Alex Goldstein Property Show

As part of the Barclays Private Bank monthly podcast, I discuss the latest and fast-changing trends in the property market also featuring the thoughts from Head of Savills research, Financial Times property journalist and Barclays Private Bank.

Property Trends and Forecasts

Full transcript below:

Whether you’re buying, selling, or investing in prime property, is now the right time? Are we headed for a downturn in prices? And which markets will remain the most resilient? Tune into Real Estate Realities, the new podcast series from Barclays Private Bank, where we give you the inside track on prime and super prime residential markets. We uncover the trends and the opportunities. As global events evolve, we analyse the data and ask the experts for their opinions and insights into what’s next for prime property.

Zoe Dare Hall (ZDH): Hello, and welcome to Real Estate Realities from Barclays Private Bank, the podcast series that gives the inside track on prime residential property through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m your host, property journalist Zoe Dare Hall and in this episode I’ll be asking the experts for their views on the UK prime markets beyond London. Joining me in our virtual studio are Lucian Cook, Director of Residential Research at Savills.

Lucian Cook (LC): Hi, Zoe, really nice to be here. I’m coming to you from our Winchester office, from the board room of our Winchester office today.

ZDH: Excellent, and joining us from his office in Harrogate is Independent Property Consultant, Alex Goldstein.

Alex Goldstein (AG): Great to be here, thank you, Zoe.

ZDH: And from Barclays Private Bank, we have Product and Proposition Director, Stephen Moroukian.

Stephen Moroukian (SM): Hi, Zoe, good to be here again.

ZDH: Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us in what I’m sure will be an interesting discussion in very strange times. As far as I’m concerned, the past five months have passed by in a bit of blur of homeschooling, battles over that, and totally failing to secure any kind of holiday. But it feels like things are busy property-wise all around me, people are moving, moving home, lots them are leaving London for homes on the coast or in the countryside. Lucian, what has your experience been of things in recent weeks and months?

LC: Yes, well, I just started venturing back up to London a couple of days a week and I think that is, you know, that’s probably the most interesting thing to get your head around, doing the commute again, and, and I have to say, like I think like a lot of other people, we’ve all slightly reassessed our work-life balance over the last few months and that commute to London has, sort of, entrenched those views for me. It’s, it’s all about getting back into the swing of it.

ZDH: And Alex, what about you? How, how has it been in Harrogate?

AG: I think the Harrogate and indeed the Yorkshire market has almost gone into overdrive at the moment. It has been an incredibly, incredibly busy patch at the moment and let’s see how it all pans out.

ZDH: Stephen, what’s your experience of these recent weeks of semi-lockdown?

SM: Yes, I think living in the London suburbs as I do, I’ve got a foot in both camps and so taking advantage of some of the local recreational opportunities that perhaps I didn’t get time to because I was so busy commuting has been a really interesting experience. So, I think similar to Lucian that this particular period of time that we’re in gives a real opportunity for reflection on some of the ways that we live and work.

ZDH: Yes, definitely. That’s right. Well, before we dive in, there are a couple of themes that have been emerging in the UK property press since the real estate markets effectively unlocked, which was mid-May in England and then mid- through to late-June in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

It seems across all markets, mainstream as well as prime sales and lettings, agents have been reporting record numbers of enquiries as homeowners realise their need for more inside space, more outside space, and also lots of home working space. And it also seems that city dwellers are looking for their slice of the good life as a direct result of the change in circumstances during lockdown.

So, what’s the outlook for the UK as we navigate the short- and longer-term effects of the pandemic? Are people really looking for a good life in the country and if so, where are they hoping to find it? So, let’s begin by talking about what’s happening in the market generally. Lucian Cook, you must have some good numbers that can paint the picture for us. What’s the Savills research telling you in terms of transaction numbers and property prices?

LC: Yes, well certainly the resurgence in deals which are being agreed has taken us all by surprise. We got a hint of it back in April. We did a survey of a number of our clients and we were quite surprised at that point, just as we’d gone into lockdown and were experiencing it, that the experience of lockdown had made people marginally more committed to move than they were prior to the pandemic.

By the time we got to June, that balance of opinion was strongly positive, so really I think the experience of lockdown, trying to work from home, being on top of other family members over that period and probably that reassessment of work-life balance that we just talked about has been a major driver for moving and in that respect, I think that’s slightly overridden a fairly sobering economic backdrop.

So, whilst we saw during lockdown, unsurprisingly, a very significant fall in transaction levels, pretty much unprecedented, that’s reflected in both sales that were agreed in that period and the transaction figures from HMRC, the rebound has been quite staggering.

HMRC is always a bit lagged, so we had some figures for July, they showed that month on month transaction levels across the UK were up 20% but they were about three quarters of July for the previous year, but those are a bit lagged. They are completed sales that have gone right through to completion and a stamp duty return has been made for.

If you look at sales actually agreed, then the figures are incredibly strong. In reality, in the first two weeks of August, those sales agreed were 76% higher than the same period last year across the country as a whole and the market which has performed most strongly has been the top end of the market where I think people have got pretty stable incomes.

They’ve got quite strong financial security and a lot of equity behind them, and the levels of deals being agreed in those markets are double, are more than double, there have been 113% first two weeks of August than we saw in the same period last year.

Pricing is a bit different, actually. I think just that economic backdrop has made people fairly cautious around pricing. So, whilst demand has come back into the market pretty quickly, I don’t think, and certainly there isn’t the evidence to date, that we’ve had the sort of same upward pressure on prices.

Indeed, if you look at the number of price adjustments which are being made relative to the number of sales, that’s pretty much in line where it’s been in the period since 2016 when we started talking about Brexit, something we’ve almost put to the back of our minds of late.

ZDH: Well, it’s clearly a positive story in terms of activity and a kind of dramatic rise in transaction numbers there but not such a significant upward trend in prices then, and I imagine the backdrop of the UK’s now declared status of recession is another filter we’ll need to apply to any property outlook. Stephen Moroukian, how does this picture align with what we’re seeing in terms of lending activity?

SM: Yes, thanks Zoe. Look, banks always have to be balancing in environments like the one that we’re in at the moment and that can be very difficult. Clearly, looking at what has happened and trying to understand what will happen is something we’re all trying to do in a very dynamic market. I think if you look at the period between April and May, that was really peak concern, peak uncertainty as we went through the true effects of COVID in the market.

What Lucian referred to in terms of those transaction levels I think is really encouraging and it’s really great to hear. We don’t know what that looks like for the next six, 12 and 24 months but clearly there’s a pattern of a trend emerging, potentially. We had the effects of the government schemes such as furlough and the mortgage holidays. Those are beginning to come to an end and what will occur after them remains unclear but the backdrop of the macro economic environment that you’ve alluded to is bound to have an impact.

ZDH: Yes. I mean it seems that there is something of a honeymoon period right now and the data seems to suggest that. What about buyer behaviour, what are serious prime or super prime buyers looking for right now and Alex Goldstein, are you seeing increased interest in the North from London-based buyers?

AG: Very much so, Zoe. I think if we go back well before lockdown to 2009, say, there were already gentle rumblings that 1% of Londoners and those in the home counties were looking to leave and head northbound. We then had the BBC jobs, they all moved to Salford in Manchester in 2011 and 2012. Channel4 more recently, they’ve got a footing in Leeds.

Harrogate is another example, consistently voted as one of the happiest places to live and you jump forward ten years to 2019 and that figure of people leaving London and home counties has crept upwards to 13%. So, the impetus was already there.

Also, pre-lockdown, what was quite interesting is that employees were lobbying their employers for more flexible working and better lifestyle-work balance and I think companies have now realised that there is a significant cost saving and lifestyle benefit to their workforce and I think all of these were significant catalysts, really, in propelling and rebalancing the property market and as I see it, the North-South property divide has been rapidly shrinking.

ZDH: That really is quite a striking rise in the number of Londoners moving North in the last ten years. It certainly seems that people are less wedded to London living at the moment if they can make it work elsewhere. So, Alex, what are your clients looking for? Is it the acres of green space, the sense of village life as a lot of recent surveys seem to indicate?

AG: I think it’s very much all the things that you would expect. Yes, of course, it’s bigger properties and greater amount of outside space. Self-contained offices ideally that are away from the house and set in the garden, again for obvious reasons, is a very high priority nowadays as indeed is having children’s play and study spaces and it’s almost going to this multi-functional space and the options, more importantly, to provide that flexibility, as is to having the easy connections back to the major cities, London, Leeds, York, Manchester and Sheffield.

Recently I helped a younger client, it was a daughter of a longstanding client of mine and the daughter was based in Shoreditch with her new husband and they were looking to start a family. They were toying with the idea of moving to the home counties and were considering heading to Hertfordshire but as they had a family link back in Harrogate in Yorkshire, they decided that they could get far greater value for money as first time buyers by heading northbound and that’s what they decided to do.

ZDH: Plus the free babysitting that often comes with moving near your family, I suppose. So, it seems that the country lifestyle is very alluring but people don’t want to cut their ties totally with city life or the need to be near cities. Lucian, is it a similar story from Savills?

LC: Yes, I think so. I mean, I think you’ve got various types of buyers, actually. I think you’ve got those who remain quite committed to London and what they’re tending to do is to move along the wealth corridors, the established wealth corridors of London. So, the most obvious of those is the one that probably starts in Fulham, runs down through to Wimbledon and ends somewhere just the other side of, of Guildford.

In addition to that, you have those who are thinking about working from home more often but still working in a London office two, three days a week, perhaps. Some of those have moved out to the commuter zone. I think the term probably best that describes where they’re looking is accessible countryside – so, they want a reasonable commute on the days that they do commute, but they also want some of the benefits of the additional space, garden space and just sort of outdoor living that comes with countryside living.

I think community for those people is also incredibly important and the feel of the community, and the amenities that are available, particularly if they’re looking towards village locations.

ZDH: I’m interested in the idea of accessible countryside locations – what do you mean by that?

LC: So, when we talk about accessible countryside, one of the things that’s really important there is the commute into London and that is not just about the straight travel time, it’s about the reliability of the trains, the frequency of the trains and the number of people who are commuting on those lines.

ZDH: Stephen, on the subject of trains, HS2 obviously springs to mind… let’s touch for a moment on how these types of big infrastructure projects might impact the commercial property market.

SM: Yes that’s right Zoe, big infrastructure projects have always been used as an effective lever by central governments to drive investment and confidence and therefore ultimately jobs, and that’s happened all over the world. Now, we’ve already seen form the 2020 budget a signpost of unprecedented billions to big infrastructure, whether that’s’ roads, railways, new homes, schools, and so forth. But I think the dynamic will be different this time, there’ll be much more local and regional government influence expected.

I think if we look at the commercial real estate assets for a moment, let’s specifically look at retail, we’ve got large shopping centres all over the country and we’ve got our beloved high streets. Those assets will have to find their price in the market, that’s natural. At this point there’s a lot of uncertainty in terms of what that will actually look like, and it will really only be over the next months and years that we’ll see what the true impact of the Covid overlay will have been.

ZDH: Yes, it definitely sounds like there are a lot of question marks around what’s going to happen in the market in the coming months and years. But let’s focus on what’s been happening recently. Alex – tell me about some of the deals you’ve been seeing since the market opened up again.

AG: Well, I think, overall, Zoe, the Yorkshire market has performed very strongly.

Just recently, in the last few days actually, I’ve just exchanged and completed on a sizeable family home and this was about 5,000 square foot, detached, you went up a drive and it was essentially set in about an acre of land.

Interestingly, the husband, he worked in central Leeds, he’s got a secure financial job but it was the family wanting the lifestyle and the outside space but in particular, this property there was a small annex and a small range of out buildings and that gave them a lot of flexible usage.

So, when it was friends of family, or indeed the grandparents coming up to stay and indeed plays into the whole work from home theme as well, very much in a superstar village. It had a couple of amenities with it, so there was a village shop and a very good pub.

Quite importantly as well there were easy connections over to York, Harrogate, Leeds, and indeed sometimes down to London just for the husband as well and again, that was secured off-market.

Another very interesting property that I’m involved with at the moment is actually a converted historic chapel right here in central Harrogate and that’s got six bedrooms and five bathrooms and an orangery, and really is perfect for home, flexi-living.

Very unusually, it’s actually got a passive income stream because it sort of partly operates as a guest house, could easily become a wedding venue, but has also been fairly prolific on the creative side and it’s being used regularly by high end magazines for photo shoots and indeed some filming as well and again, because of these points, the property has got, I feel, London and indeed international appeal. You’ve got the whole life-work balance and indeed the income generating option as well.

In addition, there’s been some interesting ones in central Harrogate in the duchy and this is a very prestigious area right in the centre of Harrogate and again, I’ve been involved with a few sizeable deals and transactions on family homes ranging from between one and a half million up to three million.

ZDH: So, definitely some good value for money deals for the right buyers there and I have to say, I love the idea of superstar villages, that sounds like a theme in its own right. Lucian, what other kinds of deals are on the table and what else are you seeing demand for?

LC: Yes. Well, I think some of it’s location and some of it is about the property. When it comes to property, it’s a lot of the things that we’ve already talked about. So, it’s garden space, separate space to work from home. I think the other one that people have realised has become critically important not least of which is apparent as we were preparing for this recording, is the importance of good Wi-Fi and I think increasingly people will be paying attention to that when they look to buy their new home.

But, when it comes to the areas that we’re looking at, just backing up some of the stuff that Alex has said, if you go to Yorkshire and the Humber and you look at where the demand has been strongest, we’ve taken some data from a data provider called 20CI and they look at all of the properties marked as sold subject to contract each week across the country and the three local authorities that have performed strongest in that area of Yorkshire and the Humber have been Rydale, Harrogate and Hambleton.

So, very much the more affluent markets which give you all of those lifestyle benefits.

In reality, though, the markets that have even out-performed those have tended to be those within the commuter zone of London. So, very strong demand for the likes of Guildford, Saint Albans and Winchester.

I suppose what’s interesting about those areas is in the period, essentially, since the credit crunch, what we saw was the prime urban living in those areas became slightly more popular than buying your village or country property and I suspect the experience that we’ve had of the recent past means that that reverses slightly. Because we saw that trend since the credit crunch, actually, we saw the performance of those prime urban properties outside of London in the uber-towns out-perform the neighbouring villages in the countryside.

That created a bit of a value gap, so this slight rural renaissance that we’re seeing at the moment actually comes at a time when those village properties are looking pretty good value.

So, particularly that country house market has been something of a sleeping giant for quite some time now and it does mean in terms of what you can get for £1 million, £2 million, whatever the figure might be then you’re getting a lot more for your money in those locations. So, a bit of the reversal of the trends that we’ve seen, I would say over the past, over the past decade or so.

ZDH: Yes, and I suppose prime and super prime buyers will always want to have a foot in around London still. Does that interest and that investment stretch into the regions, though? Alex Goldstein, what are you seeing?

AG: Very much so, Zoe, at the moment. In the north, all the talk is currently about the football, of course, and Leeds United are back in the Premiership and it does and it has made a major different to the market and again, you look historically at the difference that that made when they were back up.

This is now driving international investors and they’d always historically focused on Manchester, obviously you’ve got the two major clubs there but you’ve now got that connection, you’ve got this whole band stretching across the Pennines from Manchester heading over to Leeds and arguably slightly beyond, and that entire area still has very good access back to London.

So, for example, and it’s the journey that I do if I go to London, York, direct down to London, you can do that in under two hours quite happily. Leeds down to Kings Cross, that’s just over two hours and you can even now go direct from Harrogate to London Kings Cross and that takes about two hours and 55 minutes.

ZDH: So, still looking at lifestyle trends, I imagine many of our listeners will also think about how we live in the future and lockdown has certainly emphasised the need for those who can to be close to family. Alex, you mentioned earlier the demand for annexes and outbuildings, can we extrapolate from that that people are looking more at multigenerational living?

AG: Very much so. I feel that there is a, a cultural shift that’s coming full circle precisely because of the pandemic. A, a couple of recent examples I’ve had where, where families are actually combining, they’re coming together with grandparents who are living on-site but they’re in a separate cottage and they can be there now for childcare, sometimes sort of school work and equally, they can be looked after and feel secure themselves. And, again, it plays into this demand for larger family homes with outbuildings that are very attractive.

Generations are combining their funds and reducing their risk and another trend that seems to be emerging is just this sort of gentle move away from urban living and this want and need for having everything on one’s doorstep. I think let’s be clear, in a post-COVID environment, I think it’s very clear we all want the good life at the end of the day, we want to be self-sufficient in our own little bubble and happy.

Now, to drive the twenty minutes or so to the nearest urban centre, I think it’s very much the driver of wanting and having that space and the openness, the views and having that key, flexible lifestyle at home both in terms of how your rooms are actually utilised within the house but also how that combines with your work lifestyle as well Again, it’s having that need to quickly get back over to wherever the major city is that the employer is in.

I’ve had an interesting recent example, one client of mine he runs a fairly major IT firm, he’s the managing director and he’s currently got offices in Edinburgh, Leeds and London and one over in the United States and it’s only really just dawned on him in the IT business that he can run his business remotely and very efficiently indeed.

Now, he was going to buy a second property, a bolt hole in London to be close to the office for whenever he was down there but he’s now put a complete hold on that and he’s actually investing back in Yorkshire.

ZDH: Interesting that it’s taken lockdown for that mindset shift. Stephen, from a lender’s perspective, if interest rates are going to stay lower for longer, do you think this could potentially have a positive effect on transaction numbers and the knock-on effects on the wider property economy?

SM: Interest rate reductions have been off the back of two shocks in the market – the global financial crisis of 10 years ago, and this current crisis we’re in. Rates in general show no sign of increasing, and therefore the cost of borrowing remains incredibly low compared to the 30 years that preceded the global financial crisis.

The opportunity for some borrowers, of course, is to then buy that bigger property in the cycle, or making an existing asset work a lot harder for them. I think in terms of the wider economy, that question remains one that’s related to what happens after the government schemes transition.

ZDH: I think a lot of people would agree with that cautious outlook. But what are some of the other factors that are likely to have an effect on the market in the coming months? Like stamp duty. Lucian?

LC: Of course, we have a stamp duty holiday coming to an end in March of next year, I think that will support the market in the first quarter of next year, as is always the case when people can see an increase in stamp duty on the horizon, they will do pretty much anything in their power to avoid paying that, even if that means paying a little bit more for the property that they’re buying.

I think thereafter, the recovery in prices from 2021 onwards, I think it’s more likely to have sort of sustained upward traction from in 2022, interest rates remaining low, economy back on its feet.

Again throughout that period, I think what you’ll see is some of the lifestyle changes that we’ve talked about playing out in which properties in which locations are in the most demand. And so, when we talk about some of those lifestyle drivers, it’s also important to remember that’s not just about people who are upsizing and looking for more space.

One of the things that we’ve found is that, increasingly, that older population who have been quite reluctant, historically, to downsize, the experience of the pandemic has made them much more open to that and that is supporting some of the prime urban markets, particularly some of the new-build property in some of those areas and areas such as the likes of Clifton and some of the markets in, similarly, somewhere like Bath.

ZDH: A lovely part of the country, and Alex, I hear you’ve been involved in a deal recently in another very pretty spa town, Ilkley in West Yorkshire.

AG: I have indeed and it was a property for a client actually relocating from Los Angeles over in the States and they needed access down to London and Manchester as they were in the media. And Ilkley just seemed a very obvious choice with all its amenities and equally, very well connected on the train so it’s pretty easy to get down to London, across to Leeds and Manchester as well and there’s some very good, outstanding even, schools locally.

What was interesting as well on this one, this was conducted again off-market but we also had to go over guide price in order to secure it.

ZDH: I suppose I can’t really ask you how much your client’s paying, Alex, but I wonder if there are some relative bargains outside of London. Lucian, can you share any examples?

LC: Yes, I think perversely, actually, you almost need to look to the very top end of the market to see where some of the bargains are. So, we’ve suggested that that top-end country house market has been something of a sleeping giant for a number of years and we’ve also talked about the prime central London market where values have been off somewhere like 20%.

Because the profile of buyers in, say, the likes of Saint George’s Hill, Saint George’s Hill in Wentworth, sorry, it often is a bit more reflective of that prime central London market than some of the other prime country house markets. That market also is looking relatively good value, particularly in terms of the square footage which you’re getting comparable to some of the other locations they might look at such as sup-, such as central London.

So, we’ve seen a real resurgence in demand in some of those markets, and then really that I suppose is also representative of a number of micro-markets. Another good example then would be the market, say, down at Sandbanks, down in the Bournemouth Pool conurbation, a market where location is of course absolutely paramount and all important but which commands some very high values, but nonetheless is looking relatively good value as things stand.

ZDH: Well, we’ve covered a lot of ground there. Final question to all our guests, if you could move to the country tomorrow, where would it be? Alex, if we could pry you away from Harrogate.

AG: That’s an easy one, I’m going to see you on the East Coast over at Whitby for some proper fish and chips.

ZDH: Great, okay, and Lucian, where’s your dream country property?

LC: Well, I already live in the countryside. I am very much a rural boy, I grew up in deepest, darkest Somerset, but I’ve managed to migrate to Hampshire. Both of those I have affinity for. If I was having to move, though, I think I would probably go back to that area of North Somerset, access to Bristol and Bath, access to some exceptional apple-based cider and equally, not a million miles from the Mecca for me, which is Taunton and the county grounds where I can go and watch my beloved Somerset county cricket club.

ZDH: I love it, Taunton as the Mecca, and Stephen, your escape to the country, where would that be to?

SM: Yes, well I probably should say Windsor because that’s where my in-laws live but of course, I’m a fan of the sea, as is my family so I think we’d have to be on the coast somewhere and that really probably looks like the South Devon coastline.

ZDH: Yes, I’m with you there, Stephen, it would have to be coastal for me, too. I think I’d like to do the impossible and transplant my leafy London village of Blackheath and put it somewhere lovely on the South Coast and then obviously hope there are some fast trains to get me back to London if I need to. So, thank you to all our guests for your expert insights. Just say goodbye to all of you, Lucian Cook, Director of Residential Research at Savills.

LC: Thanks, Zoe, it’s been my pleasure.

ZDH: Alex Goldstein from Alex Goldstein Property Consultants.

AG: Thank you, Zoe. Great to take part.

ZDH: And Stephen Moroukian, Product and Proposition Director at Barclays Private Bank.

SM: Thank you very much, Zoe, see you next time.

ZDH: I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Real Estate Realities. Join us next time when we’re going to be taking a virtual trip to the sunny south of France to check in on the prime property market in the French Riviera. Thank you for listening.

Richard Christian of BluSkills is a former Royal Marine Commando and now runs his own security services business. Pulling on his years at the top of the military, Richard discusses personal and home security and what to be aware of. Equally how estate agents, vendors and purchasers all merge together and if you are security conscious, how to go about securing your home and ensure your family are safe.

Full Transcript below:

Alex: So welcome to the Alex Goldstein Property show and this time we are talking with a very high-profile security expert Richard Christian from BluSkills who is a former Royal Marine Commando and now has his own security business, which helps private individuals and indeed companies and those in the public eye. Richard, great to have you on board today.

Richard: Hi Alex thanks very much for having me. I’m not sure about high profile maybe not yet but working on it.

Alex: I’m glad to hear, I’m glad to hear it but it’s very much a hot topic at the moment and I think there is an increasing mindfulness out there in the in the public domain of personal security and certainly when it comes to banking and finances and it just seems to be in the media more and more and certainly when you integrate that into the property sector. I certainly from what I see in my role I dare say. Will be very interesting to hear your thoughts when we overlay it from your perspective that I think there are a number of shortcomings or areas that people just don’t think about when it comes to property. I mean what’s quite interesting at the moment given the lockdown and the way that technologies come about is the whole sort of virtual tour and you can now look in online and have a viewing round of property but I think there are risks involved with that but what’s your take on it all.

Richard: Well that’s right Alex it’s why it’s so good to speak to you as I think you’re a very security-minded individual. What we’re seeing is tech moving at a very fast pace that’s allowing people to use fantastic new features but often the implications of those features and services are overlooked the ease of them is appealing to people but the security considerations and the security implications may be coming a little bit behind that so in terms of virtual tours is a fantastic selling tool for estate agents but for the person selling the home there’s probably no real security implication perceived. However, if the home doesn’t sell they should be aware that that video could still remain in the public domain if it isn’t removed and for someone buying I think they should be looking at ensuring that if there was a video tour done then it’s a timely removal by the by the agents. And they should be mindful that people may have recorded that video and people have used it for electronic surveillance if they were interested in the property. And they’ve done the kind of electronic surveillance of the property. They may have recorded that video. They may have it stored. They may have been able to work out plans of the layouts of the building and observe any security measures that are in place. So there’s a lot of information given there, and you have to be mindful of that.

Alex: Yeah hugely so. I think from my perspective on the property side of things virtual tours are, almost you could argue, a bit of a gimmick at the moment and of course you’ve got a sort of camera drone footage going through your property. Obviously, it’s a security risk because if there’s any sort of valuables. Or it’s notification where the main alarm panel is or any alarm sensors for example are as well. But equally, and this is the one of the big things I always say is, as soon as information goes online, whether it’s a virtual tour or it’s imagery. It’s stored, it’s archived and it’s the whole spider’s web effect that you have no control of that information. It very quickly gets dispersed and if you’ve got a virtual tour of a property circulating around. I say websites generally again you can run into issues down the line if someone does an historic search for example.

Richard: That’s right and I’d say it’s important to think about anything that you’re putting onto the internet into the electronic ether is to think that you’ve put that out there and then that’s permanently going to stay out there. Now there are things that you can do to reduce how easily it is how easy it is to find that information and data a later date and third parties play a big part in that but I would say approaching the mindset that that information is out there for good and are you happy with that.

Alex: No, indeed. I mean when it comes to actually buying a property how should one and how do you actually evaluate the security of a property and what should people actually look out for at the end of the day?

Richard: So from my perspective and probably because I’m kind of security minded and because we provide these services, I would I would advise people, certainly your type of client Alex, to be looking at conducting a pre-purchase security assessment and I would say that much as you would do a home buying survey or a detailed survey to find out the state of the physical property, the foundations, the windows, etc. and what the associated costs might be, I’d say it’s probably wise to do that pre-purchase regarding security as well. You may be buying a property where you’re going to have to spend a great deal of money investing in security measures post-purchase and it’s good to bear that in mind when you when you come to purchase the property. I would say for an individual who doesn’t want to go down that route and wants to do it themselves, there’s a number of things that they can do. I would say firstly, look at the electronic footprint for the property. So as you’ve mentioned virtual tours and what images are available for the property. What links are there to the property? So companies house, what businesses are linked to it? So that’s the electronic side of life and then we look to the kind of the physical side of life. So we work from the outside in when we look at properties. Is there a boundary in place or is access to the site open? Are the gates to the property to restrict vehicle access? So access control is one of the key phases. Then we work through towards the outside of the property looking at any other measures there. So a layered security approach. Are there other gates? Is there planting which screens from view or planting which obstructs? So you know your real thorn bushes and things like that. Yeah what kind of vulnerable points are there. And then we’re looking at the outside of the property and cameras, CCTV. You know does that give a good view of the of the property? Does it cover vulnerable points? And then through to basics kind of the real basics which is do we have good solid locks on doors? Locks on windows? Have we got door contact sensors? And then inside which are the impassive infrared motion detectors linked to your armed systems. And then finally we’ll be looking at things like creating different zones within the house and detecting movement throughout the house so should someone get into your home, they’ve bypassed all your security measures, can you trace their movements around the home and slow them down until the police can get there? And when you trace them, they may have had to go through at break windows and therefore to bypass the locks. But we’re introducing other elements, so we’ll have internal locks on doors and that just slows them down. So certainly doors to key areas, people coming through windows we  can we keep them in rooms rather than allowing them access to stairwells. So we’re restricting them going up through the property. So let’s say you’re in the property that buys you time, you can lock yourself in your room ring the police and hopefully they’re going to get there way before the burglar can get access to your valuables or worst case scenario to you.

Alex: Right and when you look to a point if you’re doing this yourself and you’re looking to select a security company, whether it’s alarms or CCTV what sort of things, should one look for?

Richard: I think this is probably one of the biggest areas people don’t necessarily pay enough attention to, this area when you think a security company is going to come to your home they’re going to know your home and your security intimately. Whether you engage with them or whether you decide not to, so I think one of the first things that we’re going to look at is reputation have you have come about that company, what’s their online reputation? But then also who can we speak to? How can we verify the level of service that they’ve given? How long have they been established? All those kind of background things. We should be looking for them to be accredited so what that’ll mean is that they’re working to a quality management standard so they’re going to give high levels of service and they’re also going to have good processes and procedures in place as recommended. Through things like British standards and also that they’re working to those kinds of British standards. We’re then looking for things like good measures to have in place so engage with them and see the staff and the installers and the people that they’re employing. Have they done background checks on those people which they should have done working in the security industry? And then finally we can look at things like the financials of the business. So go to sites like Companies House. Check the directors. Who are they? Are they entitled to be directors? They’re not struck off? And check the financials.

Alex: Interesting point as well I know you’ve mentioned companies house and especially if it applies to if you’ve got your own business as well and again, I think a lot of people sort of forget that you can register the company at your accountants and I think a lot of people sort of inadvertently fall into the trap of registering their business at their home and again it just forms another layer of information whereby those looking for phishing, scamming or indeed worse, can use that information to their advantage.

Richard: That’s right. Yes, the thing with online data is in isolation it probably doesn’t give too much away. It’s the compounding effect of lots of different sources of information that can be pulled together. So as you rightly allude to, people do register businesses  to their home address. I think that’s a decision that that needs to be made based on levels of risk. Kind of what type of business is it. Is it customer facing or is it just something that you might use for your property for example. But yes, a Company’s House very searchable feature is very high on Google so if you’re looking for a Director, it’ll it will link you to your home address very very quickly. We’ve also seen that with electoral roles as well they provide exactly the same information. The public ones are searchable with a little bit of information given up but unfortunately removing yourself from things like the electoral role causes other implications around things like finance where they use the electoral information to confirm your identity. But yes it may be wise to disassociate your business from your home. The last thing you want is a disgruntled customer turning up at your gate or your home and challenging you face to face.

Alex: No, no I quite agree. I mean I think the other hot area is there I say social media because again I think a lot of people are unaware of the implications of  anything that they put onto social media, photos for example and videos, and that those have all got sort of  metadata behind the scenes which again provides another avenue to source information.

Richard: A very good point. Social media is a fantastic platform. I think when you look at higher profile figures, they’ve got a kind of love-hate relationship with it. It’s a maybe a necessary evil. A lot of images and videos contain  metadata as you’ve rightly pointed out, which can include things like location. So you may innocently snap a photo of, I don’t know, a new watch or present or some part of your home and that will contain location data depending on the settings that you’ve got on your on your mobile phone and I’d say occupants of homes are probably more  likely to be conscious about what they’re posting but what I am seeing a lot of is photos posted on social media by contractors so people who visited your  home doing work there and they take pictures  pictures of work they’ve done for their portfolio without permission. Which could subsequently compromise you. I think if you are using social media and you are posting images just, I’d urge you to consider what’s captured in the image. What’s in the background? What might be present that you haven’t noticed immediately? Are you taking a picture of a room that shows that you do or do not have security there? Does it show that your windows are insecure? Does it give a criminal motivation? That seems to be a strong amount of high-profile people putting pictures of high-value items on and that just that just creates motivation. You’re just telling people you’ve got things that they could steal and that they could make money.

Alex: Well now indeed and I know the obvious  one because they’re so easy and accessible is of course mobile phones but I have to say a lot of the modern digital cameras as well also store the location metadata and other information behind the scenes, such as your name and other items for that image and people take that and then they also put that online unwittingly. And equally I have seen like you, contractors. those in the property sector again just taking what they feel is something low-key. An image or a feature of a property and put it out to  say well look what we’ve seen today but again as you say, they’ve unwittingly released additional information into the ether of the Internet and again that’s all searchable. And it just provides another level of information. I think again people need to  be aware and mindful of that. So I mean when you start, when you first move into a property, there are the basics that one should do regarding security. Just talk everyone through that and what the next steps thereafter as well should be.

Richard: I mean it can vary. It depends if you’ve  had a security  survey done  prior to moving in. Then you’ll have a list of tasks that you need to undertake. And what I would suggest that there’s various things you can do, and I would look to quickly establish a baseline which is the pattern of life in your area. What does normal look like? You’re new to that area so you don’t really understand what’s going on. By tuning into the environment you’ll be able to quickly establish what normal looks like so anything suspicious or out of place will be flagged to you. People often forget that crime isn’t just the action happening. Someone doesn’t just break into a house, usually there’s a period before that the target selection and then also the  the surveillance phase. Where people will, no matter how short, will spend a period of time surveilling your home prior to breaking to make sure you’re not there. To see what security’s in place and to see how they how they’re going to undertake the  the crime. So establishing that baseline will give you a chance of spotting suspicious things early. I would say one that people often don’t do is changing the locks to your home. Very very simple, not high cost but when you buy a home how do you know that you have all the keys to that house? It’s not necessarily like a car where there’s a finite number of keys and you can track them. Neighbours may have keys; estate agents may still retain some keys. It’s hard to know where those keys are so simply changing your locks gives you control. And putting very good locks on is a great start. Changing alarm codes or gate access codes and things like that. People, contractors, you don’t know who’s got access to those. So that’s a great place to start. And then I’d say ensuring the basics are in place. So have you got locks on your windows? Have you got restrictors for downside downstairs windows to limit how much the windows can open? Are your door locks to the highest standard? Do you have access control to the site? So that’s a big one. Just controlling who can come onto your premise when you’re not there. And high value items. Simple things like making sure that high value items aren’t in sight. So cars is a big one at the moment people are targeting. People simply based on the vehicles that they’re driving. If you leave those on your driveway, you leave yourself open to being targeted.

Alex: Yeah, it’s a very valid point and that’s partly where I suppose garages are making a bit of a comeback because you can hide it all and keep it out of sight.  A garage is a very useful tool. Exactly though when you talked about external people coming on site. I mean when you say for example, have contractors in, whether it’s for security means or it’s the builders or whoever, it’s going to be what most measures should you think about or put in place.

Richard: I think it’s very interesting when you think of your home. It’s quite a secure environment simply because people don’t really know a great deal about it. It’s hard to get a lot of information. A lot of the stuff we’re talking about is just building up that information picture and anytime you have contractors into your home, you expose more information. More than would be openly available. So it’s very important when you get contractors in to consider who is doing the work. Are they reputable? Do they could have good policy and procedure in place? Are they vetting and screening the people who are working for them? How are you controlling access? Are you giving them a key to your home when you’re not there, which is obviously high risk. Are you giving them access codes? Are you supervising them while they’re there? And we would strongly recommend that you restrict access in your home. Allow them to only work in the areas that’s necessary and that you that you supervise them. You monitor what they’re up to. High-value items make sure that they’re not on display. Just temptation can get the better of people and also things like recording who’s attended the site so you get the company in, you just have to do a simple sign-in with their names and their dates so that you can trace back should an event happen and supply to the police names and addresses of people who’ve been to your property so they can eliminate them.

Alex: Yeah I think it’s a certainly a very valid point that last one and certainly I suppose when estate agents show people around property, there’s various measures you can, I suppose, put in place up to a point but at the end of the day from an estate agent’s perspective it’s just a few phone calls sometimes with an individual but I suppose it’s thereafter with regard as we previously talked about. The images and the rights to those and the virtual tours and where those have gone and it’s this sort of legacy, if you will. What should one consider or/and indeed estate agents consider with that data and how to also vet people?

Estate agents play a huge part in safety and security and I guess when people are selling a home, they’re probably less concerned. It’s probably people buying a home that are inheriting any potential problems or information control. From there I’d say with when you’re engaging with an estate agent, you should be looking for someone who’s aware. So when you when you speak to them and you speak about how they’re going to promote the property, you should also ask how they’re going to control that information. What’s their process for removing that information? So when we do security assessments and surveys, we’re doing an online trawl and regularly we’ll find legacy images on third-party websites, so not the estate agents directly necessarily but the third-party websites are still left on there and on our clients behalf we’ll speak with them and we’ll get them to remove those images and that legacy data. From an estate agent point of view, as I mentioned, they’ve got a big part to play and I think there’s a lot that they can do and you should be asking them what their policy and procedures are and I know you’re very swept up with this Alex but that qualifying leads is a huge one for me. Especially when you move to the higher end stuff and there was a great piece of research done by a company called Perpetuity Research and one of the offenders that was interviewed in there a convicted burglar was quite candid about how he would visit high-end properties that were for sale on the market, pretend to be interested in purchasing and then go back months later and burgle them. So qualifying those leads, confirming the identity of the people who are going to visit the property, credit checks. I mean it’s in their interests as well. Why waste time with people who can’t and won’t buy the property as well as put your clients or the new purchaser at risk.

Alex: Indeed and it’s a very very fine balance because sometimes, certainly with the higher end properties, people, as you’ve just said, should be private and restricting what information you give. You fall into GDPR which most of the agents fully comply with as well and again it’s just getting that. It’s just striking that balance but I think it’s very much an evolving frontier and a lot of agents say, indeed myself, can sign up to all the various governing bodies and there’s ways and means to go about these things but I have to say I always play on this, it comes back to its experience. At the end of the day, you know there’s a sort of a sixth sense as an agent when you’re speaking with someone and just how they’re answering or not answering sometimes relevant questions or are they forthcoming with information, you can instantly tell and I have to say it’s becoming more and more at the front of agents minds that if you’re not quite getting the right answer or not quite that right feel, then you put a stop on proceedings and you don’t allow people around. Equally just going back momentarily to the virtual tour side of things, agents are now, not necessarily putting those on the website. They’re using that as a tool so that if a buyer is mindful of the virus situation or they’re at the other end of the country or abroad, they can view it online via a shared computer screen if you will with the estate agent. And again that helps retain that element of control which I think more and more agents are aware of.

Richard: That’s right and  I know from speaking to you as well you’re seeing a great increase in people wanting to sell homes off the market out of the public eye completely. I thoroughly understand why people would want to do that especially when you get to the higher levels I know it’s not necessarily pertinent to the general market, but I know with bigger, more expensive homes I can understand that people really want to maintain privacy of that that home.

Alex: I know. very much so. And in some circumstances because it’s  a rare or a more unusual property, you can apply a bit more of a premium for that and it’s offering the exclusive. So it’s almost a win-win situation by trying to sell something off market. You can get a higher value but equally as you said not everyone wants their property and their name all emblazoned in lights and again it’s just having that insight and a sensible judgment call on it all.

Alex: Richard it’s been really useful to talk everything through with you and if people want to get in touch and talk through their security measures and go through things in a bit more detail, what’s the best way to get in touch with you?

Richard: I’ll say the simple way is to visit our website and get in touch with the website. So it’s www.bluskills.co.uk or you can drop us a line on 0333 3056615.

Alex: That is super Richard. Really appreciate your time and insight and look forward to speaking with you soon.

Richard: Thanks Alex. Great to speak to you.

The Alex Goldstein Property Show (Part 1) with StrayFM – a fast-paced educational podcast aimed at giving you the inside track when it comes to buying or selling your home!

The Alex Goldstein Property Show (Part 1)

Full transcript below:

Alex: Welcome to the Alex Goldstein Property Show. I’m Alex Goldstein of Alex Goldstein Property Consultants in Harrogate and this is the brand new fast-paced property show aimed at giving you the latest insider tips, tricks and industry expert advice so you can make the best-informed decision when it comes to buying or selling your home. If you have an interest in the local or national property market and the associated professions within the sector, then this is the show for you. Whether you’re a first-time buyer, experienced developer or have an established property portfolio I guarantee there is something in it for you. I will be speaking with and getting insider knowledge from some of the most successful property related businesses and professionals that Yorkshire and indeed the UK has to offer, ranging from regional solicitors all the way through to some of the UK’s top multi-national firms. We are available for podcast download on the first day of every month, so make sure you sign up to Alex Goldstein and the Stray FM Twitter and social media accounts to get an early reminder of this and get great property tips whenever you need. In this months show we will begetting the inside track from the current owner of the very impressive Hellifield Peel Castle near Skipton. This was built by one of the last templar knights and just to give you an idea of the calibre of this property, it was feature very heavily on Kevin McClouds Grand Designs television programme. We will also be getting to grips with property photography as part our property hospital section plus we will also be putting Andrew Kempston-Parks, Harrogate based Chartered Surveyor in the property hot seat to get a glimpse into his world. We also have the Alex Goldstein top tips but before all of that we go straight into the property news.

This month’s big news is the new stamp duty regulations affecting second-home property purchases in the UK. Now this was tipped off in the winter budget by George Osbourne and came into effect last night the 31 March. No what this means is there is a 3% surcharge on the overall purchase price for any additional property that is purchased. This is paid on top of the regular stamp-duty. So, what this means now is that any additional property purchase, say for example at 400,000 you would now have to pay £22,000 in stamp duty and this is versus £10,000 before these new rules came in. Now the media and a lot of people say this is great news, it’s an additional tax for the wealthier individuals and investors that can afford it, plus of course it’s an easy income generator for the ex-chequer. Just argue whether this is all good news, and whilst it’s too early to tell why thoughts are that by effectively outing an immediate squeeze on a buy-to-let investment market the chancellor could run the high risk of instantly cutting off the supply of rental properties to tenants. There’s a lack of supply, demands going to go up and if that’s the case rental figures per month per tenant are going to increase. Now if that happens, tenants are going to be paying more for their rental so how are you going to save to buy your first home. Now I appreciate the chancellor has introduced the lifetime ISA, he’s increased the ISA budget in terms of annual limit, however left-over money at the end of each month you might not have because you’ve got higher rental. Are we actually solving the house ownership problem? The other flip side of the coin of course has been from investors, they’ve had a panicked buying frenzy since January trying to exchange on properties prior to the deadline of 31 March. In turn this has actually caused a price spike in certain parts of the country, especially in London and now when we’re well into April I think you’re going to see house prices in these areas start to come down again. As an investor you should always look at the bigger picture. Do the opposite to the market, don’t panic and wait to see what happens and do bare in mind the 3% stamp duty surcharge, it’s one-off payment. Compare this to the capital increase on your property value over the course of the year and the course of ownership and you’ll probably find it’s not so bad after all.

Very excited indeed to welcome Francis Shaw who is the current owner of Hellifield Peel Castle near Skipton onto our inside knowledge section. Francis thank you so much for coming here. Just to give people an insight into Hellifield Peel, just give us an idea of the history of the property, because it’s absolutely fantastic.

Francis: Thanks Alex. Yes, Hellifield Peel is the only Templar Knights castle in the country and it dates from round about the 14th century. It’s obviously had a very chequered history, been through civil wars being attacked by marauding Scots on holiday after the Battle of Bannockburn and it has been sadly was a ruin for many years which was how we got involved in looking at it. I first saw it as a child up on holiday in Scotland before we emigrated to the Middle East and it sort of burned a hole in my brain for many years, even though I’m pushing 53 I’m only 7 in mental age, and obviously desperately wanted to live in a castle through most of my life so it was a wonderful opportunity and we moved up here to work and live in Yorkshire and this was really just a great opportunity for me.

Alex: When does the castle actually date back to?

Francis: The castle itself was built in 1305 but actually it dates, there are earlier structures on the site that go back to the seventh century. So, the first building was a Saxon hall, manor house and then there was a tower built in the 12th century which was built to fend off wolves apparently. The locals complained to King Athelstan that they were being eaten by wolves, but it took about four hundred years before King John actually allowed it to be built. And there aren’t any wolves left so it obviously worked.

Alex: And this has to be one of the most stand out ancient monuments really of North Yorkshire, I don’t know of any other property that dates back that far surely within the region.

Francis: There are a series of castles around but certainly it’s the only Knights Templar one and it is we believe the longest lived in site in Yorkshire. There are many claims, but this goes back to round about 650 ad we believe.

Alex: Absolutely incredible, incredible stuff and obviously I think everyone emulates to live in a castle at some point in their lives. But talk us through how do you get to grips with the planning and the planners on such a project? I know you mentioned it was sort of derelict when you first bought it, how do you start a project on that sort of scale?

Francis: Well you need an awful lot of optimism and also as I say if you have the mental age of 7, you don’t tend to worry about any issues. The reality is the building was falling to bits and it was just about to collapse on it’s ears and anyone that’s seen the Grand Designs programme will realise that the wall that collapsed in the middle was as a result of how bad the building had got into, so we had a lot of, there was a lot of good will and support. So, the key issues with it was the schedule ancient monument which is the granddaddy of all planning is basically if you’ve got a grade listed system which takes you from 2 star and one listed and basically above that is a schedule ancient monument and it’s quite an onerous task, lots of drawing, surveys, all the information that’s necessary to get it through. That’s a legal requirement so you can’t contend that, but English Heritage who are now Heritage England, were very supportive through the process and it took about just over 4 months to get it through planning and schedule ancient monument consent.

Alex: I know I think I that’s very good timing indeed given I think some people experience much longer even just with a simple house extension at times, so I think you’ve done extremely well. And I know you mentioned the Grand Designs television programme with of course Kevin McCloud, what an incredible opportunity to have him. What was it like having the television crew there and I don’t know what Kevin’s like to work alongside as well?

Francis: Well Kevin’s a lovely guy, he’s really into conservation so this is a project that really caught his imagination and he came to quite a few more of the visits than you would normally go to. Obviously, the Grand Designs process filming is quite invasive, you have to be quite honest about you know expenses, costs and building times and programmes. Some people find that quite a challenge, but we have a lovely record of it, so you know we’ve restored many houses over the years and we’ve got some photographs in a box in the attic somewhere, whereas this we’ve got a lovely record of our time with Grand Designs and watching the build evolve before our eyes.

Alex: The level of detail you’ve gone into Francis on the property is nothing short of extraordinary, it’s absolutely incredible and just to give people a descriptive sort of flavour of what Hellifield Peel currently sort of shows in terms of the accommodation, is there any way you could sort of describe to people what the current accommodation post all the Grand Designs is?

Francis: Ok, well the house itself is effectively 7,200 square foot of accommodation over four floors and its sort of quite neatly contained around a rather lovely staircase. We have seven bedrooms and two sitting rooms and there’s a dining room, lovely farm house kitchen and then a self-contained attic at the top, which is about 1,000 square foot with a kitchen and its own bedroom, sitting room and bathroom and a terrace which is south facing looking over the Dales. It works very nicely as a home and obviously wen we did the works we sadly ran out of money and we’ve been doing bed and breakfast for the last seven or eight years and it’s worked quite nicely because we hardly impact on guests coming, so it’s spacious enough to house sort of five couples in there without you feeling them running into them all the time.

Alex: Absolutely and I have been fortunate enough to go there. The views from the castle are just incredible, absolutely amazing its sat in what about two acres if memory serves me well?

Francis: That’s right it’s sat in registered parkland, so it’s sat in the Dales on the outskirts of Hellifield in a valley and you can look across and you can see into Lancashire, which may upset a few folks, but you can see the Witch’s Hill, Pendle Hill quite clearly on the horizon which looks magnificent.

Alex: What was so impressive about it and what’s so rare nowadays is that as you approach you go through the gate you’re actually a high up and you’ve got this treeline drive way sweeping down, as you said Francis into the valley, you just look down onto the castle and you’d never know it was there, I mean it really is quite something. Obviously, an amazing opportunity to be involved on the Grand Designs television programme, I dare say with exposure such as that it must have been a fantastic sort of spin-off opportunity for you.

Francis: Yes, with the Grand Designs actually was wonderful because obviously as I’ve said we run out of money at the end of the project, so we had to really think of inventing ways of using the house and we done B&B on a small scale at our last property, and this just took off like we never imagined, but also it had a huge influence on me as an architect. I was approached by a lot of private clients to do properties for them and I was able to set up my own business which we have Shaw and Jagger in Harrogate and we’ve been going now for five years.

Alex: Fantastic, so if you need a castle you now know where to go.

Francis: That’s right yeah, we’ve fortunately done several castles in the meantime. We’ve just finished one up in Scotland, Mingary Castle which is opposite Mull on the highlands.

Alex: Beautiful spot. I think you sort of mentioned you’re looking at selling up as well. You’re giving up the baby in the project, any reason why?

Francis: Well the main reason is mixture of moving closer to my wife’s family, also I wanted to build a Roman villa for many years, so this is my opportunity to. Fortunately, I have a very understanding wife.

Alex: Hellifield quite honestly, I think if Hellifield Peel is anything to go by I think everyone is going to be astonished to see what you do with that, so I think it’s all to look forward to. And talk us through, your about to, well I think you are actually on the open market at the moment.

Francis: Yes, that’s right we’re on with Carter Jonas, Tony Wright at Carter Jonas is selling the property for us and we’re very excited to have them on board because they’re a great team.

Alex: And so, I think anyone listening if you want to get an insight into Hellifield Peel do look it up online but one of the most impressive properties I think this region has to offer and I can’t thank you enough Francis for coming on the show I really do appreciate it.

In the property hospital I aim to solve your property problems and woes so do feel free to get in touch with me on Twitter, my handle is @AlexOGoldstein or indeed drop me a line on email alex@alexgoldstein.co.uk We’ve got a very interesting question from Tom this week and one that is often come up against let’s hear what he’s got to say.

Tom: Hi Alex, just about to put my house on the market, I live just outside of Ilkley, had an estate agent round, have taken some photos, not 100% sure that they do my house justice. Just wondering your thoughts on that?

Alex: Yeah, it’s something that’s often come up against and I feel that whenever you come to sell your property, the one really worthwhile investment is in professional photography. Now, of course estate agents can be enough, they’re very often trained, they’ve got good camera kit, however, it’s worth spending a small amount of money just on someone that specialises in this. First impressions are absolutely paramount, after all these guys have lighting kits, they’ve got wide-angled lenses, not the ones that distort properties and the dimensions of the room, it’s about portraying. Remember you’re going from a 3D down to a 2D dimensional brochure. Again, photographers know how to get the best out of Photoshop and it’s about playing with lighting and colours. Do remember the new upcoming area is elevated photography so this is a camera on top of a telescopic pole and the cameraman, the photographer can walk around your gardens to get the best shot. Remember if you are going for this it’s always best to have a slightly oblique angle, a very gentle angle coming down on the property if you’ve got land or outbuildings or it’s quite a difficult shot to talk from the ground. What you don’t want is something way up high and you’re doing a sort of birds-eye view down the other angle is of course drone photography. The photographer does have to now have a special license, but it really is incredible what you can do, whether it’s still images with a drone or indeed you can do the full video virtual tour starting from outside and flying down, then actually walking through the house. So, do get your photography absolutely bang on right. You will stand right ahead of the competition in the market and your sale will just go that much more further. I hope that’s of some use to you.

Voiceover: The Property Hot Seat
Name?

Andrew: Andrew Kempston-Parks

Voiceover: Business?

Andrew: Kempston-Parks Chartered Surveyors

Voiceover: Time in property?

Andrew: I’ve been a chartered surveyor since 1999, became professionally qualified in 1997 and I’ve been working in the property industry for over 25 years.

Alex: Andrew thank you for being in the hot seat today, just to get straight into it just talk through because I think there is a lot of confusion about the different types of survey out there can you just give us a quick summary of those types please?

Andrew: Certainly, at Kempston-Parks Chartered Surveyors we offer three levels of different inspection and report, mortgage valuation or open market valuation, normally used for a bank or building society, used to confirm value on the property, mainly foreign institutions lending policy, they can also be used for matrimonial kind of probate, inheritance tax, capital gains tax purposes. Then we have home buyer report suitable for any property built after about 1880/1890 of traditional construction and that hasn’t been significantly altered or extended. And then building survey for properties that are older perhaps grade 2 listed non-traditional construction or where there have been significant alterations or extensions.

Alex: And if you like that’s the Rolls-Royce version, going through everything with a fine-toothcomb.

Andrew: Yes.

Alex: Thank you. Why do you feel that people should come and why do you think they should use a surveyor in particular because I think some people perceive that it could be a waste of money? What are your thoughts on this?

Andrew: Well the bank or building society when you’re obtaining a mortgage will always send one of their panel valuers. A panel valuer will make a very cursory inspection of the property and is there simply for the lending institutions purposes. An independently commissioned survey on a property is there for your use. It will tell you all the defects in the property, put those into context and more importantly give you an informed decision as to whether or not you should proceed with the purchase or if you do proceed if there needs to be some negotiation on price.

Alex: It’s an interesting point because I think it can be a possible misconception from surveyors that s lot of homeowners get very anxious and on edge when a surveyor comes round and they always think that they are there to sort of mark the property down. How do you sort of answer that?

Andrew: Well I think you’re right Alex, there’s this conception out there that some surveyors believe it’s their god given right to condemn the house that they’re there to inspect. To put some untruths perhaps or to cover their backs but at Kempton-Park Surveyors we’re really here to help our clients, to make sure that defects are pointed out, but they’re put into context. So, for example dampness, a lot of properties built prior to 1900 will have some dampness, is that a significant problem? Well that depends on the property, type of house, so it’s about giving the client and making sure the client is aware of the defects in the property.

Alex: What are the broad range of costs because again I think it’s a common misconception that people think it’s of extraordinary cost and I don’t think its necessarily the case. I know you have ran through the different types of survey, just give people a general feel for things.

Andrew: Well if we were to take a property around half a million pounds so £500,000 a valuation on a property at that level would be £200 plus VAT, a homebuyer survey would be £635 including VAT and a building survey £1,285 including VAT.

Alex: And are you finding that the middle option, your homebuyers survey, that is probably the most used survey, because it gives you just a general overview of the property or do you find people lean towards more the lower end survey? What are your experiences of it?

Andrew: It’s about the property Alex, it isn’t about the survey being right for client, it’s about the survey being right for then particular house. So, if I go and look online when a client approaches me, and I’ve got a property that was built in 1840, it’s perhaps grade 2 listed and has been significantly altered and extended, my professional advice to the client will be a building survey, because that’s the right level of inspection and report for that house.

Alex: Just clear up because again it’s I suppose it comes around estate agents raising very often they sort of say well the surveys happening today, the valuations taking place today and I think a lot of homeowner’s gloss over that and I think they possibly need to ask the right sort of questions. Just clarify for the listeners when an agent sort of says it’s a valuation, it’s a survey, what are they actually meaning and what should the homeowner actually then ask back to the agent?

Andrew: Ok well if your estate agent says to you the surveyors coming I would always ask the pertinent question are they carrying out the mortgage valuation for the bank or building society, or is it an independent survey that’s being done? That’s a very important question. Sometimes you may get two surveyors, one who comes from the lender, the other who commissions a privately instructed survey for you.

Alex: And if you’re a homeowner is there anything you should do in advance of the building survey taking place to make sure it just goes that much more smoothly. Is there anything you’d want in terms of insider tips here for listeners?

Andrew: The important thing is to let the surveyor get on with their job. I often say to people when I arrive at their house, please carry on with your day, pretend I’m not here. Somethings that are very useful for me in making the job go smoothly are clear access into the roof void, very important that I can get my ladders up to have a good inspection of the roof. If there are any internal windows or doors that are locked, that they are unlocked. And if there are any out buildings that they are open an available for me to inspect. So those sort of things make my day go easier. Always make sure the kettles on at some point.

Alex: Yes, absolutely and I suppose on that point we have to ask because it occurs so much but embarrassing stories, you must have come across quite a few in your years of experience, seeing that you’re going around properties the whole time. Have you got anything to share at all?

Andrew: I think the one that sticks out most in my mind is a number of years ago in one of the sort of satellite towns around Leeds, I collected the keys from the estate agent, it was a mid-terraced house and always I start at the top floor with my inspection, so it was a nice spring day and I sort of bounded up the stairs, flung open the door obviously expecting the property to be empty, the naked lady sat up in bed, screamed very loudly as I turned the light on, so I turned my back and very embarrassed shouted “I’m the surveyor, I’m going to the kitchen”, where I waited for her.

Alex: That’s why you always need to check when your surveyor is coming round. Andrew really appreciate your time, thank you so much for coming on the show and if anyone needs to get hold of you, what are the best details for you?

Andrew: Best way to contact us is obviously on the phone, Harrogate 79111, website Kempston-parks.co.uk or if you search chartered surveyor Harrogate we will be one of the top links.

Alex: Fantastic thanks so much for your time.

Andrew: Pleasure, thank you Alex.

Alex: This month we are focussing on where the television personalities actually get it wrong. Now, for example they all say paint all your walls white, remove all your personal items, clear your rooms and give it a blank canvas look, however, this isn’t actually the right advice believe it or not. Firstly, most importantly it’s very difficult to photograph a blank room even dare I say with a professional photographer. Where are the features, there’s nothing to look at and if it’s all painted white it looks like a hospital. Now, ask yourself who likes going into hospitals? Of course, the answer is absolutely nobody so why would someone want to pay you to come and live in one, they don’t. Now, remember a house purchase is one of the very rare emotional purchases in life. People are buying into the lifestyle so in other words they have the photographs of the family out, the dog roaming around by the fire, and there’s the other extreme, do not have butter everywhere, it’s more a case of having clean, clear and smooth lines throughout the property. The golden rule is the more people feel at home the better your sale will go.

That’s all from the Alex Goldstein Property Show, hope you enjoyed it. More details can be found on the website alexgoldstein.co.uk or strayfm.com All the social media channels are all live and the next episode is available for download on 1 May. In the meantime, I’m hosting an educational talk on the hidden world of estate agents at the Majestic Hotel, more details can be found on the website or indeed drop me a line alex@alexgoldstein.co.uk Until next time.

In The Alex Goldstein Property Show, Alex speaks to Alan Waxman, one of the most sought-after designers and property developers in London, nicknamed ‘The Mole’ for his expertise in transforming basement spaces. He also gets top tips from architect Joel Smith, reflects on how the result of the general election has affected the property market, and shares his advice on choosing between estate agents.

The Alex Goldstein Property Show (Part 16)

Full transcript below:

Alex: Welcome again to the Alex Goldstein Property Show, the number one property show on Stray FM. We aim to demystify the property sector and all things property-related to help you make the right decision when it comes to your property experience. My social media accounts are exploding and thank you so much to everyone who’s been helping me spread the word. You’re really making sure that those that need a bit of extra insight into the world of buying and selling homes are getting the vital information they need. Now, sure you don’t need reminding but just in case, follow me on Twitter at #AlexOGoldstein or on Facebook or LinkedIn at Alex Goldstein Property Consultants. A truly exceptional show this month, we have property royalty Alan Waxman from Landmass in London, who’s regularly in the press for creating spectacular basement conversions across London. We’ve also highly regarded HarrogateHarrogate architect Joel Smith from SSA, an excellent question in the property hospital, the latest news and advice to help you with your property dreams. A huge amount to fit in as always so we’re straight on with it.

In the property news we’re talking about the general election, the media and the property market. Now the outcome of the general election has left many with different opinions. Theresa May has lost the overall majority. Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party gained an extra 30 seats, taking them up to 262, while the Tories lost 13 seats and that took them down to 313. The press and the spin doctors have seized the moment claiming that Labour won. But hold on unless my calculations are completely out, in my opinion I say that Labour lost, they’ve got 51 fewer seats than the Tories albeit the Tories lost that overall majority ruling. Now according to the media this unprecedented result has led to many people adopting a wait and see approach to buying and selling their homes. Apparently, the recent political events have led to a shortage of supply coming onto the market and this has led into some people going into a bit of a blind panic. Now yes don’t get me wrong there’s certainly been a bit of turbulence, but we always knew this was going to happen with the Brexit negotiations starting. But hold on we knew that Brexit was coming almost exactly a year ago and we’ve been building up to this point. So, from my travels across Yorkshire and London I see that the supply and demand balance has just shifted recently. Demand remains very high for properties priced correctly, supply is slightly down, which means that if you put your home on the market you’ve got less competing properties, are likely to get great response because demand is so strong and surely this is good news. So, if you’re thinking of selling, my advice is to get the top 3 tips right, right price, right agent, right presentation. Get these spot on you really are away. So, when you come to buy you are in an excellent position and can negotiate from a position of strength, that’s what it’s about, and I should know as I’ve recently done this myself having bought and sold a property within the last few weeks. Now if I’m doing this with my years of experience perhaps the media are stirring up issues to sell newspapers. They wouldn’t do that, would they?

We’re honoured indeed to have property royalty here in the studio over the phone. This is Alan Waxman from Landmass in London. Just to give people an understanding Alan is one of London’s most high-profile property designers and developers and actually has been credited with transforming the lower ground floors of prime central London, especially in Belgravia and Knightsbridge and dare I say you’ve even been nicknamed the mole as well. Alan, great to have you on. On the back of this how has Landmass come into being, what’s your background and why this sort of angle, what you’ve been known for more recently in terms of the low ground floor side of things?

Alan: Good morning Alex and thank you very much for the very kind introduction. I think when anybody starts any career they never really know how its going to end up and the same with my journey through property because when I started my only ambition was to buy a few rental properties starting in Fulham then Woolwich and Brixton, Clapham etc. and had nothing to do with actually doing anything about design or indeed building any basements. But what happened was I started as I said to build up this portfolio and I couldn’t get the rental incomes I wanted on one or two of them so I thought well maybe I can sell them for a profit, managed to do that having just give them a little lick of paint and a clean up and then I thought well why not buy something in order to redevelop and see if I can do that as well, and I bought a couple of floors above an off licence in Fulham on a very busy road called Wandsworth Bridge Road and during the design process because I wasn’t sure how it would pan out I actually moved the kitchen three times which obviously cost me a lot of money with the builder but the end result was the flow was good and I got it checked by a feng shui lady too because I was curious to see what you know professionals would think and she liked it and it was the first time I got a higher than expected price from the agents because of what we did. Then following on from that I bought a couple of flats in Notting Hill which were existing two bed flats and most developers would have perhaps tried to convert them into three bed flats, but I really had a big look at the space and I really thought that once again how we use the space is so important and decided to make them into one bed flats.

Alex: Wow so you went completely in the other direction of most people?

Alan: Absolutely yes, and then Sienna Miller the actress bought one of them, somebody else bought the other and again we beat the market expectations because I started to understand that the people really appreciated good space, good planning and I got a feeling of a thing called emotional purchase where people walk in and go yep I like that.

Alex: Yeah and they fall in love with it and I mean you’re very much renowned for transforming in particular lower ground floors and going down I think a number of stories going underground. How do you go about transforming what is effectively what is a windowless lower ground floor dark basement into something that actually sets the property apart and make it excel and obviously get that end result and that end buyer?

Alan: Well the interesting thing about the lower ground is if you just look at the floor plate, what’s interesting you only have the steps going down, you don’t have any obviously steps going further down because they don’t exist so as against the other floors of the staircase takes up less room and so that in turn gives you a much bigger space to work with and also greater opportunity for having the whole space open plan, so that’s just talking about the floor plate. The second thing is crucial to these types of floors is ceiling height and we’ve done anything from 2.75 in my latest project in Notting Hill to 3.4, and interestingly in Notting Hill because we’ve done the plans some time ago I didn’t realise during the construction phase that the ceiling heights were only two and a half metres, and so we actually had to go back to planning to get that extra 25cm and also that meant another parting wall and it also obviously meant digging down further and costing more, taking more time but that extra 25cm the floor actually made a massive difference and I’m a great believer in turning the negatives to a positive. The next thing obviously is how you can introduce natural light. In one project where it was a mews house and it just had windows at the front and so really who looked at it thought well how dark and dingy it was because it had houses on the other three sides. But what I did is I took out one of the back corners of the property, put in the glass retractable roof and then a 10 metre copper waterfall going all the way down into a Zen garden and again that transformed a negative to a positive, people walked in and thought wow I wasn’t expecting to see that and then amongst the space in the lower ground floor we also had additional voids so in essence double height ceilings to create that special atmosphere. I don’t know if that gives you a flavour. In another property I put up a floor to ceiling copper fireplace in the lower ground floor. So, you know lots of things you can do so when people go down they think wow I wasn’t expecting to see that and different ways to turn a negative into a positive.

Alex: And as you said just coming in from a completely different angle and as you said doing something that is unexpected I think that’s what really propels your property expertise into another level, I think that’s a fair comment. And what are people having in these lower ground floors and what is the space normally or is it if you can think of it you can put it down or design it all or not?

Alan: Obviously, every property is different and in when I did in Belgravia where we won best interior design in the country, we had a bedroom suite which had a steam room on it, we had a TV area, we had the Zen garden and then we had sort of a laundry and a wine cellar. In another one I did in Belgravia it was just open plan kitchen dining and a bit of a snug with a TV. The one which I’ve just done in Notting Hill on the lower ground floor what I done is I dropped the patio garden from ground to lower ground, so you could walk straight out from the kitchen dining snug out onto the terrace so if you wanted to have al fresco dining it was easy to sort out and then the floor below in the basement we had a TV room, we had 2 bedrooms, both with en suites, both looking out onto the patio and we had a laundry room.

Alex: So, a huge range of things. Now I suppose you’re an extremely experienced chap and I mean when you look to develop a property, what would you say are your top tips in terms of just an insight on that angle.

Alan: I think the thing people forget when they do the numbers on the property is at the end of the day the numbers only work if the end product is tip top, and my company Landmass has sort of made a point of making sure that each and every property that we bring to the market, for where it is and what it is, ticks all the boxes because if it doesn’t, the initial financial appraisal you do, you might as well put it in the bin. It’s very binary in the higher end of the market because if people don’t like it they don’t then negotiate on the price they just say you know thanks but not for us and it’s a little like in Little Britain where they go into the travel agents and they want to go away somewhere and the person behind the desk says sorry computer says no, it’s as simple as that. So, you’ve got to get the product right and on that there is nothing to do with the finishes it’s all to do with how you create the space. But the three main things on your appraisal are obviously your sales price, working out what your deed can sell it for, secondly is your construction and professional fees which will obviously vary from project to project and to get realistic numbers for that the contingency is always a red herring because it’s always used so up so you may want to add a little bit on top of that and then of course the timeline because obviously each projects different and timeline obviously affects the financials in so far as the interest costs. Once you determine those you then work out what your profit margin wants to be because you know everybody has their own formula for that and if it’s all cash then that’s all straight forward, if you can use bank debt put those numbers in and then what that in turn does it then spits out what you can afford to pay for it.

Alex: Yeah quite, so it’s a lot more methodical and calculated?

Alan: Yeah exactly, say in essence what you’re doing is working backwards from the end price, you cast your timeline, and your financial cost, put in your margin and then work out what you can afford to pay for it.

Alex: All makes sense on paper of course doesn’t it? Yeah, I guess in the real world it may be sometimes slightly different in you just need to make a very precise judgement call. I think you’re very good indeed on the interior design side of things and I think very often when you talk about these sort of things, about the light wells and the Zen gardens, it’s very much of interior design led, and the final touch and the feel of it.

Alan: If it’s done properly, especially complemented with the same flooring throughout, it does give that feeling of space. Now it’s not as easy as it sounds because the way we go about it depending on the property each one has different light, will look at different shades of white, different times of the day, different rooms in the house and then different textures of paint. So, what we then can come up with is some of what works best for the property in that location.

Alex: What do you feel currently defines luxury in homes at the moment? There’s sort of a lot of specialist in inverted commas out there, but what is it you’re at the forefront of it but what actually defines it? Is it that sort of bespoke touch to everything?

Alan: I think the main thing is if you’re doing a ploy to sell is as a developer when I look at my role it’s like being a conductor of the orchestra and the challenge is putting the team together and different designers have different egos and different views and different architects the same, and so the skill of the developer is having the vision and then getting the team to follow that vision and in every case I’ve always had discussions, disagreements with the design team about what they want to do and what I want to have, and sometimes I’ve gone along with their ideas and sometimes they’ve come along with my ideas. So it’s something which you’ve got to lead from the front and this really comes from either having the right eye or having the right eye and also experience but I don’t think there’s a secret formula, it’s just some people either have it or they don’t and the main thing is that the dog wags the tail not the tail wags the dog so you have to you know sometimes designers will come up with ideas which you know they’re super passionate about but you have to say well I don’t think that’s what the clients going to want or the buyers going to want.

Alex: No absolutely.

Alan: In essence all we’re doing is we’re creating a widget to sell, and it happens to be a super luxury product but if people walk in and don’t like it then they’ll just walk out the door.

Alex: What are the actual rules I suppose? Do you have any rules dare I say in your role when it actually comes to the interior and the actual finish of a particular project or property that you handle?

Alan: Yeah, I mean Alex, at Landmass we do follow a very strict process and that is if we’re doing work for a client obviously step one is to take the brief, understand what they want to achieve out of it. Then the second part is then coming up with design, layout solutions, architectural design which will hopefully give them things which they had never thought about and looking at a property in a way which they didn’t think was.

Alex: Now I’ve got to say there is some fantastic tips and insights into your world, really fascinating stuff. If anyone wanted to sort of see a bit more, I know you briefly mentioned the website and to get in touch with you what are the best ways?

Alan: The easiest ways through the website which is landmass.co.uk If they want to email me directly alan@landmass.co.uk

Alex: Fantastic. Can’t thank you enough again Alan, really appreciate your time.

The property hospital is all about me answering your property concerns and putting you back in control. Now this week I’m answering a question from Tom who’s got this question to ask.

Tom: Hi Alex, I’m about to put my house onto the market. I’ve seen three agents, but I don’t know which one to appoint. Do you have any insider tips please?

Alex: Tom, a useful question and one often asked by many homeowners. The points that regularly come up revolve around price, fees or professionalism. Now most vendors think they’re doing the logical thing by choosing a mixture of these points however they’re all completely wrong. What you need to look at is each agents’ front of house team. These are the people sat in the estate agents’ office each day, meeting and greeting walk in enquiries, taking incoming phone calls and they’re the ones actually noted by a database, these are the people who will actually sell your home and not the estate agents sat in your kitchen. Now you want to check out the front of house team before you see the agents at your home, go into each estate agents’ office and see how knowledgeable and helpful the front of house team are, mystery shop them in effect. You will know instantly which agent to go with. If you’re treated well as a perspective purchaser, then you’re more likely to find the right answer when you come to sell.

Voiceover: The Property Hot Seat.
Name?

Joel: Joel Smith

Voiceover: Business?

Joel: SSA Architects

Voiceover: Time in property?

Joel: I’ve been operating as an architect in Harrogate and London for the last 10 years.

Alex: We are honoured indeed to have Joel Smith here in the studio today just to talk through architects, both on the residential side and indeed the commercial side and just to demystify what these actually do. Now Joel, it’s a big hot topic at the moment, you’ve very much got Grand Designs, dare I say Small Spaces and good old George Clarke in there and they’re making extending and building look mighty easy. How do you rate these programmes? Do they have a point at all?

Joel: Yes Alex, simple answer is I do rate these programmes and actually I think they’re really valid. One, they’re enjoyable and informative, but two I think they help elevate the role of the designer and how we can affect the spaces that we live in. I think the consideration for any extension for instance should always be how can I improve the space that I dwell in? Certainly, Kevin McCloud has championed that to such a high degree that he’s really helped the industry. I’m not 100% sure that they make the process look easy though, in fact in many cases they focus on the pitfalls, the challenges and in a sense of course they have to increase the drama which often leaves me voicing my opinion should we say at the TV. But as I say Kevin McCloud specifically has done an incredible amount to raise awareness.

Alex: It’s helped you in terms of an architects practice because people are saying I’ve seen a this on TV, I’ve got this idea that I want to do to my home and can we involve you and it’s working more along those line.

Joel: Yeah absolutely, and as I say they do champion a role of architect within that and yes certainly once you see people who’ve been and got a little bit of ambition, a little bit of desire to improve their space that helps no end. And from an architect’s point of view it’s great to see what contemporaries are up to.

Alex: No absolutely and I mean these programmes often talk about the phrase or the term permitted development and a lot of people think this may be more serialised on television but permitted development makes it sound very easy to get that grand extension and off you go. That’s what these programmes tend to suggest, how does that actually work in real life terms? What is permitted development?

Joel: Right yeah, fair question Alex, and you’re right it’s certainly a hot topic and it’s a great thing actually. A permitted development rights are essentially a national grant of planning permission. They allow building work to be carried out without having to make an application for planning, however, you still need to be aware of certain aspects, you still of course need to notify your local authority and as always ensure building regulations compliance. Permitted development is as I say in principal a great idea and I believe that it has the intention of aiding a really important aspect of our economy, you know the smaller builders, the tradesmen, the designers. You know we in the UK have a very interesting approach to our homes, I find this really interesting, we have the smallest space standards in Europe, yet our homes are our castle and it turns out they’re not the biggest by comparison. But as I say you still need to contact the local authority and make them aware of your intentions. Permitted development rights are quite prescriptive so I would urge anybody considering a mid-development or any extension to look at the planning portal, speak with your local authority if you need to, obviously as I would always say speak with the designer, they have to be aware of things like designated areas where specifically in Harrogate area for instance, your conservation areas, areas of outstanding natural beauty, in some instances where you’ve extended before you may need to speak to your local authority before and there’s things to be aware of and you do need to do a little bit of research here Alex, because you’ve got existing curtilage of your site, principal elevations to your property, what’s the size of the proposed extension, what’s the height, how close are you to your boundary?

Alex: So good old George Clarke it’s not quite as straightforward as going oh we’re going to put on this lovely little extension and let’s just build it tomorrow afternoon. There’s a bit more of a process, it’s not as simple as possibly they make out.

Joel: Well I can’t comment on George Clarke because he is a fellow contemporary of course but then you always need to take some appropriate advice I would always ensure that.

Alex: Ok and in terms of I suppose, the larger extensions, just going I suppose beyond the permitted development and again this is from the private individual’s perspective, what do you actually need to be mindful of when you want to undertake such a project? I’m thinking sort of the timeframes and what’s actually involved in the planning process there?

Joel: Yeah fair enough, and I can appreciate in a lot on instances for people looking to extend it can come across as provisionally quite daunting and actually there’s a few things to consider before you even take pen to paper as it were. I’d always personally refer people to the RIBA website, they do a great bit of work for the profession in the background and in the forefront in fact, you know they do many useful sections, progressive design areas but also help you find the architect who can help you start the ball rolling with you and from a personal point of view there’s a good local sub group in this area called the North Yorkshire Society of Architects, again they work to promote good design and architects and the role we can play. But enough of the professional pitch, back to your questions the first consideration should surely be what are we extending for, what are my needs? In practice we would call this determining the brief. What does the design need to reflect in terms of your requirement as the owner and client? In terms of timeframes there’s actually many factors to take into account and you know the RIBA again have a great useful guide detailed plan of work which identifies key stages to be mindful of. So I refer back to identification of need, what do you want to gain out of your project, preliminary design, you know how we start to get things on paper, how’s it look, does it reflect what we’ve got in our minds, are we getting it on paper and of course we need to amend the design to reflect those needs, ultimately finalise these proposals. Of course, then you have to go for your planning permission and planning consent, you know can take between 8 and 12 weeks but bear in mid it can take longer.

Alex: When and why would it take longer? Because of the size or complexity of the job or if things fall behind?

Joel: Well all of those parts come into it but also you know is there a challenged with the design? Is there some additional legislation you need to be aware of? So again, dialogue at that point is important and you have to be slightly open-minded to that I think from my point of view. Time to discharge any pre-commencement conditions, when you’ve got that piece of paper from the planners you know hopefully it’s the piece of paper you want, and it says granted, but of course there’s often pre-commencement conditions there, which again just looks to protect you ultimately but also ensure that it fits with the planning permission granted. That can take a little bit of time, then of course you need too cost the project, obtain suitable quotes and time to actually construct the extension. I think also in the background of that, not necessarily a timeframe questions but how are you going to have that building and who’s going to build it for you. I’d always suggest requesting referrals, those are a great bit of use.

Alex: That’s the recommended builders?

Joel: Recommended yeah, you know many people, British people, like to refer, if someone’s not referring somebody what’s the reason behind that? We all like a referral. Have a look at the work they’ve done maybe, you know sure they should be proud of the work they’ve undertaken, the designs they’ve come up with and that should be a constructive dialogue and then yes certainly do that please.

Alex: I know people are often I suppose mindful, how do you actually keep the local authority, for example here, how do you keep Harrogate Borough council on side because you do hear albeit I dare say it, serialising in the media that people have run into all sorts of difficulties with their panning application, why have they gone a miss and why have they got on the wrong side of the council, how do you keep in their good books?

Joel: Well dialogue, simple as that and in simple terms and I you know personally would never recommend approaching an application with conflict on the agenda. Do things properly, the role of the architect here is to interpret your needs, provide information and help you navigate the planning process and as I say the LA shouldn’t be viewed with the barrier, it isn’t there to be bashed down, you need to approach any development with an open mind and be prepared to discuss your proposals with them. This as you’ve touched on, they do get a bit of negative press but that’s because maybe they’ll read on a isolated basis, case-by-case basis, their position in fairness is to protect the areas in which we live so the areas which will exist much longer than we will and really they’re part of a wider policy to ensure that amenity space and positive design and construction reflects where we live.

Alex: So, if you know their rues and you’re ticking their boxes where you go you’re not going to have an issue, it’s if you want to do something I’d say that’s pushing the boundaries or possibly being slightly controversial that’s when like you said in an isolated case it may not be looked upon possibly favourably.

Joel: Yeah, it’s difficult one to answer that Alex because you know the local authority isn’t there to champion good design as well you know the positive design from their point of view, they want to progress that with you and really you that maybe areas of conservation might need a slightly different approach etc. I think in the main the idea is the better design helps everyone ultimately. Yeah, I think they’re all boarded, I don’t see any negativity when it comes to positive design.

Alex: Fantastic, Joel I can’t thank you enough. Very useful and great insight there, so if anyone needs to discuss ant of there home getting extended, permitted development, the small space type of thing or the commercial side of things, what’s the best way for people to reach you?

Joel: Fabulous, well I’d be more than happy to speak to anyone who’s got any queries. My number is 01423 856999, but you’re more than welcome to look at our website which is www.ssaarchitects.co.uk

Alex: Ok, fantastic Joel, thank you very much again really appreciate your time.

Well I’ve got some unusual top tips for you this month because it’s my last ever show with Stray FM and I’ve had an absolute blast over the last 15 months and thoroughly enjoyed outing the show together. The feedback from listeners and people downloading the podcast has been fabulous with my social media accounts rife with activity as result. Many people are saying how much they’ve learnt about property through listening to the show and that’s exactly why I did it. Exciting developments are on the horizon so look out for my new expert videos and line Q&A sessions. These can be found on the new website alexgoldstein.co.uk So listen in, my top tips for this month are follow me on Twitter @AlexOGoldstein, number two find me on LinkedIn and Facebook at Alex Goldstein Property Consultants and of course visit the website alexgoldstein.co.uk regularly for the latest hot property tips, news and videos. My last top tip, enjoy your property move and thank you as ever for listening. That’s all from the Alex Goldstein Property Show.

Listen to Alex Goldstein’s interview with award-winning designer and property developer Alan Waxman of Landmass, who is one of the most sought-after designers in London, credited with transforming properties with the most desirable London postcodes. He specialises in lower ground floors and basements, turning former dark and dingy areas into stunning interior spaces. Here he shares his tops tips on developing property.

Interview with Alan Waxman of Landmass

Full transcript below:

Alex: We’re honoured indeed to have property royalty here in the studio over the phone. This is Alan Waxman from Landmass in London. Just to give people an understanding Alan is one of London’s most high-profile property designers and developers and actually has been credited with transforming the lower ground floors of prime central London, especially in Belgravia and Knightsbridge and dare I say you’ve even been nicknamed the mole as well. Alan, great to have you on. On the back of this how has Landmass come into being, what’s your background and why this sort of angle, what you’ve been known for more recently in terms of the low ground floor side of things?

Alan: Good morning Alex and thank you very much for the very kind introduction. I think when anybody starts any career they never really know how its going to end up and the same with my journey through property because when I started my only ambition was to buy a few rental properties starting in Fulham then Woolwich and Brixton, Clapham etc. and had nothing to do with actually doing anything about design or indeed building any basements. But what happened was I started as I said to build up this portfolio and I couldn’t get the rental incomes I wanted on one or two of them so I thought well maybe I can sell them for a profit, managed to do that having just give them a little lick of paint and a clean up and then I thought well why not buy something in order to redevelop and see if I can do that as well, and I bought a couple of floors above an off licence in Fulham on a very busy road called Wandsworth Bridge Road and during the design process because I wasn’t sure how it would pan out I actually moved the kitchen three times which obviously cost me a lot of money with the builder but the end result was the flow was good and I got it checked by a feng shui lady too because I was curious to see what you know professionals would think and she liked it and it was the first time I got a higher than expected price from the agents because of what we did. Then following on from that I bought a couple of flats in Notting Hill which were existing two bed flats and most developers would have perhaps tried to convert them into three bed flats, but I really had a big look at the space and I really thought that once again how we use the space is so important and decided to make them into one bed flats.

Alex: Wow so you went completely in the other direction of most people?

Alan: Absolutely yes, and then Sienna Miller the actress bought one of them, somebody else bought the other and again we beat the market expectations because I started to understand that the people really appreciated good space, good planning and I got a feeling of a thing called emotional purchase where people walk in and go yep I like that.

Alex: Yeah and they fall in love with it and I mean you’re very much renowned for transforming in particular lower ground floors and going down I think a number of stories going underground. How do you go about transforming what is effectively what is a windowless lower ground floor dark basement into something that actually sets the property apart and make it excel and obviously get that end result and that end buyer?

Alan: Well the interesting thing about the lower ground is if you just look at the floor plate, what’s interesting you only have the steps going down, you don’t have any obviously steps going further down because they don’t exist so as against the other floors of the staircase takes up less room and so that in turn gives you a much bigger space to work with and also greater opportunity for having the whole space open plan, so that’s just talking about the floor plate. The second thing is crucial to these types of floors is ceiling height and we’ve done anything from 2.75 in my latest project in Notting Hill to 3.4, and interestingly in Notting Hill because we’ve done the plans some time ago I didn’t realise during the construction phase that the ceiling heights were only two and a half metres, and so we actually had to go back to planning to get that extra 25cm and also that meant another parting wall and it also obviously meant digging down further and costing more, taking more time but that extra 25cm the floor actually made a massive difference and I’m a great believer in turning the negatives to a positive. The next thing obviously is how you can introduce natural light. In one project where it was a mews house and it just had windows at the front and so really who looked at it thought well how dark and dingy it was because it had houses on the other three sides. But what I did is I took out one of the back corners of the property, put in the glass retractable roof and then a 10 metre copper waterfall going all the way down into a Zen garden and again that transformed a negative to a positive, people walked in and thought wow I wasn’t expecting to see that and then amongst the space in the lower ground floor we also had additional voids so in essence double height ceilings to create that special atmosphere. I don’t know if that gives you a flavour. In another property I put up a floor to ceiling copper fireplace in the lower ground floor. So, you know lots of things you can do so when people go down they think wow I wasn’t expecting to see that and different ways to turn a negative into a positive.

Alex: And as you said just coming in from a completely different angle and as you said doing something that is unexpected I think that’s what really propels your property expertise into another level, I think that’s a fair comment. And what are people having in these lower ground floors and what is the space normally or is it if you can think of it you can put it down or design it all or not?

Alan: Obviously, every property is different and in when I did in Belgravia where we won best interior design in the country, we had a bedroom suite which had a steam room on it, we had a TV area, we had the Zen garden and then we had sort of a laundry and a wine cellar. In another one I did in Belgravia it was just open plan kitchen dining and a bit of a snug with a TV. The one which I’ve just done in Notting Hill on the lower ground floor what I done is I dropped the patio garden from ground to lower ground, so you could walk straight out from the kitchen dining snug out onto the terrace so if you wanted to have al fresco dining it was easy to sort out and then the floor below in the basement we had a TV room, we had 2 bedrooms, both with en suites, both looking out onto the patio and we had a laundry room.

Alex: So, a huge range of things. Now I suppose you’re an extremely experienced chap and I mean when you look to develop a property, what would you say are your top tips in terms of just an insight on that angle.

Alan: I think the thing people forget when they do the numbers on the property is at the end of the day the numbers only work if the end product is tip top, and my company Landmass has sort of made a point of making sure that each and every property that we bring to the market, for where it is and what it is, ticks all the boxes because if it doesn’t, the initial financial appraisal you do, you might as well put it in the bin. It’s very binary in the higher end of the market because if people don’t like it they don’t then negotiate on the price they just say you know thanks but not for us and it’s a little like in Little Britain where they go into the travel agents and they want to go away somewhere and the person behind the desk says sorry computer says no, it’s as simple as that. So, you’ve got to get the product right and on that there is nothing to do with the finishes it’s all to do with how you create the space. But the three main things on your appraisal are obviously your sales price, working out what your deed can sell it for, secondly is your construction and professional fees which will obviously vary from project to project and to get realistic numbers for that the contingency is always a red herring because it’s always used so up so you may want to add a little bit on top of that and then of course the timeline because obviously each projects different and timeline obviously affects the financials in so far as the interest costs. Once you determine those you then work out what your profit margin wants to be because you know everybody has their own formula for that and if it’s all cash then that’s all straight forward, if you can use bank debt put those numbers in and then what that in turn does it then spits out what you can afford to pay for it.

Alex: Yeah quite, so it’s a lot more methodical and calculated?

Alan: Yeah exactly, say in essence what you’re doing is working backwards from the end price, you cast your timeline, and your financial cost, put in your margin and then work out what you can afford to pay for it.

Alex: All makes sense on paper of course doesn’t it? Yeah, I guess in the real world it may be sometimes slightly different in you just need to make a very precise judgement call. I think you’re very good indeed on the interior design side of things and I think very often when you talk about these sort of things, about the light wells and the Zen gardens, it’s very much of interior design led, and the final touch and the feel of it.

Alan: If it’s done properly, especially complemented with the same flooring throughout, it does give that feeling of space. Now it’s not as easy as it sounds because the way we go about it depending on the property each one has different light, will look at different shades of white, different times of the day, different rooms in the house and then different textures of paint. So, what we then can come up with is some of what works best for the property in that location.

Alex: What do you feel currently defines luxury in homes at the moment? There’s sort of a lot of specialist in inverted commas out there, but what is it you’re at the forefront of it but what actually defines it? Is it that sort of bespoke touch to everything?

Alan: I think the main thing is if you’re doing a ploy to sell is as a developer when I look at my role it’s like being a conductor of the orchestra and the challenge is putting the team together and different designers have different egos and different views and different architects the same, and so the skill of the developer is having the vision and then getting the team to follow that vision and in every case I’ve always had discussions, disagreements with the design team about what they want to do and what I want to have, and sometimes I’ve gone along with their ideas and sometimes they’ve come along with my ideas. So it’s something which you’ve got to lead from the front and this really comes from either having the right eye or having the right eye and also experience but I don’t think there’s a secret formula, it’s just some people either have it or they don’t and the main thing is that the dog wags the tail not the tail wags the dog so you have to you know sometimes designers will come up with ideas which you know they’re super passionate about but you have to say well I don’t think that’s what the clients going to want or the buyers going to want.

Alex: No absolutely.

Alan: In essence all we’re doing is we’re creating a widget to sell, and it happens to be a super luxury product but if people walk in and don’t like it then they’ll just walk out the door.

Alex: What are the actual rules I suppose? Do you have any rules dare I say in your role when it actually comes to the interior and the actual finish of a particular project or property that you handle?

Alan: Yeah, I mean Alex, at Landmass we do follow a very strict process and that is if we’re doing work for a client obviously step one is to take the brief, understand what they want to achieve out of it. Then the second part is then coming up with design, layout solutions, architectural design which will hopefully give them things which they had never thought about and looking at a property in a way which they didn’t think was.

Alex: Now I’ve got to say there is some fantastic tips and insights into your world, really fascinating stuff. If anyone wanted to sort of see a bit more, I know you briefly mentioned the website and to get in touch with you what are the best ways?

Alan: The easiest ways through the website which is landmass.co.uk If they want to email me directly alan@landmass.co.uk

Alex: Fantastic. Can’t thank you enough again Alan, really appreciate your time.

The Alex Goldstein Property Show (part 15) is packed full of useful information, including top tips from security expert Patrick Beebe, excellent advice on kitchens and the latest trends from Rich Kitchens’ Anthony Rich-Caine, and advice on whether estate agents can be trusted these days. Alex also explains what to look for in a removal firm, and answers this month’s property hospital question about packing services.

The Alex Goldstein Property Show (Part 15)

Full transcript below:

Alex: Welcome again to the Alex Goldstein Property Show (part 15). The number one property show on Stray FM. We aim to demystify the property sector and all thing property related to help you make the right decisions when it comes to your property experience. My social media accounts are getting busier and busier, so look don’t be left behind, follow me on Twitter at #AlexOGoldstein, or of course on Facebook or LinkedIn at Alex Goldstein Property Consultants. Now look this month we will be putting Anthony from Rich Kitchens through his paces in the hot seat to get expert insight into kitchens and why there is such a huge variation in prices. We discuss how secure is your home? With Patrick from Keybury Fire and Security to help you understand the importance of security and the steps you can take to make your home well as safe as houses. A huge amount to fit in as always so straight on with it.

In this month’s property news, we’re talking about the election fever and estate agents, and of course it’s another chance to exercise your democratic right as we approach the 2017 general election. We’ve had Brexit and Trump and now we get to vote on who we want to run our country. It remains to be seen whether the shock of these two surprise results is enough to prize people off their sofas and into the voting booth. But to be honest I don’t think it’s simply complacency and inertia that will stop people voting this time, it will come down to if people trust the eventual Prime Minister in what they say they’re going to do and more importantly what they’re not saying. Contradictory promises, mudslinging and our poor grasp of financial figures all need to be thrown aside for really what I hear from my travels across Yorkshire, people just want to know the truth, put their full trust in the newly appointed leader and just get on with it. Makes me think about really the way that people perceive estate agents. Now regrettably trust isn’t a word readily associated with the sector which today is often unjustified, many agents really do, do a great job in what remains a difficult market. However, some of them still shoot themselves in the foot by using clichéd phrases such as requires some updating, basically it’s a money pit, viewing recommended, keen to get at least one viewing and my absolute personal favourite, deceptively spacious, looks small because it is small. It leaves buyers feeling that they’re being duped. The whole industry has really come a very long way since the 1970s when dealing with agents was more like the Wild West and very few restrictions on how they operated. Nowadays there are rules and regulations to protect you the consumer. The sectors really sharpened up its act to shrug off this wide boy image that has dogged it for years. Although I’m not an estate agent myself I do liaise with them on a daily basis and I’m pleased to report that the vast majority are hardworking, decent and honest. Now obviously with 15 years in property I’ve developed long term relationships with those I trust most. This kind of relationship takes time, energy and constant clear communication to develop so that each side is able to trust each other and do their job properly. Now, as I’m sure you know the process of buying and selling houses doesn’t always run smoothly and it’s at these times that the relationship is really tested. I’m very fortunate in that I know which agent I can rely on in those situations which is why I can recommend them to my clients. I always work in my client’s best interests and they trust me implicitly in this. The moment I lose this key factor I might as well pack up and go live in a deceptively spacious property, in need of updating with an easy to maintain garden, close to local transport links, otherwise known as a hole in the ground. Some may argue that politicians should do the same.

Its great to have Patrick from Keybury Fire and Security here in the studio. We’re just going to delve into home security and really just understand this sector a bit more. Patrick thanks for coming in. Now obviously people have heard of ADT and Job and those larger companies out there but what do you guys actually do? You’re a smaller outfit albeit but what does it entail your side?

Patrick: Well we are a smaller company, but we do cover the whole of Yorkshire. We cover domestic systems, commercial systems for intruder alarm, CCTV, fire alarms, access control, fire risk assessments so pretty much everything that the big boys do but perhaps on a bit more of a personal self-service compared to ringing through onto a switchboard where you might have a faceless person, you would know who you’re speaking to when you get through to us. When we ring you back it’s the same person you can speak to, so a little bit more personalisation compared to what the bigger companies may offer.

Alex: And what do you guys do, I mean you outlined everything but effectively is it a case of if it’s a property you can put some security in it and depending on the levels that are involved you can sort of talk anyone through it?

Patrick: Yeah, if you’ve got a property that you’ve got no idea about security in at all then you know it’s a clean canvas and we would come in, listen to what your requirements may be, you may have something specific you want to cover within the property. We will go away, and we’ll take the plans away and we’ll have a look at the site and come up with some ideas on what we can propose for a new system for you. If you’ve already got an existing system, then we’re quite capable as well of taking that over from a previous company and looking after that as well so you don’t have to have a brand-new system installed.

Alex: How does it work just firstly on the CCTV side because a lot of people say well look I had some minor CCTV cameras just a couple put up back in the day, how can you get round that because again I’m always mindful of client costs and that side of things, what can you do as the workaround?

Patrick: If there’s been a system that’s been installed, and we do come across systems where perhaps somebody’s bought it from a DIY shop or something like that so it’s also cheaper perhaps in the short term but in the long term it’s not necessarily. We can come in and utilise the existing cabling that’s in place so you’re not having to take floor boards up again and start you know taking the carpets up. We have systems that would fit across all sorts of different cabling that might have been installed so some of the newer systems nowadays go in with cat 5 cable and cat 6. The older ones would have been on co actual cable but ultimately nowadays people really would like HD images, whereas you know a long time ago those images weren’t really like anything they are today so taking an old system that’s been installed, taking the old hardware out and then just put it in a new camera that would fit onto that old cabling isn’t actually quite a big task nowadays to do.

Alex: Is it not also that with the wireless options that you sometimes see on the camera side, is that ever an option where there’s been issues?

Patrick: We’ve always tended to sort of stay away from the wireless cameras. We’ve always done a hardwired system basically from a reliability point of view.

Alex: Now, I guess is there a hacking risk as well?

Patrick: There is, but also you know wireless can drop off now and again for whatever reason that might be, whereas on a wired system all the integrity is a lot more secure.

Alex: What’s the latest I suppose, security tech that’s coming out? Because I know you can get sort of some mobile phone apps and that side of things, just talk us through that and anything else.

Patrick: Mobile phones are playing a big part in the marketplace for the security industry nowadays and you know a lot of people want to integrate the camera system at their houses onto their smartphones and their iPads remotely while they’re not actually at the property so if you’ve gone away on holiday and the intruder alarm is set and the cameras are all running 24/7 recording, if the intruder alarm activated that would send you a push notification through onto your mobile phone to say the alarm had activated, you can then log on to the cameras at your house just have a look round the perimeter or internals if you had it fitted inside, once you’ve established if there’s been a genuine activation from there on you can either you know pass that through to the key holder or the police but there’s also the option if it’s somebody that you know, a relative might have come in with a key didn’t realise the alarm was set, you’ll see that and you’re quite capable as well of turning the alarm system off by your phone, wherever you may be, unsettling it, have a word with them, how they go.

Alex: Is it a standing joke as well you can look into your mobile and actually watch your house being burgled, does that happen as well?

Patrick: Well I suppose in theory it could do that.

Alex: The other point that links in with this on the alarm side of things, what is actually possible? I know we’ve just talked about things about the alarm and it’s effectively a bell in a box on the side of your house, but I think it’s a bit more than that nowadays isn’t it?

Patrick: Yes, alarm systems have come on quite a lot as well in the years. You can start at a very very basic system which, it might just be an audible only system within your property that would not frighten the neighbours of an external siren going off. There is also the options from that where that notification could then go through to a monitoring station, it can go through to your mobile phone on the app as well, you can add both so the app would notify you but you might be away and think well actually what can I do here so the monitoring station can the take control and say right well we’ve got a list of key holders here so we’ll contact the key holders, the one above, that is the police response system, so if we have an alarm activation at a property on a police system, it works slightly different in that when the alarm system is set then we would generate what’s called a confirmed alarm. So how that would work is if a burglar broke in through the kitchen and activated the alarm sensor that would send the first signal through to the monitoring station to say we have an alert at this property. If they then proceeded to go through into the hallway with our two alarm sensors activated within a time window there, so that is an instant confirmed alarm to the police monitoring station, so the police would come straight out to that one, followed on by the key holders on that system.

Alex: How does it work, say for example, pets you’ve got, could have been the pet cat gone through the kitchen and then onto the hall, can alarms tell the difference nowadays or how do you get round that or would you just have to leave your cat in a particular room?

Patrick: You can have pet sensors now that can be installed on the system designed around your requirements where the pet would stay, so there are sensors that will ignore a pet up to a certain size, a dog and a cat, so that’s workable within a system if you particularly want them to have free roam of the house. There’s also options where you may give them the whole of the ground floor for instance where we could do vibration detection on the windows and glass and glass break detection devices as well, as opposed to just internal movement sensors. Course the internal movement sensors are good, and somebody breaks in they are actually in your house at that point whereas you may be considering a perimeter protection type system as well, so there’s quite a few variations on what you could use that for.

Alex: Fantastic stuff, Patrick I can’t thank you enough some really great insight and expert tips. Now if anyone wanted to sort of talk anything through with you guys in a bit more detail, what’s the best way to get hold of you?

Patrick: Well we’re on the web, www.keybury.co.uk and the telephone number to call is 01423 876348 so feel free to get in touch.

Alex: Fantastic Patrick thank you very much indeed.

The property hospital is all about me answering your property concerns and demystifying the process. Now this week I’m answering a question from Chris who’s got this to say.

Chris: Hi Alex, I’m moving soon and need to book a removal firm. I’ve already had some quotes and they are so different, from a few hundred quid to over a thousand. Of course, I want to get the best deal but I’m afraid if I choose the cheapest I might not get a good service. How do I know who to choose?

Alex: Excellent question Chris. It’s true cost between removal companies varies vastly and it really is sometimes difficult to know whether you paying more is worth it. Really the best thing is to get three quotes and find out exactly what’s included in the service. Now I’ve actually just done this myself, and I personally felt paying more for a great removals firm was actually worth their weight in gold. After all, buying a property can be stressful and why make it more stressful at the end? Trying to pack up in time, especially if you have children and then forgetting which box items were in when you arrive at your new home is sometimes just not worth the hassle. Check out all the removal firms well in advance of your move date so that as soon as you reach exchange you can book your favourite in. The good ones will get booked up very quickly, so you need to be on the ball. Check their insurance cover, who will be moving your items and who will be your key point of contact. If you’re unsure who to use just let me know and I can point you in the right direction. I hope this helps.

Voiceover: The Property Hot Seat
Name?

Anthony: Anthony Rich Kane

Voiceover: Business?

Anthony: Rich Kitchens

Voiceover: Years’ experience?

Anthony: Well over ten.

Alex: We are honoured indeed to have Anthony Rich-Kane from Rich Kitchens here in the studio just to give us a great insight into what I think at times a fairly mystical world of kitchens. Now Anthony look, everybody loves a great kitchen but what are you really getting and what are you actually paying for because as I see it and a lot of people see you can go to one of the big shed set ups, the big DIY stores shall we say and you can spend a couple of thousand, you can then go to the very high end and certainly dare I say in London and in and around Harrogate you can then sort of go up to almost 100 thousand sometimes even more for a kitchen, what is going on behind the scenes here and what are you actually paying for?

Anthony: Ok so realistically you should be paying for the materials that are used, so that’s the man-made woods or real woods in fact and also the methods used. So, is it handmade, it is manufactured in a large factory? That’s the way they can keep the costs down. Are the doors wrapped or are they hand painted? All these things make the cost heighten up massively. However, the biggest cost is really the company’s overheads, that’s what we found we come up against.

Alex: And you mean by overheads in terms of them having high street presence do you mean, sort of a showroom of sorts, a big department store?

Anthony: Definitely, so somebody with a showroom, their overheads are astronomical compared to someone that’s potentially working from a small office, has a small studio. Customers will buy into the large chains, however they’re paying a lot more just for that pleasure.

Alex: Is it not the case, say B&Q, huge huge outfit, is it not a case then of economies of scale? They’re buying in materials and goods at hug huge bulk. Say like the huge supermarkets like Aldi, they just buy in huge bulk and they offer their customers a discount. Does it not work like that necessarily?

Anthony: Similarly so, though most high street brands and most high street names that we’ll know of in the kitchen industries, they don’t actually keep that much stock. So, they are actually operating very similar to a small operation where a measures done, a design is done, once it’s agreed then the order is placed, then the kitchen is delivered from wherever.

Alex: And then they make it up, so they are literally running it to order. Thank you very much indeed. You’re quite unusual I think in your role in the kitchen sector. How can you help people? How do you source things? I know you sort of mentioned a bit of a difference between smaller and the larger set ups at the moment.

Anthony: Ok so the way we generally operate is we can service all the market, so we can offer one kitchen to an individual public member, or we can source the kitchen to a tradesman, maybe buy in a couple of kitchens a week. We can also provide over 300 kitchens as we do to one customer every year. The difference with us is that we have a managed service, so it’s myself at the helm, a couple of chaps helping me out, but generally it’s a fully managed service from start to finish. We carry out the measure, work out designs, we’ll give a couple of difference designs and that’s the difference is we will sit there and make sure the customers happy rather than just saying this is what you can fit in there.

Alex: So, where abouts are your kitchens coming from? How are you sourcing? I know the larger set ups, they obviously have got the sawmill back out somewhere, where are you actually getting it from?

Anthony: Ok so, we’re actually members of three different global buying groups, so we’re able to source from the UK and we’re able to source from Germany. It’s a specific type of kitchen or brand that you actually ask for we can source that, and I don’t mean the high street brand kitchens are manufactured in large factories that is the brand. So, if it’s a German brand that you’re after we can pretty much source that kitchen at a fraction of the cost to a high street brand. You mentioned Alex earlier about London, there’s a kitchen currently, I won’t mention the store but there is a kitchen currently in a showroom that’s listed as £140,000. We could probably supply the same kitchen to a customer for round about sixty.

Alex: Exactly the same, no corners cut, no nothing?

Anthony: We’ve in fact taken customers over to Germany to view the factory, the warehouse where it’s actually made because people don’t believe the saving, they don’t believe it, so that sometimes they won’t buy from us just because of that.

Alex: You often hear, and I suppose it’s the same on the builder sites that people sort of get the kitchens and they get stung by the fitters, it’s not put together particularly well, or they’re mid-job and they sort of walk out for whatever reason. Is there any safety net or is there anything that the general members of the public should look out for as a possible pitfall to be mindful of?

Anthony: Ok, so this question comes up quite often on pretty much every kitchen that we supply, do you install? So as a business we often recommended installers, to anybody I would say always go with the recommendation of the kitchen company supplying the kitchen because they are their installers, they will be installing every single one of their kitchens, so they’re already tried and tested.

Alex: What’s the current trending kitchens, what’s the new gadget or the new tech or where’s the market really heading at the moment just to set the forefront of kitchens?

Anthony: Well what we’re finding a lot of customers now, they’re going more for a matte finish door, so the glossier seems to be fading out although there are some people who still want the gloss, generally developers who assume they know what the end user wants and yeah you know sometimes you’ve got to drag them through and say matte is the way forward.

Alex: And is that actually a sort of hand finished paint that you mean because I know some of the glossy is effectively a high polish plastic, veneer almost.

Anthony: It’s both really, so I mean you’ve got your wrapped doors that are ever in the matte still then you’ve got our hand painted in the higher ends which have always been matte, so what you’re finding is people are wanting to as we said before, create the better look, create the look that looks more expensive, but of a fraction of the price. People are realising actually the higher end ones are hand painted not gloss.

Alex: Fantastic, Antony I’ve got to thank you very much indeed some great insights and some top tips there Now if anyone wants to get in touch with you what’s the best way?

Anthony: So you can get in contact with us through our website which is www.richkitchens.com or you can email us on hello@richkitchens.com

Alex: That’s great Anthony, really appreciate your time and thank you again.

Following on from Chris’s excellent property hospital question, it brought to mind a question I get asked a lot by my clients, which is when moving house should you use a packing service or is it better to save your money and pack up your house by yourself? Now I personally always suggest using the packing service for the following reasons, firstly it usually costs a lot less than you think. I know a contact of mine in the removals business explained that they keep the extra cost quite small because they’d much rather you let them do it. Their guys have trained to pack things properly and you’re less likely to get breakages. Second point, any breakages that do occur should be covered by the removal firms insurance. If you packed yourself its fairly unlikely to be the case. Thirdly, the removal guys are going to be a serious amount quicker than you and the stress of just having to face it will be lifted from your shoulders. Moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do, so do yourself a favour and let someone else take this on. And the last point but take note, they will pack absolutely everything, down to the very last holey sock in your drawer so do a thorough declutter before moving day so you don’t waste time and money having to unpack rubbish you would have planned to get rid of anyway.

That’s the Alex Goldstein Property Show (part 15) and yet again some amazing top tips and features. If you need expert information, videos and up to the minute property news then head over to the website alexgoldstein.co.uk alternatively if you require personalised advice that’s built on 15 years of experience when it comes to buying or selling property just get in touch directly. The next episode is out on 1 July so make sure you tune in for that. Until next time.

In The Alex Goldstein Property Show (part 14), Alex talks to a financial expert on putting yourself in the best position to get a mortgage in this tough lending climate, and who gives his top tips to first-time buyers trying to get onto the housing ladder. He also asks whether interior designers are worth their money, and in the Property Hospital, this month is a question about buyers in a hurry. Lastly, Alex reveals a ‘Must-Do’ when you’re moving house – and which many people don’t!

The Alex Goldstein Property Show (Part 14)

Full transcript below:

Alex: Welcome again to the Alex Goldstein Property Show. The number one property show on Stray FM. We aim to demystify the property sector plus it’s associated industries and give you exceptional tips and expert insight. Now if you need that property hit, connect with the Alex Goldstein social media accounts to get the very best property advice whenever you need it. In this months show we will be getting the inside track from interior designer Eleanor Goddard from Furnish and Fettle, putting Mauro from Cathedral Finance in the hot seat and grilling him about mortgages, plus some great tips and cutting-edge property insight. Lots to fit in so we’re straight on with it.

This month it’s all about client service. Now something I value incredibly highly in business is integrity. The yardstick I use to measure this is the transparency with which people operate and I’ve long said that if you put your clients at the forefront on everything you do the clients are going to come your way. Yet let’s face it client service can be used incessantly as one of those buzzwords on company websites and many claim to care for their clients but do they really? In my mind it’s a case of going back to basics, looking in a client’s best interests putting them at the absolute centre of everything. I ask myself most days, look if the client was a member of my family how would I advise them. I’m constantly amazed how many referral fees go on behind the scenes and this isn’t just in the property sector whilst our third company may be good at what they offer, soon as a monetary incentive is introduced into the mix you’ve instantly got a bias. I’m regularly approached by businesses offering some kind of incentive to gain access to my clients, but I always turn them to the emplacement I have to say of some of them. Now I have been in the business 15 years building relationships with people I trust and yes, I’ve got a bank of solid dependable contacts. I suggest their products and services to my clients, however its safe in the knowledge that they’re the right one for each client and full confidence they’re going to do a good job. None of them ever ask for kickbacks when they send people my way and neither do I seek anything of them. We’re looking at the bigger picture you might say. So, to put this in context, for example, Robert the Decorator I suggest, he’s been in business for over 17 years and he’s of the old school. I say he’s the only decorator I know who listens to Classic FM while he works and that sums him up perfectly. He always does a great job at a fair price and sometimes even offers my clients a discount as he knows they come from me and they’re going to be easy to deal with because I’ve guided the client prior to his visit. It’s a win-win situation for all involved. Robert gets a decoration job on the right basis, my client has a home presented to a great standard which in turn makes mine and the appointed agents job much easier. The property is then sold at the best price. The payback for me is way more valuable than any below the counter monetary backhander and that is word of mouth repeat business and I want people to talk about me to each other and that simply happened by putting them first and doing a great job. As I mentioned in my recent Yorkshire Post column, 92% of my business came from word of mouth recommendations last year and that probably tells you all you need to know.

It’s great to have Eleanor Goddard from Furnish and Fettle here in the studio with me today. Eleanor thanks so much for coming in. Tell us a bit more because it’s quite interesting where you guys are at the moment, because it’s all a relatively new business isn’t it?

Eleanor: It is Alex yes, basically Furnish and Fettle was born last summer on the morning of Brexit actually which was a swell time. We bought the James Brindley business in Wetherby which had to be rebranded so furnish and Fettle was born then.

Alex: Fantastic, and also, I hear there’s some more exciting news as well, you guys don’t really hang about from what I gather.

Eleanor: No, we definitely don’t. So, we had the opportunity to buy the James Brindley interior design division in January this year, so we set ourselves a very short timescale and we opened our second Furnish and Fettle showroom in Royal Parade at the end of March.

Alex: So that’s in Harrogate, right by Valley Garden so within what timeframe is that from opening your doors initially to then opening up your Harrogate branch? Must only have been about six months I guess?

Eleanor: Yeah, I think it’s slightly longer, I think it’s eight, maybe nine months.

Alex: There you go that’s pretty impressive to start with, given that you’ve now also taken on the James Brindley side of things. You’ve got this amalgamation, what are the sort of things that say yourselves an interior designer, what are the services that you actually offer now?

Eleanor: Alright, well essentially now we’ve got the original James Brindley interior design team back together, so we’ve got a very established team of people that are used to working together and not only do we have the design team, we have the installations team and that’s really important because it doesn’t matter how good a design is if actually when you get your curtains arriving if they don’t fit properly and they’re not put up properly and the end result isn’t going to be that great so that’s really key to what we offer is the whole process really. So, we can offer anything whether its just a tin of paint or a roll of wallpaper for a feature wall through to a full interior design service and we can also work on large projects and renovation projects in conjunction with architects. We really can offer that whole process.

Alex: How does an interior designer actually help a home owner? What can you actually do, what do you do?

Eleanor: Yeah, I think it’s a big misconception that interior designers are really only there for people like footballer’s wives in these amazing great big pads so really, we offer two different sides to the way that we work. There’s the very straightforward accessible to everybody option, where you can come into our showroom and can spend the time choosing the right colour and getting that expert advice which won’t cost you anymore than if you went to B&Q to buy a tin of paint.

Alex: Got you, I suppose that’s the more simplistic side of things and general sort of basics for wallpaper and paint, and what’s the reverse side of things?

Eleanor: The reverse side of things is that you would pay an interior design fee which is £175, which we’re confident is market leading for the value that it represents. So, the designer would then come out to your home and would spend as much time as they need to, understanding what it is that you’re really looking to achieve from your project and how you live in the space, how you want it to feel and what it is you are looking for at the end of that project. They would then come back to the showroom and they put a lot of work in behind the scenes, getting different things together and sourcing pieces for you and putting a scheme together, perhaps getting some ideas for different wall coverings or fabrics for putting curtains together and then at that stage they’d probably invite you back into the showroom and take you through it. So, all the way through it’s a collaborative process. I mean essentially, we’re pulling together all the different projects that are out there in the marketplace and it’s a vast marketplace, I mean I think we’ve got something like over 100 different suppliers just of fabrics and I know for a fact that we’ve got over 2,000 fabric books just in Harrogate because we had to move them over from James Brindley into our own showroom at Wetherby.

Alex: So that’s really where an interior designer would come into their own because they will intrinsically know inside out all of that information and can pinpoint the fairest options and save effectively the homeowner a lot of time and hassle and start to hone in on specifics at the end of the day.

Eleanor: Yeah it’s like when you would walk in and we see it all the time, people walk into the showroom and go oh crikey where do I start and you say right ok well what you looking and get all I want is some curtains for my lounge and it’s then pairing that down into what it is they’re actually looking for and then being able to take to perhaps looking through five or six books which might then have thirty fabrics in each, and being able to pair that down to a couple of choices and just taking away that completely overwhelming situation in that you can walk in and go ooo.

Alex: I quite agree and what happens, I mean obviously a lot of listeners have got children everyone’s always mindful and yeah you pick up these fantastic interior design magazines, everything is all beautiful and white and very much sort of the French country look sort of thing. How can you guys fit in with that because again if you’re a family with children you can’t sort of have that pristine white?

Eleanor: Yeah, I think that’s really important because it’s our job really to make sure the space doesn’t just look beautiful, but it actually works. So somebody comes to us and tells us that they live on a farm and they’ve got three dogs, the last thing we’re going to suggest they do is have a beautiful cream sofa, we’re going to suggest to them that perhaps you need something a little bit more practical something that you’re going to be able to get cleaned, something that you’re going to be able to perhaps throw over it to stop is you know getting, the dogs can jump on the throw and you can chuck the throw in the washing machine. We are very practical as well as having that sort of design side with it and I think the two very much need to marry together to make sure that it works.

Alex: How does it work if, I know we briefly touched on the budget side of things, obviously as you said at the beginning if you are sort of a footballers wife territory and budget is no option, its meaningless that’s fantastic but what happens if you’re the other side of the fence and your saying well I just need a helping hand in the right direction but I’m a bit more constrained on budget, how can you then help a homeowner to get that look?

Eleanor: I think it’s going back to that industry knowledge so if somebody tells us that they’ve got a budget we can work within that budget. The designers are trained to know which items are going to make a really big difference so it might be that together with your designer you would choose to spend a lot of money on a real big wild piece in a bedroom or it might be having a beautiful upholstered bed head made in a lovely fabric but then you might chose to use a less expensive fabric on your huge windows and therefore you’re making that budget goa little bit further. There are lots of clever ways and it’s having that access to all of those different suppliers and the knowledge of what to get from where and then that sort of sense of style that these guys have in being able to pull it all together that is really going to make the difference so you don’t always have to spend a lot of money to get a really good look.

Alex: With your experience in the business what are your top tips if someone is looking to appoint and instruct an interior designer? What are the key things in your mind that people should be mindful of and sort of any potential pitfalls that they should avoid?

Eleanor: I think the absolute key to it is finding somebody that you get on with and that you can work with and that will listen to what you’re saying to them and will take it on board and the things they’re coming back with are going in the right direction, and that’s easy to test out because you can come along to one of our showrooms which is what we suggest most people do as a starting point and you can just browse through some fabrics, you can chat to the designers because we’ve got lots of designers and it might be that one designer you particularly gel with more than another. That’s really important as you’ll be spending a lot of time with this person and you’re going to be perhaps having them in your house and sharing sort of your personal space with them so you really do need to be on the same wavelength to make sure that you work together and you need to enjoy working with them because at the end of the day it’s meant to be a fun process.

Alex: It is indeed, I suppose just on a parting note if someone just said well look I just want I suppose re-orientating and pointing in the right direction as you said the designer can come out for £175 but I guess there’s no obligation they can sort of say well you know what you need to do what we think you need to do.

Eleanor: That’s absolutely fine and some people do that and then they might just come in and just buy a mirror and a lamp and we never see them again, other people might decide to take down all the real curtains and start from scratch. Either’s absolutely fine.

Alex: Fantastic stuff, well Eleanor I can’t thank you enough for coming in and if people wanted to chat through everything in more detail with you, what’s the best way to reach you guys?

Eleanor: You can come in and see us, I think it’s the best thing, it’s very much a touch and feel kind of business. We like to think we’re sort of the friendly approachable side of interior design. We have a website as well if you want to have a look and have a read through about us before you do that, we’re www.furnishandfettle.co.uk or you can call us at either of our showrooms. The number for Wetherby is 01937 581451 and our new Harrogate number is 01423 567757.

Alex: Fantastic, Eleanor thank you once again, really appreciate it.

Eleanor: Thank you Alex.

Alex: The property hospital is all about me answering your property concerns and demystifying the process. Now this week I’m answering a question from James, who’s got this to say.

James: Hi Alex, my house sale is under offer and going well and we’re moving quickly in the right direction and the purchasers in a great position, chain free and cash and it’s put me under pressure to exchange and only leave me a couple of weeks until completion. How do I manage this situation and how can I pack up my home in the mean time?

Alex: James, appreciate the question. Now if you’ve got a buyer that is clearly in a strong position and enthusiastic about exchanging, then it is well worth keeping them onside. Shake their hand gleefully and honestly, run for the hills, in other words get them signed up ASAP so you’ve got the security that you’re deal has gone through. Up until the point of exchange transaction is virtually meaningless. Now if you’re worried about the relatively tight timeframe and packing up your home, don’t worry. Many home removal companies offer a home packing service, you literally don’t need to do anything, and their team come in, wrap, pack your entire house and you can even ask them to unpack at your new home. Surprisingly I have to say it really isn’t a huge amount more money and really worth outsourcing this fairly tedious task. I hope this helps.

Voiceover: Name?

Mauro: Mauro

Voiceover: Business?

Mauro: Cathedral Financial Planning

Voiceover: Years’ experience?

Mauro: Ten years

Alex: Fantastic to have Mauro from Cathedral Finance here with me and we really are going to delve into a lot of detail about dare I say the banks at the moment and lending and in particular the first-time buyers out there. Mauro it may sound a bit of an obvious question but why on earth are the banks so reluctant to lend I think to everyone and anyone out there at the moment or is that a bit of a unfair statement?

Mauro: I believe it is a bit of an unfair statement actually to the banks. The banks in the past have been accused of lending irresponsibly to those with little or no deposit and less than stellar credit profiles. That’s got the banks into trouble, it’s also got borrowers into trouble. Since new mortgage rules have come out around 2014 banks have been asked to lend responsibly by the regulator. These new rules-imposed banks to lend no more than 4.4 times gross income.

Alex: Ok, that’s useful to know but why would they just put, it seems, and it comes across to a general member of the public like myself that there are just so many hoops to jump through and obstacles. How and I know we’ll come to first-time buyers but if you are just looking for a mortgage what do you need to do and set up possibly in advance trying to sort of get around those issues?

Mauro: Absolutely, that’s a very good question for first-time buyers. It’s very daunting and I’m sure that you and I have the greatest of respect and sympathy for first-time buyers trying to save this mammoth deposit that they need to buy there first home. You know lenders want to lend to first-time buyers, they just want to make sure that the first-time buyers are going to be a good egg to lend to. In that respect first-time buyers can position themselves in terms of making sure that their credit profile is a good one, has strength, by doing that I’m finding that when I do speak to first-time buyers that they’re fresh out of university or fresh out of college and so they may feel that they have the perfect credit score but in reality they haven’t proved that they can borrow money sensibly.

Alex: Is that about getting your first couple of credit cards but not necessarily using them, sort of thing?

Mauro: Absolutely so I tend to recommend to first-time buyers to take out a credit card and just to put their shopping or put their petrol on there and just to pay it off each month. That shows lenders that you are able to manage credit responsibly.

Alex: And when it comes to first-time buyers, I know you briefly touched on it, is it all about deposit? I mean back in the day it used to be if you’ve got a 25% deposit then you know what you’re going to get the very best rates out there but again house prices especially in and around our areas we know its expensive, do you need to save up that level of deposit, how can one get around it, especially if you’re a first-time buyer?

Mauro: There are a number of options available to first-time buyers and in terms of you don’t need to have the substantial deposits that lenders would like to see. Of course, lenders will reward you if you have a substantial deposit and substantial deposit you’re talking about say 25% of the purchase price, but lenders will look at those with a minimum of 5%. There aren’t many lenders out there that will lend at 95%, but now in terms of open credit what banks are willing to lend you’ll find that probably there are about a dozen lenders who will lend at these high 95%.

Alex: So, is there a sting in the tail because obviously if they’re doing 95% loan to value say to a first-time buyer, is that first-time buyer paying a huge amount more on their interest payments?

Mauro: Yes, you know a bank, a lender will reward borrowers with more deposit with a better rate. The rates do tend to change every 5%, so the minimum deposit that you need to put down is 5%, rates around the 95% borrowing tend to be around the 4% mark. If borrowers were to put down a further 10% then you’ll see an instant lowering of rates so the more you’ve got to put down the better the rate you’re going to get.

Alex: Ok, and I mean everyone sort of talks about the bank of Mum and Dad and trying to sort of get funding that way whether it’s for your deposit, I mean the Stamp Duty rule changes have slightly gone in peoples favours, there is a bit more of a discount when it comes to stamp duty but if your parents are fortunate enough and they can lend you something then obviously that’s a option. Again, first-time buyers, how can you get around that? Yes, if you’ve got that from bank of mum and Dad, but if you do not have that option, are there any other paths you can go down?

Mauro: There are a few other options for first-time buyers to consider. There is what is called a help-to-buy scheme, where you go into partnership with the Government. With respect to help-to-buy schemes, these are designed to help those struggling to save a deposit for their first home or move up the property ladder. The help-to-buy schemes are restricted to new build homes only, the buyer is required to raise 5%of the property value as a deposit. The Government will stump up a further 20% through a local agency and with the combined borrowing, 5% from your own savings and 20% from the Government savings, this will allow you access to much cheaper preferential rates. In terms of other schemes available to first-time buyers if they’ve not got the 5%, housing associations allow you to part-buy and part-rent your home, so you’re able to buy a share of your chosen property, typically between 25% and 75% on which you’ll have to take a shared ownership mortgage. What are the benefits of a shared ownership scheme? Shared ownership scheme allows you to gain a foothold on the property ladder in an affordable way.

Alex: Mauro, some great insight there. You’re actually, most people won’t know this, you’re actually a very qualified chap because you’re able to offer all sorts of bits and pieces, not just about first-time buyers and mortgages, just briefly touch on what you can offer.

Mauro: I’m a qualified independent financial adviser. I work for myself and I’m a sole practitioner. I’m qualified to give advice in investments and pensions and protection. I’m able to offer tailored financial solutions in a simple way.

Alex: All sounds great. If anyone wanted to talk through first-time buyer mortgages, pensions or investments, what’s the best wat to reach you?

Mauro: The best way to reach me is either via my website which is cathederalfp.co.uk on my mobile 07999196984 and I’d be happy to help, happy to give a free initial consultation and until I’m able to understand how I can help you as an individual there is no charge.

Alex: Fantastic. Well Mauro thank you very much indeed for giving us great insight into the world of lending, really appreciate it.

When it comes to instructing a conveyancing solicitor for your sale or your purchase then key is to do this sooner rather than later and I am constantly amazed how rare it is for an estate agent to flag this up to their clients who are selling or indeed to purchasers. Well I go over here you say well Alex that’s great but what it the actual point of doing that? Now look, if you’re selling for example you’re going to need to provide original or authorised copies of your passport and a recent utility bill. Scan and email is no longer accepted. You’re going to need to sign the solicitor’s paperwork, ask them to open a file, plus instruct them to collate the title information go through it and if there are any issues to iron out you may need to get some indemnity insurance. As the vendor you’re also going to need to dig out all your paperwork and the guarantees and the certificate and before you know it you’ve easily wasted ten days trying to secure all this information. Now if you haven’t done this early on you’re now going to waste valuable time sorting this out very often at the point of going under offer and this is really when you should be focussing and progressing towards exchange. Most importantly if you do forget to do this it sends completely the wrong message to your buyer and dents their confidence because you’re wasting 10 days before the solicitors can even do anything with the whole transaction. So, the key, always instruct a quality solicitor and ensure you do it at the same time as instructing your estate agent, then there’s never going to be any surprises down the line.

That’s the Alex Goldstein Property Show and yet again some superb top tips and features. If you need expert information, videos and up to the minute property news then head over to my website alexgoldstein.co.uk alternatively if you require personalised advice or 15 years of experience advice when it comes to buying or selling your property, please get in touch directly. The next episode is out on the 1 June, so make sure you tune in for that. Until next time.

Alex Goldstein’s interview with leading Harrogate Architect Joel Smith of SSA asks Are TV property development shows worth watching? What is ‘permitted development’ and what do you have to be aware of? And how do you make sure you keep the local authority on your side when developing your home? How to get planning permission and what is the process?

Interview with leading Harrogate Architect Joel Smith of SSA

Full transcript below:

Alex: We are honoured indeed to have Joel Smith here in the studio today just to talk through architects, both on the residential side and indeed the commercial side and just to demystify what these actually do. Now Joel, it’s a big hot topic at the moment, you’ve very much got Grand Designs, dare I say Small Spaces and good old George Clarke in there and they’re making extending and building look mighty easy. How do you rate these programmes? Do they have a point at all?

Joel: Yes Alex, simple answer is I do rate these programmes and actually I think they’re really valid. One, they’re enjoyable and informative, but two I think they help elevate the role of the designer and how we can affect the spaces that we live in. I think the consideration for any extension for instance should always be how can I improve the space that I dwell in? Certainly, Kevin McCloud has championed that to such a high degree that he’s really helped the industry. I’m not 100% sure that they make the process look easy though, in fact in many cases they focus on the pitfalls, the challenges and in a sense of course they have to increase the drama which often leaves me voicing my opinion should we say at the TV. But as I say Kevin McCloud specifically has done an incredible amount to raise awareness.

Alex: It’s helped you in terms of an architects practice because people are saying I’ve seen a this on TV, I’ve got this idea that I want to do to my home and can we involve you and it’s working more along those line.

Joel: Yeah absolutely, and as I say they do champion a role of architect within that and yes certainly once you see people who’ve been and got a little bit of ambition, a little bit of desire to improve their space that helps no end. And from an architect’s point of view it’s great to see what contemporaries are up to.

Alex: No absolutely and I mean these programmes often talk about the phrase or the term permitted development and a lot of people think this may be more serialised on television but permitted development makes it sound very easy to get that grand extension and off you go. That’s what these programmes tend to suggest, how does that actually work in real life terms? What is permitted development?

Joel: Right yeah, fair question Alex, and you’re right it’s certainly a hot topic and it’s a great thing actually. A permitted development rights are essentially a national grant of planning permission. They allow building work to be carried out without having to make an application for planning, however, you still need to be aware of certain aspects, you still of course need to notify your local authority and as always ensure building regulations compliance. Permitted development is as I say in principal a great idea and I believe that it has the intention of aiding a really important aspect of our economy, you know the smaller builders, the tradesmen, the designers. You know we in the UK have a very interesting approach to our homes, I find this really interesting, we have the smallest space standards in Europe, yet our homes are our castle and it turns out they’re not the biggest by comparison. But as I say you still need to contact the local authority and make them aware of your intentions. Permitted development rights are quite prescriptive so I would urge anybody considering a mid-development or any extension to look at the planning portal, speak with your local authority if you need to, obviously as I would always say speak with the designer, they have to be aware of things like designated areas where specifically in Harrogate area for instance, your conservation areas, areas of outstanding natural beauty, in some instances where you’ve extended before you may need to speak to your local authority before and there’s things to be aware of and you do need to do a little bit of research here Alex, because you’ve got existing curtilage of your site, principal elevations to your property, what’s the size of the proposed extension, what’s the height, how close are you to your boundary?

Alex: So good old George Clarke it’s not quite as straightforward as going oh we’re going to put on this lovely little extension and let’s just build it tomorrow afternoon. There’s a bit more of a process, it’s not as simple as possibly they make out.

Joel: Well I can’t comment on George Clarke because he is a fellow contemporary of course but then you always need to take some appropriate advice I would always ensure that.

Alex: Ok and in terms of I suppose, the larger extensions, just going I suppose beyond the permitted development and again this is from the private individual’s perspective, what do you actually need to be mindful of when you want to undertake such a project? I’m thinking sort of the timeframes and what’s actually involved in the planning process there?

Joel: Yeah fair enough, and I can appreciate in a lot on instances for people looking to extend it can come across as provisionally quite daunting and actually there’s a few things to consider before you even take pen to paper as it were. I’d always personally refer people to the RIBA website, they do a great bit of work for the profession in the background and in the forefront in fact, you know they do many useful sections, progressive design areas but also help you find the architect who can help you start the ball rolling with you and from a personal point of view there’s a good local sub group in this area called the North Yorkshire Society of Architects, again they work to promote good design and architects and the role we can play. But enough of the professional pitch, back to your questions the first consideration should surely be what are we extending for, what are my needs? In practice we would call this determining the brief. What does the design need to reflect in terms of your requirement as the owner and client? In terms of timeframes there’s actually many factors to take into account and you know the RIBA again have a great useful guide detailed plan of work which identifies key stages to be mindful of. So I refer back to identification of need, what do you want to gain out of your project, preliminary design, you know how we start to get things on paper, how’s it look, does it reflect what we’ve got in our minds, are we getting it on paper and of course we need to amend the design to reflect those needs, ultimately finalise these proposals. Of course, then you have to go for your planning permission and planning consent, you know can take between 8 and 12 weeks but bear in mid it can take longer.

Alex: When and why would it take longer? Because of the size or complexity of the job or if things fall behind?

Joel: Well all of those parts come into it but also you know is there a challenged with the design? Is there some additional legislation you need to be aware of? So again, dialogue at that point is important and you have to be slightly open-minded to that I think from my point of view. Time to discharge any pre-commencement conditions, when you’ve got that piece of paper from the planners you know hopefully it’s the piece of paper you want, and it says granted, but of course there’s often pre-commencement conditions there, which again just looks to protect you ultimately but also ensure that it fits with the planning permission granted. That can take a little bit of time, then of course you need too cost the project, obtain suitable quotes and time to actually construct the extension. I think also in the background of that, not necessarily a timeframe questions but how are you going to have that building and who’s going to build it for you. I’d always suggest requesting referrals, those are a great bit of use.

Alex: That’s the recommended builders?

Joel: Recommended yeah, you know many people, British people, like to refer, if someone’s not referring somebody what’s the reason behind that? We all like a referral. Have a look at the work they’ve done maybe, you know sure they should be proud of the work they’ve undertaken, the designs they’ve come up with and that should be a constructive dialogue and then yes certainly do that please.

Alex: I know people are often I suppose mindful, how do you actually keep the local authority, for example here, how do you keep Harrogate Borough council on side because you do hear albeit I dare say it, serialising in the media that people have run into all sorts of difficulties with their panning application, why have they gone a miss and why have they got on the wrong side of the council, how do you keep in their good books?

Joel: Well dialogue, simple as that and in simple terms and I you know personally would never recommend approaching an application with conflict on the agenda. Do things properly, the role of the architect here is to interpret your needs, provide information and help you navigate the planning process and as I say the LA shouldn’t be viewed with the barrier, it isn’t there to be bashed down, you need to approach any development with an open mind and be prepared to discuss your proposals with them. This as you’ve touched on, they do get a bit of negative press but that’s because maybe they’ll read on a isolated basis, case-by-case basis, their position in fairness is to protect the areas in which we live so the areas which will exist much longer than we will and really they’re part of a wider policy to ensure that amenity space and positive design and construction reflects where we live.

Alex: So, if you know their rues and you’re ticking their boxes where you go you’re not going to have an issue, it’s if you want to do something I’d say that’s pushing the boundaries or possibly being slightly controversial that’s when like you said in an isolated case it may not be looked upon possibly favourably.

Joel: Yeah, it’s difficult one to answer that Alex because you know the local authority isn’t there to champion good design as well you know the positive design from their point of view, they want to progress that with you and really you that maybe areas of conservation might need a slightly different approach etc. I think in the main the idea is the better design helps everyone ultimately. Yeah, I think they’re all boarded, I don’t see any negativity when it comes to positive design.

Alex: Fantastic, Joel I can’t thank you enough. Very useful and great insight there, so if anyone needs to discuss ant of there home getting extended, permitted development, the small space type of thing or the commercial side of things, what’s the best way for people to reach you?

Joel: Fabulous, well I’d be more than happy to speak to anyone who’s got any queries. My number is 01423 856999, but you’re more than welcome to look at our website which is www.ssaarchitects.co.uk

Alex: Ok, fantastic Joel, thank you very much again really appreciate your time.

Listen to full interview with property expert Alex Goldstein, “live” on Vale FM with Steve Twynham – talking through his career to date, what a property consultant actually does and how he helps people buy and sell residential property.

Alex Goldstein Live on ValeFM

Full transcript below:

Steve: It’s drivetime, Steve taking you home between now and 6 and we’re joined by a special guest in the studio this afternoon, Alex Goldstein. Good afternoon Alex, how are you?

Alex: Steve, I’m great thank you very much indeed.

Steve: Great, thanks for joining us and we’re going to talk property this afternoon.

Alex: We are indeed.

Steve: Yeah so, look forward to finding out more about that. First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself, and how did you get involved in the property market?

Alex: Yeah, I suppose for my sins, I have been, I was an estate agent for the last sort of 14/15 years. Started my career in Oxford and London and more recently in Harrogate as well and its just sort of blossomed from there. I’ve been working for some of the UK’s most well-known firms and left that a good few years back.

Steve: So, what’s the difference between being a property consultant and an estate agent then?

Alex: Yeah, an estate agent just solely works for a homeowner when they come to sell their property, that is their primary purpose, whereas I’m now as a property consultant or property adviser, I’m on the other side of the fence and I actually help people buy residential property, both in Yorkshire and London, I happen to help them sell but I’m not an estate agent, it’s purely advisory.

Steve: So, you do both things then?

Alex: Yeah do both things, in both locations as well.

Steve: Ok, so if I was looking to buy, I’d come to you and say Alex I’m looking for a property, lets use York for example, I’m looking for a property in York, for a certain value, in a certain area, is it your role then to go and do the searching?

Alex: Exactly that. I will take all your search criteria and all the parameters exactly that you’re after, either liaise with the agents or the developers or indeed I’ve been in the business long enough now I just ring up the homeowners because I’ve known them of old and just say I can vouch for you Steve and this is the basis, I try and secure that property off market. Off market is away from Rightmove and all these online portals, so we just do it privately. It’s not always possible but that’s always the aim. So that’s the buying side and you pay me a fee for that service and very often it’s people that don’t have the time or they’re not sure and they just need some confidence building into the whole transaction. It’s a big, one the biggest transactions ever in life, you need to get it right.

Steve: Yeah tell me about it, I forget how many properties I’ve bought in my lifetime, luckily, I’m at the stage where I don’t have to buy another one, maybe who knows. And what about on the selling then?

Alex: The selling is a bit more unusual, and very often I get involved with people when they’re thinking of going on the market and very often they haven’t done it for 10, 20, sometime 30 or I had one recently 60 years, they’ve never sold a property and the markets changed even in the last two years. So, if you’ve never done it in that sort of timeframe, what do you do? Or where do you go? Or the other flip side of the coin is when people have been in the market for a long period of time, you’re getting a lot of sales chat, often from the estate agents and they’re wondering well I’ve been in the market a long time, where do I go? Where have I gone wrong? So that’s where I independently come in and say Steve, you’ve been in the market a long time but with my experience you need to change these sort of specific areas, we need to turn the sale around and we head off in a particular direction, and that’s when I bring in and manage and orchestrate said estate agents on your behalf. So, it actually ends up that the estate agent pays my fee, not you the homeowner.

Steve: Right ok.

Alex: It’s quite unusual.

Steve: Yeah, it sounds interesting as well. So, if someone’s been on the property for, I don’t know, what is the average length of time selling a property now?

Alex: It’s the ultimate question, I would probably say from going on sale to under offer, I honestly wouldn’t like to put a timeframe on it because every situation is different. Once you get from under offer to exchange normally it’s between four and six weeks, any longer than that and alarm bells start to ring, and completion, i.e. when you move in and get the keys, tends to be four weeks after you’ve actually exchanged, but again that vary on each transaction, it’s that exchange, it’s getting from offer to exchange, that is the most critical time and you’ve got to keep that window of opportunity very tight indeed.

Steve: Ok, so from your expertise as well, if the house has been on sale for 8 months.

Alex: Yep, it does happen, I’ve had longer.

Steve: Is there something not quite right? Could be price or?

Alex: Very often I always think and in simple terms there’s usually three main factors that tend to go a miss and normally it’s a combination of these, but it tends to be the photographs, the price of the property or it’s the presentation of the property and very often it’s a mix of that. Sometimes people have been hoodwinked if you like by estate agents and they’ve listened too much to the sale speak and they’ve bought into that and they’ve signed contracts and again it’s then advising people how to actually manoeuvre away from that, but it tends to be those three factors and just altering those accordingly.

Steve: Ok so I guess at times as well if somebody’s been around and somebody says well we think you can get, lets pick a figure, we think you can get 359 for this and somebody says well no I think you might only get 310, as the seller you want to hear the 359, don’t you?

Alex: Exactly that and that’s exactly where a lot of people hang their hats, they hear three estate agents and they go with the one that’s quoted the highest guide price, when actually that’s the exact reason you should not instruct that estate agent. You should always go for the estate agent that’s possibly told you something you didn’t want to hear, and you’ve almost got to be illogical when choosing your estate agent. Don’t just go for the guy that as I said overflatters you and grants you things on planet 9, you’ve got to look beyond that and delve behind the scenes, and that’s really where 15 years in property, been there and done it and can advise clients well this is what you actually need to look out for and this who to actually go with.

Steve: Ok we’ll talk some more in a moment and we’ve got a great question about lawyers coming up.

This is Steve, this is Vale Radio across North Yorkshire. We are talking property this afternoon, we’ve been joined in the studio by Alex Goldstein. We’ve been talking lots of things about buying and selling. Alex it’s been quite a turmoil time in the marketplace with Brexit and things, what’s the marketplace doing?

Alex: I think at the moment, I think a lot of people dare I say lost their heads when Brexit came along and I suppose I predicted and a lot of people did, there would be a bit of turmoil afterwards but interestingly it was actually an incredibly good time to buy because if we now look at Brexit it’s all turned around very nicely, and there’s all these countries who want to trade with us and it’s all looking a lot more rosy and obviously Mr Hammond, the Chancellor is keeping it, trying to keep it nice and steady. But interestingly, if you look at London, specifically that’s come back 8/9% percent in recent months, so again of you are looking to buy and you’re ready to go and you’re on the right basis that is a fantastic time to buy. I think at the moment market activity here in Yorkshire is very good, there is a real demand, a real surge for sort of more urban and village lifestyle living, that is a massive driver for activity, it is good, it is very good indeed at the moment.

Steve: Good news to hear then.

Alex: No absolutely, Brexit is long gone, and you hardly hear any bad news about it at the moment I think, it’s great when it comes to property at the moment.

Steve: What about when somebody wants to advice for lawyers, getting a lawyer involved?

Alex: Yeah, I know it’s something certainly I regularly talk about and I don’t know why but estate agents never seem to ask a homeowner or vendor in advance and it’s probably one of the most important things you should do. When it comes to a conveyancing solicitor my advice is never ever cut a corner. You must always go with a rock-solid solicitor, because at the end of the day, you personally have to live with the consequences not them if something goes wrong. One thing specifically to bare in mind is always look for a solicitor that is on low volume, but high quality. You regularly come across these sort of huge swathing open floor conveyancing practices, and the problem is with that, your file, you become a number and your file and your transaction, they tend to be fairly complicated on the most part, it gets lost. And this is where you hear about deals falling apart. You need to then, holiday cover, it gets passed around, who is dealing with the file while someone’s away? You have no idea, you’ve lost control. Best thing you can do when it comes to a conveyancing solicitor is instruct them in advance, ask and pretty much tell your solicitor to open a file, get the client ID signed off and to get the title deeds ready, check for any anomalies and sort it in advance. You as a homeowner are then ready to go so when you find the buyer, you are on the forward foot and that contract pack will be with the buyer’s solicitor in 24 hours. That is how to master the situation.

Steve: Right ok, so it’s do your homework a bit?

Alex: Always.

Steve: I must admit I was buying a house down in Shropshire some years ago when we had a little bit of trouble with a boundary, we were ready to sign, and my solicitor wouldn’t let me sign and at one point I’m thinking gggrr, but I tell you what they were absolutely amazing because they saved me so much trouble further down the line.

Alex: Exactly and that is where experience, it doesn’t matter whether a conveyancing solicitor or an estate agent, experience is absolutely key critical. It’s a interesting point and actually whether it’s a lawyer or an estate agent, where your money is going is into the time they’ve spent and the expertise they’ve got, and when it comes to estate agents it’s not just about marketing. People just think it’s that initial bit of going for sale, and getting under offer and that’s it job done, it’s not, where your estate agent comes into his own is actually between under offer and getting to exchange. And that is again where you pay the estate agents fee, that’s where they’re worth it.

Steve: Ok, I’ve got my brain in gear again now.

Alex: Glad to hear it Steve. I was worried for a minute.

Steve: Yeah, I did look a bit blank, so the question I was going to ask was about, it seems to be the explosion of online, what about that?

Alex: Yeah, you’ve got three levels of estate agents you’ve got the high street agents that we all know, you’ve then got the pure online agents that just have a website, but you’ve also got a third one which is called a hybrid agent, which is a bit of a mix of the two, so they’ve got most part online and they’ve got a office premises of sorts. Now interestingly I did a very interesting interview the other week and he actually trains all those agents nationally, a very very well qualified chap, he was saying and it was very interesting, where the high street agents have lost a lot of ground is again customer service and not getting in the right experienced people and therefore the buying public, the homeowners have drifted away, they see all the snazzy marketing advertising out there and go with one of the online chaps. As I’ve just touched on, the problem with them and what most people don’t realise is some of these online people get paid in advance. Your signing their terms, they’re actually getting paid in advance via a sort of scheme behind the scenes. Therefore, where is their motivation as an estate agent to find you the answer, they don’t, they’ve already been paid, they don’t care less. And again, unless you know what to look for, you’re going to come aground very quickly indeed, and I worry because these online guys just focus on marketing and advertising. As I just mentioned, an agent comes into their own when they’ve got that experience of getting it under offer, that’s step one, getting under offer to exchange, that’s a whole different ballgame, whereas a lot of these agents now just stand back and let it drift and that’s where you hear of so many fall throughs happening. So, at the moment I see that there is a place for online or hybrid agents, again they’re at the budget end of the market, if finances are tight, fine it’s worth it I think if you are low/mid. If you are on the upper range then there’s no point cutting a corner you’ve got to pay for that experience, it’s well worth it.

Steve: So, what you’ve described there is they’re getting paid for listing the property basically.

Alex: That’s exactly what they’re getting paid for. And you need to be very very careful again remember estate agents again they’re sales people, they’re commission driven, it’s all about that hunger and that drive and if your suddenly paying them upfront, albeit you don’t quite know about it then they can just take their foot completely off the pedal, your sale drifts, you then realise you made a bit of a error, you pull it from the market, you relaunch it again, price reduction, people see you’ve relaunched it with a new agent, a new price, what’s going on, there’s something wrong with it, well it’s got subsidence Alex didn’t you hear, you and I know well that doesn’t exist but again buyers out there put two and two together and come up with five, that’s the problem and that’s where you’ll come undone.

Steve: Right ok thanks for that. Are you ok to stay for a bit longer?

Alex: Very much so.

Steve: We want to talk about some great tips for people who are buying or selling.

Alex: Feel free.

Steve: This is radio Vale across North Yorkshire, we’re talking to Alex Goldstein this afternoon, we’re talking property, buying, selling, all kinds of things and it’s absolutely fascinating. We are talking property with Property Consultant Alex Goldstein, we’ve had a fantastic hour, lots of information. Alex before you go some tips really on selling or maybe buying?

Alex: Yeah absolutely, I think when it comes to selling, how do I put this, the TV and some of those presenters do get it wildly wrong. Never ever paint your house white and remove all the photos and take the pictures down and leave it as a blank room because I always say it then feels like a hospital clinic, who likes going to hospital, absolutely nobody so why present your house like one. You’ve got to remember that, buying and selling a property, it’s emotional, you’re buying into a lifestyle, so leave the magazines out or the cookbooks by the agar that sort of thing, leave the photographs of the children up, that’s what people want to get a feel for. Present it well and clean, clear simple lines and please as I’ve touched on do choose your agent incredibly incredibly carefully, and we haven’t quite got enough time to run through it all but again if you’re unsure, ask. The other thing that I talked about is instruct your conveyancing solicitor at the same time as your estate agent and make sure that file is open, and they are ready to go because I bet your bottom dollar you will find a buyer tomorrow, you won’t be ready, and you’ll be caught out.

Steve: Right ok but keep it tidy I guess.

Alex: Keep it tidy but remember people, it’s lifestyle that they’re buying into, it’s one of the very rare if not the only transaction you do in life where people are dealing in that sort of level of money and that sort of level of emotion, you’ve got to play to that strength, don’t paint it white.

Steve: So yeah it needs to look lived in doesn’t it?

Alex: Yeah, within reason absolutely. You want the photographs and the toys out and that sort of thing, not completely stripped bare.

Steve: Yeah ok and what about buying?

Alex: Yeah buying is interesting because people think sometimes they’ve got it absolutely nailed and I tell you, a week never goes by where someone doesn’t get it quite right. When someone says cash, it means cash in a bank account. A mortgage is something completely different so cash fund, make sure they are ready and accessible, I’ll mention that you should email yourself a copy of that bank statement, I’ll say why in a minute. Your mortgage, you must go through a mortgage broker, I would always recommend that because they will search the whole market. A bank is just there to push their own product of course. And ask for an agreement in principal, an AIP, or a DIP, decision in principal, get that and email it to yourself.

Steve: An independent mortgage broker then?

Alex: It’s an independent mortgage broker, that’s the one. And once you’ve got proof of mortgage, proof of cash, you’ve got it on email, use that in the negotiation. So, when you go to the agent, instantly supply without them asking proof of everything right up front and you’re turning the tables from the one sort of negotiating to the one then commanding the situation. Again, make sure when you’re buying your solicitor is instructed ready to go, same with the building surveyor and I think the bottom line is look, it is a people business. Make sure that you’ve got that great personal rapport of course with the vendor, because they’re buying into you and vice versa and again make sure you’re buying into the agent as well. If you’re getting on well with them, they’re more likely to do you a bit of a favour as when if need be. Again, if you’re unsure of any of those, do feel free to ask.

Steve: Ok and finally you’ve got an event happening in Leeds did you say?

Alex: I do yeah, I’ve got a educational talk on property investment, it’s on the 23 November at the Crown Plaza right in the centre of town. It’s 6pm and I think the talks sort of kick off at 7 o’clock, it’s property investors who its aimed at. Again, if anyone needs a free ticket do come through me.

Steve: If anyone wants to get in touch with you, how do they do that?

Alex: Yeah, do feel free. Look at the website alexgoldstein.co.uk or call me anytime on the landline 01423 788377.

Steve: Alex it’s been a pleasure.

Alex: No thank you very much indeed.

Steve: Thank you for joining use today and maybe catch up in the not too distant future.

Alex: Look forward to it Steve.

Steve: Have a wonderful evening.

Alex: And you.

Alex Goldstein is ‘live’ on Talk Radio with Mike Graham, discussing the North-South property price divide and why southern prices have dipped for the first time in 8 years. Why has this happened and what is the driver behind it all?

Full Transcript Below:

Mike: Coming up in this hour we got the Carrier Awards because it’s Good Friday we are going with them a day early. Alex Goldstein, Property Consultant is going to join us because apparently for the first time in eight years, the value of homes in the north has risen while the value of homes in the south has gone down. It’s the north-south divide but upside down. It’s very weird. You’re listening to me Mike Graham. Right hear on Talk Radio.

The Independent Republic of Mike Graham on Talk Radio.

Now we were talking earlier to a guy from Liverpool who said, you know, if you guys think travelling around in the south of England is bad news, you should try getting on a train up here. Because the travel problems they have had in the north of England particularly between the northwest and the northeast have been famous. This has been going on for many, many years where the trains are so bad that nobody can really afford to use them if they have got to get to work because quite frankly, they are not fit for purpose. What they can do though, of course, up in the north of England is to buy homes for a lot less money than you can buy homes for generally speaking in the southeast. However, southeast England property prices have actually fallen for the first time in eight years while the value of homes in the northwest has risen by 4%. Let’s talk to Alex Goldstein who’s a property consultant to find out what is going on. Alex, very good afternoon to you.

Alex: Good Afternoon, Mike. Good to speak to you.

Mike : Thank you for joining us. It’s an interesting one because for a long-time people have said, we can’t afford to buy property. The Millennials are all complaining that the problem of prices for houses in the southeast is prohibitive. But there have always been affordable properties in different parts of the country and maybe now, finally, we are seeing property slightly correcting itself in a sense.

Alex: I think you’re absolutely correct. In fairness, I think the southern and Home Counties market, it was overheated, and something needed to happen to temper it down. But what’s amazing at the moment is there’s a seismic shift, I feel, in how people wish to live at the moment and there is a major movement towards quality of life and the work-life balance. And as more and more London orientated or Home County orientated companies actually have footings up in the northern regions there is again, people can afford to move up and be in the London office two to three days a week not five days a week.

Mike: No quite. And I mean how different is the gap between say the average price in the north. It is a bit of a nebulous concept of north of England. I’m not sure where it begins. For me it begins in Edgeware because I’m a Londoner, I mean where does it technically begin?

Alex: Many would say north of Watford Gap of course. For example if you look at Birmingham and go across the Pennines and you’re looking at Manchester and you’re looking right into Yorkshire. Harrogate, Leeds at the moment is absolutely flying. You got Channel 4 putting in their head office there. You got HMRC. These are significant legal and finance institutions and they are putting big footings down in these areas and I think that’s what’s driving the move on top of, like I said, a bit life-work balance movement.

Mike: Sure and Leeds has always been a place where there has been quite a lot of money, hasn’t it?

Alex: It has. And again you have two hospitals in Leeds as well. Dare I say, the footballers out there, Leeds will hopefully come back into the Premiership. Huddersfield are in the premiership. And it does make a big difference.

Mike: Not for much longer. I don’t think though.

Alex: Wait and see. Anything can happen.

Mike: But it’s interesting as well, possibly, and you can correct me if I’m wrong here, but Cheshire area around Manchester and Liverpool as well, very much boosted by the footballers that are playing for the big clubs up there.

Alex: Absolutely. I think if anywhere is a great example it is in and around Manchester and Cheshire. They do bring a sizable amount of money into the economy. Equally on the other side of the Pennines, the Tour de Yorkshire, the Tour de France. Again we got the UCI Cycling Championships as well. Some would argue that Yorkshire is one of the only counties that’s got a brand out there at the moment. Again all of these, Manchester and heading across the Pennines, it’s constantly in the nation news. And I think a lot of buyers are picking up on that and hence you are getting a lot of families relocating and looking for that lifestyle.

Mike: Well I have to say, trying to get around London at the moment is such a nightmare that if you could provide a reasonable amount of money for a job in the north of England, which wouldn’t necessarily be exactly same amount of money you’d get in London, the lifestyle is a lot better isn’t it?

Alex: Hugely so. I mean you’ve got vast, open, green spaces. Less overcrowding especially when it comes to housing, you’re more spread out. And dare I say, every time I split my time between the north and London. And people always say that people are generally so much more friendly and relaxed. A generalisation albeit. Schools as well. And as I said, you don’t need to be in the office five days a week. You can be flexibly working. Work from home. Go into the office when it’s needed. And that helps both employees and employers in terms of costing. I just see this as a very sizable shift both in terms of how employment is working and indeed the property sector.

Mike: Sure. And was there any sort of boost to Manchester and the northwest when the BBC set up such a big outfit in Salford? Salford is very much a draw for media companies and all that. I went up to Salford a couple of years ago and it was sort of like a ghost town. There wasn’t much going on. Yes, the big BBC place was there. Salford Theatre was there as well but it didn’t feel like a buzzing metropolis.

Alex: As with all these things, it takes time. It will take time for that to pick up speed. I certainly think it has picked up speed and as you said, it’s just the bolt-ons sort of effect it creates. Again the same could be said for Leeds and Channel 4 moving in there. Again these things don’t happen overnight but again such a significant institution coming into both areas, companies and employers gravitate towards them.

Mike: So if you were an investor, property wise coming into these areas, where would you say to people is a good place to buy a home now in England. The place where it’s likely to rise up the most?

Alex: For me, at the moment, it’s the areas we discussed. Across major parts of Yorkshire, Leeds, Harrogate, Ilkley. As you mentioned, Manchester, Cheshire. There is a big push for urban or just outside of town living at the moment. And I think if you are looking to invest as indeed a lot of developers and investors are doing, they’ve long since moved out of London and are looking towards the secondary cities in the UK as that’s where you’re going to see the uplift.

Mike: And I mean 1.8% down in southeast overall, I mean there’s still a long way to go before anyone who doesn’t have an awful lot of money will be able to afford to buy anything.

Alex: It needed correcting. We probably don’t have time on today’s show but first-time buyers and that side of things, we have got a fairly significant range of issues here. I think the stamp duty that was introduced by George Osborne and its reduced prices, but we are a long way from helping those trying to get on the first rungs of the property ladder. The homes being built aren’t particularly good quality across the board if you are looking at the big developers on there. I don’t think the banks lend particularly well and aren’t prepared to take a view. There are just layers and layers of issues. I would be happy to become the Housing Minister and try to sort this all out.

Mike: Fascinating stuff. Alex, thank you very much. Alex Goldstein, Property Consultant, there on the rise of prices in the north of England and the fall of prices in the south of England which is happening for the first time in eight years.

Featuring global heavyweights in the accountancy and personal services sector PwC (Price Waterhouse Cooper) discussing offshore funding, tax planning and tax avoidance.

Plus Sharon Wright – a specialist joiner using a wood product which has a 60 year guarantee and paint system with up to 15 years!

In addition, we discuss the ONLY question you need to ask your estate agent before you instruct them.

So much to cram in, plus the Alex Goldstein top tips!

The Alex Goldstein Property Show (Part 3)

Full transcript below:

Alex: Welcome again to the Alex Goldstein Property Show. I’m Alex Goldstein of Alex Goldstein Property Consultants Harrogate and this is the fast-paced property show, giving you industry expert insight into the world of property, estate agency and the related business sectors within it. Insider tips, tricks and know-how all jam packed into the show, so you can make the best-informed decision when it comes to buying and selling your home whether you’re a first-time buyer, up-sizer, downsizer, experienced property developer, have a portfolio empire or just simply have an interest in the local and national property market then this is the show for you. I will be speaking with and getting industry expert advice from some of the most successful property related businesses and professionals that Yorkshire and indeed the UK has to offer ranging from regional Chartered Surveyors all the way through to some of the UK’s most well renowned multinational firms. We’re available for podcast download on the first of every month so make sure you sign up to Alex Goldstein and the Stray FM social media accounts to get an early reminder of this and to get great property tips whenever you need. In this months show we will be getting the inside track from global heavyweight giants in the accountancy and personal services sector PwC, Price Waterhouse Cooper, where we have Chris Etherington, a senior manager on their private client team in Leeds here talking through the hot topics of the day in the financial sector, such as offshore funding, tax planning and all the news in the press about tax avoidance currently. We will also be getting to grips with how to stay at the forefront of an agent’s mind when they’re selling your home as part of our property hospital section. Plus, we are putting Sharon Wright from DH Wright Joinery in the hot seat to get clarity on why a wood product she uses has a 60-year guarantee, you did hear that correctly. We of curse also have the Alex Goldstein top tips. So much to cram in so let’s get straight into the property news.

This month we’re discussing the current government intervention in the property market. Now, let’s face it, it doesn’t matter whether it’s our sugar intake the cars we drive or consumption of fruit each day, the government surely has our best interests at heart. After all a 3% stamp duty surcharge for second-home and additional property purchases and a further tax on what’s deemed to be the well-off can only be a good thing right. The government are just trying to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder. Seems fair doesn’t it, in addition to the above taxation, it’s tougher buy-to-let lending criteria now, curtailing of mortgage interest relief plus capital gains tax or CGT has effectively seen an 8% increase as residential property sales are excluded from the recent overall reduction in the tax. So, what is the governments problem and why are they doing this? In simple terms they feel that property investors have a competitive advantage over the first-time buyer and they are targeting the same types of properties. The government wants greater home ownership and to create a more stable economy so that if times ever got tough again with we’re well sheltered from the storm. Sounds sensible so far and by putting off some investors with higher upfront costs it will mean that the first-time buyers can get on the ladder. However, there are actually greater issues at hand here and let me explain. The government have effectively put the brakes on by-to-let investors. This has choked up the supply of rental properties. So of course, if there’s a shortage of supply, tenants demand is going to increase. When this happens the amount of rent payable each month is going to go up. So, if you’re a tenant and you rent has gone up how are you going to afford to pay for your first home? Don’t worry the government say, here is that new lifetime ISA and an increase on the annual ISA limit. However, to my mind this doesn’t solve the issue as if I’m a tenant how can I still afford to put money aside each month into my brad new fancy ISA if my rent has gone up. I argue we are still left with the same issue of people trying to get on the property ladder because saving for deposits and tougher lending criteria means that it remains an uphill struggle. Time will of course tell on this, but I hope the government have got their watchful eye on what I see as a brewing issue.

It’s great here to have Chris Etherington rom Price Waterhouse Cooper in Leeds. Chris getting straight to the heart of it, I know everyone’s really heard of PwC and Price Waterhouse and it’s one of those massive UK names but what underneath it all do you actually do?

Chris: Thanks for inviting me on Alex. So yeah PwC, I mean it’s one of those words that you see bandied around in the press for being you know just a large accountancy firm. We work with huge global conglomerates and things like that and it’s actually like you say is it’s a bit impenetrable as to what do we actually do. So, in terms of getting down to the nuts and bolts of it we’re essentially problem solvers. I mean we do a whole variety of things, I can list you know a whole different load of services that we do so you know, I do tax advice, we do legal advice, we do investment advice, we do deals, we help people buy and sell companies, we do the boring stuff like the accountancy, colleagues in accountancy won’t thank me for saying that but you know that is what we’re known for but we do so much more. You know we help people get debt funding, a whole host.

Alex: So, sort of numbers and a bit beyond?

Chris: Absolutely yeah, obviously numbers based but we’re not all just mathematicians.

Alex: Yes, a possible common misconception is the types of clients that you help, and I know you’ve mentioned that you do help some of the UK’s best names out there. But just give people a feel because obviously you’ve got those people, but I picked up that there is actually a bit of a slant and a change.

Chris: Well I tell you what I do, I just work with individuals and most people will be surprised to hear that probably. I’ve spent the last decade of my life sitting at the same desk helping clients of all shapes and sizes if you like. So, I’ve got clients who are guys in their bedroom with an internet business, to 98-year-old Granny’s. So, you know there’s all sorts and its not just your high net worth Russian oligarchs or what you think it might be.

Alex: Yeah, a common misconception, it’s great to clear that one up. And what about companies on that on the company side because again you’re often seen to be acting for some of the big guys out there but that be said at the moment you’re quite interested as a company in the SME’s of this world.

Chris: I mean if you just took what we call it private business and what that basically means is working with individuals, typically owners of managed businesses and privately-owned businesses and if you took that out of PwC in itself that would probably be the fifth largest accountancy firm in the country, just that bit of PwC, I mean we do a lot. If you look at how many FTSE 100 companies are there in Yorkshire, there’s some but there’s not a huge amount so over two thirds of what we do is working with entrepreneurs and their businesses and that’s not just huge ones it’s tech start ups to very large privately-owned businesses and everything in between.

Alex: If you are a small medium sized business, why would you look to PwC’s rather than say an accountancy firm down the street. What is the difference, what are you actually getting?

Chris: At the end of the day I mean you’ve got the benefit of having somebody that is focused on the SME market, but has the benefit of having a global firm behind them so we can help you from day one as you grow and invest out time, quite happy to invest time to start with in certain businesses you know, so I’ve got a lot of guys who are tech start-ups and there’s not a huge amount I’m going to be doing for them but I just spend time with them on a day-to-day basis and help them, grow with them and in the future there might be an opportunity for me to help them with something.

Alex: And I suppose from what you previously said it’s the fact that you’ve got all these different departments and sub-divisions and all different types.

Chris: Yeah, say someone is trying to export to a European country for example and they’ve never done it before, well we’ve got offices all over the world. I can pick up the phone to somebody and find someone over there that can help them.

Alex: They’re getting the PwC network that you can’t obviously get from your high street guy and you are the one stop sort of financial spreadsheet shop so to speak.

Chris: Yeah, that’s why I said basically we’re problem solvers. So if you have a problem with your business, generally I can find an expert, because it’s such a big firm there’s usually somebody who does everything you know, I’ve had a little niche expert, I mean I’ve been in the firm for a decade, I still don’t know what we do, there’s so much there yeah but usually if you pick up the phone there’s somebody I can turn to with something.

Alex: And just talk us through because it’s very much a hit topic at the moment, this whole sort of tax avoidance. You’ve obviously got all the Panama papers, you’ve got David Cameron who’s supposedly been caught out according to some of the papers, Emma Watson the actress, she again bought it through the Panama company. What’s the viewpoint on this because again I think it’s very much a misconception when people sort of talk about taxation, the different structures, talk us through what is legal, what is illegal, what’s the grey area?

Chris: Yeah, it’s a hot potato, bit of a minefield to go through and it obviously sells papers which is why it’s been all over the press for the last five or so years. Before then I think the tax world was very different. Broadly the important point to know is tax evasion, that’s the really bad thing, that’s illegal, now tax avoidance that’s legal. So, one is a criminal matter, if you’re doing tax evasion, there’s still plenty of people out there doing that, and if you look at what budgets and things set when the Chancellor stands up with his little red box and so on he says how much I’m going to recover from tax evasion, as there’s plenty of people out there doing that.

Alex: And that’s effectively money laundering which is the illegal bit.

Chris: Yeah it can include money laundering, it can get people not paying their tax, basically defrauding the government.

Alex: And the difference flipping over to the….

Chris: I mean obviously we don’t do any of that.

Alex: Obviously.

Chris: Tax avoidance is a much broader term. So, and again that is bandied around, and it is becoming more of a dirty word in itself. It comes down to confusion, as you mentioned, it’s how do people understand what is genuinely just financial planning and what is avoidance and if you look at what the law says, you know case law basically going back donkey’s years which goes along the lines of and I probably paraphrase badly that somebody is entitled to arrange their affairs in a way that helps minimise their tax exposure. That’s perfectly legitimate. But if parliament didn’t intend this to happen are you manipulating the rules? Are you finding a loophole and exploiting it? That’s tax avoidance in their view and they don’t like it for obvious reasons, it’s not what they want you know. Whereas they are obviously happy with financial planning. I mean tax avoidance is so broad you could say that investing in a ISA you know in a sense is, you are arranging your circumstances to pay less tax because there is a you know government sponsored tax relief there, you can invest in a wrapper like that.

Alex: So effectively its your role to take and do the tax advice and take your client and their pot of money no matter what it is and take it up to the line that is set out effectively by HMRC but you don’t cross it because the as you said you’re getting into serious nitty gritty territory and you’re bound to be caught out and that’s where if you like the daily mails of this world and the media have picked up on it and arguably twisted the facts slightly?

Chris: Ultimately it comes down to there are thousands of pages of legislation now you know it’s impossible for the layman on the street, you know Jimmy an ordinary citizen to understand really what the tax rules are, they’re so complex now. You know when I started you had a couple of books and it’s now twelve. It’s impossible, I can’t read all of that, you have to have you know specialists in each individual field and some of just doing stuff like a tax return for people was impossible because there’s absolutely no way you can self-assess without some help. So, a lot of what we do is actually try and help people understand what the rules are.

Alex: It brings us on I suppose nicely in terms of again another term that’s sort of bandied around predominately by the media in terms of offshore funds, whereby you sort of say well I’ve got my pot of money and it’s held in the Channel Islands or it’s over in the British Virgin Islands and all of that and again it’s tarnished with a similar sort of brush. Are those sort of setups legal? Illegal? What are the advantages? What are the disadvantages? I mean again it’s a term possibly misunderstood but where we we’re at the moment in terms of legislation what’s possible?

Chris: Yeah so I mean like you say there’s a lot of attention on things like Panama, before then there was non-dom’s, that came up in the election campaigns and stuff, and a lot of these terms are thrown out into the press and it’s all no non-dom’s are bad, Panama’s obviously bad, offshore structure that’s awful, you know and the trouble is a lot of people aren’t interested in the detail, I love tax, a lot of people don’t, I’m fairly unique, I chose to do this, most people fall into the profession. Unless you get really into the detail and that’s not going to sell papers is it if you’re going to get really into the detail of it, so it is quite easy to get things misconstrued. I mean just turning to the Panama situation and David Cameron, so he invested in essentially shares in an offshore vehicle set up by his father. I don’t know all the details, I haven’t look at it that much in all the specifics, but broadly it was an entity which paid UK tax, it was distributing its income each year and David Cameron would have to declare that on his tax return. So that is the same as you investing in a blue-chip company on the stock exchange as anybody else would, you do that in a ISA or whatever you like. If it’s paying the same amount of UK tax as it would be in a UK entity, then what’s the problem but people see offshore and tax evasion and tax avoidance and group it all. You just read the headline don’t you. There are things to be uncovered and it’s perfectly legitimate for people to look at Panama and things like that and see if there is, you know I’m sure there will be untoward things that are in there to be uncovered, you know it’s 11 million documents I think, it’s going to take somebody with a fine tooth comb to go through it all I think.
Alex: Well time will tell on that one time will tell. Bring it back round, in terms of property investment again the sort of the buzzwords is sort of how you structure it for tax efficiency, capital gains, inheritance tax, company structures, how do you actually sort of structure purchases nowadays because obviously there’s so many sort of obstacles, are there sensible ways, obviously above board as we’ve said that you can actually structure that purchase? What should one actually look out for as a property investor?

Chris: Ok, ok ultimately, it’s a bit fob you off a little bit. It really comes down to your personal circumstances. There’s not a one set of rules, this is the right thing for a property investor to do you know, one person’s situation may be completely different to another person’s. You might have someone who is married and in a property partnership say, you might have somebody that’s just doing it by themselves, you have to take all of that into account. I mean if your married you might think about things like who’s earning more so you know a lot of the changes at high level are, some of the bigger ones that we announced were around for stretching the amounts of relief you can get on your mortgage payments so that’s going to be restricted to basic rent, so you know 20% relief eventually essentially, whereas in the past you would have got 40% or If you’re an additional rate tax payer, if you’re lucky enough to be one, 45% relief. You know so that’s a big dip in terms of how much, it’s coming phased in so over the next couple of years you will come 75%, 50%, 25%, I won’t throw numbers around but in those circumstances you might look well okay fine if my wife isn’t earning anything well maybe she should own some of the properties if we’re going to acquire some more, maybe she should do it rather than me. The issues with stamp duty and tax are interesting. I mean you’ve got obviously this new 3% surcharge, from the people I’ve spoken to it’s just not necessarily something that will change the behaviour but they’re looking at, it’s more a case of it’s an extra cost that we’re going to have to incur it’s like a business expense you know it’s just something that we have to take into account when we’re setting our rents and so on to try and get the right sort of profit in the long term. So unfortunately, I think whilst the idea is to disincentive I guess the landlord and buy-to-let market, I suspect it will just be passed on to the tenants in due course.

Alex: That’s my fear but again we will see because it’s very early days. Talk us through Chris, because I know a lot of people are banding around ideas of if we’re looking to buy property we’ll put it in a limited company structure and there’s sort of limited liability partnerships and all of that. If one is looking to acquire properties what are the things you actually need to think through in the structures as well.

Chris: Well I mean you’ve got to think about what’s commercial first and what’s good for you. I mean there are benefits to being in a company there are benefits of being in a partnership, like limited protections one but you know there’s also things like who’s going to lend money to me. I mean it’s easy to obtain finance when you’re an individual through buy-to-let mortgages, it might start to get harder but it’s my understanding is it’s harder to do it through a company than it is. The tax things to think about are well yeah there are some tax changes. Not all of those tax changes apply to the companies, particularly mortgage interest one is a big one. So, there’s a distinction there that if you can get lending through a company and actually some people are actually so worse off that after these tax changes come through, in earnest once they’ve been phased in, yeah you could end up making a loss after you know the tax cost. So that in itself could mean that basically there’s no point being in business, so what you going to do about it? And one of the considerations might be well can I incorporate, well that might be one route you’ve got to think about what the other implications are, the stamp duty land tax issues and so on. Like I said before you what you got to do is look at your individual circumstances and then decide which structure is best from the outset.

Alex: Yeah and take some pretty specialist advice as well, again the great thing about PwC is just so many different departments and areas of expertise so you’ve just got to declare everything from your personal circumstances and really, I think hand it over to you guys for you to navigate through.

Chris: Obviously, I’d be happy to do that, the key thing is taking that sort of advice earlier on rather than later. It’s much easier to plan for the future than it is trying to unravel something from the past.

Alex: Yeah no quite. And I mean it’s been really insightful, thank you very much indeed for your time. If anyone’s got any sort of questions or queries or both I suppose from a personal perspective and also the company side and tax structures that we’ve run through, what is the best way for people to reach you?

Chris: So yeah you can give me a call, my direct telephone number is 0113 2894895 or normal routes you can reach us through the website pwc.co.uk

Alex: That’s fantastic, really appreciate your time Chris, thank you very much indeed.

Chris: Thank you very much.

Alex: In the property hospital I get to answer your property problems.

Linda Alex, I’m on the market with an estate agent at the moment and things are ticking along but how can I continue to get the best out of them and ensure that they’re always pushing my property?

Alex: Linda, great question. One of the best things you can actually do is get the front of house team or the office-based staff to view your home. The more staff that have seen it, the more they’re going to remember it and they’re then going to mention it to the buyers out there. The other thing is, I think you need to stay in touch with your agent but do keep it brief each time. Remember agents are sales people and they’re often short of time, so having a 30-minute telephone call is just going to clog them up and let’s face it, I would much rather they were using that 30 minutes on the phone selling your property. So, really keep it short and sweet with the communication, that’s the key. Again, on that point, remember estate agency is of course, it’s a people business, so therefore be nice as I know you would be, but people always go out of their way to help anyone that’s great to get on with and keep a solid personable rapport with the agent. Really, ultimate tip and rick here, stay front of mind with your agent, go and buy them some cake and seriously I do mean that, pop buy the bakers, get them a selection of cakes in a box and drop by the office and to say that you were thinking of them. So, when they’re eating them, and the other office staff are asking were these cakes come from, they’re discussing you and your home, and again in other words you are front of their minds and you’re being a great client and therefore they will continue to go above and beyond for you. I really hope this helps.

Voiceover: The Property Hot Seat
Name?

Sharon: Sharon Wright

Voiceover: Business?

Sharon: David H Wright Joinery

Voiceover: Time in property?

Sharon: I’ve been in the business for 28 years.

Alex: Just sort of talking all of this through, I know people possibly have this misconception of what joinery actually is and as soon as you mention a specialist, what is it that you actually do and offer?

Sharon: Right well as a bespoke joinery manufacturer we manufacture all types of products windows, doors, orangeries, conservatories. We work on heritage work, all types of different woods.

Alex: I dare say being a specialist you get involved with a lot of sort of older properties, listed properties, is that something that you sort of go into and what are the sort of details that you need to sort of secure off on it?

Sharon: Absolutely when a property is in a conservation area or indeed it is a listed building yeah then the attention to detail we have to be very careful what we’re actually putting in to that building. We have to improve it sympathetically with our windows so the attention to detail is paramount, we have to ensure that we get all the mouldings correct, that we’re using the correct timbers, we’ve got to pay special attention to the paint finishes, the colours that are really important.

Alex: I guess it just goes into the sort of the legal side of things, if you get it wrong, you and the owner are liable, and you’ve got the council and authorities to answer to is the bottom line.

Sharon: Absolutely, it can be a very expensive mistake.

Alex: What are the considerations that you need to do when making applications to the local authority if you wanted to change any windows, doors, maybe a conservatory or orangery, what do you actually need to think through as an owner and indeed yourself as a business?

Sharon: We have to be very careful because the local authority want to preserve the heritage of the building and also with conservation areas they want to preserve the area to make sure that its maintained, it’s kept beautiful and all the buildings are sympathetic to the area so we have to make sure that one the windows are copied exactly as they were before, so it doesn’t have to be a 1700 property, doesn’t have to be a Georgian property or a Victorian property. It might be that it’s a 1920s or 1930s property.

Alex: Just in the conservation areas you mentioned.

Sharon: Absolutely.

Alex: You’ve still got to tread carefully, I mean what happens for example, there’s some fantastic properties that have stained glass and its again they’re incredibly difficult to A – get right and copy nowadays, is there a way you can get round that from your perspective?

Sharon: Absolutely, so the glazing is very important as well. Say you’ve got a property that’s got beautiful stained glass windows in and the client still want to have the double glazed units then what we can do is we can encompass that into the double glazed unit so we send them away to a very very clever man in Leeds that repairs the original stained glass and then encapsulate that into a double glazed unit so you’ve got the benefit of a very very modern window in a traditional style.

Alex: You’ve got the best of everything.

Sharon: Best of all worlds yeah absolutely yes.

Alex: I know you have talked about the difference of timber types and I think this is a really interesting subject. Just tell everyone the wood types and the differences that you work with because again some of it is quite surprising I think.

Sharon: Well you’ve got to be really really careful when you’re looking at buying a window, whether that’s for a new build or we’re looking at heritage type buildings. There’s a lot of soft wood products out there which are ok, but when you’re wanting to have a beautiful window done then you want to have the best wood you can have.

Alex: Yeah, and people often sort of throw around the term oak, but I guess there’s oak and there’s oak, what are the differences?

Sharon: Absolutely, well you have European oak and American oak. Both really really great timbers but you wouldn’t want to be using American Oak outside because it’s just not capable of our weathers to use outside. So, it’s great to use that timber American oak but on inside products such as staircase, internal doors that sort of products but as far as any external work then you really have to use European Oak.

Alex: Talk me through because I felt that this was absolutely fantastic, this is a fairly new product that’s out there sort of accoya, talk everyone through this as I know I’ve been saying to everyone look at this a 60 year, a six-zero-year guarantee which I think is quite something. Just talk everyone through exactly what that is and why there is that guarantee in place.

Sharon: I’m so excited about this product, it really really is a great product. What happens it’s a soft wood timber, accoya is not a tree, it’s a soft wood which is farm grown in New Zealand and what they do is they take all the you know DNA, take all the DNA out of the timber and it goes through a process which enables that timber then to be very very stable. So, you can cut a piece of timber, measure it before you put it in some water, put it in water, leave it for six-months Alex and take it back out and it won’t have swollen, it won’t have moved it won’t have done anything, so it’s a great stable timber.

Alex: It’s actually wood, it’s not anything objective or strange, it’s just the way they’ve treated it?

Sharon: Absolutely, it’s a fantastic product so we use it for doors, for bi-folding doors it’s absolutely great because we can get the tolerances really down to a fine line. It’s great for sliding sash windows because what we do we also use a product called tri-accoya which is also great, which is made of all the sweepings of the accoya into a MDF board so that’s great for when we do orangeries or conservatories, it’s great for the big timber posts that we use, we use that instead of big timber posts and we know we’re not going to get any swelling or movement so it really is a fantastic fantastic product.

Alex: Doesn’t rot, doesn’t move, doesn’t split, doesn’t do anything apart from when you’ve cut it to size, it just completely stays in place and let me check I’ve got this right it really is 60, six-zero years guarantee.

Sharon: Absolutely.

Alex: I don’t know any other product probably in the world that has that sort of guarantee that is something quite special, and then over the top of it, I know we’ve sort of chatted in the past about the paint that you can also then incorporate, not necessarily on the top of accoya but the other products that you use. Talk everyone through that.

Sharon: Ok, well we work with a company called Technos and that company provide a micro-porous paint system. Now just explain a little more in details than that, that is a water-based system, which will actually moves with the timber so if for instance looking at sepelia hard wood then you get up to a 10-yewar lifespan on a sepelia hard wood, with soft wood you get up to a 10-year lifespan with that, but with accoya you get up to a 15-year lifespan on your paint system.

Alex: And that is just on the paint itself, not for the woods just on the paint?

Sharon: Yeah.

Alex: Again, that is quite a combination, so again if you’re doing anything specialist that’s going to take a bit of a hit so to speak I think that is really the product to go for. I know again everyone sort of talks about UPVC windows and sort of timber windows and bare in mind the products on the timber side that your using. What are the advantages as you would see it in terms of putting in timber windows over UPVC?

Sharon: If you are doing a project, firstly if it’s in a conservation area or a listed building you’re not allowed to use UPVC and you can really get caught out by spending money and then having to put new windows in again so be very very careful with that, that’s the first thing. Also, the attention to detail, with a plastic window you can’t get the really very nice mouldings on the windows themselves. Also, with a wooden window, they’re endorsed by the WWF and Greenpeace so they’re much more environmentally friendly, of course if we put them into landfill they don’t really know, so for the environmentalists that is very important.

Alex: And I suppose the design element as well from your perspective because I think you’ve got a fleet of people behind the scenes so if you want any design under the sun, pretty much it’s all possible.

Sharon: Absolutely and what we’ve got to take into consideration as well is that the people that are trained by us are apprentice trained really from school, and they’re craftspeople, so the windows that we’re manufacturing, are really really difficult to make and so attention to detail is paramount and with a plastic window really anybody can make.

Alex: And what’s the training? What’s the length of year out of interest? Sort of a craftsmen, how many years?

Sharon: So, we’re talking about seven years.

Alex: As long as that.

Sharon: We’re talking a long time.

Alex: Well it’s been fascinating to talk to you and some really interesting products to use and I’m sure you’ll have some great interest on that. And what are the best ways for people to get hold of you?

Sharon: You can give me a call, the best number to get me on is 01977 681832 or the website is dhwjoinery.co.uk

Alex: Sharon, great to see you thank you very much indeed.

Sharon: Thank you for having me Alex.

Alex: This month we ask ourselves what is the only question you need to ask the manager of your state agency office when they’re looking to sell your property. That is what is their experience in estate agency. Now, let me explain, for example I had a case a couple of years back and completely out of the area a homeowner rang me, and they were struggling to sell their property. Area was great, great property, right price, I just personally couldn’t understand why it hadn’t sold and something wasn’t right. Cue a meeting with the estate agent who also was the manager of that office. Excellent sales person, full of enthusiasm, couldn’t fault him, however once I’d actually cut through all of that and asked his experience in the sector, his response was that he used to work for Cirque De Soleil, the circus people in their marketing team. He was literally a clown. He fancied having a goat estate agency and bought himself a franchise and whilst he could buy a franchise opportunity and he really was an excellent sales person, he could not buy hands on experience, and this was why the sale in this instance had faltered. And as the manager leading his team, if there was an issue, were to have the foresight to see a problem cropping up on the horizon he was instantly out of his depth therefore so was the rest of his team. Whilst this new twist to estate agency is a great thing they need to be backed up by a leader with experience and some of the most powerful agents have the young negotiator who’s enthusiastic, full of energy, it’s then backed up and tempered by the manager and these guys have the years of experience and the know-how. Together the combined skills can be a very formidable force when selling your home. However, no experience at the top can only lead to issues down the line. Remember time and experience in any job can only be earnt and never bought.

That’s all from the Alex Goldstein Property Show (Part 3). More details, tips, tricks and industry expert advice can be found on the website alexgoldstein.co.uk and of course all my social media channels. Alternatively drop me a line on alex@alexgoldstein.co.uk The next episode is out on 1 July so make sure you tune in for that. Until next time.

In this special one-year anniversary edition of the Alex Goldstein Property show (part 13), Alex discusses the next potential scandal in the property world concerning new build homes and leaseholds. He also talks wills, trusts and probate with legal expert Andrew Parascando of Powell Eddison Solicitors, and home insurance with Ian Darnbrook of A1 Insurance Services. In the property hospital this month is a question about staging your home for sale, and Alex shares his top tips on kerbside appeal.

The Alex Goldstein Property Show (Part 13)

Full transcript below:

Alex: Welcome again to the Alex Goldstein Property Show (part 13), this very special one-year anniversary edition. We strive to solve your property queries and to put you in the fast lane when it comes to the UK property market. Amazing tips plus industry expert insight, that is what we’re all about. Now if you need that property hit, connect with the Alex Goldstein social media account to get the very best property advice whenever you need it. Now in this months show we are getting the inside track from Andrew Parascondolo from Powell Eddison Solicitors on wills, trusts and probate and demystifying all of that. We also get to grips with insurance industry getting experienced insight from Ian Darnbrook from A1 insurance. Loads to fit in so we’re straight on with it.

Is there another possible scandal brewing in the property world? We are still feeling the effects of the banking and mortgage crisis from 2008, when banks were accused of mis-selling mortgages to people who couldn’t afford them and what do you know the bottom fell out of the property market. As a result, the pendulum has actually swung the other way now with banks being ultra-cautious about mortgage lending, making you jump through hoops just to prove that you can actually afford the mortgage you’re applying for. Now as it happens another scandal is now brewing in the property sector. Some big developers like Taylor Wimpey, Red Row and Bellway are all being accused of mis-selling new-build homes. Buyers have bought these homes as leaseholds with the promise of being able to buy the freehold after two years. Usually at the end of a lease, ownership of the property reverts back to the freeholder, however most people apply to extend the lease many years before it runs out. Until recently most houses were sold as freehold properties, however some of these developers have started selling the new build properties as leasehold then selling the freehold on to investors. Buyers are complaining that they were misled about the opportunity to buy the freehold after two years as unbeknown to them the free hold was sold on to private investors before the two years were up. The homeowners claim that the investors who now own their freeholds are only interested in making profits as they’ve now been subjected to ground rent hikes, additional charges, clauses and restrictions and as they don’t own the freehold their homes are then much more difficult to sell on and they feel trapped by the situation. Now let’s be absolutely clear, on the face of it the developers haven’t actually done anything illegal by selling the freehold on, however the homeowners claimed that their behaviour has been unethical, especially, and here is the key, as many of the buyers used conveyancing solicitors recommended by the developers, who they say failed to draw their attention to the potential for the freehold to be sold on early. This story is bound to get bigger so watch this space. The lesson here is if you’re thinking of buying any property is to make sure you find a very good, independent conveyancing solicitor who will highlight all the pros and cons so that you can make an informed decision and not fall prey to clauses that might come back to bite you later.

It’s great to have Andrew Parascondolo from Powell Eddison Solicitors in Harrogate in the studio with me. Andrew thanks so much for coming in, today we’re just sort of talking through wills, trusts and probate and I think it’s often a misunderstood area of the law and again just to guide people through. The big hot topic at the moment as I see it is why should people make a will? It’s very much out there and being talked about but I don’t think people have got a grasp as to why and what it entails.

Andrew: First of all, thank you Alex for inviting me to your show, very kind of you. Yes, I think it is a very hot topic. The statistics say that around 50% of the population don’t have a will. They still see it as a almost a myth that people think that wills are only supposed to be dealt with by the rich. Certainly not, we do regularly advise clients to make a will, they don’t have to cost lots of money, they can cost a few hundred pounds depending on the type of will. Essentially a will, what it does is it details what happens with your estate after you die. So, things like your money, your personal possessions, properties, what happens to them after you die. Essentially if you don’t leave a will, it’s the law and the laws of intestacy to decide how an estate is dealt with, who deals with it and how its distributed.

Alex: So, its effectively your estate could effectively just get past to the Government if you don’t have a will?

Andrew: Yeah, I mean essentially, it’s not as drastic as that. A lot of people think it is but under the rules of intestacy it goes down the bloodline. So, it would be things like siblings, sons, daughters, partners etc. Mainly wives not partners. The will allows you to decide how your estate is distributed, it’s not the laws of intestacy so as I say because they are literally a few hundred pounds to put together it’s really important for people to make wills and have them regularly updated. We generally say around five to six years to review your wills.

Alex: Yeah, I agree, and the other major buzzword out there is a LPA or a lasting power of attorney and again it’s a phrase thrown around and very much involved in the will sector. Just talk everyone through that, what it means, what it actually entails and why you should actually look at it fairly strongly nowadays?

Andrew: Yeah, I mean in my view I always look at it like this, a will is how to deal with your estate after you die and that deals with things like incorporating step children, you may want to exclude family members, you may want to appoint guardians for young children etc. deal with remarriage, divorce as well as estate planning. Lasting powers of attorney are essentially the way of administering your estate whilst you are alive so that if you are unable to make decisions about your property, your finances, your bills etc. not just because you’ve lost capacity, it may be that you’ve lost mobility and then the lasting power of attorney is a really good way of doing that. A lot of carers essentially have the buzzword of lasting powers of attorney, go and make one its really really important. Now the first thing that I say to a client when making a lasting power of attorney is why do you need it? That’s really why people come and get advice about lasting powers of attorney.

Alex: So, if for example I suddenly get knocked on the head and I’m in a coma or something and I didn’t have a LPA, or something set up in my will how would it then work? How could someone take charge of my financial affairs? Is there a process someone needs to go through? How does it work?

Andrew: Let’s look at it slightly differently. A will deals with your state after death and that only becomes valid when you die. In terms of a lasting power of attorney, that is whilst you are alive, that comes to an end upon your death and that is when the will takes over. So, if for example you were god forbid taken ill or run over by a car and had mobility problems and maybe capacity problems, if your spouse or a family member didn’t have a lasting power of attorney and needed access to your funds they would have problems doing that. It just depends, people have different estates, have different combinations of how they hold their money. They may be joint accounts, they may be single accounts and it’s just really talking to the client and not everyone will need a lasting power of attorney.

Alex: This is a fantastic point Andrew, the phrase LPA, lasting power of attorney, gets thrown around sort of fairly freely actually it’s not necessarily right for all and sundry. You need to speak and talk it through in detail because actually it may not be the right options. How does it work? You hear quite a lot in the news about wills being contested and other family members, I know you slightly joked and said well you know one member of the family has been left out of the will and it all gets into the news, obviously these tend to be very high-profile cases. With your experience and knowledge of the sector, do you find that this is a growing area and what’s the reason for it, has there been a change in the law, or why is that? Or is it just the media?

Andrew: Contested probate has increased in the last 24 months by 2000% and I do think that a lot of it is to with, there is a case that’s just been in the media which is Ilotts Mix and essentially that was a case where by a lady was estranged by her daughter for a period of 20 odd years, she then made a conscious decision to distribute her estate to charities, her daughter contested that and was awarded a amount of money by the judge, she was then not happy with that so appealed it, the appeal judge effectively increased the amount of money that she got and then the charities then appealed to the supreme court, now the supreme court has now ruled the appeal was not correct and has reduced the amount back to the original amount. So, in my view that case really is a case that sits on its own facts. It did attract a lot of attention, it did attract a lot of empathists for contested probates and contested wills, however in my view that is a victory for testimony freedom. At the end of the day people should be allowed to leave their estate how they feel fit as long as they have been properly advised. That’s the problem, we need to make sure that your listeners are properly informed that they need to just sit down with someone, it need not cost them lots of money to sit down and find out what their objectives and someone will weigh up the pros and cons.

Alex: A great insight there Andrew and obviously bolted on the back of this is probate, again a term widely thrown around. Just loosely, just talk everyone around what it is, why it exists and how to actually navigate through it all?

Andrew: I mean essentially probate is the administration of an estate after someone passes away. It is the formal application of the grant of probate if you leave a will. If you don’t leave a will it’s something that is called letters of administration and essentially it is a series of documents that allows you to proceed with the estate. The grant of probate once obtained allows bank account to be closed and the money to be collected, properties to be sold. The one thing that I do want listeners to be aware of, which has not been publicised very much is that the probate fees are just about to increase. I think that will have an impact on how people deal with their estate. There will be estates whereby people try to reduce the risk of this increased tariff by making decisions such as trusts, they may decide to reduce their estate by the use of trusts. It will also put executives in difficult positions simply because they will need to fund this new tariff which in some cases will be really difficult.

Alex: I’ve got to say some amazing insight and some great sort of tips for everyone. If anyone did want to get in touch with yourself or your team at Powell’s to talk through wills or probate trust aspect to talk through their personal circumstances. What is the best way to get in touch?

Andrew: Well thank you for that, it’s my pleasure. If people want to come down and speak with us we offer a free consultation period, it doesn’t cost anything, it’s free of charge, where people sit down with us and we then talk through their objectives. Another thing I would say is we’re no longer on 14 Albert Street, we’ve moved, we’re now at Raglan House on Raglan Street and we are having our official office opening on the 29 March at 5 o’clock, so we invite all of our clients to come and see us, those that can to maybe sit with us and maybe have a drink, a glass of wine or some champagne or some orange juice and to meet the team and the rest of the new team that’s come on board. The telephone number is as it always was so its Harrogate 01423 564551 and the website address or email address is info@powell-eddison.co.uk and you can visit our website at www.powell-eddison.co.uk

Alex: Andrew, can’t thank you enough, fantastic information there and thanks for coming on.

Andrew: Thank you for inviting me.

Alex: The property hospital is all about me answering your property concerns and demystifying the process. This week I’m answering a question from Lisa who’s got this to say.

Lisa: Hi Alex, I’m putting my house on the market soon and I want to make it look as attractive as possible to buyers. I’ve read that doing things such as having a fresh pot of coffee on the go, baking bread in the oven and the table all set for dinner help, but are they a bit cliched?

Alex: Lisa, thank you and yes, you’re absolutely right all those ideas are a bit dated nowadays and today it’s more about clean lines and less clutter the better. So clear away anything from the room that shouldn’t be there making sure all the surfaces are tidy and dust free. Dirty homes and unpleasant smells will deter your buyers. Clear any used pots from the kitchen and ensure any pet areas are thoroughly cleaned. Empty all your bins of course, have freshly laundered towels in a sparkling bathroom. I do actually know some clients have even bought brand new fluffy towels which they keep solely for house viewings. Also think about your furniture, what are you going to be taking with you. If you’re not going to be taking it, get rid of it and create more space in your home. Then think about lighting, warm ambient lighting will set the room of to its best so ensure key areas are well lit with lamps, downlighters or pendant lighting. The key is to put yourself in the position of the buyer and think about what would put you off and what you would like to see when you look around someone else’s home. I hope this is some help and best of luck with the house sale.

Voiceover: The property hot seat.
Name?

Ian: Ian Darnbrook

Voiceover: Business?

Ian: A1 Insurance Services Ltd

Voiceover: Years experience?

Ian: 25 years in the business.

Alex: It’s a pleasure to welcome in Ian Darnbrook in the studio today and just to really try to get to grips with dare I say, the insurance industry. Now Ian just talk us through exactly what does an insurance broker do. You hear the term getting thrown around, but I don’t know whether anyone really understands it?

Ian: Right, an insurance broker, we go out there to find the right policy to suit your needs. We deal with over 100 different insurers, so we go to each insurer to find the best policy for you.

Alex: And how do you actually get paid? Am I paying you up front as a search type service? How does it work?

Ian: The premium we quote to you includes a commission we get from the insurance company so the price we quote you is what you pay.

Alex: Sounds an obvious question but for what sort of things do you actually insure at the end of the day?

Ian: We insure most things your house, your cars, collections of cars, businesses, letting properties.

Alex: I dare say it’s the age-old question, why don’t I go on one of those fancy websites money meerkat as they say and go and get a quote, what are the pros and cons of going down that route?

Ian: You can do that, they can be cheaper, you’ve got to watch out for policy conditions and assumptions that they make when you’re doing quotes. If you get it wrong that’s your problem. We check the policy cover to make sure you’re getting the right cover, if you’re doing it yourself you may miss something, that could be higher excesses, we’ve had occasions where they’ve excluded flood cover and we’ve had people who have insured vehicles and have had no theft cover because they haven’t had the right security on the vehicle.

Alex: I guess in those situations the insurer completely backs out and says that’s not my problem and you personally have to settle it?

Ian: Yes.

Alex: And from a insurance quotation point of view, with your experience what are the pitfalls a lot of people can inadvertently fall into and then I suppose live to regret it?

Ian: Probably the main one on household insurance is not insuring the property for rebuild cost. A lot of people will go for the sale value which is incorrect, it should be based on the cost to rebuild, on your contents, what it would cost to replace your contents.

Alex: And just talk everyone through this, rebuild value, what is it and how can you specifically define it because obviously you don’t get paying more than the rebuild or obviously less.

Ian: Normally if you have a survey done by a mortgage company they will give you a rebuild cost, or you can go to a surveyors and they will give you a rebuild cost. There are a lot of policies out there that are bedroom rated and they give you a certain sum insured. For example, AXA Extra they give you up to a million-pound sum insured so if you’ve got a three-bedroomed semi in Harrogate obviously a million pound is more than enough to rebuild that house.

Alex: Are you not then inadvertently overpaying of they’ve got a policy that values you up to a million, but your property is only worth 500 thousand?

Ian: No, I mean you’re not overpaying because its rated on the number of bedrooms, so you could have the same policy for a five-bedroomed house and because they’ve got five bedrooms they will pay a higher premium.

Alex: I’ve got you, and how does it work I suppose conversely on the car insurance side of things I suppose the age old thing especially when your children are growing up, they get in the car and driving licence, and people, don’t know, I suppose this old school mentality try to slightly fudge the issue and get the kids in under the parents car insurance but actually it’s their sons car and he’s actually driving it. How do you actually work through that sort of you ought to potentially?

Ian: You have to be very careful, insurance companies call that fronting basically buying the son or daughter a car insuring in the parent’s name, knowing the son or daughter is the main user. Most insurance that we deal with now, they’ll pick that up and know there’s a problem. Whilst young drivers are learning to drive premiums are not too bad, it’s when they’ve passed the test and they go to get the first car, you could be looking at premiums in excess of £3,000.

Alex: Gosh, and is there any way around that whereby if you put extra people on the policy, is there anything sensible you can do?

Ian: Sometimes if you put the parents on it reduces the cost a little bit. There is a lot of people out there doing telematics which is little black box in the car which does make a difference. Unfortunately, at the moment we have no insurers that can offer that it’s usually only available direct.

Alex: Got it, and what’s the most unusual items that you’ve insured? You’ve been round the block quite a lot, with all due respect and I bet there’s been some interesting items floated your way?

Ian: Yeah, we did insure a tank which was on a vintage policy. We’ve also got a client who’s got a collection of naval memorabilia which includes a letter signed by Lord Nelson.

Alex: And how do you actually value property, obviously go to a specialist?

Ian: Yeah, he got a specialist valuation company for that one. I think it was in the region of £25,000.

Alex: So, if anyone has got a tank on their driveway on indeed a letter from Lord Nelson or indeed a need for straight forward house and contents insurance what’s the best way to reach you guys?

Ian: Best way is to give us a call on 01937 581417 or you can email us which is, best email address is probably info@a1insurance.co.uk

Alex: Fantastic Ian, a great insight and some really useful information. Thanks so much for coming on.

Ian: Thank you.

Alex: Don’t ever underestimate the impact of curb side appeal if you want to sell your home. One of the first things potential buyers will see when looking for a new home is that photograph of the front of your house, often in a list of properties that they are scanning on a website or a property app. You need to make your house look as attractive as possible at first glance and it could make the difference between them scrolling right past or stopping for a closer look. Also, many buyers do a drive buy of houses they are interested in before they go and book a viewing so it’s really important that the front of your house is presented at it’s best. So, first thing get rid of the cars, bins and anything else out on the driveway when the photographer comes to shoot the images so that the front of your house looks completely uncluttered. Clean all the windows and window sills at the front and paint all wooden doors with a fresh coat. Make sure the garden is weeded and tidied, hedges are pruned, and weeds pulled up. If you’ve got a doorbell make sure it works and if not either fix it or remove it. These are small things that if done can make a difference between people stopping or simply passing by.

That’s the Alex Goldstein Property Show and yet again some superb top tips and features. If you need expert information, videos and up to the minute property news then head over to the website alexgoldstein.co.uk Alternatively if you require personalised thoughts or 15-year experienced advice on buying or selling your property please get in touch directly. The next episode is out on the 1 May so make sure you tune in to that. Until next time.

First Impressions Count when Selling Your Home

Full transcript below:

Don’t ever underestimate the impact of kerbside appeal if you want to sell your home. One of the first things potential buyers will see when looking for a new home is that photograph of the front of your house, often in a list of properties that they are scanning on a website or a property app. You need to make your house look as attractive as possible at first glance and it could make the difference between them scrolling right past or stopping for a closer look. Also, many buyers do a drive buy of houses they are interested in before they go and book a viewing so it’s really important that the front of your house is presented at its best. So, first thing get rid of the cars, bins and anything else out on the driveway when the photographer comes to shoot the images so that the front of your house looks completely uncluttered. Clean all the windows and window sills at the front and paint all wooden doors with a fresh coat. Make sure the garden is weeded and tidied, hedges are pruned, and weeds pulled up. If you’ve got a doorbell make sure it works and if not either fix it or remove it. These are small things that if done can make a difference between people stopping or simply passing by.

That’s the Alex Goldstein Property Show and yet again some superb top tips and features. If you need expert information, videos and up-to-the-minute property news then head over to the website alexgoldstein.co.uk. Alternatively, if you require personalised thoughts or 15-year experienced advice on buying or selling your property please get in touch directly. The next episode is out on the 1 May so make sure you tune in to that. Until next time.

In this month’s Alex Goldstein Property Show (part 12), Alex speaks to Matthew Jones, an expert on the law governing leaseholds and enfranchisement (buying a property’s freehold), and to James Tiffany from Skipton builders Roger Tiffany Limited, who shares some amazing tips on finding a good builder. Alex also reveals key advice to gain the planning permission you want for your property.

The Alex Goldstein Property Show (Part 12)

Alex: Welcome again to the Alex Goldstein Property Show (Part 12), the number-one property show on Stray FM. We strive to solve your property queries and to put you in the fast lane when it comes to the UK property market. Amazing tips plus industry expert insight, that is what we’re all about. If you need that property hit, then connect with the Alex Goldstein social media accounts to get the best property advice whenever you need it.

Now, in this month’s show, we’re getting the inside track from Matthew Jones, a solicitor on leasehold reform, James Tiffany, an expert builder, plus tips about planning permission and a substance as toxic as asbestos. Lots to fit in so we’re straight on with it.

Male: Property news, with Alex Goldstein.

Woman: Stray FM.

Alex: This month, we’re talking about the power of word of mouth. Now, I happen to be going through my 2016 figures last weekend, and to my amazement, I found that 92% of my business came from word of mouth referrals. Now, I’m not blowing my own trumpet. Well, maybe I am, but that figure even took me by surprise, and then it got me thinking, “Why was it so high?” I was discussing it with Sarah, a previous client and marketing expert who said, “Well, look. There are three things that people value most: trust, communication, and above all, knowledge that you will do what you say you’re going to do. You have all of those nailed.”

Well, of course, I blushed at the compliment while secretly high-fiving myself under the table. But look, joking aside, she is spot on with those three things. I believe they should be sacrosanct, no matter what business you are in. It absolutely demonstrates that you care and have the needs of your client at the forefront of everything you do. I can bet you think of a dozen times when you’ve been let down in all those areas, the builders who go AWOL halfway through a project, the colleague who never responds to an email, customer services who say they’ll call you back, and then never do.

And, what do you do when you’re looking for a top-notch restaurant or need to find a good treatment for a job? You ask the people you know for help. As a result, you’re more likely to use that trade or service that has been recommended to you by a trusted source. Low risk, no hassle. Makes sense.

The power of these three things were demonstrated very clearly in a recent case of a client of mine who was trying to sell her home. Before I became involved, she was promised top service, marketing package by her previous agent. Through roof-tinted spectacles, she envisaged a world in which her house was being fought over by a queue of adoring buyers.

The first six weeks, they went really well, lots of viewings. The agent did a solid job of keeping in touch. But, when it hadn’t sold after eight weeks, it was as though the agent had vanished into thin air. So suddenly, she was the one chasing with the phone calls and the emails, and it made her feel like a nuisance.

Thankfully, a friend of hers recommended me and we quickly got to grips with the situation, upgrading photography, overhauling the whole brochure, marketing strategy, online entries, viewing arrangements etc. We re-launched the property with renewed vigor. The agent, delighted to have some additional ideas from a property consultant who has 15 years of experience plus an increase in client contact.

As a result, in five weeks of the re-launch, we’ve secured the buyer. Clients obviously delighted, agent back on the right terms with refreshed enthusiasm, and myself keeping a proactive check on progress. However, underlying problem lies where everything had gone amiss previously. The client told her friend, who mentioned it to another on Facebook, who then shared a post about it. Like a virus, the bad experience had been disseminated across hundreds of people within minutes. Whereas the end result was good, the damage had already been done.

As I said, one should never lose sight of the power of word of mouth, whether in business yourself, or client looking for a good product or service. A good reputation can take years to earn, but only a moment to lose.

Great to be joined in the studio by Matthew Jones from LCF Law in Bradford. Matthew, thanks very much for coming in. The department you are part of is the Lease Extension and Enfranchisement team. Can you actually just talk everyone through because again, these are these buzz words that get thrown around fairly readily, but no one actually understands it. Talk us through.

Matthew: Yeah, sure, Alex. I work at LCF Law, as you say, in the Lease Extension Enfranchisement Department. What that effectively is, lease extensions are when tenants want to extend their lease, which they can do under legislation. Enfranchisement is when tenants want to collectively buy the freehold. That’s it in a nutshell. I mean, there is more detail, too, there which I’m sure will come on to.

Alex: And what, again, is part of that? You’ve got the Leasehold Reform Act, what does that encompass, and what does it actually mean?

Matthew: The Act basically allows a leaseholder to extend their lease by an additional 90 years, providing certain criteria on that. The main one is that they’ve owned the property for two years or more. Now, they have to pay a premium for this, and what they get is a new lease on the same terms, and no ground rent. So that’s the lease extension element.

Now, the enfranchisement side of it, that, as I said before, allows a group of tenants in a building to join together and buy the freehold, so the actual building in which those flats are located, and that’s the rights granted under Act.

Alex: Yeah. And, talk everyone…because we slightly skipped over it, but talk everyone through freehold property versus leasehold property, and if you’ve got a leasehold property then, as you said, the class is more of a tenant rather than an owner. Just talk everyone through the actual basic differences on that because again, I think it’s commonly misunderstood.

Matthew: Yes, it is. It’s something that, you know, we get asked quite regularly. We’ll take leaseholder. Basically, what that means is that you have your property on a lease for a set term. So, for instance, in flats, that could be 90 years, 150 years, even 999 years, but there’s a set start date and an end date. For a freehold, you own that property indefinitely, until you part with it either through sale, or you lose it by some other means, for instance, the bank claimed it back, or something like that.

Alex: And, you mentioned there sort of a long lease, 999 years. Some people say, “Well, that’s as good as freehold.” Is that still the case nowadays?

Matthew: I mean, no one’s gonna live that long to see it through to [inaudible 00:06:56].

Alex: You never know [inaudible 00:06:58].

Matthew: It’s always better to have the freehold. It really is, because at the end of the day, even though you may have a 999 year lease, with a lease comes certain restrictions, so you have to comply with certain requirements. So say, if you owned a flat, that lease that you have will say that…I don’t know, for instance, if you’ve got a balcony, you can’t put washing out on that balcony, or you can’t play music after a certain time, things like that.

Alex: And I guess this also comes into pets as well.

Matthew: Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, if you were a big fan of, you know, hoarding [SP] iguanas or something like that, then there might be a restriction preventing that, dogs, cats, anything can be put into that list.

Alex: Got you. So basically, if you own the freehold, you’re in charge effectively of your own destiny…

Matthew: Absolutely.

Alex: …rather than being a leaseholder. So talk us through the structure. If I’m a tenant and a lease holder, I own the apartment under a lease, you then got a freeholder above us, how does that actually work, that actual structure?

Matthew: So what you will have, you will have the freeholder who owns the building, the large building where all the flats are located. He will then grant individual leases to the tenants. Sometimes you can have a scenario where there’s a management company, so you’ll have a lease from the freeholder to the management company, and then the management company will then grant further leases to the individual tenants. So, it can get quite complicated.

Alex: That’s gonna be complicated quite quickly, doesn’t it? And I mean, everyone talks about the number of years left on your lease. Why is that important? What numbers should people look out for, and why?

Matthew: Right. Well, anything around 90 years or less, I’d say that you really need to start thinking about extending that lease.

Alex: Is that extending the lease by the 90-year element?

Matthew: Yes, you can absolutely…

Alex: Can you ever do more than the 90 years?

Matthew: You can, in certain instances. What you can do…under the Act, you are allowed an extension for 90 years.

Alex: As the minimum?

Matthew: That’s it. That’s what you’re allowed under the Act that we referred to earlier. You can, in certain instances. If you’ve got a very good relationship with your freeholder or your landlord, you can look to extend it for longer. If, for instance, as we mentioned earlier with the enfranchisement where collectively the tenants on the freehold, you can look to extend to 999 years because you own it together.

Alex: And how does it work when people you hear that they want to buy the property? They’re a leaseholder at the moment, they then…to gearing up, and they actually want to buy out the freeholder. How does that sort of things work?

Matthew: Yes. Well, how that works…I mean, the first thing, and I can’t stress this enough, is that they need to instruct a specialist solicitor to do it because it’s a very complicated area of law. It really is. Quite often you see, you know, people who’ve instructed the local solicitor, the family solicitor, and it goes wrong. The first step obviously, once they’ve done that, is they need to get a valuation, and again, there are specialist surveyors and valuers out there who can do that for them.

Alex: Just specifically because the fact it’s as a leasehold property, not as of a building survey necessarily or anything like that.

Matthew: It’s because of the Act, and there are special calculations that need to be worked out. I’m not okay [SP] with that simply because it serves specialists, and as solicitors, we can’t advise on those kind of things. It’s something that the surveyor would do. Once that’s done, they obviously need to see who’s interested in collectively buying that freehold. Once they’ve done that, usually you’ll set up a company to acquire that freehold. Then formal notice is served on the landlords, the freeholder, and provided they accept the right, then effectively it’s a conveyance, so a sale or purchase…

Alex: Transaction.

Matthew: Yeah, transaction to acquire that freehold.

Alex: And does the freeholder always have to sell? Are there any circumstances whereby the leaseholders collectively or singularly approach the freeholder, and say, “We want to buy this?” And where do the rights lie? Where does the law actually reside, or it’s up to negotiations?

Matthew: That’s why it’s very important, as I said, to instruct a specialist because there are certain criteria involved. That’s why the investigation stage is so important. So, when those tenants come to myself, come to our team, it’s very important for us to do those investigations thoroughly. And that’s looking at the Act, looking at the requirements, seeing the individual tenants, their leases, things like that, and then saying, “Right. Yes, we can go ahead and do this. You qualify under the Act. We’ll get notice served to you.”

Alex: And why is it beneficial? I know when we talked about extending the lease, and you said, “Well, look at the critical number Alex. It’s around 80 to 90 years left or remaining on the lease.” Why don’t I just sort of leave it ’till there are 5 to 10 years on the lease, and then I extend it for another 90? Why wouldn’t you play it like that?

Matthew: Simply because if it gets below the magic year which is effectively 80 years, once it gets below that then it’s gonna be even more expensive for you to extend that lease.

Alex: Why?

Matthew: Something called marriage value. Now, it’s very complicated. I’m not gonna bore you with the details because, you know, it will fry the noodles of the vast majority of people probably who are listening. But, once it gets below that magic line, then it becomes incredibly expensive to do so. Now, why you would want to extend your lease, clients come to us for a number of reasons. Firstly, they’re looking to sell perhaps their flat. Mortgage lenders, banks, they will want to see a long-term…

Alex: It’s low risk.

Matthew: Exactly. Another reason perhaps if people are looking to put their affairs in order, they’re coming up to retirement age or older, they want to make sure their beneficiaries have got no worries, basically, when they look to sell a flat as part of their estate.

Another reason, it protects the interest that you’ve got and the money that you’ve invested in that flat. You know, you want to make sure that you’ve got something that’s gonna just increase in value. You don’t want something that’s gonna depreciate.

Alex: Yeah, an asset. You want to ensure that your property remains an asset…

Matthew: Exactly.

Alex: …and that’s very important.

In terms of cost to be mindful of, obviously you’ve actually got, I suppose, the pure finances of actually sort of extending the lease or indeed looking to buy the freehold. You’ve obviously got your costs as well. Is there anything else one needs to be mindful of when going down this route at all?

Matthew: Yes. Obviously, as you say, there are your own solicitor’s costs. There will be your own surveyor’s costs for them carrying out the valuation. You will also have to bear in mind the premium that you’re paying, so you have to factor that into your budgeting. There’s also the landlord’s surveyors cost that you’ll have to pay.

Alex: Really?

Matthew: Yes, and also the landlord solicitors cost. But, they can only claim so much.

Alex: Okay, and I’ll envisage a lot of zeros, all of a sudden, but you’ve put my mind at rest.

Matthew: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And yeah, there’ll also be other things such as land registry fees, and if you’ve got a mortgage, your mortgage lender might have a charge for transferring that across.

Alex: So it’s actually quite an expensive thing to go through, probably?

Matthew: Can be, but it’s certainly worth it.

Alex: But, of course, there’s no stamp duty on that, is there, unless you’re buying the freehold?

Matthew: No. Basically, the stamp duty, you don’t have to worry about that if you’re extending the lease. So, as I said, the only things that you have to worry about are those I outlined earlier.

Alex: And what happens if you’re buying the freehold?

Matthew: If you’re buying the freehold again, no, you don’t need to worry about the SDLT, but you do have to worry about those costs and things that I mentioned earlier.

Alex: Okay, now it’s all in balance. So, Matthew, we’ve talked through if I’m a tenant and I’ve got the apartment under lease. What happens if it’s the other way round? How can you guys help, and it’s actually on the landlords at the end of the day?

Matthew: Yeah. I mean, we do have a number of clients who are landlords themselves, and what we can do is when tenants come to them with formal notice exercising their right to either extend their lease or collectively purchase the freehold, we can act for them, and see it from the other side and act from the landlord’s perspective. So, doing the investigations to see whether those tenants qualify. If they do, then we can work with the landlord effectively to make sure that they can get the best premium and things like that. Interestingly, we have won a number of awards acting for landlords and tenants alike.

Alex: Have you? Okay.

Matthew: Yeah, we’ve actually won the Young Professional Enfranchisement Lawyer of the Year. We were also nominated for the Regional Professional Enfranchisement Lawyer of the Year. Surprisingly, you know, there are awards for these things.

Alex: They are. Must have been a fan to that one.

Matthew: Not as glamorous perhaps as the Brits or the Oscars, but nevertheless, you know…

Alex: A close [inaudible 00:15:51].

Matthew: Absolutely.

Alex: Matthew, if anyone wants to sort of touch base with you when it comes to your lease extensions, the enfranchisement, or indeed the Leasehold Reform Act, how are people gonna best reach you?

Matthew: Well, the best thing is just pick up the phone. Our Bradford office is 0 1274 848800, so you can give them a call, and you can also email me at mjones@lcf.co.uk, and visit our website and go through that way as well.

Alex: Matthew, thanks so much. Some great tips and advice there.

Female: “The Property Hospital.” Stray FM.

Alex: “The Property Hospital” is all about me answering your property concerns and demystifying the process. This week, I’m taking a question from Adam who’s got this to say.

Adam: Alex, I want to put a good sized extension on the back of my ham [SP]. So I thought I’d just ring up the counsel and debate it with them. Is this the right thing to do?

Alex: Adam, interesting question here. Now look, the best advice I can give when it comes to planning permission is, “Never speak with a counsel until you’ve spoken with a professional.” Remember, as soon as you speak or indeed email them, everything’s on record. If you inadvertently rub them up the wrong way, you can have a serious struggle on your hands. So firstly, take your time. Speak with a reputable architect. Usually, they’re gonna be RIBA or equivalent qualification. Planning laws have changed very quickly in the last few years. Therefore, sometimes you can actually extend your property under what’s called permitted development. The architect is gonna advise you on this. And look, if it’s a more complicated case, say for example, you’re a listed building, or you’re in a conservation area, then you may need the expertise of a planning consultant. These are people who know the laws around the planning, whereas an architect effectively draws you the nice pretty pictures. Speak with the professionals, and if they give you the green light to speak with the counsel then go for it, albeit under their guidance. If you’re unsure about which architect or planning consultant to use, feel free to drop me a line.

Male: “The Property Hot Seat.” Stray FM.

Female: Stray FM.

Male: Name.

James: James Tiffany.

Male: Business.

James: Roger Tiffany Limited.

Male: Time in property.

James: I have been in this industry for 25 years.

Alex: We are honored indeed to have James Tiffany here in the studio.

Now, you’ve been in the business a long time, haven’t you?

James: Yes, I did Construction Management at university, and I worked as a national contractor for 12 years before moving back to the family business about 10 years ago.

Alex: There you go. There you go. And, it’s quite interesting. I mean, you look out in this sort of the general sort of property market places. Strikes me there are a lot of builders out there and they’ve all got their vans and they’ve all got the logos. But, if you’re just Joe Public like me, what do you actually need to look for in a good quality builder?

James: I think you need to go for somebody who’s been in business for a number of years. Longevity is a quality obviously, because it’s important you get a builder who is good at business as well as good at building, because if somebody goes [inaudible 00:18:49] or can’t finish your project, then even is the quality is good, that gives you a big problem. Somebody who’s been around, somebody who can provide references, somebody who’s recommended by an architect or somebody else in the industry is obviously a good reference, and somebody who would be happy to sign up to a building contract because that means many things. It means they’re happy to work and get paid monthly. They’re not asking for money up front. They’re happy to have a retention deducted from the work, Alex, that gives you the comfort that they’ll come back at the end to put things right.

Alex: Yeah, absolutely. People often say, “Well, if my builder can start straight away, then he’s obviously no good because his diary is completely empty.” Is that also another point to go by, or am I just clutching at straws there?

James: I think that can be a little bit unfair.

Alex: Or is it your free space does crop up?

James: Yes, it does, and especially in winter when things are a bit quieter. But, I think if you have looked at the other points, you’ve taken references and you’ve spoken to an architect, then maybe you just stop looking.

Alex: I mean, one of the, I suppose, jargon phrases is this sort of procurement process. Just talk everyone through. What does that actually mean, and what does that actually entail, again, if I’m a homeowner, and I’m looking to get you onboard?

James: Well, the traditional procurement route, Alex, is that if a homeowner is looking to have some work done, they will tend to approach the architect in the first instance because the architect will guide them through the planning process. He will take their brief. He will provide them with some options, develop their brief so that they’re happy with it. Today, there’s more regulations to get through the planning process. It’s more complicated, especially if you’re in a conservation area or a national park. There’s more energy efficiency regulations. You have to have a SAP calculation done before you do any work. The architect, once he’s got the drawings through the planning process until building regulations stage, can then invite tenders from building contractors on behalf of the client, and that really is the way to do it. Employing the architect, then to monitor the work throughout to check the quality is definitely the way to go.

Alex: And so the tendering process, as you mentioned, what does that entail? What does that take?

James: So, a builder will take the architects drawings, schedule of work, specification, and he will price to that. We’ll normally give him sort of three to four weeks to put a price in with others. Everybody gets the same amount of time and the same information to keep things fair. And then, if it’s been set out properly, then the client and his team can analyze that price when it comes in to make sure that everything’s been covered, or if things haven’t been covered, then at least everybody…

Alex: Surely…on that sort of basis, it just comes down to price, surely. Is it down to being the cheapest on those tender processes…?

James: Well, theoretically it could come down to price, but sometimes on a tender the client asks for a methodology. You know, “Please explain how you’re gonna build this, how you’re gonna do it without affecting the neighbors, how you’re gonna do it without knocking down something that you’re driving past every day?” And also a program, “Is it gonna take three months, four months, or six months?” So there’s other things that can matter as well, but as long as the builders know what the outset [SP], then that’s deemed a fair tendering process.

Alex: Got you. And, how does a homeowner know that they’re gonna get the best price? How can you sort of reduce that risk at the end of the day?

James: Well, getting several quotes obviously helps them because…

Alex: And that’s through the architect, again?

James: It will tend to be, yes. Yeah, that would be the best way to do it. Having a good design with a lot of details helps because as a builder, then I’m clear what I’m pricing. It’s when we get ambiguities of things we’ve not met before that the price starts going up because there’s a little bit of risk, and that gives us a worry. So the more things that are drawn, the better. If the client schedules things out that they want, you know, the specification of the kitchen, the pottery, the floor coverings…and the more detail we get, the better price we can give, Alex.

Alex: You’ll be more accurate.

James: Exactly, yes.

Alex: I’ve got you. And, there’s a bit of a buzz at the moment, and there has been for the last few years about this sort of energy efficiency. And certainly, when you’re looking to extend or certainly, if you’re building sort of a brand new property from sort of foundations up, this technology is always of advancing and evolving. What are the key things that a lot of clients coming to you for at the moment? What do people keep an eye on?

James: Well, people want things increasingly energy-efficient, Alex, as you’ve said, and that’s driven by the building regulations as well as by the client. We get a lot of renewable technologies these days because there are grants available, and clients want things like air source heat pumps which take the energy from outside and use that for heating. It’s free heating. Solar panels on the roof provide free electricity that goes back into the grid, and a client can actually receive an income back from the power company. Underfloor heating is obviously very common.

Alex: At the moment, everyone is a property developer. Everyone’s an expert. You’ve got all these wonderful programs out there, and they make it look so easy. I personally don’t feel it’s really the case, but when you say, “Come to extend a property, or indeed build a new one,” that’s pretty much the trend at the moment, what are the issues that, with your experience, people sort of come across and need to be, I suppose aware of, because it’s not a case of got one of those property hammer programs you buy for 50 grand and you spend 10,000, and all of a sudden, it’s worth 150,000. I don’t think it’s as straight-forward as I think.

James: It all seems very easy, doesn’t it, on the program?

Alex: It does seem easy. It’s easy in the sentence strength [SP].

James: The things to look out for are to get some advice on price up front. It’s amazing the amount of clients we go to who’ve not been given any advice on how much a job will cost, so we often price it and they can’t afford it. So, speak to a builder early on, perhaps before you’ve even employed an architect. It will certainly give you an approximate estimate of the cost to within 15%, 20% accuracy, and that will help in your decision making. So, we definitely do that because that avoids wasted cost and time.

Things like speaking to your neighbors, people forget to do, especially if you live in close proximity to them. Again, we turn up on site, it’s the first time the neighbor knew there was gonna be a building project, and we get all sorts of issues.

Things like trees and hedges can be problems, especially if you’re digging near them. Again, people overlook them. Conifer hedges, leylandii, big trees can all give problems to your new extension that’s encroaching on them.

So things like that, disruptions to your own house. If you’re knocking through the kitchen into the dining room, you’re gonna get a lot of dust. You might not have considered that it means changing the heating system of your hallway and your entrance way, and they’re gonna need decorating. Builder can obviously damage your driveway because he needs a compound, he needs to bring in diggers in and he needs to take down your hedges and your fences at the back of the house, and people perhaps forget that they then need to put them back. The drive might need repaving or re-tarmacking, and these are all costs that people forget about.

Alex: Indeed, but those are things you sort of say in advance just so you’re aware, to get access, we need to do.

James: Exactly. A good builder would flag that up. But again, if that’s in the tender documentation, then everybody is pricing that.

Alex: Absolutely. So it’s not as easy as I thought. You look on TV, and it’s not as easy as making all that sort of money from one of those auction programs, is it?

James: No, it isn’t. Definitely not.

Alex: The other issue that people often come up against is damp, damp appearing in the property or indeed sort of rising damp where it comes up the brickwork. How can you sort of get around that? What are the options for the…?

James: In a new property, obviously you shouldn’t have any damp, Alex, and that’s alarming. You should always look for the damp-proof course in the brickwork. In an old property, it’s more complicated because houses weren’t built to current standards, obviously.

Things to do: What you can do is to check the roof to make sure you don’t have any broken slides, that your gutters aren’t blocked. Cleaning out your gutters every year after the autumn is something to do. But, old houses can just be damp. The solid walls, modern living means we put in a lot moisture into houses with washing machines, and it being increasingly airtight. Plastic windows don’t help really. So you must ventilate your own homes. Keep the heating on. Keep trying to get the moisture out of the buildings. Sometimes an old property can’t avoid some levels of damp. But, maybe that you don’t have a damp course, so you can inject a damp course. There’s easier ways to do it. It can be disruptive because you got to knock the plaster off the walls, or you might have external ground levels that are higher than inside, so that might mean that you have to tank, and tanking isn’t easy when it’s done afterwards, but it is possible. There are experts out there that can advice on that.

Alex: I’m just picking up on that point. What is the difference between say, dumb-proof course and tanking?

James: Well, if the outside levels are higher than inside, then a damp-proof course won’t work because the damp can still strike from outside. So you must tank that wall above the height of the external ground levels to stop the water coming in. Alternatively, you let the water come on in, and you have an internal drain and an internal line in a wall, and then you just drain the water away. So, often in a basement, you just gotta accept that that water will get in, and you put a pump in, and you get rid of the water.

Alex: Really heard it all there. That is fantastic stuff, and I’m sure…surely in your career, you’ve had some amusing stories that you may have come across, botched DIY jobs possibly that you’ve had to help out. Anything springs to mind there?

James: We’ve all got to be careful what we say, Alex, really, but, yeah, we’ve come across those. We’ve been caught in the middle of crossfire of arguments between husband and wife which can always be a little bit embarrassing.

Alex: Yeah, it can be, definitely.

James: I’ve heard of builders that might have knocked expensive vases off furniture before now, Alex, and have to glue them back together.

Alex: Obviously, nothing to do with yourself.

James: And yes, we do…with the onset of Google, it does amuse us when we have a client who can’t answer a question on a Friday afternoon, but by Monday morning he’s an expert on the subject, and puts us on the back foot. So, all things that are difficult at the time, but quite amusing afterwards, Alex.

Alex: Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, we’ve had some great sort of inside information there, James. If someone wants to sort of talk through anything with you, whether it’s energy efficiency, or extending, or damp-proofing, what’s the best way for people to get in touch?

James: Yeah, happy to help, obviously. Phone us or visit our website, rogertiffany.co.uk. Our phone number is 0 1756 793734.

Alex: Fantastic, James. Thank you so much indeed for coming on the show. Really appreciate it.

James: Thank you, Alex.

Male: “Alex Goldstein’s Top 10.”

Alex: One of the biggest ongoing issues in a property is condensation. There’s cooking, showers, clothes drying, and even breathing. What more is that we now have double and indeed triple glazing which can keep our homes like a hermetically-sealed box? What this does is increase the amount of humidity in the air, and that is why sometimes you see black mold appear in the corner of rooms. You may not be aware, but this type of mold is now classed in the same toxicity group as asbestos. So what can you do to avoid it?

Always, as I see it, air your home by opening windows regularly, and in bathrooms, always install a strong air extraction fan. If you live in an older or larger property and see condensation appear on the inside of windows, you may wish to consider a home ventilation system. These are relatively modest in cost both to install and run. Work quietly in the attic and effectively condition the air in your home. If you have cold outside walls, then you can insulate these either with specialist boarding or indeed special types of wallpaper. Make sure you keep on top of condensation as black mold is really not a good thing.

That’s the Alex Goldstein Property Show (Part 12) and some incredible top tips and features. If you need expert information, videos, and up-to-the-minute property news, then head over to my website, alexgoldstein.co.uk. Alternatively, if you require personalised advice when it comes to buying or selling your home, please get in touch directly.

The next episode is out on the 3rd of April, so make sure you tune in for that. Until next time…