Marlborough News June 2014 Smiths Gore Partner up with Audley Inglewood Smiths Gore in Marlborough is delighted to announce its partnership with retirement village specialist Audley Inglewood in Kintbury. As one of the UK’s most respected care providers, Audley has built the most impressive Inglewood House on the edge of Kintbury near Hungerford. It offers purpose built apartments of the highest standards and exceptional taste and style. In addition there is the luxury of the Audley Club which provides spa therapies, swimming pool and relaxation area, hair salon and fitness studio with professional staff to advise. A first class restaurant, bistro and bar offer an alternative to home cooking and there is the option of care packages as required by its residents as time goes on. Smiths Gore now has the enviable role as the sole agent to Inglewood and would be happy to provide more information or arrange viewings for those thinking about downsizing.
Rur al House Price Survey The latest Land Registry figures to the end of April show London powering ahead with an average annual rise of 17%. Market activity in the majority of England appears to be gathering pace with higher levels of sales if not, as yet, sharply rising prices. If you take London out of the picture, the market in England appears to be largely healthy, with buyers and sellers in reasonable equilibrium, and talk of a bubble is premature. Certainly, any measures the government may be considering to take the heat out of the market in London would be very unwelcome in the provincial markets, in which we are only just in the early stages of recovery.
startling change has been in the number of house transactions - up by over 50% on all properties over £300,000 compared with a year ago. And another key indicator of a healthy market - reducing numbers of sales of repossessed homes - is showing a significant dip by 33% on a year ago. The worry of course is that any anticipated rise in interest rates may see repossessions on the up again. This, together with any hardening of the government’s approach to the housing market, may mean that things become tougher again for the market outside of the capital.
Along with the traditional north-south divide, there are signs of a gap opening up between east and west, from Hampshire up to North Yorkshire. Possibly no surprise here, as the country’s economic performance is so dependent on London, and the regions with swift connections to the capital have traditionally benefited from a quicker pick-up in activity. The East Coast main line seems to be a significant influence, adding weight to the view that HS2 should bring benefits to the provincial cities along its route. Probably more than prices rises, the most
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Annual change in house prices Year to the end of April 2014
>8% 6 to 8% 4 to 6% 2 to 4% 0 to 2% 0% 0 to -2% >-2%