Where I live there is an ongoing housing and commercial development of some magniude.  There had been some very old gravel pits on the outskirts of town.  In the 1950s the private owner had the foresight to develop his gravel pits to allow water skiin to take place and the national championships took place there […]

One of the major things about reaching to ‘the age of majority’ was being given the key of the door – usually shown as a yale style, although most young adults would have happily grabbed the back door key also.  There is no such excitement about reaching this very important stage in life now – […]

It’s only when you start getting involved with the historic side of heritage houses that you really appreciate the great architects of the day.  I have connections with one such place not far from my home.  I live in an area very rich with family owned historic properties – several are owned by the same […]

I know of a couple who love living in their very unusual property – it’s a real treasure house of characterful features from the architraves, the cornices in each room.  The outside is just as beguiling, with fancy carved gables over each window casement.  It is in most respects the nearest thing to a Hansel […]

The very first house I was able to buy into will be 130 years old this year – it is wonderful to think that for just a couple of years I formed part of the rich history of one little property in the county town.  It was nothing too grand at the time though – […]

It’s been a most fascinating few weeks for me as an interested observer in the house moving escapades of a close young relative.  It all started off quite smoothly – their small starter home was viewed by an agent who announced he had ‘hundreds’ of first time buyers all screaming for their type of house.  […]

I have young relatives who are trying to change up in property – they sold their very smart starter home within 2 hours of the agent ‘opening’ the sales desk, and were delighted that three couples wanted to view immediately.  They already had their eye on ‘the one’ and were very keen to secure it.  […]

Whenever we get to the end of a busy year with ups and downs in the housing and commercial property markets, tit seems only doom and gloom .  On the tv and radio currently there is much discussion about how well the housing market is doing, or not, as the case may be.  There has […]

My family have the unenviable sitatuion of an aged relative in a high end care home.  She has been contentedly residing there with her dementia gradually getting worse by the week but completely bunking the diagnosis that she entered ‘end of life care’ eight years ago! Her house is currently rented out to a family […]

It’s always a difficult thing to decide whether to fully decorate throughout or just do a tidy and repair the essentials when you’re thinking of selling or renting out your property.  There are two distinct schools of thought here – firstly the expenditure on full decoration may not be got back in the asking price […]