PEPTALK
Local Property. Local Knowledge. Local Experts.
Issue 03
Multi Award Winning Agency opens its doors in Highbury Landlords tax advise on Wear & Tear Allowance Stats that Matter in your Area
WELCOME As we dust the sand and sea off our summer months and head towards a busy autumn, we are celebrating the launch of our new branch. We always like to look to the future, but recently Ari and myself decided to look to the past. You see the decision to go into business together was conceived in Highbury, so it seemed the perfect location to open our third branch. To ensure we meet the needs of our new clients instantly, our new branch will be managed for lettings by Martin Arlington, who has lived in Highbury for over 20 years, and for sales by James Haines who has risen through the ranks at Anthony Pepe following eight years in agency. This is an exciting time for us all, but it also feels like we are coming home. Increasing the number of our branches does not mean we are decreasing our level of service; in fact it makes us more determined. We continue to change and mould our services to ensure that they consistently meet the needs of you, our clients. Communication is important to you, we now have a community news section on our website. It’s a great way to get to know your community better and also meet your neighbours. Combined with this we bring you the latest national property news together as well as engaging with you via our social media channels. We believe that a business should always give back; one way we are doing this is through our Sales for Schools initiative. As they start a new school year, we want to make it the best year yet; therefore for every successful property sale we complete, we will donate £500 to your choice of local school. We look forward to showing you around our Highbury branch as we get to know you better. With best wishes, Charlie Perdios
Charlie Perdios Managing Director
Ari Theodorou Sales Director
James Haines Sales Manager
Martin Arlington Lettings Manager
Can furniture hinder the sale of your home? You’re selling your home and you have followed the rules: • De-cluttered your home • Cleaned every nook and cranny • You’ve fixed, mended, painted and decorated to make you home feel fresh and inviting. But the big question is, have you thought about your furniture? Furniture can play a huge part in how your property is viewed to potential buyers? Too much You have styled your home to work for you and your family, but when selling your home you want to ensure that buyers can get an accurate feel of the space. The biggest misconception when selling your home is perception. You perceive that potential buyers can see past ‘it’, whether it be décor, too much furniture etc. In reality they can’t and what’s more it can actually put them off. Too much furniture can make your rooms feel small and cluttered; you want to make it easy for potential buyers to be able to picture their belongings in a room. Too little It’s common when a property is empty to not present it with any furniture. Your home may look immaculate but it will be lacking in soul. Even just adding some key pieces of furniture can transform a space. As well as making it warm and homely it again will give your buyers an accurate feel of the space in your home. You’d be surprised how many buyers believe a double bed couldn’t fit into a bedroom when it actually can with ease.
Purpose As with too much and too little, ensuring your room has a purpose is also essential. A dining room should be presented as such, and a bedroom must have a bed. Families in particular will want to see the actual number of ‘bed rooms’ as stated within the property details. Style Style is a personal preference, but have a think about the style of your furniture when selling, why? A vendor recently told us about a property they had recently viewed. It had been a former show home and the décor was very contemporary, yet the owners had furnished their home with antique and period pieces. Instead of the décor and furniture giving a cohesive style, they clashed making the property feel disjointed. So why should you take time to stage your home for sale? It is proven that if your home is presented properly you can often achieve a quicker sale and receive higher offers. If you would like advice on how to present your home for sale, please contact a member of our team.
Buy to Let
Wear and Tear Tax Advice Did you know that from next April the Wear and Tear Allowance rules for private renting landlords are to be reformed? If not, then you’re not alone! Stunning housing campaigners, George Osborne announced that buy-to-let landlords have a "huge advantage" over homebuyers, favouring homeowners over landlords. Thus, this significant change went relatively unnoticed, following last month’s Budget headline announcement regarding mortgage interest relief for private landlords being restricted to the basic rate of income tax from 2017. The current system grants Private Rented Sector landlords permission to reduce the tax they pay by claiming 10% of their rent back on wear and tear, whether they replace furnishings included with their let or not. But the latest Budget from Osborne has revealed that this setup will be replaced by a new taxation system, which will only allow landlords to deduct wear and tear costs that they actually incur. Applying from April 6th 2016 for Income Tax purposes and April 1st for Corporation Tax, it will cover the cost of replacement furniture, furnishings, appliances and kitchenware that's provided by you for tenants. This includes:
• Moveable furniture and furnishings • Curtains • Televisions • Carpets and flooring • Crockery or cutlery • Fridges/freezers • Linen Undoubtedly, this is welcome news for those of you who let mixed portfolio, unfurnished or part furnished property. However, many now fear that an unintended consequence of this change is that landlords who let exclusively on a furnished basis will simply recoup their costs by increasing their rents. Others have warned that a potential mass selloff of homes could be on the cards too. If this is something that affects you, then please don’t worry! Simply get in touch with one of our knowledgeable team today, who will be happy to help and provide additional advice as to your next move.
Moving to Highbury, Meet the Neighbours Continuing our coverage of North London we are bringing our quality, commitment and customer care to Highbury. A new branch not only allows us to further our leadership in residential and commercial sales, lettings and property management it also brings us new neighbours. Having already found some favourite spots we’d like to share them with you whilst we settle in. Make our neighbours your new neighbours next time you visit us in our new Highbury branch. Landlords don’t miss out. Our free landlord seminars have been really successful. Held within our offices, at our next seminar we will be
discussing the Wear and Tear Tax and other issues affecting you as a landlord within this area. Highbury - More than an estate agency Our wonderful and sparkling new branch in Highbury has a wonderful new conference and meeting room. It is such a great space that it seems a shame to only be used for our team meetings. Therefore we would like to offer this beautiful space to local resident associations and groups for their meetings. We know how difficult it can often be to find a suitable space for you to meet, therefore if you are interested call our Highbury branch on 020 7704 2100.
We are lucky enough to have one of La Fromagerie’s famous shops as our neighbour. Featuring cheese maturing cellars, signature walkin cheese rooms and workshops, owner, Patricia Michelson’s love of cheese is shared with us all. Their Friday cheese, charcuterie and wine evenings are not to be missed.
Team lunch, Friday evening drinks or a Sunday afternoon family meal, our team often enjoys a tipple or some quality pub grub at our new local, the Highbury Barn. You may even find some of us there on match day enjoying their friendly banter and sampling their barbecue and beer on the terrace.
Lunch times in our new branch are very precious with our team busy working. We have found not only a great neighbour but also some tasty treats across the road at the Cinnamon Village Café. You may even spot us stopping for a smoothie and a chat between viewings.
30 Highbury Park, London N5 2AA www.lafromagerie.co.uk
Highbury Barn, 26 Highbury Park, London N5 2AB www.thehighburybarnpub.co.uk
Cinnamon Village Café, 109 Highbury Park, London N5 1UB
Stats that matter in your area House prices in Highbury have seen an average increase of in last 3 years
52%
The average house price in Islington is
ÂŁ1,062,147
32%
Rents in Islington have increased by an average of in the last year
of the properties we sell failed to sell with another agent
7% 97.9%
of asking prices are being achieved by Anthony Pepe
Buyers are looking at an average of properties before purchase
9
98.6%
of our clients would recommend us to friends and family
If you’re looking to sell or let your property you can give us a call at our Highbury office and ask about our specialised rates.
Highbury 0207 704 2100 100 Highbury Park N5 2XE
Harringay 0208 341 9999 407 Green Lanes N4 1EY
info@anthonypepe.com www.anthonypepe.com
Palmers Green 0208 882 6567 301 Green Lanes N13 4XS