Estate Agents Surrey

Thursday, May 16, 2013

It's out with the hydrangeas and in with the hot tubs in today's English country garden

Letting Agents Sunningdale

RHS Chelsea Flower Show opens in late May
The average UK garden is now worth £1,928 (Lloyd's TSB Insurance)
Hot tubs now account for 1 in 10 garden purchases

With the RHS Chelsea Flower Show just around the corner (May 21^st - 25^th) and the long awaited spring sunshine peeking through, the nation is getting all green fingered.

According to the latest research from Lloyds TSB Insurance the average UK garden is now worth £1,928 but long gone are the days of a perfectly manicured lawn complete with Wimbledon worthy stripes surrounded by immaculate flowerbeds bursting to the brim with tulips, roses and hydrangeas. Today more and more homeowners are investing in outdoor furniture and decorations in a bid to add a touch of luxury to their gardens.

British homeowners have spent on average £894 on items such as this in the last 12 months alone with barbecues accounting for 29% of purchases, trampolines 22%, swings / slides / see-saws 19%, hot tubs 10%, summer houses 8% and patio heaters 7%.

As James Wyatt, Partner of award-winning estate agency Barton Wyatt located in the heart of leafy Surrey, comments,

"In the current economic climate where many cannot afford to move house, it's no surprise that homeowners are staying put and spending any money available on making their outside spaces more enjoyable.

"85% of households in the UK have some form of outdoor space around their property which should be considered as an extension of the home. Even a small area of lawn, some potted plants, a veggie patch or outdoor dining set can really add a new dimension to a property, providing a leisure space as well as adding extra value."

On the Wentworth Estate in Virginia Water, only a short distance from one of Britain's finest ornamental gardens, The Savill Garden, homeowners pride themselves on creating the perfect outdoor space for both friends and family to enjoy.

At Pine Acre for example, a 9,000 sq ft 5 bedroom luxury family home available for £4,650,000, there is a sizeable decked terrace with covered barbecue area and inbuilt heaters perfect for outdoor entertaining not to mention stocked flowerbeds, immaculate lawn and slate water feature.

Also available on the prestigious Wentworth Estate is Bourne House, a superb 5 bedroom property affording a long south facing garden with full width sun terrace which backs onto woods as well as a hot tub and even a horse sculpture in the grounds!

Down the road in neighbouring Sunningdale, Berkshire liesQueenswood, a 6 bedroom home also available at £4,650,000. The gardens to the rear afford a stone paved terrace as well as standalone heated swimming pool area and pump house perfect for family fun in the sun.

For more information on the stunning 21^st century English country gardens mentioned above contact Barton Wyatt today on 01344 843 000 or visit www.bartonwyatt.co.uk.

Barton Wyatt provides select Estate Agents in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Surrey. Tel: 01344 843000

Monday, April 29, 2013

Sunningdale – Local Amenties

Sunningdale is excellently situated just 20 minutes from Heathrow, 45 minutues from London and with such close proximity to the M3, M4 and M25 motorways. Sunningdale is a small village however has much to offer the community in terms of good schools, amenities and places of interest.

Schools in the area consist of:

Holy Trinity CE Primary School - situated on Church Road. Sunningdale Pre-school and Breakfast/After School club is available and is run from The Village Hall for children attending Holy Trinity School only.
Sunningdale School - a small country traditional boarding prep school for boys.
Charters Secondary School - for Years 7-11. This is a mixed Specialist Sports and Science College located in Charters Road, Sunningdale.

Charters Leisure Centre is situated at Charters School, Charters Lane, Sunningdale. The centre offers great health and fitness benefits for the local community (after 4.30pm, weekends and school holidays) and also for the school (during school hours ). The Body Zone 50 station gym is fully equipped with the latest aerobic machines such as Rowing machines, Treadmills, Cross Trainers etc and also has a ‘Cycle Zone’ with upright cycles and recumbent bikes to give a full range of training. Personal programmes and consultations are available for everyone, to ensure correct ongoing fitness.

Charters ‘The Studio’ run various exercise classes from Monday to Thursday to set pulses racing. A fully air conditioned room with audio system and wall-to-wall mirrors ensure you get fitter and lose weight while working out in comfort and having fun!

Charters Leisure Centre also has an Astroturf pitch for hire for hockey and football, and a Function Room available for party hire – holding up to 100 guests. A great venue for birthdays, anniversaries or corporate events. A fully licensed bar and live music or a DJ can also be arranged.

Sunningdale Village Hall situated at The Holy Trinity Church on Church Road, runs a’ Mini Tennis for Tots’ course on Monday afternoons for 4-5 year olds. A fun introduction to tennis which is run by a tennis professional. The hall also has an enclosed carpeted crèche room (approx 37m2) which is available to hire Monday-Fridays and can hold up to 30 people. Ideal for children’s groups and classes and the ‘Rendevous Church Cafe’ adjacent to it is ideal for light lunches, snacks and delicious homemade cakes.

If you are looking for other rooms to hire for a party or local meeting, Sunningdale Parish ‘Community Room’ situated at the Sunningdale Parish Council Offices in Broomhall Lane, is available to hire at just £10 per hour.

Sunningdale Container Library is open all day on Friday (10am – 1pm 2pm – 7pm) and also on Saturday mornings from 10am to 1pm. It is situated at the Broomhall Recreation Ground, Sunningdale.

Barton Wyatt Sunningdale Estate Agents provide select properties in Sunningdale and Surrey. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Surrey Letting Agents. Tel: 01344 843000

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Fury over Property Live closure at Surrey NAEA meeting

By Barton Wyatt Estate Agents Sunningdale

Sparks flew yesterday in usually sedate Surrey as the county's NAEA members expressed their anger at this week's announcement of the closure of Property Live.

Attending the quarterly meeting of over 60 Surrey NAEA and ARLA members in Guildford was NAEA MD and President Mark Haywood who acted as 'messenger', relaying the Board's decision to close the association's Members Only portal at the end of January 2013 due to poor performance.

Launched 4 years ago and rumoured to have cost Members in excess of £2 million, Property Live was the long-awaited portal dedicated to NAEA members. Well supported across the country and intended to be a real alternative to major portal players, there was widespread disappointment and dismay in Surrey upon hearing about the closure with one member at the meeting exclaiming, "Property Live was the best Member benefit we've had for years or maybe even ever!"

The Board's decision to cease operations at Property Live from the end of the month was taken after much discussion with low volume of lead generation cited as the reason although concerns over the management and availability of sufficient marketing budgets were also voiced at the meeting by Surrey NAEA members.

Surrey NAEA Chairman, James Wyatt, comments,

"With over 90% of property buyers starting their search online and the likes of Jessops and HMV going into administration because of the seemingly insatiable growth of online consumerism, it seems madness that the NAEA Board has decided to close the main online presence of the NAEA!

"Our Members here in Surrey bought into and supported the Property Live model for 4 years with some even cutting ties with the likes of Rightmove and Zoopla, where does that leave them now? As the ones who funded this ambitious project, the Board has a duty to provide a full and detailed explanation about the decision to its Members."

With the NAEA retaining the Property Live URL pending further discussions according to Mark Haywood, questions have already been raised as to the future of the portal?

Sentiment was clear in Surrey with Members holding a long heated debate and concluding that a viable commercial future was possible for Property Live but that it needed to be discussed with the Board as a matter of urgency.

James Wyatt concludes,

"Within minutes of hearing the news about Property Live's intended closure I received a number of emails from interested parties keen to take the now defunct site on. It will be very interesting to see what steps the Board takes next."

So with this latest news of yet another property portal going to the wall, it seems that there's nothing, even the 14,000 strong members of the NAEA and ARLA, can do to stop the might of the Rightmove and Zoopla - even if it is much to the displeasure of NAEA Members.

For more information please contact Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Sunningdale on 01344 843 000 .

Barton Wyatt provide luxury golf villas in Florida and select Property in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Surrey. Tel: 01344 843000

Monday, December 31, 2012

12 Days of Christmas - Day 7

A remarkable opportunity to own a lakeside home with it's own private island, in a quiet exclusive cul-de-sac backing the Old Mile, close to Ascot Village Centre.

The property sits high and looks down onto a beautiful lake with wildlife wandering freely to the rear.

The current owners have significantly improved this property to give it a modern feel with the accommodation re-designed so it flows in a pleasant relaxing style.

There is a lovely breakfast area and a second sitting room which overlooks the grounds and a private study to the front of the house. The first floor has five bedrooms including the excellent master suite with balcony overlooking the lake. Three bedrooms have en-suites and there is one family bathroom.

There is also an integral double garage and plenty of parking to the front of the house on the sweeping driveway approached via electric wooden gates.

The garden to the rear is mainly laid to lawn and meanders down to the water and there is an enclosed heated swimming pool with surrounding patio to one side of the house.

Priced at £2,450,000, for more information, please contact Barton Wyatt on 01344 843000 Virginia Water properties.

Barton Wyatt provide luxury golf villas in Florida and select Octagon Developments. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt. Tel: 01344 843000

Sunday, September 23, 2012

House prices 2% up over a year

House prices were 2% higher than a year ago in July as the strength of the London property market outweighed declines elsewhere in the UK. The annual growth rate revealed today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was slower than the 2.3% recorded in both May and June, with the average price across the UK standing at £234,000.

England recorded a 2.4% annual increase, taking typical prices to £242,000, while Scotland saw a 1.1% drop, pushing average prices to £183,000, and prices in Wales fell by 0.2% to reach £159,000.
Northern Ireland recorded a 10.9% year-on-year drop in house prices to stand at £130,000, continuing a trend of sharp decreases which analysts have put down to prices re-adjusting after they soared before the financial crisis struck.
Most of the house price growth was concentrated in the South East of England. The ONS said that if London and the South East were stripped out of the figures, UK prices would have only risen by 0.6% in the 12 months to July.

Prices rose by 5.7% in London year-on-year to reach £397,000 on average, while the North East, which saw a 0.5% annual decline, had the lowest average house price of the English regions at £145,000.
Analysts have predicted that a widening gap between the stronger growth in sellers putting their homes on the market than the numbers of potential buyers will push prices downwards for the rest of the year against the background of a weak economy and the ongoing eurozone crisis.

The Bank of England and the Treasury recently launched a “funding for lending” scheme to unclog the flow of credit, but much of the competition among mortgage lenders has been concentrated around borrowers with larger deposits.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist for IHS Global Insight, said: “We retain the view that house prices will trend gradually lower over the latter months of 2012 and very possibly beyond in the face of limited activity, low and fragile consumer confidence, and muted earnings growth.”
The average price paid by a first-time buyer rose by 1.8% year-on-year to £174,000, the ONS figures showed. Existing owners paid £269,000 on average, representing a slightly higher year-on-year increase of 2%.

Barton Wyatt provide luxury Property in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Sunningdale. Tel: 01344 843000

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Choosing the right rental agency in Surrey

The real estate dealings are complicated enough; let alone without a trusted expert on your side. Especially the property rentals transactions in the United Kingdom come with a whole host of legal responsibilities and regulations on both parties (tenants and landlords). If you are a corporate client requiring a home for your employees, a family looking to rent a new home, or a property investor looking for a buy-to-let property in Surrey, you need a reputable letting agency that can help you.

You should expect the letting agency to be able to cover the full range of Surrey rental services, including short lets, property management and tenancy management regardless of whether the property is furnished, part-furnished or fully furnished.

The letting agency must have a team of people that can provide a complete landlord tenant management service; from rent processing to full management.

As a tenant, whether you are looking for a studio apartment, flat, luxury apartment, new home or house to rent in Surrey for a few months or a few years, you expect some trusted lettings experts guide you through the properties that are on the Surrey market. If you are new to rentals, you also rightfully expect to be taken through the formalities of renting a home.

If you are new to Surrey and need advice about its towns and parishes, such as Virginia Water and Englefield Green, and what they offer, the letting agency should be able to help you decide where would suit your needs and which types of property are available to rent in a given location.

Most importantly, the lettings agents you deal with must understand your needs and tailor their service according to your requirements. They should provide a professional and friendly service to ensure a trouble-free tenancy for you both

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Surreygate – Lives of the rich and famous behind bars

Whether designed to keep undesirables out or the occupants in, the trend for gated developments first seen in the US, remains as prevalent today as ever in the affluent Home County of Surrey.

On the exclusive Wentworth Estate in particular where resident footballers, celebrities, Hollywood A-listers and politicians value their privacy over all else, it is extremely common to have properties and their occupants hidden from view by oversized firs, perimeter fencing and 10 foot high gates.

Be they ornate wrought iron works of art, simple yet sturdy electronically operated wooden gates or high tech, bullet proof technological masterpieces with full CCTV and alarm systems which view the humble Postie with dubious suspicion, the Surrey set take their life behind bars very seriously.

James Wyatt, Partner of 7 times winning Best Estate Agents Surrey, Barton Wyatt and Wentworth resident himself, comments:

“Gated properties have been popular in and around Virginia Water and the Wentworth Estate for some time but “Surreygate” seems to have hit in recent times with the need for ever more lavish entrance gates. Keeping up with the local property fashion is hard work for home owners – wrought iron or wooden, flamboyant or plain, full obscurity or not. Then there are decisions on the intercom, video and remote systems. The biggest question I wonder is ‘Are they blocking people out or trapping people in?

“The Wentworth Estate’s rumoured latest celebrity residents Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie for example, in what one can only assume was an attempt to retain some privacy from the insatiable paparazzi, ‘filled’ their gate in with coloured plastic recently.

“That said, sometimes it’s not all about hiding away; on a personal level, we have installed a simple gate to our home mainly for safety reasons to ensure that the children don’t run onto the road after a rogue football when playing outside which offers invaluable peace of mind.

“Currently winning the popularity stakes are solid wooden gates – so nosey parkers can’t see in at all yet many smaller houses that don’t have room for traditionally opening gates use roller gates which slide sideways and I’ve even seen a house in Sunninghill with anti-terrorist bollards which rise out of the ground as a second line of defence.”

For more information, please contact Barton Wyatt on 01344 843000.