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Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk is fast emerging as a popular destination for many property buyers, keen on moving away from the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life. It’s a lovely town in the famous county of Suffolk, and was earlier West Suffolk’s county town. Dominated by the superb Abbey ruins & gardens, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk is full of lovely Victorian and Georgian houses. However, its ‘feet are very much firmly in the farmyard’, and has been rightfully described as a ‘pearls & wellies’ kind of place.
In its centre lie the riveting remains of an abbey, encircled by the Abbey Gardens. It’s a shrine dedicated to the Saxon King of the East Angles, Saint Edmund. It’s also famous for being the East of England Regional Assembly’s seat. The town is also significant since it had been associated with some important historical moments that defined course of the monumental Magna Carta. However, prospective property owners need to bear in mind the fact that prices here are a bit higher than those in the surrounding villages since it’s very popular essentially with London commuters. It’s getting new shops and nightclubs as well, adding to its attraction.

Great Malvern, Worcestershire is a lovely country town ideal for those looking forward to a serene, sedate life. It’s a beautiful spa town that has been built for pleasure-seekers. It has its own appeal. This one set against the lovely Malvern Hills has inspired the likes of Elgar, born not far away from here. The town is overlooked by the magical Malvern Hills and also the 1,400 ft Worcestershire Beacon - with its St Ann’s well. The Priory church here is known for its exquisite 15th century stained glass. The name Malvern has its origin in the ancient word ‘Bare-Hill’, and its nearest modern equivalent is the Welsh ‘Moelfryn’ that means ‘bald hill’.
The lovely spa town, renowned for its Malvern water, is commutable since the M50 and M5 are mere 20 minutes away. As a result, people can reach Worcester, Birmingham and Hereford without any difficulty. In fact, a lot of them do not mind spending their retired life here. Several buyers are keen on acquiring apartments, and the experience is that once they come here they do not want to go away. It won’t be a surprise if you are the next one looking to settle down at this superb spa town.

Dining rooms are gradually on way out as more & more British homeowners are knocking down walls to have bigger living space, according to a new research. Over half a million British homes will witness their dining rooms demolish over the next year, according to this report. It predicts that the traditional home of the best cutlery and formal dining table could totally disappear by 2020, if the trend continues, which is likely, with lesser families using the dining room.

Britons, it seems, seem to be opting for open-plan living. They are trying to look at ways to make better usage of the available space inside their homes. Nearly 559,000 dining room walls in Britain are likely to be knocked-through over the next 12 months. It’s sad in many ways to witness the gradual decline of the once mandatory formal dining room. It’s apparent that the room may have turned superfluous to concept of modern living in which people are probably less likely to have food together. Lifestyle changes have resulted in fewer families sitting down together for a meal compared to three decades ago, when it was tradition for households to sit round a table for food.

Other traditional rooms are disappearing as well. About 170,000 utility rooms are likely to be incorporated into kitchen areas whereas nearly 125,000 studies will be merged into adjoining bedrooms to make them look more spacious.

Britain’s leading newspaper The Daily Telegraph has recently made public an insightful and valuable list of the country’s top towns. According to the report, these are some of the finest towns in the UK – deemed perfect for settling down.
• Aberfeldy, Scotland
• Woodbridge, Suffolk
• Amersham, Buckinghamshire
• Aylsham, Norfolk
• Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland
• Blandford Forum, Dorset
• Buxton, Derbyshire
• Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
• Bungay, Suffolk
• Cirencester, Gloucestershire
• Dulverton, Devon
• Ruthin, Wales
• Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire
• Helmsley, Yorkshire
• Holt, Norfolk
• Lewes, Sussex
• Harrogate, Yorkshire
• Midhurst, Sussex
• Marlborough, Wiltshire
• Kelso, Scotland
• Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
• Pately Bridge, Yorkshire
• Saffron Walden, Essex
• Oundle, Northamptonshire
• St Albans, Hertfordshire
• Sevenoaks, Kent
• Bradford-On-Avon, Wiltshire
• Sherborne, Dorset
• Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire
• Thame, Oxfordshire
• Alresford, Hampshire
• Tunbridge Wells, Kent
• Alnwick, Northumberland
• Thaxted, Essex
• Ambleside, Cumbria
• Tetbury, Gloucestershire
• Shaftesbury, Dorset
• Ashbourne, Derbyshire
• Tavistock, Devon
• Dorchester, Dorset
Criteria considered in including the towns above are their lovely landscape, historical or architectural significance in form of a castle or abbey and last but not the least, a charming market square or church that serves as a focal point. While you are planning to invest in a good property, use this list to make your property investment decision.

If you are looking to enter property market, here’s some advice so that you can negotiate your cut-price deal in such a way that you get the best deal. The good news is that many attractive opportunities have opened up to strike a favourable deal. The flipside is that the property sellers may still be stubborn when it comes to disposing off their main asset.

Many Britons will rather prefer to sit tight than simply sell their home for less than what they think is worth. Vendors, as a rule of thumb, are happier to give a thought to an offer of say 95 per cent of their original asking price, even in a favourable market. However, an offer below the mark of 90, irrespective of the market sentiment, is likely to be perceived as insult.

If you have liked a particular property that you think is over-priced in context of the current scenario, it is advisable to negotiate gradually. Rather than making a formal offer straightaway, speak to the estate agent informally. Say something like: I would like to consider that property if only the vendor brings down the price, and then wait for response from other side. Remember, patience holds key for getting a good property deal.

Falling realty prices could well mean an unforeseen reprieve in inheritance tax (IHT). If a property gets sold at a value that is lower than the one used for calculating liability of inheritance tax, it could become possible for the estate’s executor to reclaim part of the tax paid, according to experts in taxation matters. However, a claim needs to be made just within four years of death of the persons who leave the house in their will. It’s quite possible that house prices in certain parts of the country might have fallen considerably in comparison to their value over a time span of last four years. As long as specific requirements are met, the 40% tax which is paid on the difference could easily be clawed back.

In the coming months any individuals who find themselves in this position should get in touch with the executors who are needed to file the claim. Chancellor Alistair Darling kick announced changes to the tax that include an increase in the allowance for married couples that is IHT-exempt. Earlier, one spouse was allowed to pass on assets and property without any IHT tax being due. However, the estate would be big enough to draw an IHT bill when left to friends or family, after the surviving spouse died. In April, the surviving spouse will be allowed to leave an amount up to £600,000 without being needed to pay IHT. This has significant implications for estate planning.

Many top-earning professionals hailing from Newcastle-upon-Tyne prefer nothing better than to locate themselves just outside Hexham simply to bask in its glory and charm during weekends. A mere 20-minute ride through enchanting wild landscape takes them to the city for their jobs. Newcastle-upon-Tyne happens to be the closest major city to the lovely town. It’s just 25 miles (40 km) to its east.

Hexham happens to be one of the three important towns along with Haltwhistle and Prudhoe in Tynedale. There are several smaller villages and towns surrounding Hexham like Corbridge, Stocksfield, Riding Mill, and Wylam (to the east), Bellingham and Acomb (to the north), Haydon Bridge and Bardon Mill (to the west) and Allendale to the south.
The centrepiece no doubt is Hexham Abbey. It’s set in beautiful gardens just beside the Tyne. Here the Tuesday market invariably sets up its stalls. Hexham is also Tynedale district’s administrative centre. It originated as a monastery that was founded by Saint Wilfrid. The current Hexham Abbey happens to date largely from around the 11th century onward, though it was rebuilt in the 19th century. Other notable structures in the town are the Moot Hall, and the Old Gaol.

John McFall MP, Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, will be leading a discussion on Regulatory Responsibilities at an Industry Forum breakfast meeting on 28 February.

Rod Dowler, Managing Director of Zoomf.com, a property search engine, will be chairing the meeting.

The subject is made urgent and topical by the international credit crisis and the current turbulence in the global financial markets; these raise major questions about regulation and the roles of regulators.

John McFall, has recently commented extensively about the problems at Northern Rock and has raised the issue of banks taking plastic cards away from reliable customers and giving them to customers who could have difficulty clearing their debts and would therefore incur interest charges.

At a recent seminar, Rod Dowler said, the credit crunch, created in the US housing finance market, is certain to have a major impact in the UK housing market. This has already changed from a seller’s to a buyer’s market and could see a halving of the income that estates agents derive from sales.

The meeting, for Industry Forum Members, will be confidential, adhering to the Chatham House rule.

The great appeal of Burnham Market, Norfolk is its stunning & unspoilt landscape. This idyllic British town has some excellent facilities, which quite easily exceed those offered by many other towns and well suits the tastes of a discerning resident.

Burnham Market is a lovely Georgian, picture-postcard venue, so throbbing in summer with smart London voices that it’s often called Chelsea-on- Sea. The town has everything that you will need in luxury and utility - hospitals, clinics, art galleries, teashops, bookshops, banks, delis, fishmongers, and chemists. It also plays host to some smart restaurants including The Hoste and Fishes and even the local supermarket sells epicure nibbles and gourmet consommé.
The Norfolk coast’s tidal creeks beckon only a few miles away and as a result, keen secondhomers have opted to snap up the tiniest flint cottages here for high prices. In fact, according to local estate agents, prices in the town tend to be almost twice that of thier inland nieghbours. It’s not long ago that a spacious four-bedroom, Georgian semi got sold off for well over £800,000, and that was even when it was in need of renovation.

Many of the UK’s finest country towns are drawing considerable attention even in the current unsteady property market - and rightfully so. They are aptly termed beacons of prosperity, enterprise and aspiration.
These towns serve as the perfect venues for some classic novels not to mention Britain’s most unusual shops and the country’s agricultural highs and lows. They serve to form the core of the captivating countryside. One of Britain’s leading newspapers, The Daily Telegraph, has recently unveiled a comprehensive list of top towns deemed fit for settling down. To compile the list of these towns, the publication tapped the databases of no less than 100 real estate agents and property experts.

And which town sits at the top of this elite list? The top spot went to Arundel, West Sussex.  Described as ‘the jewel in the crown of country-town’ it reatins the feel of an archetypal English village while also offering a more trendy and cosmopolitan side. Crowning a hilltop that overlooks the Arun estuary  it offers a dreamy skyline generated by the Norman castle owned by the Dukes of Norfolk for centuries. No surprise then that Londoners have been drawn towards it.