Photo source: Wikimedia http://bit.ly/2EWQ2N2
Working in London and living in the countryside? Maybe you’re one of those who are willing to spend some time on the road just to enjoy the quiet landscapes of areas outside London like Windsor, Surrey Hills, Colne Valley, Epping Forest, Lullingstone Country Park, St Albans or Brentwood?
These would be our recommendations, too. What would you suggest we add on the list?
Quite simply, conveyancing is the process that happens between you putting in an offer on a property and completing, in order for you to become the new legal owner of the property. It is the transferring of a property’s legal title from the old owner to the new owner.
Who does my conveyancing?
You can hire a solicitor, property lawyer or a licensed conveyancer to do your conveyancing for you.
All solicitors are qualified to undertake work of this kind, but not all are experienced in it.
It could therefore prove sensible to hire a solicitor who specialises in residential property transactions, or a dedicated licensed conveyancer who only works on cases of this kind.
You may, however, find that you have to choose from a list of conveyancers approved by your mortgage lender, or pay a fee to go elsewhere.
Making sure legal processes are followed properly during a property sale is vital otherwise the whole thing could fall through. So you need to find a solicitor you are confident will do a good job. You can search for conveyancers on the Council for Licensed Conveyancers website.
Conveyancers will either charge you a flat fee or a percentage of the value of the property. Costs will vary, but you can expect to pay between £500 – £1,500 depending on how complex the transaction is. Get a few different quotes before choosing who to use.
Try not to use a solicitor who is too busy to give your case the attention it needs. If possible tell them your preferred exchange and completion dates and ask if they can meet these.
Also avoid choosing a solicitor who is very junior or lacking in conveyancing experience. All solicitors are qualified to do conveyancing but if possible use a firm that specialises in this area.
It can also help to use a local solicitor, they will have a good knowledge of any laws or issues particular to the area. Although most of the process can be handled via phone or email, being able to drop into an office to handover paperwork or check on things can speed things up.
If you are dealing with an estate agent they will often recommend a conveyancer to you, but you don’t have to use them. You should shop around yourself to see if you can get a better deal on price or service.
What happens on completion day?
After finding a house, securing a mortgage, ensuring the legal aspects are covered and exchanging the contracts, the big day arrives, so what can you expect?
Completion day is the main event, where the purchase funds are transferred between solicitors, the keys are handed over and ownership of the property is transferred, leaving you free to move in.
Your conveyancing solicitor will aim to have this arranged by midday, checking you are happy to proceed with the transaction and ensuring the funds are available for release, allowing formal completion of the sale. They will then inform you that the sale has gone through and you can pick up the keys to your new home either from the vendor or the estate agent, formally finalising the deal.
What happens after completion?
Once you are in your new home, the conveyancing process continues as your solicitor ties up the remaining loose ends, drawing the transaction to a close.
This will involve any remaining administrative issues, such as:
Checking all deeds and documents are correctly signed and legally binding
Paying the necessary Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
Applying to the Land Registry to record the transfer of ownership and mortgage (where necessary), and pay the required fees
Liaising with the Land Registry to resolve any issues raised by requisition
Checking that registration of ownership and mortgage documents are in order and names etc. are spelt correctly
Sending a copy of the title deeds to you, along with any remaining documents that are not required by the mortgage lender.
One of the most important rooms of a house is the kitchen. And it’s usually difficult to find a design that suits your style, is efficient, functional, and in the trends at the same time.
So if designing/ redesigning the kitchen is on your list for 2018, we made a list of articles you should check out before settling your mind on something.
They are saying that you should have on your shortlist of kitchen-must-have’s the following:
However, trends are not always about keeping it clean and neat. Sometimes they are bold and revolutionary… like these suggestions from Elle Decor:
Photo source: Elle Decor http://bit.ly/2DMUKvs
Photo source: Elle Decor http://bit.ly/2nartS9
And for all those wanting a kind, calm, and loving kitchen, just like your family, get some inspiration from this types of natural wood cabinets. They might be more in your trends than you think!
House trends can be confusing if you are one of those addicts always wanting to ride the wave. And it’s usually not the trends themselves, but the terms specialist use to name small changes in style from one trend to another.
Photo source: hips.hearstapps.com http://bit.ly/2rA5o4b
We have ‘Scandinavian’ vs. ‘minimalism’ for example. When you see an image of two rooms that illustrate these two design concepts, you might be inclined to say there is no difference. Specialists beg to differ and that is because:
Moreover, the Scandinavian trend implies using minimalism items like these pieces of furniture we like! 🙂
Big plans this year? Do they include buying a house? Best of luck!
Our main advice is to do your research in due time and try to have a guideline before you start searching. You can actually start with these 5 things in mind:
Photo source: Wikimedia http://bit.ly/2D7jGxK
Being energy efficient can make a big difference to the cost of your energy bill. It doesn’t always need a big investment in time or money to make sure you’re wasting less energy and saving more.
These are our top tips to help you save money on your energy bills:
Switch off or unplug any chargers or appliances you don’t need on.
If they have a stand-by light, a display or are hot to the touch they’ll be using energy just by being plugged in.
Washing at a lower temperature will use less electricity.
Washing at 30ºC rather than 40ºC can save you a third of the cost to run the cycle.
Insulating your home can save you money.
Loft insulation can save up to £140 a year off your energy bills and cavity wall insulation can save up to £160 a year.
Think ahead when setting your heating.
Set your heating to come on 15-30 minutes before you need it on, and off 30 minutes before you go to bed.
If you have storage heaters, make sure you’re using them efficiently.
Keep the input constant at the amount you need, but turn the output down to a minimum when you don’t need the heating on or turn it off at the wall.
Turn the pressure down on the power shower.
A high-pressure power shower is a great luxury to have but you’d be surprised how much water they use – sometimes even more than a bath.
Hang up your laundry.
Air-dry your laundry rather than tumble drying it, particularly if there’s warm or windy weather. What’s more nothing smells better than air-dried clothes.
Photo source: Pixabay http://bit.ly/2qKmbRC
Kitchen design in 2018 is all about timber veneers, colour contrast, texture, metallic, and the ongoing industrial look,’ says bespoke furniture manufacturers Schmidt.
The tail end of 2017 has seen the emergence of more bold colours and textures in kitchen doors and this will follow into the New Year. The mix of striking solid colours and woodgrains will continue to prove popular, whilst more industrial finishes like concrete will sit alongside these to really create interest in the kitchen. Consumers are increasingly looking for more variety and being braver in their style and colour choices.’
Welcome to 2018! Optimism tells us it is going to be a great and exuberant year, so be prepared!
Consider it a DIY project or your new home and make the best of it. As we know from the previous year already, anything can be changed and we tried to prove it with helping articles, tips& tricks, and a handful of useful advice.
Let us guide you through 2018 as well and enjoy the ride that will make you reconsider your perspectives about a home.
Photo source: Pinterest http://bit.ly/2qdJcfn
First things first, we trust a general guideline about the trends to follow in the year to come. Elle Decor made a list based on Pinterest searches and it features:
- Wall art
- Patterned plants
- Mixed metallics
- Terrazzo flooring
- Statement ceilings
- Spa-inspired bathrooms
You will find details and pictures in the article.
What have you been thinking about changing in your house this year?
Photo source: Pinterest http://bit.ly/2lJfYA6
Canning Town platform Photo source: Geograph.co.uk http://bit.ly/2ljhSX8
East London’s post-industrial landscape is rapidly disappearing in favour of quirky cultural venues, artfully rustic cafes and glassy residential towers. While the investment potential in Hackney and Tower Hamlets has been well-documented, other locations that are just as accessible have managed to slip under the radar.
One of these is Canning Town, a part of town with a rich dockers’ history, that has just been re-zoned along with Stratford into Zone 2. Sitting on the Jubilee line and the DLR, commuters can be in Canary Wharf in 10mins and, once the Elizabeth Line is up and running at nearby Custom House, 17mins from Bond Street.
The first sign of investment interest arrived with the ExCeL London exhibition centre in 2000, but the financial crash slowed down further development – until the recent residential boom.
Now, 10,000 new homes are planned from a variety of developers and housing associations, many for sale on affordability schemes like Help to Buy and Shared Ownership, along with a £600m revamp of the town centre and a hotel along with new pedestrian and cycling routes.
The real jewel in the crown, though, is nearby London City Island sitting just across the border in Tower Hamlets, whose anchor tenant will be the English National Ballet bringing a much-needed cultural boost to the area in 2018.
Compared to other areas with similar commuting times prices are a steal, too, which is why young professionals priced out of surrounding boroughs are looking for value in Canning Town.
Nick Parr, partner at Knight Frank City & East, agrees, but thinks its investment appeal can only be fully realised when put in context with surrounding areas. “It’s a great place to be, two stops down from Canary Wharf and half the price, two stops from Stratford and The Royal Docks are taking off.
Data from Johns & Co bears this out; the estate agent reports that “a lot of interest” is coming from corporate tenants aged between 25 and 35 working in the City or Canary Wharf and, recently, buy-to-let investors.
“It’s proving a hotspot for investors, not least because property price growth is anticipated to rise by up to 30 per cent in the next five years,” says managing director John Morley. “Yields north of five per cent are now hard to come by in many parts of central London, but this is still possible in E16 with yields currently at five to six per cent.”
If you’re a keen comic book fan or just like roaming wistfully around travel shows, you’ll like being a short walk away from the ExCeL London Centre. Regular business travellers will also enjoy being so close to London City Airport, which is only 10 minutes away on the DLR and it’s so small, it’s like waiting to board a plane from someone’s living room. If you’re looking to meet new people, seek out the Canning Town Caravanserai, a flexible space used for art installations, story-telling, food markets and skills workshops. You’re never far from water, with the River Lea, the Thames and the Royal Docks nearby, and you can take the Emirates Skyline over to the 02 Arena. Good restaurants nearby include reasonably-priced Italian Pepenero, contemporary brasserie Docklands Bar and Grill and Fatboy’s Diner the other side of Bow Creek, a 1950s-style diner next to arts space Trinity Buoy Wharf.
Photo source: Flickr http://bit.ly/2BGcvcF
We’re all familiar with the saying ‘first impressions count’, but why is it that when it comes to our homes, the hallway is usually the most neglected area of the house?
‘Hallways are the most important transitional spaces within our homes so whatever we choose to do decoration-wise has to work perfectly with the other rooms that lead off it,’ says Marianne Shillingford, creative director at Dulux. ‘This decorating dilemma often results in us being super cautious with colour and using neutral pale shades which can flatten the atmosphere creating a space that is simply a functional corridor that no-one really lingers in or remembers.
You don’t know what colour scheme to choose.
‘Focus on the fun in the function of a hallway and use colour and painted details to draw the eye through the space and towards the places you want people to go. Paint a subtle harlequin design on a wooden floor and let the diamonds guide you towards the most interesting bits of your home. Strong blocks of colour used on doors will add personality without overwhelming a space plus you can make the choice of colours personal to the people who live behind them.’ – Marianne Shillingford, creative director at Dulux
‘Hallways, by nature, are typically dark. Brown, green, grey, telephone box red, and any of the primary colours in full hue, are all ones I would avoid. These are dark and very strong colours. Primary colours in small spaces give off to much vibration and stimulation for us to absorb, causing unwanted headaches, loss of attention span and in some cases, even feelings of nausea. When deciding on a palette, if you are seeking drama, consider the level of sheen as well as the colour. You may also want to consider what colours the other adjacent rooms your hallways are coming of off as well as leading towards.’ – Gillian C. Rose
You are unsure what wallpaper will work in your hallway.
‘Often hallway space is limited, leaving little room for lots of accessories or other decorative items. Adding wallpaper is an ideal way to add a design feature and personality to the area without taking up valuable space or over cluttering. Stripes are a classic choice for homes and can be used to create the illusion of space in a hallway. Horizontal stripes will lead the eye upwards and vertical stripes will elongate the area. Choosing light and neutral colours or the ever-popular shades of grey will also add to the feeling of air and space.’ – Alex Whitecroft, head of design at I Want Wallpaper
Your hallway doesn’t feel warm or welcoming.
‘Think about how you wish to feel in your home. This will inform you of the colour and the direction you will go towards. For example, for a warm glow, the skirting could be a clotted cream colour high (gloss finish); the walls could be in a soft butter yellow (flat finish), and the ceiling could be in a hint of peaches and cream (flat finish). For a fresh, cool bask, the skirting could be a crisp light grey (high gloss finish); the walls in a pale minty colour (flat finish), and the ceiling the palest of azure (flat finish).’ – Gillian C. Rose
You’re not sure what the best flooring for your hallway is.
Normally a hallway tile is an extension of any tiling on the ground floor. For instance, a tile used in a kitchen/dining area is followed through into the hallway to give a consistent feel to the flooring and will make the area feel larger. This can be a variety of aesthetics to suit the property. Alternatively, the hallway can be made a feature, such as encaustic or a traditional Victorian chequerboard. Wood is often used in living areas and by using wood effect porcelain tiles throughout areas including hallways, you can achieve the warmth and depth of wood with the practicality of porcelain.
– James Arkell, founder of tile specialists