Auction House West of England will hold its first out-of-town auction at Thornbury Castle, once home to Henry Stafford, the second Duke of Buckingham who helped to place Richard III on the throne.
The king, whose skeleton was excavated from a Leicester car park and positively identified earlier this year, rewarded Stafford by making him Constable of England.
“We chose Thornbury Castle for our auctions because it is easily accessible from all parts of the region, has ample free parking and, for those who might need it, a helicopter landing pad,” said auctioneer Nick Cragg.
Cragg, who is
If money were no object then most would pack their bags and head to home of cream teas and Cornish pasties, a survey by Prime Location has found, but would only want a “modest” five bedroom home.
The research also suggests that in an ideal world, most people would shun the bright lights of the city, with half of people surveyed aspiring to live in a rural village or a country town and around a fifth choosing a seaside town as the perfect place to live.
Just one in seven of the 3,500 home questioned would choose to live in London - despite house prices holding up relatively strongly the capital
Property investment in the wrong location can lead to low or even negative returns, according to new research which looks beyond gross rental yields. Investing in property can appear to be a very attractive option as in the current economic climate there are few investment sectors that offer both safe haven status and inflation beating yields.
However, the research from the property website Home.co.uk shows that the old adage of location, location, location could not be more relevant when sinking capital into bricks and mortar.
Looking beyond gross rental yields, their analysts have
The average number of househunters registering with an agent increased from 281 in December 2012 to 314 in January, figures released today from the National Association of Estate Agents’ (NAEA) show. This is the highest figure since September 2007 (average of 326).
NAEA's report also shows a rise in the percentage of sales made to first time buyers. In January, this hit its highest point in almost two years at 25 per cent of overall sales compared with 21 per cent in December, a two year high.
The increase in demand affected the number of sales agreed, which rose from an average of five per
UK house prices rose by 0.2% in February compared with the previous month, but were the same as a year ago, the Nationwide has said.
The building society said that the average UK home cost £162,638.
The figures, based on its own mortgage data, signalled the lack of movement in prices in the last two years, it said. But there were "tentative signs" of a pick-up in activity in recent months owing to the relative strength of the jobs market.
"While the economic backdrop remains challenging, there are reasons for cautious optimism that activity will gather momentum in the months ahead," said
We are now accepting property entries for our next round of auctions taking place in April and May. If you're thinking about selling your property (residential, commercial, development site, land, mixed use, investment, ground rent), contact us today for your free auction appraisal and to chat with one of our auctioneers in your area.
No matter whereabouts in the UK your property is located or what type of property, site or land it may be, if you have been struggling to sell it on the open market or you're just needing to sell quickly, and are willing to drop your asking price in order to
One in ten buy-to-let homes will be unlettable in five years' time unless landlords take steps to improve their properties' energy efficiency, according to a recent report in The Telegraph.
New laws that take effect in 2018 will make it an offence to let out properties with the worst energy efficiency ratings. Such properties are much more common in the private rented sector than among owner-occupied homes or those rented out by councils or housing associations.
Tenants will also be able to demand improvements to insulation from 2016, when landlords will not be able to refuse tenants'
Have you designed a daring eco home? What about crafted a super-cool conversion?
Or maybe you’ve added a jaw-dropping extension? The 2013 Grand Designs Awards is now open for entries, and they’re looking for any homeowners who’ve completed a project, whether it’s a new-build or the transformation of an existing space. You don’t have to be an architect or designer (although, of course, they’re welcome too); the competition is open to everyone and completely free to enter.
The final submission deadline for entries is 9am Thursday 7 March 2013. For further info visit the Grand Designs Awards
Scotland's housing market remains "muted", with only a slight rise in prices over the last year, according to a report from Lloyds TSB Scotland.
The average price of a property rose by 0.2% to £151,320 during 2012. But the number of sales fell towards the end of the year because of a small number of festive-period sales. The TSB's Donald MacRae said: "The Scottish housing market had adjusted to the recession with a halving of sales and a period of price volatility."
Lloyds TSB Scotland's report also found that the Scottish House Price Monitor, a quarterly index of average house prices adjusted
Private rents dropped for the third month in a row in January as increased mortgage availability eased some of the pressure on the sector, a lettings network has said.
Rents fell by 0.3% month-on-month to reach £732 per month on average, taking them back to levels seen in July last year, according to LSL Property Services, which owns chains Your Move and Reeds Rains.
Recent lending figures have shown increases in first-time buyer numbers following the introduction of Government schemes aiming to give people a leg up onto the property ladder.
The rental dip seen for the last three months has