Nearby green space can add £2,500 to property price, ONS data shows

Homes within 100 metres of green space drew price premium of 1.1%, while views over water added 1.8%

Living near a park, public garden or playing fields can add an average of £2,500 to the price of your property, according to official data. And having a view of green space or water boosts prices even more.

While many will not be surprised to learn that a bit of nature on the doorstep is a desirable feature among homebuyers, this data is from the official Office for National Statistics, so it can arguably be relied upon more than findings from estate agents and other commercial bodies.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2IP1kCZ
via IFTTT

Inside five fabulously healthy homes for autumn

Feeling motivated?

from Property blog https://ift.tt/35AJkpJ
via IFTTT

We're selling a shared ownership home – what is a fair price?

The housing association’s surveyor seems to have priced about £50,000 too low

Q We are currently in the process of selling our 40% share in a shared ownership property.

The rules of the housing association are that we have to sell for the price a Rics surveyor sets.
We had our valuation done last week by a local, recommended chartered surveyor and it came in at about £50,000 less than what we were expecting. Now I know everyone thinks their house is worth more than it is, but we were actually being quite conservative in our estimates even though a comparable property in our development recently sold for £85,000 more than our valuation. I rang the surveyor and argued my case, he then re-sent his report and overnight the valuation had increased by £15,000. However, this is still significantly less than we had hoped. Is there anything that we can reasonably do regarding this or do we just accept it get moving? The housing association has one week left to find a buyer for our share then we can put it on the open market. The housing association rules state we cannot sell for more without the surveyor’s agreement, so shall we risk putting on the market for more, in the hope he might agree?

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/31gXxER
via IFTTT

The gold standard in social housing design | Letters

After Norwich’s Goldsmith Street was awarded the Stirling prize, readers discuss the ability of councils to build more homes, what constitutes high-quality housing, and the insecurity of being a private tenant

It was gratifying to learn that the RIBA Stirling prize has been awarded for Norwich council’s Goldsmith Street during the centenary year of Christopher Addison’s Homes Fit for Heroes initiative (Award for best new UK building goes to council housing project for first time, 9 October).

As Oliver Wainwright reports, the council could build more housing if right to buy was reformed – or, better still, abolished. When the scheme was first introduced in 1979, Norwich councillors – led by their housing chair, the late Lady Patricia Hollis – took a stand against the Thatcher government by refusing to treat sales as an urgent priority. The minister responsible, Michael Heseltine, sent in Whitehall officials to oversee sales for several years. Let’s hope that in future councils will be able to circumvent legislation on forced privatisation.
Dr Michael Passmore
Greenwich, London

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2oDXKoy
via IFTTT

A green thought in every different green shade

Never overlook the loveliness of green, most delicately nuanced of colours

They say if you find a job you love, you will never work a day in your life. However, what they don’t tell you is that it works both ways. As someone lucky enough to have their passion as their profession, believe me when I tell you it means you never, ever switch off. At the cinema with my mates, just as I am losing myself in the action, a forest of British birch trees will suddenly appear in the backdrop of what is meant to be a camp of Congolese mercenaries. I’ll go on holiday and find myself fishing mystery leaves out of cocktails to see if I can identify them. I’ll be sat at lunch with non-plant people and if the conversation turns to food, I have the irrepressible compulsion to tell them facts about vegetables. Trust me, it’s a curse.

Human eyes are great at distinguishing shades of green because it allows us to tell the toxic from the tasty

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2OGPuyI
via IFTTT

A green thought in every different green shade

Never overlook the loveliness of green, most delicately nuanced of colours

They say if you find a job you love, you will never work a day in your life. However, what they don’t tell you is that it works both ways. As someone lucky enough to have their passion as their profession, believe me when I tell you it means you never, ever switch off. At the cinema with my mates, just as I am losing myself in the action, a forest of British birch trees will suddenly appear in the backdrop of what is meant to be a camp of Congolese mercenaries. I’ll go on holiday and find myself fishing mystery leaves out of cocktails to see if I can identify them. I’ll be sat at lunch with non-plant people and if the conversation turns to food, I have the irrepressible compulsion to tell them facts about vegetables. Trust me, it’s a curse.

Human eyes are great at distinguishing shades of green because it allows us to tell the toxic from the tasty

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2OGPuyI
via IFTTT

Inside the Welsh Hobbit House that could be yours for £385,000

It's a very precious property.

from Property blog https://ift.tt/33n71Qo
via IFTTT