Ricky Gervais splashes out on Upper East Side apartment worth $3.75 million...

Ricky Gervais and and his producer partner Jane Fallon have recently splashed out £2.5million on their luxury home on the 12th floor of the exclusive Barbizon building in the Upper East Side. 

The Barbizon was originally biult as a residential hotel for women in the 1920s but is slowly, but surely, being taken over by Mr Gervais who already owns one apartment in the building.

Liza Minnelli and Joan Crawford reportedly called it home and Grace Kelly is said to have danced down the halls in just her underwear.

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"Google leases London property for start-up launchpad..."

Check out this article that i found at : http://oxfordhomesdirect.blogspot.com

"Web giant joins "Tech City" initiative by leasing seven-storey property "to provide a launchpad for new London-based start-ups and developers"
Web giant Google has announced that it is to lease a seven-storey property in London's Old Street area, in order to house a "launchpad" for technology start-ups.

The company says it will open up the facility "to other organisations that support technology entrepreneurs, working together to provide a launchpad for new London-based start-ups and developers".

Google would not provide any more details on what kind of organisation this refers to, but said that it will "announce more details about the organisations we’ll work with and how they will use the space in the coming months".

The new site will also play host to "speaker series, hackathons, training workshops and product demonstrations for engineers who could benefit from Google’s knowledge of building large scale online services", Google said.

Google plans to open the facility next year, and has signed a lease that lasts until 2022"

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Big deposits mean mortgage products are back-tracking to pre-banking crisis levels!!

Since the recession hit and the loans market was fragmented in 2008, the number of mortgage products available to prime residential borrowers has hit the highest since 2008, to over 3,000.

Research by moneyfacts.co.uk has revealed that there are currently a massive 3,035 mortgages on offer, not far off the 3,250 that were available in February 2008.

At the height of the banking crisis that we experienced in April 2009, the number of mortgage deals had dramatically fallen to just over 1,000 - a catastrophic drop to experience in a relaively short period of time,  only just over 12 months.

However, two years on and the number of mortgages available has over tripled in size.

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First time house buyers are four years younger in the north than those in London...

The growing divide in house prices is seeming to affect the age of first time buyers, demonstrating a dramatic divide between the first time buyers in London, with an average age of 32, which is four years older than those in the north of England, Scotland and Wales.

The report, published on Saturday 24th September by Halifax found that the average age across the UK is 29, revealing wide regional variations. In Selby in Yorkshire, the average age of a first time buyer is just 25 where as in Harrow, in London, the average first-time buyer is 34.

Despite Land Registry figures showing property prices in England and Wales rose by 161% between January 1995 and July 2011, the national average first-time buyer age of 29 has only risen by one year since 1983. Halifax said a dramatic rise in parental support to help young people buy their first home had kept the average age down.

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Purchase of holiday homes on the rise...

Contrary to popular belief regarding the state of the property market overseas, the number of houses abroad being purchased by Britons is on the increase. One of the largest ever surveys of holiday homeowners overseas has showed that despite decreases in house prices ranging from 50% in Spain to 10% in France, the number of Britons buying abroad has in fact increased during the property market crash. 

According to research by lettings website www.homeaway.co.uk and Savills, the figure representing the number of homeowners in Britain who posses holiday homes abroad has leapt to a record high of 430,000 in 2010, where as in 2006, only 385,000 Britons owned holiday homes overseas. 

The author of the report, Rebecca Gill from Savills has said that, “It’s even more surprising because some previous owners will have sold in the interim. The net increase means there has been a sizeable number of Britons buying abroad since 2006.”


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What NOT to do when selling your house...

The draft guidance from the watchdog has revealed that many are risking heavy penalties dues to failing to comply with the consumer protection law. Actions that the OFT have announced warnings against, ranging from the simply "unfair" to the outright banned, include: 

"Giving misleading information to consumers

Estate agents are explicitly told not to boast about a “'secluded garden' when there is a public right of way through the garden, [a] 'peaceful area' when a bypass is planned close to the property, 'nice views of surrounding countryside' when there is a power plant next to the property, [or of] 'off street parking' when the parking is on a public highway”."

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Negative equity to affect 1.7 million homeowners...

The current situation in the property market is seeing 7.3% of all house holds with a mortgage, which is over 800,000 people in the UK, are facing a situation in which the value of their mortgage exceeds the actual value of their property.

However, thanks to the tax lending which occurred during the credit boom, as well as several years of house prices decreasing rapidly, this number could be seen to double if property prices fall even by 10%. This would be the greatest count of negative equity since the property crash of the 1990s.

are you moving house? need conveyancing? visit us for your free quote today!! 

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London property owners desperate for a quick sale....

PPR Estates has reported that the number of home owners in London, searching for a quick sale far below the current asking prices has increased significantly. They have said that this has been due to a collapse in buyer interest, combined with an increase in liquidations of companies as well as rising unemployment, areas that are said to be most affected were the ones struck by the recent riots. The director of PPR Estates, Nick Hopkinson has said that there had been a rising number of "distressed" sellers over the past few years in other parts of the country aswell, however London had appeared to be immune as prices have continued to rise. Are you planning on buying or selling? Need conveyancing? Visit us for your free quote today!

Majority of children in the UK on a mission to buy dream home...

New research has revealed that two thirds of children in the United Kingdom are aiming to, by the age of 35, own their dream house, while a further 19% are aiming to own their dream house by an even younger age. The research, carried out by Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks has revealed that a third of the children questioned maintain an optimistic outlook in life despite the economic crisis believing it will cost them over £500,000 Despite the fact that 33% of children predicted that their dream house would cost between £500,000 and £1 million, 19% are adamant Rabat they will own sed dream home by the age of 25. The research also indicates that children in Yorkshire are the most optimistic with 38% of primary school children are hoping to own their dream home by the age of 25 and 83% by the age of 35. They are also hopeful in Edinburgh and slightly more realistic with the majority of children, 89%, are expecting to own their dream home by the age of 35 while only 29% expect to be home owners by the age of 25. Where as in Wales 24% expect to do so by the age of 25 and 80% by the age of 35. Need conveyancing? Visit us for your free quote today! www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Lists of 'approved' conveyancing solicitors is cut by mortgage lenders...

A new issue has been introduced to the chaos that can be, buying a house. Not only do you have to worry about finding a property, saving for a deposit and passing credit and salary checks but you now have to worry about your chosen solicitor. Many lenders will now, not work with the law firms chosen by the borrower to to their conveyancing. This is a situation that is reducing consumer choice and can cause costs to build up, as well as causing hassle and delay to the homebuying process. And the problem is set to continue to increase. Mortgage lenders have always kept a list of law firms that they are willing to work with, however in recent months big names such as Santander, Nationwide and Lloyds Banking Group have all reviewed those lists and reduced the number of solicitors in those lists– in some cases removing solicitors who have worked with them for over 20 years.

BBC presenter Phillip Mould's Duck End house

Hey guys... Check out this article I found.... "The art expert, picture-dealer and BBC1’s Fake or Fortune? presenter Philip Mould talks about bringing an old house back to life as if it were a portrait in need of restoration. 'You have to peel back the layers till you get to the original,’ he says. 'The same question applies to a building as to a work of art – how far do you strip it back and what kind of repairs should you embark on?’ That was the dilemma facing Mould and his wife, Catherine, when they acquired the delightfully named Duck End in Oxfordshire eight years ago. (It means the watery end of a village – the sheep wash was done here.) " by Simon Bayliss Need conveyancing? Visit us today for your free quote!

Housing market crises calls for action...

As house prices soar, home ownership tumbles leading us into a major crisis in the housing market a study released today warns. Over the next decade the National Housing Federation's forecast has said that house ownership in the UK is set to decrease by as much as 63.8%, hitting its lowest level since the mid-1980s. The combination of strict lemdimg criteria with huge deposits, on top of the high house prices have sent home ownership into a rapid decline, the Federation said. If you need conveyancing, simply visit www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk for your free quote today!

Homelessness is set to increase, spanning the middle class

According to a recent study due to the economic crisis of recent years and the welfare cuts, courtesy of the government, homelessness is set to soar over the next couple of years, increasing the spectrum of middle class people that are forced to live on the streets. The report was released by the homelessness charity Crisis, has said that there is a direct link between rising homelessness and the recession as cuts to services and drastic changes to benefit laws slowly erode the traditional welfare safety net that so many in the country rely upon. The study, carried out by both the academics of Heriot-Watt University and the University of York, consists of 120 pages highlighting recent figures released over the summer that show councils have reported an increase of 10% from last years study taking the overall figures for people accepted as homeless in the UK to 44,160 people. Need conveyancing? Visit us!!! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk