An example of a small bathroom that was re-organized and designed by a young couple. Team work and inspiration was the key to their success! The result is comfortable and good looking!
Copyright: BelieveItUp
Any better ideas? What was your creative DYI moment when you decorated/ designed your home?
There is a lot to say about Victorian properties. Their elegant architecture, proportions and intricate detailing. They have passed the test of time and were meant to be loved and admired.
During Queen Victoria’s reign, Britain saw a boom in new builds. In less than 75 years, 6 million houses were built, and a majority of them still stand today.
Renovating and maintaining a Victorian home requires imagination and work. If you have fallen in love with a Victorian property, nothing can be more satisfying than transforming it back to it’s original splendor.
Plasterwork. Cornicing and plaster ceiling roses were the norm for Victorian homes, and the level of detail depended on the status of the room, so a reception room would feature much more than a bedroom.
Windows. Ideally sash windows will set your Victorian home apart from the rest. Try to find a specialist glazier who can install double glazed sash windows.
Fireplaces. Back during the Victorian time, fireplaces were found in every room. Some homes still have them today, but sadly, most were removed by later occupants.
Flooring. Victorian houses generally combine pine floor boards throughout the house with tiles in hallways. Both carpets and lino were introduced in the 1850’s. Floor boards are key for an authentic look.
Kitchens. This part of a house has come a long way since the days of the scullery and overcrowded homes, so a faithful recreation of a Victorian kitchen would not suit the demands of modern living. However, it is possible to have modern appliances that compliment the style of a Victorian era.
Bathroom. Victorian homes were not built with bathrooms in mind. A tin bath in the scullery once a week was a normal family bath night. Today, the bathroom has not been sidelined when it comes to style. Victorian elegance can be found on the high street showcasing roll top baths of many designs.
Doors, Skirting Boards, Picture Rails & Dado Rails. These small details can pull 
your renovation work together. The more attention to detail that you research, the more authentic the result.
Wall Paper, Paint, Fabric. Soft furnishings are key to pulling off the end result. When a production company films a film series in which the action takes place during that time, everything in the scene has been researched. This is what makes a show believable. The library is a great place to start.
Enjoy your home! And get renovating!
More than half of the income of almost 14% of tenants goes on rents. Moreover, the proportion reduces to 30% for 43% of private renters, but it is still very high for those wanting to become house owners. Spending this much on rent equals on the long-term an incapacity to save money for a deposit to buy a new home.
The situation seems to be on a loop in England and Wales, at least for young people. The latest research shows that the number of people under 25 years old becoming owners reduced to half in the last 20 years.
The Local Government Association (LGA) suggests that building new affordable homes for rents and buying is the solution designed for a generation that cannot get out of the loop. Details in this article on Property Wire.
1. Fresh lemons are a great way to clean stainless steel. Cut a lemon in half and rub over the sink and taps. Buff with a microfiber cloth for a brilliant shine.
2. Get the grime off from your grill by scrubbing it with a wire brush while the oven is still warm. Old grime may require an over night spray with an oven cleaner. Make sure to use in a well ventilated room, and wear rubber gloves.
3. A water ring on wooden table?! Not a problem! Apply full fat mayonnaise to the affected area. Leave for 1 hour, then wipe away with a clean cloth.
4. Kids hand prints on kitchen appliances? No worries! Polish the appliances with citrus furniture polish. This will leave a very slightly oiled surface, repelling future marks.
5. Washing machines can smell in the summer, especially in areas where humidity is high. Run a hot, empty wash. Leave the door open in order for the t
ub to dry fully.
6. Air fresheners are expensive and only last for seconds once sprayed. For a long-term freshness dampen a microfiber cloth. Douse a strong, sweet smelling disinfectant with an odor you like directly onto the cloth. Place the cloth onto a radiator. The heat from the radiator will disperse the fresh scent of the disinfectant around the home.
7. Vinegar is a great to descale iron surfaces. Pour a small amount onto a kettle with some water. Boil the kettle. Instant descaled kettle! Reboil if needed.
8. Never make the bed as soon as you get up! A bed needs to breath and the sheets need to be aired. So take a shower and make that bed in half an hour or so.
9. The best way to make a mirror shine is by rubbing it with some newspaper. So, instead of throwing the today’s paper away, get buffing the windows and mirrors!
Millennials prove to be wise and take easy steps into becoming home owners. Young people (18 – 34 year old) are very considerate when it comes to financial planning. Latest research shows that they choose to re-mortgage, but they make sure that it will not surpass their monthly income.
Considering all the age categories re-paying their mortgages, millennials are making the biggest contribution to the overall budget: £908 per month.
The main reason for re-mortgaging is reducing the costs of their monthly mortgage which is a savvy way of looking at these type of financial solutions.
More upon the subject of the millennials behavior when it comes to mortgages in the latest article on Property Reporter.
Image copyright: Property Reporter
Gardens complete any home with the necessary breath of fresh air, but not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford a large garden. The area in which you live also largely dictates the average size of the garden. For example, inner city gardens are considerably smaller that rural gardens.
If you wish to have a nice looking exterior to your living space, but the economy of the property is quite restrictive, make full use of plants and colour. Smaller plants in containers or pots fit well in limited gardens and give it a welcoming vibe. Moreover, wall hanging containers are excellent for the balcony of an apartment.
If gardening is not your thing, but outside dining is, then buy some fold-away garden furniture to utilize the outside space when needed. You might think there is no space for a BBQ, for example, but you will reconsider your thoughts when you will find the right little kettle charcoal BBQ. They fit in any s
mall corner or your garden and come in handy when you have friends over for a Sunday lunch.
Herbs and small vegetables in grow-bags can serve cooking purposes, as well as design reasons. For a very small flat that does not have a balcony, window boxes are a great way to bring a garden vibe to the window of your apartment. Choose a plant of herb that you can either use, or looks good from the outside. The bigger the plant, the greater the visual effect you will have from the inside of the apartment.
Think about colour, smell, height and how easy it is to take care of when you chose plants and flowers for the space you are decorating.
Finally, sit back and enjoy your special space. Whether it is a balcony or a small patio, any exterior can turn into a relaxing outside garden with just a little imagination.
The new Housing Bill was one subject brought up by the Queen in her latest speech, on the 21st of June. Banning letting fees would be one measure that would improve “transparency, affordability and competition in the private rental market”.
Tenants and rental agents will benefit from the new bill, from two points of view.
First of all, landlords will not be able to collect rental fees anymore from their new tenants and their agents. The Queen’s speech mentioned the English Housing Survey from 2014-15 that revealed an average letting fee charged per tenancy of £223. In the same time, fees charged by agents increased by 60% from 2009 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2015 (14% increase in mean).
The fees were found difficult to pay by the tenants. The same studyfound that 42% of tenants had to borrow money and that 1 in 7 tenants pay more than £500.
Second of all, the bill intends to help tenants recover the unlawfully charged fees paid until now. There were no references about how this measure will be put to practice in the future, though.
Expectations from the new amendments are to create a more competitive rental sector with lower costs for tenants. However, overall, this should also result in a higher quality of service for renters.
The National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) took notice of the references made by the Queen in her speech. The banning proposals are not new since all the main political parties included it in their manifesto. According to Isobel Thomson, CEO of NALS, the Fair Fees Forum that will be held on the 13th of July will engage further in discussions with the Government upon the subject.
Proposals on the tenants’s fees bill were included in the main themes of the speech after an eight-week consultation program that ended on the 2nd of June. The main concern related to the subject was that the present situation was creating an environment lacked of transparency that is unfair to some parts included in the transaction.
By Mahe Georgio Branch Manager – Victor Michael
I have been in the property industry for over 25 years and, believe me, a good job is hard to find, but every entrepreneur knows that a good employee is even harder to keep.
Over the years I have found it quite easy to keep employees motivated. ‘I provide them with a leader worth following and tasks worth fulfilling’! However, as time goes by, I still look for more ideas to drive my staff forward, keep them motivated and keep them performing to the best of their ability wh
ilst enjoying it at the same time! Here are just a few things that I have tried and tested:
Use food as an incentive. Don’t underestimate the power of having some food around the office! Tell your staff that you are having a breakfast morning one day a week or month… They will be sure to come in early if food is waiting for them.
Making things interesting. Break up the day-to-day routine of the work schedule by shaking things up every now and then.
Reward your employees for hard work. Giving rewards to staff is a great way to motivate them. For example, create competitions to see who can generate the most revenue by the end of the month. I believe any contest will keep your staff motivated to produce solid work. You can reward them with either gift vouchers, tickets for sport venues, time off work or a casual dress day.
Acknowledge individual achievements. Take the time out to tell someone that they have done a great job. If truly exceptional, stand up and make an announcement to praise that person with a round of applause. (It is important to recognize employees’ individual efforts, but it is equally important for the rest of the staff not to feel left out if you are always recognizing the same few employees).
What ideas do you have that you think would motivate you or you staff? We’d love to know!
What is the qualification that an area needs in order to get on the “ Desired Place To Live” list?
A survey that was conducted by Halifax rated heavily on the wish list the following influence factors: health and life expectancy, employment and earnings, low crime rates, general levels of well being, and access to places for socializing and down time.
10. Chiltern
This area of Buckinghamshire includes the towns of Amersham and Great Missenden. Some of the biggest homes in the country can be found here. Moreover, the citizens here have the highest life expectancy for females at birth, at 86.7 years.
9. Wokingham
This town in Berkshire is near Reading and it is handy for a commute into London. It is one of the healthiest places in the country, with 97pc of households rating themselves in good or fairly good health. This could be due to the high level of fitness clubs available to residents of the area.
8. St Albans
This city has the third highest earnings in the country, at £1,018 per week – far higher than the average of £646. But house prices are also high here, representing 10.8 times the income. St Albans also has a large proportion of adults with the highest levels of qualifications, at 63.6pc.
7. Purbeck
An area on the coast of Dorset, named after the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula with steep cliffs that forms part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Purbeck gets 1,722 hours of sunshine a year, has high levels of happiness and life satisfaction, and offers good access to fitness centers.
6. South Cambridgeshire
This area has an easy commute into London, low levels of rainfall, and high levels of male life expectancy.
5. Hambleton
With 20 pubs per 10,000 people, you can see why this area of North Yorkshire would rate highly. It includes the picturesque towns of Bedale and Thirsk and borders the North Yorks Moors, as well as having a high level of employment and small class sizes.
4. Derbyshire Dales
The high employment here, at 87.7pc, and 45.1pc of adults have a higher level of qualification compared to a national average of 35.6pc. There’s also the vast number of pubs: 27 for every 10,000 adults, the second highest in the country, and the beautiful rolling hills and opportunities for hiking and other activities in the great outdoors.
3. Wychavon
To the east of Worcester, near the Malverns and the Cotswolds, Wychavon has lots of beautiful architecture, as well as many fitness clubs and great quality of life scores.
2. Orkney Islands
With a very low crime level, high employment, and little traffic on the roads (with just 142 cars per square kilometre, compared to the UK average of 9,419) the Orkney Islands often rank well in quality of life surveys.
Residents here are among the happiest, satisfied and least anxious in the country, with 96.6pc of adults on the Orkneys enjoying good or fairly good health, and 20 pubs to choose from per 10,000 adults.
1.
Topping Halifax’s list is Winchester in Hampshire, due to a combination of above average weekly earnings, a low crime rate and good health. Women there live more than two years longer than the average for the rest of the UK, and Government figures reveal that people here are among the happiest, satisfied, most content and the least anxious in the country.
Location: Seymour Road, Leyton E10 7BL
Entrances: Marsh Lane, Seymour Road, Orient Way and Ive Farm Lane.
Nearest Stations: Leyton Central Line Station, Leyton Midland Station.
Buses: 48, 55, 56, 58, and 158.
When: 24 June, 12pm – 7pm
Where: Leyton Jubilee Park
Leyton Jubilee Park, the boroughs largest park, is now an outdoor sporting hub for the borough including, basketball court, mini and junior football pitches and a brand new changing pavilion.
Different from other events, the Summer Fest event is the only beer and sports festival where attendees can win prizes competing in free, entertaining events! There will be a series of matches and tournaments for you to watch and participate in.