Zoomf News

According to a report issued by Halifax Insurance, Northampton has been voted as Britain’s bling capital. In a survey of the nation’s jewellery boxes, Halifax found that the average Northampton resident wears £469 worth of bling every day. On the heels of Northampton in the bling stakes is Glasgow where the locals are usually wearing £468 worth of jewels.

Prior to this survey, Northampton was typically known for its shoemaking industry. Northampton is still considered the place to go for prestige shoes. Among the current leading names in the industry is Church’s English Shoes, based in St James, which employs around 400 people. Shoes from Church’s were even used in the Da Vinci Code movie. This is a family run business established in 1873 and is majority owned by Prada.

There are a number of well priced and relatively affordable homes in the Northampton area. A large 2 bedroom home could be purchased for under £200,000.

GreenMoves, the eco homes for sale website, has announced that amongst their new properties for sale two of the homes belong to celebrities.

The first house belongs to Tommy Walsh of Groundforce fame. Walsh has just completed building his eco-friendly house on a £60,000 plot for building costs of £60,000 in 60 days! This Fenland District property has an innovative contemporary design and has many unusual features such as an air source pump heat pump system, upgraded double glazed windows and solar panels. This unique property is now on sale on www.greenmoves.com

The second home belongs to former Changing Rooms presenter Oliver Heath. He is selling his fully restored, low environmental impact, 2 bedroom house in Brighton. The house stunningly combines style with functionality and even has a flexible basement with a moveable wall.

Latest statistics revealed by the NHBC show that there were 37,839 applications aimed at starting new homes in the three months from January to March 2008 - a 30 per cent decrease on the same three month period a year ago. From that total, 29,137 related to private sector activity (i.e. excluding housing associations), illustrating a 34 per cent decrease on the same period in 2007. Thus there is a significant decrease in the number of applications from home builders to start building new homes.

Imtiaz Farookhi, NHBC Chief Executive, says: “The figures for the first quarter of this year clearly reflect a toughening market. The biggest decreases in new home starts were seen in Northern Ireland and the North East, where figures showed a year-on year decrease of 65 and 60 per cent respectively for the quarter.”

The total number of completions have also been on the decrease since January 2008. HNBC statistics for the first quarter of the year show a fall of 14% in number of completions when compared to the data from last year.

The current property market is at an all time low. House prices keep falling and a number of people in the UK are looking to rent instead of buying. There are definite benefits to renting versus buying a property. The top five reasons why renting might be a preferrable option to owning are outlined below:

1. Unless you plan to live in the house for more than 5 years, you run the risk of losing money. Five years of renting can be significantly cheaper than buying a property.
2. Renters can live in neighbourhoods they might not have been able afford to buy.
3. Renting allows you a peace of mind in terms of your budget as if the roof is leaking or the heater is broken, that is the landlord’s problem and not yours.
4. As a renter you can sample life in a luxury apartment with porterage, or live in a Victorian home in the suburbs or even move to a seaside town outside the city.
5. Renting allows you the freedom of packing up and going-all you need to do is give your 30 days notice.

When you rent, you can pick up and move almost whenever you want, with very little penalty but when you own, selling a home can take a very long time. You lose flexibility when you “put down your roots” and that can be one of the main factors why renting is seen as a better option to owning your home.

Many Britons will be disappointed by the Bank of England’s decision to keep the base rate at 5.00%. The majority of the population in the UK have been feeling the effects of the credit crunch. Food, utilities and fuel costs have all risen. The burden of the negative economy is also being felt by the housing market.

Neil Chegwidden, Head of Residential Research at Jones Lang LaSalle, stated that the ”base rate decision will have minimal impact for the UK housing market. Despite all the gloom and the endless residential column inches, UK house prices have only declined by 0.5% a month in the first four months of 2008 – a drop of just 1.9% (according to the most reliable house price index, Nationwide). And whilst there are clear downside risks for the housing market, and most notably on transaction volumes, the fact that house prices have not fallen off a cliff during this period of intense negativity should tell us something about the resilience of house prices.”

Neil Chegwidden predicts that the UK mainstream prices will fall by 7-9% in 2008, with some quarterly price rises in 2009. This is good news for homeowners in areas such as Blackheath that have been experiencing house price falls of at least 3%.

According to Liam Bailey, Head of Residential Research at Knight Frank, prices for housing in prime central London housing market remained unchanged in April with a barely noticeable growth rate of 0.1%. The overarching trend over the last few months is one of continuing slowdown, with a modest inflation rate of 0.8%; the lowest rate of growth since February 2005.

According to research carried out by Knight Frank, prime property prices have risen by 17.3% over the last year. The ratio of achieved price to asking price has fallen markedly over the last 12 months with an average of 96% of original sale price being achieved in April, in April 2007 the figure was 102%.

A year ago vendors could expect to see their property move through the market in just over a month, now the sales can take up to two and a half months. Houses in Central London area are not as easy to sell as they were 12 months ago.

Summer weather is finally here. Londoners that are lucky enough to have their own gardens will start spending more time outside in them. Some of them will want to buy new plants and vegetation for their gardens. Gardeners need to understand which plants work best in light and shade, how to maintain them, different types of soil and how to manage pests. Most people have the basic knowledge how to plant an attractive garden, but some might want to create an exquisite garden with vibrant colours and fragrances.

The key to gardening success is planning. When planning, as well as doing the simple tasks like maintaining borders, the following needs to be considered:

• Paths, patios and decking
• Climbers
• Herbs, fruit and vegetables

There are a number of houses in areas such as Wimbledon and Richmond that have large, sprawling gardens that can be designed in various ways.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, there were 27,100 repossessions in the UK in 2007. This year the figure is predicted to rise steeply to 45,000 repossessions this year. That will be the highest number of repossessions since 1995, when the market was recovering from the slump of the early Nineties.

Mortgage lenders predict that house repossessions will rise by 75% this year. It is feared that the numbers of families who will lose their homes will soar from 17,000 last year to 30,000.In the fourth quarter of last year, the number of repossessions averaged about 23,000. This was an increase by 7% on the fourth quarter of 2006 and 27% higher than the fourth quarter of 2005. The repossession numbers are a good indication of how homeowners are coping with the credit crunch.

The good news for homeowners is that fewer homes are repossessed than the number of orders made because not all orders are enforced.

The bi-annual report issued by the Bank of England, has warned homeowners that mortgage payments could rise by as much as £230 a month. Many borrowers whose fixed-rate mortgages expire this year are having to pay rates around 2.5% higher - the equivalent of £2,748 a year on an average £150,000 mortgage.

This means that many young homeowners with minimal deposits will inevitably be forced to resort to standard variable rates as lenders raise the cost of credit.

”UK banks have markedly tightened secured and unsecured credit availability to UK households and intend tightening it further over the next few months,” was the statement issued by the Bank of England.

For first time buyers and families with a low income that are planning to buy a house, the best option would be a small house in a decent area. Many buyers could find bargains in areas such as Raynes Park and Ealing.

UK’s leading property search engine, Zoomf.com, is a premier sponsor of the Round Britain (www.round-britain.co.uk). Round Britain is a 1600 mile cruise by Nick Craddock in his boat Reel Estate, departing from Brixham marina in May 2008 with a planned 23 ports of call over 8 weeks.

For Nick, an estate agent by profession, this trip will pose a special challenge as he is partly disabled as a result of a spinal trauma. He has embarked on this adventure to raise £10,000 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and to fulfill his lifelong ambition of circling Britain in a boat.

Zoomf is appealing to other businesses to sponsor this cause. Sponsors will have the opportunity to participate in PR with the local media at each port to publicize Round Britain and the sponsor’s support.

Rod Dowler, Zoomf’s CEO, commented, “Zoomf is proud to be a Premier Sponsor of Round Britain and we will be cheering for Nick every mile of the trip. The RNLI is a great charity where volunteers risk their lives to save others, and Nick’s mission will help raise much needed funds for them”.