Latest Homes magazine

Andrew Kay’s regular property round up

Local property expert James Oliver (founder of Brighton’s original Property Search agency Find and Build) has come up with an alternative to selling your property. “Why not consider the short let option? If you have a good property in a popular area (such as the North Laine, seafront or leafy Preston Park) then you can short let your property whilst still having it on the market. Most of the short lets will be at the weekends allowing viewings to continue taking place during the week and it may well enable you to refinance and move to your dream property without having to sell.”

This also creates a unique opportunity for a buyer to ‘try before they buy’. Read the rest of this article »

How to stand out in the crowd and make your home drop-dead irresistible for potential buyers

Neutral colours and clean, bright spaces appeal most to buyers. Neutral colour scheme by Crown Paints, www.crownpaint.co.uk

What makes a property stand out to potential buyers? And what makes the difference between, well, indifference, and a firm offer? This week, Latest Interiors shows you how to get ahead of the crowd, and style your home to sell.

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The Paul O’Grady Show’s Marc Abraham tells us about the wonderful creatures that can be found in the English Channel

With the recent great weather, our thoughts naturally turn to planning that precious annual holiday abroad, and ‘getting away from it all’. We may live in the best part of the UK, but there are still times when life, work, or the mother-in-law, get you down.

Indeed, we all have our own ways to escape, but there is one true getaway that’s right on our doorstep, and so underused. I’m talking about the English Channel, and the benefits of spending time below its surface.

“I couldn’t have predicted the amount and variety of life we encountered”

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Malone discovers that sometimes, all people really want is a trip down to the local for a quick pint

My dad has been asked if he’d like to see or do anything before he dies. He said he wanted to go to his local pub! It took five people but they managed it. He had to be put in a wheelchair, hoisted into a stairlift, then hoisted back into a wheelchair, carried down some stairs outside to the wheelchair and then finally wheeled to the pub. Where presumably he had a nice relaxing roast dinner and pint of Guinness, worrying about the palaver to get back home safe in bed! Sounds more like an ordeal than an outing.

“My dad went to prison for smuggling 50lbs of marijuana in 1969. They gave him a nine month sentence”

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Andrew Kay takes a break from the web to ponder life before computers

All quiet at Fort Latest this morning. The sun is beating down, the windows are open and the wind is rattling the Venetian blinds, but other than that it is quiet. But why? Well the internet connection has gone down and for many of us here that is like cutting the umbilical cord.

How did we manage before the wonder of the world wide web. Come to that how did we manage before the advent of computers on every desk. Well remarkably well as it happens.

“I spent many afternoons in a creative stupor and, on occasions, the drink gave birth to good ideas”

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Gay day in Hastings

Last year, I purchased a flat in Hastings with a gay male friend of mine. He had recently split up with a very long-term partner and, I think, needed stuff to take his mind off things. So, having got rather drunk in the Atlas Lounge one night, we trolled off to Hastings the following day in his Range Rover to look at flats. Amazingly, we put an offer in on two flats and ended up purchasing just one, as the seller of the other got fed-up with how slowly we were proceeding.

“I arrived for my first appointment, mildly marinated in hastily drunk Sauvignon Blanc”

Then, within a matter of months, my friend emigrated to Australia, where he is now nicely settled with a new partner and has recently bought a house at auction. Read the rest of this article »

Michelle Lloyd from Lloyds Property Assessment Services explains HIPs and EPCs

I have been offered a FREE Home Information Pack by my estate agent but is this the best way to get my HIP?
Nothing is for free! It is more than likely that your estate agent can provide you with a compliant HIP but the question you need to ask is: “What will I pay for the HIP should I stop marketing with you?” You need to make sure that you own the HIP and that you can take it with you should you choose to change agents. The estate agent will often pay for the HIP and then charge a redemption fee if you leave them to put you property on the market with another agent. This redemption fee/HIP cost can often be more than you would pay on the open market. You should typically pay £300 for a HIP on a freehold property and £320 for a leasehold property.

“The majority of the HIP will be compiled electronically”

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We asked Laura Brown and Robert Nettleton of Lewes Estates what makes their town the place to be

Lewes – The County Town of East Sussex – is nestled within the glory of the South Downs, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and widely regarded as one of the countries finest and most painted landscapes in Britain. A little under ten miles from the vibrant city of Brighton, Lewes boasts all the attributes of a quintessential historic English market town whilst benefiting from its proximity to and the attractions of the United Kingdom’s favourite seaside city.

Depending on your viewpoint, Lewes is: “The birthplace of English democracy, a hotbed of radicalism and independent thinkers.” The history of the area and the names and lives of those involved hold relevance to the history of the development of our country as a whole.

Designated The County Town of East Sussex, it is agreed by Lewesians and tourists alike that Lewes harbours and creates a spirit, an atmosphere, a unique world of its own. Read the rest of this article »

Andrew Kay mounts a bike and bares his soul to an inquisitive computer

The start of the Brighton Festival hit me full on like a runaway train. It always does, so I have no idea why I am taken by surprise. The preceding weeks are filled with excitement and more than the usual amount to write as we preview so much of what is about to happen.

Then wham; you’re off on a whizzing rollercoaster of cultural ups and downs. I try to keep an open mind, but as a hardened old art lag it’s difficult not to enter into things with preconceptions. I have a great passion for good theatre and I love technology. But all too often the technology swamps the art. Anything bearing the word ‘multimedia‘ fills my heart with a dread chill. What? More slides and computer wizardry, more lights and myriad speakers? I prefer audience participation to the electronic witterings of some artless geek.

“I was that monkey, riding and confessing like a person riddled with guilt and angst”

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The Landlady

When I noticed that my two Tunisian ladies were not speaking to each other, I asked the veiled one – who I liked very much – what had gone on. She looked fairly embarrassed and explained that, on one of the nights I had been in London, her roommate had spent most of the night in The Italian’s room with The Italian and some random guy from Saudi. Furthermore, at certain points until the small hours, all three of them had come up to the veiled lady’s room, which meant that she was having to continually ensure that her head was covered in front of the men, which must be a bit of a pain if you’re trying to sleep. Read the rest of this article »