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Once a year someone calls me and in what must be abject desperation begs “Henry, we’re thinking of starting a property portal. This one is going to be different from all the others, we’re going to do this or that, we think the market is crying out for a new business model. You seem to [...]
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News this morning in the FT that a group of estate agents are planning to set up a new property portal will excite the industry even if it seems to some to be completely bonkers! In what might at best be described as a plan worthy of First World War generals this Web 1.0 proposal in [...]
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My first trip to 5 News for interview with the strikingly pretty Emma Crosby. Chatting about the Rightmove asking price survey and more on Mervyn Kings’ concerns over Help to Buy. Two top tips for anyone lucky enough to be asked on to Channel 5′s flagship news program (with it’s ‘green-screen’ studio) (1) they shoot [...]
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A trip to Osterley and a chat with the lovely Lorna Dunkley on Sky News after their exclusive interview earlier in the day with Mervyn King. The retiring Governor expressed concerns over the Government ‘Help to Buy’ scheme.
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A great series of ‘how to’ video’s fronted by Patrick Collinson at The Guardian starting with ‘How to sell a house“, moving on to ‘How to buy a house‘ and concluding with a ‘guide to your rights and responsibilities when renting a house‘. Each well worth watching for the unbiased, level advice you would expect [...]
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BBC1′s consumer advice program shone a light on the latest scandal connected to letting agents and listened to complaints from some tenants who say they were forced to sign up to a particular energy supplier. In the frame were Spark Energy a utilities management company and leading letting agents Foxtons, Reeds Rains and Your Move. [...]
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At the recent Great Housing Market Debate one of the panel suggested that increasing the number of homes for sale would increase the number of transactions and it therefore followed that more homes for sale ‘was a good thing’. I often hear that house prices – like other commodities are a function of supply and [...]
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listen to ‘Interest-only mortgages on FiveLive Breakfast – 2nd May 2013’ on Audioboo
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listen to ‘Jeremy Vine – Interest-only mortgages – 2nd May 2013’ on Audioboo
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Ever since George Osborne sat down after delivering his Budget last month I have questioned the wisdom of his Help to Buy scheme, launched whilst it was still just an idea and before the Treasury had consulted on the implications. Now the Chancellor has been taken to task by the Treasury Select Committee to whom [...]
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As in real life there are those who have more to say on Twitter than others. It stands to reason that one hopes that the people you follow will have something to say. Some say a lot and others are worth waiting to hear when they eventually do speak. But is there any relationship between [...]
listen to ‘BBC 5Live – Renting in London’ on Audioboo
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Question, “Can anybody be an agent?” Answer, “pretty much, yes” but there are one or two rules (laws) that those involved in buying, selling and letting property must observe. Firstly, the basics;- letting agents are NOT estate agents so laws for ‘agents’ needs to be inspected carefully. The 1979 Estate Agent Act defines who is [...]
listen to ‘Talking to 5Live – from a tupperware box!’ on Audioboo
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Most people looking for a new home will register with estate agents to be sent suitable details (they hope!) of available properties, or they will trawl the internet looking at the big property portals like Rightmove, Zoopla and Adzuna or they will flick through magazines like Country Life and the local newspaper. Few appreciate that [...]
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The Elves running the Downing Street Dashboard at Adzuna have been busy! Across Europe unemployment is now running at 12% . In Spain youth unemployment is close to 55%! Things in the UK are not quite as bad but do you know how competitive it is in some cities to get a job? Here are [...]
listen to ‘Comparing the market – BBC Radio 5 Live – 28th March 2013’ on Audioboo
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Winchester is the least affordable place in the UK to live, whereas Belfast & Hull are the most affordable, according to new analysis by slick job and property search engine Adzuna.co.uk. The research shows that 91% of homes in Belfast are within financial reach for first-time buyers on average local incomes. Reading, Guildford and London [...]
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Am I the only one who supports the coalition Government’s benefit changes that kick in today? Over the Easter weekend I’ve listened, watched and read news of the introduction of the so-called ‘Bedroom tax’ and of the changes that we should expect with the introduction of Universal Credit but I’ve heard just one voice advocating [...]