Property Search Agents.

I hear you say, ‘but this is very political and I am not a supporter of the Green Party’. However few people are uninterested in the future of the planet; Brighton will be a healthier place to live with fewer toxic traffic fumes and prudent planning with ensure that the City is ahead in the race for sustainability. It is also a place where people’s opinions count and opportunities are aplenty for involvement in city matters, from gardening in the city parks to sharing one’s experience in almost any field from healthy eating, health walks and tourism, which is why Brighton’s premier property search agents have so many clients interested in relocating to this great city.

Come and see for yourself; the range of houses will not disappoint you or your budget and if you need any assistance – Manse & Garret Property Search will be delighted to help.

Technorati Tags: Brighton, Brighton Property, Brighton Property Search Agents, Electric Vehicles, Green Party, Manse & Garret, Planning, Sustainability

With summer approaching the number of buyers eager for outside space increases; competition is fierce and flats with good roof terraces are very quick to go under offer, often sold to keen buyers enticed by the idea of entertaining friends and family on a warm summer evening surrounded by the bright lights of London.

Speaking as a London Buyer’s Agent, I am particularly referring to roof terraces, rather than the humble patio garden, as they are quite the in thing in property and quite understandably so. Patio gardens, often on the lower ground floor, overlooked by neighbours and more often than not lacking in natural light find it hard to live up to The Roof Terrace which is much more likely to provide breath-taking views of London, great entertaining space, and an excellent opportunity to sunbathe, if that’s your thing.

Flats with patio gardens are usually on the lower ground and ground floors; less popular with buyers, especially the security conscious, and so tend to be 10-20% cheaper than a flat on the same road, but higher up. A flat on an upper floor with a good roof terrace, however, is likely to be worth about 10-20% more than a flat on the same road without outside space and will sell much more quickly, and if you are a property investor, it is worth noting that a property with a roof terrace is much more likely to be rented out more quickly and produce a better yield.

If you’d like to find a property with a roof terrace to rival Vista at the Trafalgar and Kensington Roof Gardens then give the best London Buyer’s Agents, Manse & Garret Property Search a call today.

Technorati Tags: London Buyer's Agents, London Flats, London property, London property finders, London search agents, outside space, summer