Putting the style into Christmas

The main problem with Christmas decorations is that they are a collection of - whatever didn’t break last year, a couple of new bits you picked up whilst out shopping and an old box full of random, unrelated, brightly-coloured objects and a spot of tinsel. The result looks like the aftermath of a catastrophic explosion in a Christmas gifts shop. That is why there is one rule and one rule only - decide on a theme and stick to it. And it should then be applied to absolutely everything - ideally, including wrapping paper. And remember, however tempting it may be, never sneak the odd bauble into a display just because you can’t think of anything else to do with it.

Themes

You can choose any theme you like, but here are some themes you could follow:

Choose one or two colours only, such as white and silver, but use a variety of textures. Mix shiny with matt, as well as plain and heavily patterned decorations. White and silver is a classic, but subtle Christmas combination that has the advantage of a wide selection of decorations to choose from.

If you want something a little bit different, why not go for the tartan look. Get a large piece of tartan cloth and cut off long strips of different to make into generous bows and attach them to the Christmas trees and wreaths. You can also wrap them around white linen napkins for the Christmas dinner table.

Decoration tips

Now you have decided on your theme, here are a few tips on how to make the most of your decorations:

• Use brown paper and string with white labels, to wrap presents and tie the smallest ones to the tree.
• Bring in ivy from the garden as a garland for the stairs.
• Group a selection of old silver or glass vases, candle holders together on the table, rather than dotting around the home- this makes the setting look generous.
• If you have a balcony or garden view, use old candles or night lights in glass holders outside. Place in groups to liven up the dark afternoons.
• You can put candles in the middle of a wide vase if you pour uncooked rice or sand in first, so the candle can stand on its own.

A selection of designer Christmas products.

Finding designer Christmas decorations is surprisingly difficult, but there are some out there. They don't have to be all plastic and shiny. Below are some links to some of the more unusual and elegant products currently available on the market. There are the beautiful wreaths from The Real Flower Company, some gorgeous table decorations from The White Company, luxury crackers from Selfridges and a paper tree from Conran Shop. And, if you need some inspiration for wrapping up all those pressies that sit under the tree, just take a look at Jane Mean's fantastic gift-wrapping sets. Lastly, if you want something a little more bespoke, there’s always Not On the High Street’s personalised Christmas decorations.

• Selfridges luxury Christmas crackers
• Whitestuff’s gorgeous table settings
• Conran shop paper Christmas trees
• Real Flowers stunning wreaths
• Jane Means designer gift wrapping
• Not On the High Street’s personalised Christmas decorations

Hopefully, that should get you sufficiently inspired to create your own designer Christmas.

Here’s to a wonderfully stylish Christmas and New Year

From all at Homesite.

by adam

Housing and the Autumn Budget

We thought, at Homesite, it might be useful to give you a rundown of the latest budget and how it affects the housing industry, in both the areas we cover (Notting Hill, Bayswater, Kensington & Holland Park) and the wider market.

For once, it was a relatively low-key affair for housing. Too often, in recent years, the chancellor has used the opportunity to announce one tax rise after another for the sector. No doubt, to the relief of all our landlords and second-home owners, there were few mentions of stamp duty and capital gains tax. There were, though, some important issues hidden within the detail of Rishi Sunak’s speech. Here’s a summary of the key points:

New homes

The centrepiece of Sunak’s housing budget was a promise to invest nearly £24bn to help stimulate the building of new homes. Sunak claimed it was the “largest cash investment in a decade” into housebuilding which will “turn Generation Rent into Generation Buy”. The money will be divided up into a number of different initiatives, including:

1) £1.8bn to be spent on the development of 1,500 hectares of brownfield land - part of the government’s £10bn commitment to help facilitate the building of more than a million new homes.
2) A £11.5bn investment in the Affordable Homes Programme. This is a fund from which housing associations, developers and local authorities can borrow to build affordable homes. Unlike social housing, these can then be rented or sold but only at affordable prices. The fund is expected to deliver 180,000 new homes, two thirds of which will be outside London.

Cladding

The chancellor announced a £5bn fund for removing dangerous cladding from high rise blocks. The figure includes contributions from a new Property Developers’ Tax - a 4% tax which will be levied on developers’ profits over £25m. The fund is considered woefully insufficient by many experts and, controversially, is only available for buildings of over 18 metres. Those between 11m and 18m have, instead, been offered loans to pay for the work. Since the budget, new House Secretary Michael Gove has waded into the argument, putting on hold any plans to make leaseholders pay for making cladding safe and questioning why they should pay "at all".

Help to Buy coming to an end

It has not been a good budget for developers. On top of the new Property Developers’ Tax, Rishi Sunak also confirmed the Help to Buy scheme would come to an end in 18 months’ time. It is a significant blow to developers - in 2020-21 alone, 55,600 people used the scheme to get them onto the property ladder. In response, Bellway, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, has said it will be scaling back some of their activity.

Green funding

With Cop26 in Glasgow, many were expecting some big announcements for green housing. In addition, many landlords were hoping for some financial help to get their properties up to an EPC ‘C’ rating, which will be a legal requirement in 2025. Rishi, sadly, disappointed them all, announcing a £3.9 billion fund for de-carbonising homes - an almost insignificant figure compared to the estimated £500bn it will cost to do so to the UK’s ageing housing stock.

Stamp Duty

There was some considerable pressure from within the housing sector to continue the stamp duty holiday, but with the government’s coffers emptied by the pandemic, the chancellor showed no signs of doing so, nor of reducing it in any way.

CGT

There were fears Rishi might increase Capital Gains Tax for second and BTL homes. Instead, he extended the grace period for paying any CGT on property sales from 30 to 60 days after the completion date.

Rates

In good news for our local high streets, shops will be given a 50% discount on their rates for 2022-23.

Council tax

The government claims council tax will need to rise by 3% to fund their pledges. Many independent commentators believe the figure will be closer to 6%.

by adam

What’s going to happen to interest rates?

In recent months, there has been a lot of talk in the press about interest rates. Prices and wages have been rising rapidly since the end of lockdown, which has been driving up inflation. It was initially thought to be only a temporary spike but has proved stubbornly persistent. As a result, most commentators were expecting the Bank of England to raise the base rate by 0.15% to 0.25% in November. To everyone’s surprise, it didn’t happen. It is only likely to be a temporary reprieve, a month or two at most, and it is then forecast to continue rising to around 1% to 1.25% by the end of 2022.

Swap rates, the rate at which the banks themselves borrow money, have already gone up. At the start of this summer (May), the swap rate on a 2-year fixed-rate loan was 0.31% and 0.71% for a 5-year loan. Now they are 1.24% and 1.26% respectively. Lenders such as TSB, Barclays, Halifax, Nationwide and Santander have responded by raising the rates on many of their cheapest mortgage deals. Some are predicting that the best rates could double to around 2% over the next 12 months.

Coming from historical lows for both mortgages and the base rate, there is plenty of room for manoeuvre, especially since most borrowers have already been stress-tested by lenders for far larger increases in their monthly payments. Nor will the base rate rise affect everyone immediately - 74% of mortgage holders are currently on fixed-rate deals. And, for anyone coming off a 5-year deal, 2% may represent a reduction rather than an increase, as the average rate five years ago was 2.34%. For those on a 3-year deal, there will be a rise, but only a very modest one, with the average deal in 2018 around 1.81%.

Although rising costs will have an effect on the wider housing market. Because we are not used to rising rates, in the short-term, it may dampen demand, but only very slightly as borrowers adjust to the new reality. Things should then pick again, shortly afterwards, peaking in the spring. It is also possible that inflationary pressure will reduce rather than rise during the course of 2022, as global demand returns to more normal levels. The economy has proved very difficult to predict during the pandemic and things can change very quickly. Last month’s inflation forecasts, for example, are already being revised.

If you want to get an idea of where mortgage rates currently are, below is a selection of this month’s best buys from Moneyfacts.co.uk:

Two-year fixed rates: 1.14% from HSBC. Product fee £995. 60% LTV.
1.24% from HSBC. Product fee £999. 75% LTV.

Three-year fixed rates: 1.44% from HSBC. Product fee £999. 60% LTV.
1.49% from HSBC. Product fee £999. 70% LTV.

Five-year fixed rates: 1.46% from HSBC. Product fee £1,499. 60% LTV.
1.50% from NatWest. Product fee £995. 60% LTV.

Discounted variable: 0.51% For 2 years. From Progressive BS. Product fee £0. 60% LTV.
0.79% For 2 years. From Progressive BS. Product fee £0. 75% LTV.

BUY-TO-LET (BTL)

Best two-year fixed rate: 0.99% from The Mortgage Works. Arrangement 2.00% Advance. 65% LTV.

Five-year fixed rate: 1.49% from The Mortgage Works. Arrangement 2.00% Advance. 65% LTV

Best Discounted variable: 1.19% for 2 years. from Accord Mortgages. Completion £995. 60% LTV.

Please note, the information we provide is our personal opinion and should not be relied upon for financial advice. Should you need financial advice or guidance please contact an appropriate professional.

by adam

First impressions count

When you are doing viewings and you step through the front door of a home for the first time, you are filled with anticipation about what lies beyond. Will you be impressed, or will you be disappointed?

People don't often spend much time in their hallways - even though it gets a hard life, it’s always the last room to be decorated and is often little more than a dumping ground for coats, bags and bikes. But, remember, first impressions count, and that’s especially true when you are buying or selling a property. Buying decisions are often made within seconds of entering your home, so get the hall right and the battle is already half won. Here are some top tips for making the most of it:

Space:

To make your hall feel as spacious as possible, the most important advice of all is to keep it clean and simple. A cramped and cluttered hallway is an instant turn-off. Try not to use more than a single item of furniture. Narrower pieces work best, such as console tables. Mirrors, on the other hand, should be encouraged. If it’s well-placed, it will not only give the illusion of space, it can also help brighten a typically dingy hall. Keep coats, shoes and bags locked away in cupboards, but where that’s not possible, some stylish shelves and hooks can work – the trick is to make it look ordered in some way. Be sure to hide away all those voluminous puffa jackets and muddy trainers. And, if you normally keep prams or bikes in the hall, give them a temporary home somewhere else, such as in a shed or in the back garden (if you have one).

Light:

If your hallway feels like you are walking into a cave, and many do, do something about it. This may be as simple as cleaning windows and replacing heavy curtains. If it's not blessed with any natural light, your light fittings become even more important. So, for example, replace that old light fitting you inherited from the previous owners with a striking feature light, such as a chandelier. Or, if that's not possible you could introduce some extra light by placing a lamp on the hall table. A more radical option would be to replace a solid wall with a glazed one, allowing you to “borrow” light from a neighbouring room.

Colour and finishes:

Don’t be afraid of using bold colours, as they can add some unexpected glamour to a dingy entrance. Even those forgotten pieces of furniture can be reinvigorated with the application of a striking colour or pattern. A well thought out colour scheme will smarten things up considerably and ensure people are eager to see the rest of the house. Stay away, though, from colour or pattern clashes, as they will shrink the space.

The floor:

When meeting a person for the first time, it's often said that the first thing you notice about them is their shoes. In a home, you notice the flooring first and, like scuffed unpolished leather, threadbare carpets don't impress. A hard-wearing surface is your best option, whether it's tiles, stone or timber, although some carpet is often the quickest and cheapest solution. Remember, though, if your hall is dark, lighter flooring is best but light carpet stains easily, whereas light wood or tiles tend to wear far better.

by adam

Heading back to work & normality

This year, as a result of the pandemic, the market is not following the usual script. Although the market did cool slightly, down 0.3% (source: Rightmove), the fall was some way below expected levels. Over the last ten years, the average dip in August was 0.82% and, as recently as 2018, it dropped by as much as 2.3%.

Rightmove’s figures show 2021’s relatively small fall is being driven almost entirely by the upper end of the market (4 bed houses and above), whose prices came down by 0.8%. In the more mass-market sectors, prices rose. For first-time buyers, (2-3 bed homes), prices were up 0.6% and by 0.3% for second-steppers (3-4 bed homes). Demand in these sectors remains strong and supply levels constricted. Enquiries were up by 56% and sales by 9% when compared to August 2019 and properties sold at their fastest ever rate (36 days - subject to contract). At the same time, stocks are at record lows. Bearing in mind that the first phase of the stamp duty holiday came to an end in June, it is clear these unprecedented levels of demand are being driven more by our changing needs than any savings we might make.

There have been concerns for some time now about how both the economy and the housing market will perform over the longer term. The picture, though, is becoming clearer and our economic prospects are looking far healthier than many were expecting.

Russell Galley, Managing Director, Halifax, says:

“The macroeconomic environment is becoming increasingly positive, with job vacancies at a record high and consumer confidence returning to pre-pandemic levels. Coupled with a supply of properties for sale that looks increasingly tight, and barring any re-imposition of lockdown measures or a significant increase in unemployment as job support schemes are unwound later this year, these factors should continue to support (house) prices.”

Even the unwinding of the final phase of the stamp duty holiday on 30th September is not expected to have much impact on demand, with Rightmove predicting an autumn bounce in both buyer and seller activity and prices.

There's good news for Londoners, too. There is now hard evidence of a return to work (and living) in our capital. The Times reported that Monday 6th September was the busiest day for London’s underground in 18 months and bus passengers were up by 71% compared to the previous week. During the height of the pandemic, the flight from London had meant that demand in the capital had fallen considerably, especially for flats. That process is now demonstrably going into reverse and will soon bring upward pressure on both demand and prices.

HOUSE PRICES AND STATISTICS

The other indices continue to drag behind Rightmove's and will continue to do so as we move into the autumn phase of the housing market.

Nationwide: Aug: Avge. price £248,875. Monthly change +2.1%. Annual change +11%
Halifax: Aug. Avge. price £162,954. Monthly change +0.7%. Annual change +7.1%
Land Registry: June: Avge. price £265,668. Monthly change +4.5%. Annual change +13.2%
Hometrack UK 20 City Index: July: Avge. price £267,200. Quarterly change +2.3%. Annual change +4.4%
Rightmove: Aug: Avge. price £337,371. Monthly change -0.3%. Annual change +5.6% (asking prices on Rightmove)

According to Zoopla the average price paid in Notting Hill is £2,153,295 with the current average value of £1,553,701

If you are thinking of selling your property in Notting Hill please give our team a call or email on

info@homesite.co.uk
0207 243 3535

by adam

How to find a good builder

If you’re buying at one of our auctions, the chances are you will be buying a probate property. They tend to have belonged to older people, so they often require updating. However, if that’s not something you regularly do, finding a good builder to undertake the work is a challenge that often fills us with dread. It seems, every time you go to a dinner party or switch on the TV, all you ever hear are stories about cowboy builders, spiralling budgets and huge project overruns. So what can you do to avoid this happening to you?

The good news is that finding and hiring a good builder is not quite as difficult as you may think - you just need to follow a few simple but logical steps.

A recommendation from your friends and family is the ideal starting point, but if you don’t know anyone in your immediate circle that has had work done recently, don’t give up. You can spread the net a little wider by sending an email/WhatsApp/facebook message to all your trusted contacts, outlining exactly what you are looking for. If that fails to unearth a good builder, you can turn to one of the professional trade organisations, such as the Federation of Master Builders or the National Federation of Builders. Both organisations have a find a local builder service. The advantage with them is that their members have already been vetted and should work to certain standards. If anything does go wrong, they both have mediation services. You can also try one of the independent rating sites, such as www.checkatrade.com, www.mybuilder.com or www.ratedpeople.com.

It’s not just about choosing a good builder, you also need to choose one that is right for your particular job. Scale is important and so are your own, individual requirements. If you are building a large extension, don’t hire a one-man band and, equally, don’t hire a large company to do a small job. It’s best that they have the most relevant experience possible, so, for example, if you are having work done on a listed building, try and find a contractor that has experience in that area rather than someone who does a lot of new build work.

Whichever method you end up using to find your builder, you should put them through your own vetting process and you should always feel comfortable with them as you may need to work together for several months. Good references are essential, but don’t just take them at face value. Try and visit a couple of their recent projects and, ideally, speak to the owner of at least one of them.

Ask them about the quality of the work carried out, the reliability of the contractor and whether there were any budgetary or financial issues with the project. Don’t be embarrassed about it either. If you are spending tens of thousands of pounds on the project, think about how much worse you'd feel if it went wrong.

On the subject of things going wrong, any contractor doing anything more than a minor piece of work should be fully insured - ask to see copies of their insurance policies. And be wary of any professional qualifications or memberships on business cards and letterheads, as these can easily be faked, so check with the relevant organisations to see if they are genuine.

Having shortlisted your potential candidates, the next step in the process is to get them to produce a detailed quote and an estimate of the timetable for the job. In order to make this as accurate as possible, make sure the description you provide of the work required is as detailed as possible. Also, you should know there is a big difference between a quote and an estimate. An estimate, unlike a quote, is merely a rough guide or a guess. Sometimes an estimate is valid, for example if there are some unknown issues involved, such as whether existing foundations are suitable for a new extension, but mostly you should be very wary indeed of an open ended estimate.

Don’t chose the contractor solely on the basis of the cheapest price; you will probably be spending a lot of money and you will have to live with the results for a number of years. Neither should you choose a builder on the basis of his immediate availability, as a good builder is normally in demand and may not be able to start work immediately.

Once you have decided on your builder, tie down all the loose ends of the job and write a formal contract with a start and completion date. You can add in an overrun penalty clause but be generous with its timings. If you don’t know how to set up a contract, you can download a number of standard ones for free from the Federation of Master Builders’ website (you will need to register).

Within the contract you should also agree payment stages. There are always unexpected extras involved in any sizeable building project, so you should allow for the budget to run over by around 20%. Never pay too much money up front and don’t be tempted by a VAT free deal, it means there will be no paperwork to fall back on if it all goes wrong and such dodgy accounting standards may also be reflected in the building work. Finally, set up a regular meeting to check on progress and if you are not happy about anything, flag it up.

by adam