Urban Village Blog

COULD BORIS MAKE CHANGES TO STAMP DUTY IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

Many in the property industry have called out for the new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to act decisively on his previously proposed plan of possibly scrapping Stamp Duty on homes under £500,000, at the same time cutting it from 12% to 7% on propert...

AN INTERVIEW WITH ROYSTON & LUND

This month, we caught up with Val Shakespeare, Sales Director at Royston & Lund to discuss her idea of a perfect home and top tips for working in the property sector.

A GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING CREDIT SCORES

Understanding credit scores can be tricky yet essential, as it affects your ability to borrow loans for mortgages. Lenders such as banks, credit card companies and mortgage lenders look for low-risk borrowers who have a history of making repayments o...

STAGE YOUR HOME LIKE A PRO

When it comes to selling a house, ‘staging’ is of the utmost importance. You might spend hours upon hours dusting ceiling corners, scrubbing at the kitchen floor or rearranging the furniture. However, there are other changes you could make which you...

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: A GUIDE TO FINDING YOUR NEXT HOME

There is one thing that all property professionals agree on, whether they work in commercial property or residential, and it’s that location is one of the most important factors to consider when buying a home. Property gurus around the world continue...

SUCCESSFULLY RELOCATE TO GET INTO A SCHOOL CATCHMENT AREA

Education is one of the most important factors when it comes to your child’s future and where you live has an impact. There are a growing number of families who are considering moving to increase their chances of securing a place for their child...

WHAT DO PROPOSED CHANGES TO SECTION 21 MEAN FOR LANDLORDS AND TENANTS?

On Sunday 21 July this year, the Government announced that they had launched their consultation on the abolition of Section 21. The consultation, which will only cover England, will be open for 12 weeks closing on Saturday 12 October.

HOW VIRTUAL REALITY IS CHANGING THE PROPERTY SECTOR

In today’s fast-moving technological age, new developments in tech are constantly being introduced that are having a significant impact on the property sector. The most recent is the introduction of virtual tours and virtual reality (VR). While VR is...

WHY HIGH STREET ESTATE AGENTS ARE BETTER THAN ONLINE ONLY

Another week, another horror story about online-only estate agents. Purple Bricks plans to expand overseas have had to be cut back and Emoov was only recently bought out of receivership. It doesn’t look good for the online-only agents, and there’s go...

BLOOMING LOVELY: TOP SPRING GARDENS

Spring has arrived, and with summer just around the corner, flowers are blooming, and the focus is turning to gardens. In celebration, we discover homes with spectacular spring gardens guaranteed to inspire.

ESTATE AGENTS - A BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK

You’ve put your property on the market and selected an estate agent to market and sell the home. Now what? A lot of homeowners don’t realise that on average, for every hour that an agent spends with them, they will spend approximately nine hours work...

TOP FIVE THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU RENOVATE

Making the decision to take on a renovation project is a huge challenge and commitment and should not be taken lightly. As rewarding as the outcome will be, it can be expensive, time-consuming and takes a lot of preparation.