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The Government is set to take a closer look to the regulations concerning carbon monoxide alarms.

Main topics to be reviewed are:

-> if the alarms should be mandatory for all types of heating installations (including gas and oil).

-> if the installation rates for these alarms are raised by the cost of the alarm itself.

The campaign to review the regulations for carbon monoxide alarms was launched by Eddie Hughes MP and was agreed by Housing Minister Dominic Raab.

Reviewing the regulations will start from the number of carbon monoxide poisonings because, as Dominic Raab said:

“Carbon monoxide can be a silent killer and my top priority is to ensure people remain safe and protected in their own homes.”

Main symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning:

  • Dull headache.
  • Weakness.
  • Dizziness.
  • Nausea or vomiting.
  • Shortness of breath.
  • Confusion.
  • Blurred vision.
  • Loss of consciousness.

There are around 8 million alarms for carbon monoxide all across the UK, many being installed after 2010 when they became mandatory for appliances based on solid fuel. Moreover, in 2015 private rented sector landlords have been obliged to install these alarms wherever they offer accommodation that has a solid fuel installation.

Source: Press release

Government to launch review into carbon monoxide alarms

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There’s no point crying over spilt milk, or spilt wine, or anything you have spilt in fact. When you have spent a long time decorating your home, and choosing the perfect materials for curtains, carpets, furniture, and more, the last thing you want is for it to become stained.

If you’re battling a tough stain, then don’t panic. Here are some home remedies that will help get even the most stubborn marks out of soft furnishings and walls:

Baby Powder

If you have any oil based stains, then baby powder can work wonders in getting them out. Sprinkle some powder over the stain as soon as you see it, and wait for the powder to soak up the oil. Once the stain is less oily and has risen to the surface it should be much easier to wash out.

Lemon Juice

With its acidic nature, lemon juice can make a good bleaching agent and can help get stains out of any bright white materials. Simply squeeze lemon juice on the stained white fabric and leave it out in the sun for a couple of hours. Wash the item as usual, and the stain should be gone.

Vinegar

If you need your fabrics to brighten up or have tough stains that need soaking, then vinegar can come in really handy. Either put some white vinegar in with your wash, or soak tough stains caused by perfumes or deodorants before popping in your usual wash. Don’t use vinegar on delicate fabrics though, as it is quite strong.

Ironing

Wax can be quite hard to get out of fabrics, and often your tablecloth becomes the victim of a wax stain when one too many candles melt down the side of their holders. Simply place a couple of paper towels over the stain, then iron across the top of them. This will help the wax to melt and transfer onto the paper towels, leaving your tablecloth looking as good as new.

Body Lotion

Surprisingly, body lotion and moisturiser can be very good at getting stains off walls. If you have a child who loves to draw on every wall of the house with crayons, then try using body lotion to remove their artwork. Put some on a soft cloth and rub gently over the marks until they disappear. Don’t rub too hard though, as you don’t want to remove a layer of paint too.

Baking Soda

The great thing about baking soda is that is has so many uses. It can keep your fridge smelling nice, be used to whiten your grout, help remove crayon marks on the wall, and get rid of those tough tea and coffee stains in mugs. It can be made into a paste with a splash of water, or mixed into vinegar to create a cleaning spray.

WD-40

Most famous for fixing squeaky hinges, WD-40 is also a great grease busting stain remover, and can be good for getting out stains like permanent marker pen. Simply spray a small amount of WD-40 onto a cloth, then wipe over the stain. It’s best used on tiles, laminate and hardwood, and should be wiped straight off afterwards using warm water.

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Moving house can be a long and tedious process, but the day that you finally wake up and realise you’re moving into a new property can be incredibly exciting. A new house comes with new adventures, new possibilities and a new place to put down roots, but depending on your situation it can be weeks or months after buying a property before you finally get to move in.

 

Moving day can be quite complicated, and there is a lot to get done. Delays can only add to any potential stress, so it is important to make sure your move goes as smoothly as possible. Here are some tips to avoid any moving house delays:

 

Communication

 

You will speak to many different people while moving house, including estate agents, solicitors. surveyors, removal companies, and more. Filling out any paperwork quickly and replying to any enquiries can really speed up the process of moving.

 

Make sure you have copies of your ID, bank statements and any planning permission needed throughout the process, so you can be ready to hand anything over when needed. Keeping everyone updated throughout your move means any problems or concerns should be quickly fixed and the whole move should go smoothly.

 

Book in Advance

 

Ideally you should start arranging a removals van around four weeks before your moving day. Contact three or four companies and get a consultation with each. They will all provide you with quotes and you can decide which one works best for you.

 

Once you have that booked you can make any other arrangements you need, such as parking. If you are moving to a house that only has road-side parking, you will have to give notice to anyone it may affect, and let them know a removals van will be parking up for a few hours.

 

Avoid Exchanging and Completing on the Same Day

 

Although it may seem like an obvious option and a good thing to do, exchanging and completing on the same day can actually cause problems if you are part of a chain – it only takes one person to be unable to complete for the whole chain to break.

 

Try and leave a week or two between exchanging and completing, as this should give you enough time to resolve any potential complications that could come up. It’s good to have a bit of breathing space when moving house, as you never know what might happen.

 

Packing Preparation

 

One of the key things that will prevent delays on moving day is to have everything packed up and organised. The last thing you want is to be rushing around packing up some last minute items when you have a hundred other things to think about.

 

Start a month or so before you move, and keep everything as orderly as possible. Chuck out any clutter or take it to a charity shop, and pack a few boxes each night, carefully labelling them and wrapping anything delicate in bubble wrap. Having everything packed and ready to go will be a huge time saver when you get round to moving.

 

Arrange Child/Pet Care

 

Even though they are moving with you, children and pets can be quite distracting on moving day, and it can be quite an unsafe environment for them to be in with heavy boxes being carried back and forth to your new home.

Try and arrange for someone to look after them while you move, as this will allow you to concentrate fully on the task at hand and allow them to move into a new house afterwards with all their belongings in place. If you have older children you can find age appropriate tasks to enable them to help out with the move.

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Animal lovers change habits on the lettings market. Since this is a growing characteristic of tenants that choose long-term solutions, landlords are starting to be more flexible.

Latest study suggest that ‘Lets with Pets are the Homes of the Future’, how Property Reporter puts it.

And it’s easy to see why people are more considerate and loving towards animals. Any animal lover/ owner knows the first-hand benefit of pets: lowering the stress level. Dogs, cats, or fish – name your animal friend, have the power to make us feel more relaxed after work. Knowing we’ll find them at home when we arrive, practically makes the home more welcoming.

If your landlord doesn’t want to be as flexible as the new-age landlords you have two solutions:

  1. Choose one that allows pets.
  2. Try to make him change his mind.

You can start with the argument above, and find more inspiration to be persuasive in the following article:

How to Convince Your Landlord to Allow Pets

Are you an animal owner? How did you convince your landlords to rent their houses?

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Spring is a good moment for renewal. Your home might need an entire new look, maybe a bit of modernizing. Before you start to make a seriously out-of-your-budget renovation plan, we advise you to start with the details.

Classy and modern are concepts that start with the little things. For example, windows. You might have not known what are the trends for windows this year.

Photo source: Builder Online https://bit.ly/2BEIaLA

We searched for inspiration and we really liked these top 7 window trends for 2018 in this article on Builder Online:

  • Black hues. Because nothing says ‘minimalism’ better that a clean white-black combo.
  • Clean lines.
  • Squares over arches. Unless you’re living in a castle.
  • Expansive glass. More light and outdoor inside your living space improves the quality of the time spent inside.
  • Pass-through windows.
  • Energy efficient windows.
  • High-end woods.

We agree with high-end woods even more since we found this DIY trick to make your windows look high-end. It doesn’t seem too much of a hustle and is guaranteed to make your windows be trendy this year.

How To Fake Expensive Windows

This trick will give your windows a high-end look, without the huge price tag!

Posted by DIY with Hometalk on Monday, 23 April 2018

The basic rule for 2018’s windows is simple: the more light… the lighter! Sorry… the modern-er. 🙂

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Whether you’re planning a whole new refurbishment or just simply looking to fix an electrical problem, you’ll always be in need of a quality tradesman. But due to the increasing number of review websites, how do you know which to trust?

There are many UK websites out there that can assist you in finding the right person to help you carry out the work you need doing. Here are the three main websites to keep an eye out for:

 

Mybuilder.com

All you must do is simply post the details and requirements of the job you need to be carried out then sit back and wait for a response from a qualified tradesman. Once you have received a quote you get to choose yourself based on the tradesmen profiles and previous reviews which can come as extremely handy as you can see for yourself how previous clients rated their performance on the jobs they had carried out previously. All reviews are confirmed by the website as true and bad reviews are never removed.

 

Plentific

Plentific allows you to complete searches for tradesmen based on your postcode and job details. You can then either make contact with the tradesmen or instead post the job and wait for them to come to you. If you choose to post the job, the website’s concierges handle the process personally, obtaining quotes and assisting you in finding the right tradesman.

 

Ratedpeople.com

Ratedpeople.com is incredibly similar to Mybuilder.com, again all you need to do is post details of the job you’d like to be carried out and wait for a qualified tradesman to respond.  These tradesmen pay the website for the opportunity to provide a quote to you; the website will then provide you with a shortlist of tradesmen where you can choose your preferred tradesman based on their quotes and reviews.

The website completes checks on tradesmen’s ID, credit status, accounts, public liability insurance and qualifications. However, do note that they surrender responsibility of what the tradesmen say and do advise authenticating their credentials before enlisting them to work.

 

Generally, you are able to trust these online tradesmen review sites. Tradesmen with lots of reviews provide you with a better idea of what they are like and the level of service they can provide. Just remember that these websites are funded by the tradesmen they are featuring. We advise doing your best in getting everything out of your tradesmen, including as accurate as a quote as you can get and what they can offer to the job you need completing.

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Saving up to buy your first home is a challenge that can at times, feel impossible. If you’re a future first time buyer looking for tips on saving for your first home, read some of our advice below:

Correct preparation

It’s important to think about what you need to do before you even start looking at properties, such as saving for a deposit. The general rule of thumb is to save at least 5-20% of the value of the property you want to buy.

So if you’re looking to purchase a home that costs £200,000, you’ll need to save at least £10,000 (5%). But saving more than that will grant you access to a larger range of more affordable mortgages.

But keep in mind that deposits and monthly mortgage payments won’t be your only outgoings, you’ll also need to invest in surveys, removal costs, building insurance, stamp duties, and solicitor fees.

It might go without saying, considering what we outlined above, but saving a little extra per month goes a long way in speeding up the process. Perhaps give up a gym membership and exercise at home, or skip your daily coffee; it’s not easy, but in the end it will certainly be worth it.

Taking care of your money also helps you build a better credit rating, which will open you up to a wider range of mortgages later down the line.

Explore your options

The government has several schemes that assist first time buyers onto the property ladder, including:

Shared Ownership – this is where you purchase a share of your property from the landlord (usually a housing association or the council) and rent the remaining share.

Help to Buy – this is where the government makes a 25% contribution to what you have saved. If you save money into a Help to Buy: ISA, for every £200 you save, you will receive a government bonus of £50. However keep in mind that this scheme is only applicable for New Build properties.

Rent to Buy – this is a government scheme which aims to ease the transition from renting to buying, providing subsidized rent for a certain number of years in rent to buy homes. After the time has passed, you have the option to buy the property, or enter a part rent/part buy shared ownership scheme.

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Are you thinking of adding some extra-luxury to your home? Are you just thinking because you do not have the budget to have high-end looks in your house?

Well, we think this could help:

Best of High End Looks

13 clever ways to fake high-end looks in your home.

Posted by Hometalk on Sunday, 8 April 2018

We are sure you can apply at least two of these ideas in your home. Maybe make the letting place look nicer before a viewing…

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Selling your house, especially if it’s your first home, is a big decision and not one to be taken lightly. Before you go buying your next house, make sure you’re ready to sell your current one first. I don’t mean applying a new coat of paint and trimming the hedges, although that certainly helps the sale price. I mean other things you might not have thought of. Here are 9 key things you need to consider when selling your house.

Photo source: Pixabay http://bit.ly/2FX1ic8

1. Your Finances

First, consider your financial situation. Where will you live after you sell your house? If you’re moving out to an apartment first, there will be a period of a few months where you’ll be paying a mortgage and rent. Can you afford that? You’ll need to have some extra funds put aside to help cover you for those months.

2. The Price

Hand in hand with your finances, comes the price you want for your house. What you bought the house for and what you want to get out of it are irrelevant. What matters is the current real estate market in your community. An appraiser will accurately tell you the true value of your home. Don’t ignore their recommendation and market the house at too high a price or you’ll put off buyers. Remember, those buyers have realtors who can tell them if a house is priced too high.

3. Paperwork

Don’t let your house sale be held up due to missing or incomplete paperwork, ensure it’s all in place from the word go. Are there any issues with the house that would prevent you from selling it? For example, what if you owe more than the house is worth? This will slow the process down as the bank will need to approve the sale price. What if you discover that your mortgage has a prepayment penalty? Talk to your lender and ensure there’s going to be no issues and that you have everything you need in place to help your sale go smoothly.

4. Your Realtor

You will have plenty of choices when it comes to choosing a realtor. There is certainly no shortage of realtors in your area looking to sell your house. After all, they earn a living off the commission. You can either choose a big name company like remax or 21st or instead hire a local realtor. There are pros and cons to each approach. A big company would have the resources to get your house out there in front of a lot more people. Yet the local realtor truly knows the community like no other.

5. Your Likely Buyer

When getting your house prepared for the big sale, consider your target market. Do you live in an area with a lot of young families or conversely is it mostly peopled by downsizers? Think about the likely buyer of your home and stage the house accordingly.

6. De-clutter

The first step to making your home appealing is to de-clutter and depersonalize the space. Look at your home with fresh eyes and take down decorative items specific to you (like family photos) and de-clutter each room to maximize the space. Simply leave enough furniture in each room to show its purpose.

7. Finish Odd Jobs

Finish all of those odd jobs you’ve been meaning to get around to, from fixing dripping taps to cleaning moldy grouting. The houses which sell quickest are those which don’t need work done to them. Leave small jobs undone, and potential buyers will worry what else you haven’t done.

8. Refresh

A fresh coat of paint can do wonders to brighten up and refresh a dated home. Choose white or cream to maximize the sense of space, and to appeal to as broad a range of people as possible.

9. Clean

Nothing is a bigger turn-off to potential buyers than a grubby property – so pop on your rubber gloves and start cleaning. The less a potential buyer has to do, the more they can imagine themselves living in your property.

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Brilliant – you have found a property to rent! Whether you’re renting for the first time, or already an experienced tenant, you need to ensure you understand your responsibilities.  Being aware from the outset of what is expected of you can prevent confusion and issues further down the line.  So, what exactly are your responsibilities?

Financial

It may sound obvious, but one of your key financial responsibilities is to ensure that you pay your rent in full and on time every month.  Depending on your tenancy agreement, you may also be responsible for all the utility costs and council tax associated with the property.  It may be worth getting an estimate of such costs prior to signing the tenancy agreement so that you can truly understand your long-term financial commitment.

Upkeep

Although you may not own the property, you are the custodian while it is in your care.  This means it’s your responsibility to ensure that the property is maintained, so you need to inform your landlord or letting agent as soon as possible should something require repair.

Although your landlord is required to ensure repairs are undertaken swiftly, the upkeep of the property is very much in your hands.  From changing light bulbs to keeping the garden in good condition, you need to ensure that you take good care of it.

Cleaning

Everyone lives differently, but no matter what your lifestyle it is essential that you keep the property clean and tidy at all times.  This is even more important when it comes to the end of your tenancy, as the property needs to be left spotless; from the fridge to the bathroom, it all needs to be clean. If you fail to keep and leave your property clean and tidy the landlord is entitled to deduct money from your deposit and we know that’s the last thing you would want to happen.

Subletting

Subletting is not allowed during your tenancy unless you have a prior agreement with your landlord or letting agent.  If you’re considering subletting, we strongly advise that you speak to your letting agent as soon as possible so that an open and frank discussion can be had and a decision made.  There’s no guarantee that your landlord will agree to subletting, but if you proceed without their approval you will be in breach of your tenancy agreement.

Access

Your landlord may wish to undertake periodic checks on their property, and you must allow them access.  These checks could be to plan long-term repairs, or checking on works that may have been undertaken prior to your tenancy. It’s always beneficial to be on good terms with your landlord, and one way to nurture a positive relationship is to be flexible when they request access.

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