Posts Tagged ‘Buy a house in Scotland’
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
From the 1st December all properties sold in Scotland will require to have a Home Report made available to prospective purchasers.
Caesar and Howie have no particular issue with the concept of Home Reports – if someone wants to produce a report in the belief that it will help a sale that is fine. However we do object to the compulsory nature of these reports and to the fact that sellers will be subject to criminal charges should one not be produced by the seller.
This seems grossly unreasonable to us. The effect of this legislation is to ensure that sellers will have to incur several hundred pounds of costs before even being able to market a property. This seems wrong and unnecessary to us and we note with interest that the English equivalent of these reports have been seen as a resounding failure – with many now calling for the legislation requiring them to be repealed.
However despite our own views we will ensure that clients are able to obtain a Home Report as part of our property sales service. The reports themselves split into three sections – the survey, the energy performance certificate and the property questionnaire. The first two sections will be completed by surveyors who have obtained energy performance assessor qualifications and the last section the government envisages will be completed by sellers themselves. The “survey” section of the report will be similar in form to the old “Type 2″ survey, giving details of construction, necessary repairs and the surveyor’s valuation. The energy performance section will give an idea of the energy efficiency of the property and potential improvements possible.
The property questionnaire is a section which is intended to give other general information about the property and its usage – including the various rights of access and servitude rights attaching to it. Effectively this last section will contain an amount of legal information which can only be accurately obtained by examining the title deeds to the property. For that reason Caesar and Howie qualified legal staff will obtain titles for clients assist them in the completion of that part of the report. We think it important if these reports are to be of any use at all that the correct information is entered into them and our legal staff will help ensuring that this is the case where our clients are involved.
Home Reports with legal input can therefore be obtained from Caesar and Howie for all houses going on the market after 1st December 2008. Credit arrangements will be available to those clients wishing this.
Tags: Buy a house in Scotland, Home Reports, Selling a house in Scotland
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Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
Househunters looking to buy a house in Scotland may be interested in a new Barratt development in Baillieston.
The Sidings, Barratt West Scotland’s most recent development, is situated on a former railway sidings and will consist of apartments and two and three bedroom houses.
According to David Balmer, Barratt West sales and marketing manager, the Sidings is located in an ideal spot for commuting to both Edinburgh and Glasgow, since it is close to the M8 and the North Electric rail system.
“With the M8 motorway just minutes away, commuting to Glasgow, Edinburgh and the North and the Clyde Coast couldn’t be easier,” he said.
The Laurels, another Barratt development in Rutherglen, may be of interest to Scottish first-time buyers, as the company is offering a Head Start package for people stepping onto the housing ladder.
Tags: Baillieston, Barratt, Buy a house in Scotland, New Development
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Friday, May 2nd, 2008
A new development in Perthshire offers the taste of upmarket rural life, according to Redrow.
The housebuilding firm has announced the launch of its new show home in the Graemeslea development in Aberuthven, which may be of interest to people hoping to buy a house in Scotland.
On May 10th, the show home will be unveiled, allowing visitors to experience the countryside surroundings, as well as have a go at archery and witness a falconry display.
Specialist chef John Quigley will be making an appearance at the event in order to cook up some Scottish cuisine in the show home’s kitchen.
Diana Newton, sales director for Redrow Homes, said: “Graemeslea is a beautiful development of stunning luxury homes, perfectly set among the breathtaking scenery of the Perthshire countryside.”
The development is a 15-minute drive from Perth and just over an hour away from Glasgow and Edinburgh, according to the company.
Another development that may be of interest to people looking to buy a house in Scotland is the luxury apartments at the Laurels, a Barrat Homes development in Rutherglen near Glasgow.
Tags: Buy a house in Scotland, New Development, Scotland
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Friday, April 18th, 2008
A new waterfront housing development in South Kessock is to be unveiled next week, a site that could include some attractive properties for those looking to buy a house in Scotland.
According to the Inverness Courier, developer Caledonian Property Partnership will put on a day-long exhibition of the proposals, with locals invited to declare their views on the planned development.
“It would be something new for South Kessock although waterfront developments are not new in other areas and have worked well in other regeneration areas such as Leith, Glasgow and Liverpool,” said Inverness Central councillor Peter Corbett, according to the newspaper.
A spokesperson for Caledonian Property Partnership claimed that the plans were “very exciting”, something that may whet the appetite of anyone looking to buy a house in Scotland.
The plans will reportedly result in construction on a disused industrial area in South Kessock.
The official Inverness City website claims Inverness has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, as well as the lowest pollution levels of any British city.
Tags: Buy a house in Scotland
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Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Those looking to sell a house in Scotland could be buoyed by the recent research suggesting that homes in the region are bucking the overall UK trend.
According to a report in the Glasgow Evening Times, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has noted that whereas house prices in other areas of the UK were in record low territory, 90 per cent of Rics members reported Scottish house prices were the same or higher than previously.
“Scotland is in a unique position with house prices continuing to increase, albeit not at a booming’ rate. The general feeling within the industry is that the Scottish market is currently holding up well,” said Rics Scotland director Graeme Hartley, according to the paper.
This may come as good news to those looking to sell a house in Scotland, as it means their home will be worth more than in certain other places in the UK.
According to the Rics UK Housing Market Survey for March 2008, Scotland is the only UK region with the “net balance of surveyors” noting a rise in house prices.
Tags: Buy a house in Scotland, House Prices, Scotland
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Thursday, April 17th, 2008
People looking to buy a house in Scotland could be tempted into choosing a property based on factors such as a low crime rate or the existence of a neighbourhood watch scheme, according to an expert.
Miles Shipman, commercial director at UK property website Rightmove, said that an area’s crime rate normally has a big influence on people’s feelings about a property.
“Crime is an important factor. Areas with a neighbourhood watch and areas with a better track record on crime are also one of the key factors [that people look for],” Mr Shipman said.
He also suggested that people looking to buy a house in Scotland that would mean they move away from friends and family will probably be interested in how close a property is to transport links, which will enable them to visit loved ones.
Yorkshire Bank’s house buyers’ survey, which was published last month, revealed that 74 per cent of people value a Neighbourhood Watch scheme.
Tags: Buy a house in Scotland
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Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
A development of luxury houses has encouraged those looking to buy a house in Scotland to queue overnight in order to secure one of 13 properties, according to reports.
The Helensburgh Advertiser said that the Victoria Crescent luxury homes at the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club, launched by Savills Property Agent, attracted a number of buyers who were willing to stand in the bad weather overnight to secure one.
Eight high-end apartments and five luxury houses make up the development and the fact that work has not yet begun on the properties did not put off certain househunters who were looking to buy a house in Scotland.
“People are showing a lot of interest in Victoria Crescent and seem keen to buy,” said Andrew Perratt, an estate agent from the firm, according to the newspaper.
“Most people have come for the apartments. There seems to be an acute shortage of high end flats in Helensburgh.”
Two-bedroom apartments start at £270,000 and a four-bedroom house £590,000, with the properties expected to be completed this time next year.
Savills has more than 200 offices and associates across the world, according to the firm’s website.
Tags: Buy a house in Scotland, New Development
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Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
Anyone who might buy a house in Scotland with the idea of renovating parts of it has been issued a warning by a leading do-it-yourself firm.
Retailer B&Q has highlighted a number of mistakes that DIY enthusiast could make when getting big ideas about how to adopt their home once they have decided to buy a house in Scotland.
“Don’t rip out period features such as fireplaces, use textured plaster or woodchip to cover uneven walls, create windowless rooms, put [in] double glazing that doesn’t open or economise by living with dated wallpaper or furnishings,” a spokesperson for B&Q said.
The retailer added that insulating lofts or wall cavities, increasing natural light or replacing an outdated bathroom suite are all ways to add value to a home, tips that could be useful for anyone who looks to sell a house in Scotland in the future.
The annual Halifax Home Improvement Survey revealed in 2007 that some 58 per cent of the population had undertaken home improvement work in the previous 12 months.
Tags: Buy a house in Scotland
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Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
The managing director of a Scottish housebuilder has said that firms would need to look into ways of improving the energy efficiency of certain aspects of housebuilding in order to construct homes that require no heating.
According to an article in the Evening Times, Nina Baker, councillor for Anderson/City, has called for all houses in Glasgow to be built to a standard where no heating is needed, something that may interest those looking to buy a house in Scotland.
However, Regency Homes’ managing director, John Heath, has said for that to become a possibility firms would have to enhance materials already used.
“We need glass to make a home as light as possible, but we would need to look at enhancing the thermal properties of triple or quadruple glazing,” Mr Heath said, according to the newspaper.
He added that firms would have to look at buildings to “make sure body heat and heat from cooking is retained in the house”, which could bring down energy bills for anyone looking to buy a house in Scotland.
Glasgow-based Regency Homes was formed in 1997 and became part of the Regency group in 2005, according to the firm’s website.
Tags: Buy a house in Scotland
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Monday, April 7th, 2008
A growing number of people are expected to enter the buy-to-let market north of the border, according to comments from a company representing residential landlords.
David Kendall, regional representative for Scotland for the National Landlords Association (NLA), said that due to the health of the Scottish market, investors are coming from other areas of the UK and Ireland to buy a house in Scotland.
However, Mr Kendall expressed the view that while the number of those looking to buy a house in Scotland will grow, this will not solely be down to people from elsewhere entering the market.
“There will be more and more investors moving there - and also people within Scotland, where they can, will continue to buy,” Mr Kendall said.
He pointed to areas such as the south-east of England and Ireland as places where house prices “have obviously gone up”, encouraging residents of these places to look to the more stable Scottish market.
The NLA has more than 13,000 members and aims to protect the interests of private rented sector landlords.
Tags: Buy a house in Scotland
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