hollygolightly
02-03-04, 10:52 AM
New programme starts tonight (four episodes planned) with Kirstie 'Location Location' Allsop presenting.
The Property Chain
New four-part property series presented by Location, Location, Location's Kirstie Allsopp. Each programme follows an entire chain from offers being accepted to moving-in day - for those lucky enough to see their chain hold together, at least...**
Article in Times Online: (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2098-1015530,00.html)
Living: Who is the weakest link?
People do the weirdest things when they are buying and selling houses. Cally Law talks to the fragile human elements in a tangled property chain on which five families’ futures depend
People trying to move house often go a bit odd. But to see a place, make an offer and then start painting walls you haven’t yet paid for is bonkers.
Stevei (yes, ei) Ledger was so convinced that 1 Tilden Cottages in Marden, Kent, was the house for her that she appeared to lose all reason. She borrowed the keys from the estate agent to measure up and get estimates, and then got carried away. She replaced carpets, painted a wall mauve and dumped a one-ton thatched Wendy house on the owners’ precious lawn. Not until the last minute did it occur to her that something could go wrong and the house might never be hers.
Viewers of the third instalment of Channel 4’s The Property Chain can witness the links creaking apart as Ledger comes perilously close to losing both face and an awful lot of money. She was rumbled when the estate agent happened to drive past and saw Teddy Bear Cottage (as the Wendy house is known) in situ on the lawn. Within hours, owners Tony and Jane Fairclough, who have moved to Switzerland, had been told and she was asked to return the keys.
Ledger is remarkably unrepentant: “I really deserve a smack for that. It was naughty, but there you go,” she says. “Rules are made to be broken.”
And so are property chains. One in 10 chains runs past the agreed dates for exchange and completion; the key to survival is flexibility. “If you can be flexible about when you move, that’s half the battle,” says Kirstie Allsopp, presenter of the programme. It helps if you can rent for a while. More people are selling first, then moving into rented accommodation before searching for their next home. Agents call them “in-betweeners”. It takes much of the angst out of moving and can save thousands of pounds. Vendors are often keen to accept a lower bid from somebody ready to move immediately.
Ledger is the last link in a chain that spans three countries and eight time zones and has no idea that, just as she is tearing out chunks of the Faircloughs’ lovingly nurtured hedge, Kate and Andrew Cook in California, the first link, are preparing to buy a four-bed house they have never seen in the village of Bratton, Wiltshire. Kate’s brother has persuaded her they will love the house they are buying from divorcee Sheena Awdry, who in turn is hoping to buy a listed cottage 16 miles away.
It is already obvious that this chain is fragile. Awdry won’t commit to the cottage until she has proof that the local authority has approved the property’s attic conversion. The Cooks are so desperate to return to Bratton after a disastrous move to America that they will pull out of their purchase rather than face delay.
Awdry is also arguing about fixtures and fittings. After negotiating a price reduction of £10,000, she is affronted when the vendor insists on her paying for oil in the storage tank. He is buying Ledger’s house in Buckinghamshire — and he’ll pull out if Awdry pulls out of buying his.
At this stage Ledger should be very afraid, not digging up somebody else’s lawn and replacing their carpets. But not a bit of it. “A brand-new carpet isn’t going to harm anybody,” she says. “And Mr Fairclough would have liked to have painted the odd wall himself.” Somebody should tell her no sale is safe until contracts are exchanged.
For this chain, amazingly, is no more fragile than any other. Would the government’s proposed sellers’ pack have helped Ledger? This legislation, which could come into effect next year, is aimed at speeding up the process of buying and selling property. Vendors will be required to provide much of the relevant paperwork before they put their home on the market. The pack will include the drawn-up contract, a survey and local searches, as well as items such as details of planning permission and damp-proofing guarantees.
“If it didn’t involve a survey it would be a brilliant idea,” says Allsopp, a partner at property search company Garrington Home Finders. “There is a degree of spontaneity in selling a house. If they have to pay £500 for a sellers’ pack, people are going to think twice about selling. It will lead to stagnation and there is already stagnation in the market.”
Surveys are also quickly out of date. Mortgage lenders are likely to insist on a second one regardless, not least because they like to do their own, and vendors may be forced to pay twice. “And you pay Vat on surveys,” says Allsop, “so it’ll be a money-spinner for the government.”
She concedes that a sellers’ pack would have provided Awdry with her planning permission details at the outset, saving her a trip to the local authority offices, and saving everybody else weeks of anxiety. “But there is an alternative,” says Allsopp. “Estate agents could give vendors a list of things they need to get together before putting their house on the market.”
But nothing will stop people changing their minds, or just becoming irrational. Kate Cook put on two stones during her moving ordeal. “We trusted my brother to choose our house but it’s only bricks and mortar and we knew we could always sell if we didn’t like it,” she says. “Now I am relaxed, back where I ought to be, at home.” She has lost the weight she gained and become a Slimming World consultant.
Awdry eventually moved on without a flicker of emotion. After buying the Faircloughs’ house, Ledger – who happily admits that when she was asked to return their keys, she simply left the door unlocked so she could continue to come and go at will — got her comeuppance: Tony Fairclough still seems to consider the garden his territory, much as she considered it hers when he owned it.
“Mr Fairclough sent me a list of things I should be doing in the garden in February, March and April,” she says. “I’ve done the essential things, but now I’m meant to be feeding everything. I’m so frightened he’ll come back and everything will be dead.” She does feel some remorse. “I’d go stark raving mad if it was me. I shouldn’t have done anything.”
The Faircloughs declined to comment. “Yes, I would like to say something about her,” says Jane. “But I think I’d better not.”
ALONG THE CHAIN
The buyers and sellers:
The Cooks are moving back from California and buying a house they have not seen from**
Sheena Awdry, who is buying a 17th-century cottage from**
Justin Clark, who is moving into Gamekeeper’s Cottage, which belongs to**
Stevei Ledger, who moves a Wendy house into the garden of a home still owned by**
The Faircloughs, living in Switzerland
I'll be watching, might be interesting! ;)
The Property Chain
New four-part property series presented by Location, Location, Location's Kirstie Allsopp. Each programme follows an entire chain from offers being accepted to moving-in day - for those lucky enough to see their chain hold together, at least...**
Article in Times Online: (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2098-1015530,00.html)
Living: Who is the weakest link?
People do the weirdest things when they are buying and selling houses. Cally Law talks to the fragile human elements in a tangled property chain on which five families’ futures depend
People trying to move house often go a bit odd. But to see a place, make an offer and then start painting walls you haven’t yet paid for is bonkers.
Stevei (yes, ei) Ledger was so convinced that 1 Tilden Cottages in Marden, Kent, was the house for her that she appeared to lose all reason. She borrowed the keys from the estate agent to measure up and get estimates, and then got carried away. She replaced carpets, painted a wall mauve and dumped a one-ton thatched Wendy house on the owners’ precious lawn. Not until the last minute did it occur to her that something could go wrong and the house might never be hers.
Viewers of the third instalment of Channel 4’s The Property Chain can witness the links creaking apart as Ledger comes perilously close to losing both face and an awful lot of money. She was rumbled when the estate agent happened to drive past and saw Teddy Bear Cottage (as the Wendy house is known) in situ on the lawn. Within hours, owners Tony and Jane Fairclough, who have moved to Switzerland, had been told and she was asked to return the keys.
Ledger is remarkably unrepentant: “I really deserve a smack for that. It was naughty, but there you go,” she says. “Rules are made to be broken.”
And so are property chains. One in 10 chains runs past the agreed dates for exchange and completion; the key to survival is flexibility. “If you can be flexible about when you move, that’s half the battle,” says Kirstie Allsopp, presenter of the programme. It helps if you can rent for a while. More people are selling first, then moving into rented accommodation before searching for their next home. Agents call them “in-betweeners”. It takes much of the angst out of moving and can save thousands of pounds. Vendors are often keen to accept a lower bid from somebody ready to move immediately.
Ledger is the last link in a chain that spans three countries and eight time zones and has no idea that, just as she is tearing out chunks of the Faircloughs’ lovingly nurtured hedge, Kate and Andrew Cook in California, the first link, are preparing to buy a four-bed house they have never seen in the village of Bratton, Wiltshire. Kate’s brother has persuaded her they will love the house they are buying from divorcee Sheena Awdry, who in turn is hoping to buy a listed cottage 16 miles away.
It is already obvious that this chain is fragile. Awdry won’t commit to the cottage until she has proof that the local authority has approved the property’s attic conversion. The Cooks are so desperate to return to Bratton after a disastrous move to America that they will pull out of their purchase rather than face delay.
Awdry is also arguing about fixtures and fittings. After negotiating a price reduction of £10,000, she is affronted when the vendor insists on her paying for oil in the storage tank. He is buying Ledger’s house in Buckinghamshire — and he’ll pull out if Awdry pulls out of buying his.
At this stage Ledger should be very afraid, not digging up somebody else’s lawn and replacing their carpets. But not a bit of it. “A brand-new carpet isn’t going to harm anybody,” she says. “And Mr Fairclough would have liked to have painted the odd wall himself.” Somebody should tell her no sale is safe until contracts are exchanged.
For this chain, amazingly, is no more fragile than any other. Would the government’s proposed sellers’ pack have helped Ledger? This legislation, which could come into effect next year, is aimed at speeding up the process of buying and selling property. Vendors will be required to provide much of the relevant paperwork before they put their home on the market. The pack will include the drawn-up contract, a survey and local searches, as well as items such as details of planning permission and damp-proofing guarantees.
“If it didn’t involve a survey it would be a brilliant idea,” says Allsopp, a partner at property search company Garrington Home Finders. “There is a degree of spontaneity in selling a house. If they have to pay £500 for a sellers’ pack, people are going to think twice about selling. It will lead to stagnation and there is already stagnation in the market.”
Surveys are also quickly out of date. Mortgage lenders are likely to insist on a second one regardless, not least because they like to do their own, and vendors may be forced to pay twice. “And you pay Vat on surveys,” says Allsop, “so it’ll be a money-spinner for the government.”
She concedes that a sellers’ pack would have provided Awdry with her planning permission details at the outset, saving her a trip to the local authority offices, and saving everybody else weeks of anxiety. “But there is an alternative,” says Allsopp. “Estate agents could give vendors a list of things they need to get together before putting their house on the market.”
But nothing will stop people changing their minds, or just becoming irrational. Kate Cook put on two stones during her moving ordeal. “We trusted my brother to choose our house but it’s only bricks and mortar and we knew we could always sell if we didn’t like it,” she says. “Now I am relaxed, back where I ought to be, at home.” She has lost the weight she gained and become a Slimming World consultant.
Awdry eventually moved on without a flicker of emotion. After buying the Faircloughs’ house, Ledger – who happily admits that when she was asked to return their keys, she simply left the door unlocked so she could continue to come and go at will — got her comeuppance: Tony Fairclough still seems to consider the garden his territory, much as she considered it hers when he owned it.
“Mr Fairclough sent me a list of things I should be doing in the garden in February, March and April,” she says. “I’ve done the essential things, but now I’m meant to be feeding everything. I’m so frightened he’ll come back and everything will be dead.” She does feel some remorse. “I’d go stark raving mad if it was me. I shouldn’t have done anything.”
The Faircloughs declined to comment. “Yes, I would like to say something about her,” says Jane. “But I think I’d better not.”
ALONG THE CHAIN
The buyers and sellers:
The Cooks are moving back from California and buying a house they have not seen from**
Sheena Awdry, who is buying a 17th-century cottage from**
Justin Clark, who is moving into Gamekeeper’s Cottage, which belongs to**
Stevei Ledger, who moves a Wendy house into the garden of a home still owned by**
The Faircloughs, living in Switzerland
I'll be watching, might be interesting! ;)