Helping Innovate Property (HIP) – Blog, Housing Market News and Articles

Are you considering a new garden room in your back garden – many people are.

If you are in the search for a new garden room, then check out these 10 tips to plan ahead. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you thinking about purchasing your first home? This can be an exciting yet daunting experience for anyone. Of course, you need to be prepared if you are exploring the property market for the first time. There is a lot that needs to be considered, and numerous steps you need to take. After all, this is probably the biggest investment you’ll ever make, and so you don’t want to throw money about or sign up for a mortgage without a lot of thought and research going into it. With that being said, let’s take a look at some useful tips for first-time homebuyers.
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Have you ever wondered where you’ll get the most sunlight for your money? Many holiday home buyers are seeking maximum sunshine for minimum cost.

Even though Spring is just around the corner, us Brits aren’t guaranteed sunlight, as we suffer from grey skies and rain. You can understand why many holiday property owners have swapped Blackpool for a glamourous property in Spain.

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A transfer of equity is a transaction where legal ownership of a property changes hands but at least one of the original owners remains on the title. For example where a couple transfer it into the sole name of one or other of them or a person is added to the title.

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It is extraordinary how swiftly having an efficient broadband service has become a key lifestyle requirement.  As our homes acquire more and more smart devices and our work and leisure activities become increasingly internet dependant, a fast, data generous broadband service has become an essential component of modern life.  Our reliance on broadband will only increase as more and more smart devices become available and yet, according to Ofcom, ‘One in seven homes could be paying more than they need to for broadband and could get faster services for the same or less money.’

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Most people prefer to work with a fresh canvas. Imagine painting your masterpieces on someone else’s painting. This is probably why brownfield sites are not the most desirable land to start building projects on, commercial or residential. Greenfield sites are a clean slate, previously unbuilt upon and typically are cheaper and easier sites for construction, but as the countryside in the UK rapidly disappears and the population increases, it is time for developers to start re-considering brownfield land.

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Are you in the preparatory stages of a new build? Maybe you’re ready to bring in an electrical contractor but are worried about how they’ll fare coming up against Part L of the Building Regs? In this article, I’ll be covering how to choose an electrical contractor for a new build that will be required to pass an air permeability test.

What is Part L

In 2006 the government passed Part L of the Building Regs setting the standards for air permeability in certain new builds and extensions in the UK. The Regulation is concerned with the conservation of fuel and power through limiting heat gains and losses via the building’s fabric. Split into 4 parts the documents lay out guidelines for both new and existing buildings.
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M&G Real Estate, one of the UK’s largest property investors, has announced that it will install the UK’s largest shopping centre solar panel system on the roof of The Galleries shopping centre in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

The system will comprise 1,317 individual photovoltaic panels, covering an area of 41,000 sq ft – equivalent to a professional football pitch – on an otherwise unused part of the centre. New technology to save 165 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually

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In the latest house price index, it was revealed that property in the UK had seen an annual price increase of 6.7%, with the average property now valued at £217,928. Naturally, with a rise in house prices will come an increase in home improvements. Recently, home services marketplace, Plentific.com, ran a survey which found that 1 in 3 renovate their property with the aim of increasing its value. As such, whether buying a new property or updating their current one, many homeowners will plan to renovate to take advantage of the increasing value. Consequently, many areas will see an increased rate of householder development planning applications being submitted to the government. Through these statistics, we can see the latest trends of home improvements in different regions across the UK.

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2016 proved a challenging year for the Prime Central London (PCL) property market. The past 12 months not only witnessed a marked slowdown in sales activity as Stamp Duty changes dramatically affected sentiment, but uncertainty has been a recurring theme, both before and following the UK’s Brexit vote.

With the headwinds it has been encountering, this year has seen the PCL market fragment with different dynamics driving the performance of property at the lower end and the luxury end. This has created a watershed at £1m, above which tax is having the most significant effect on investor decisions.

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UK landlords surveyed who use a letting agent estimate that they save £1910 a year more than if they marketed directly to tenants, according to research by Endsleigh, one of the country’s leading specialist insurance providers for letting agents, landlords and young professionals.

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