CONTENTS DECEMBER 2011


6 NEWSbeat A never ending stream of news coming through this month, we’ve picked


standards, technology, legislation and seasonal trends. Read on.


8 PROPERTYdrum Events in 2012 Stand by for some great events in 2012, the first big news is released here! We have conferences, expos, awards and much more all in the planning!


12 Fit for purpose! Times are hard but everyone, it seems, wants a shiny new office. Who


12


can do it for you, and will it cost the earth? Our shopfitting challenge starts this month – and the brief is smart and sassy on a tight budget.


22 Staying afloat It’s not been plain sailing for the quoted property firms over the last


Shiny new office needed? Look no further.


few years. Rightmove is doing incredibly well but some larger agencies have had a tough time. Andrea Kirkby investigates how they have been weathering the storms.


28 The power of the press The internet hasn’t entirely taken over the marketing of your properties,


as Karen Keeman discovers. 34 22


The Green Deal – it’s not all hot air


32 Fishnet


stockings work for charity!


Are quoted firms staying afloat?


32 Agents in the community They’ll be wearing fishnet stockings and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro... although not necessarily at the same time. Estate agents will do anything for charity, it seems!


34 The Green Deal Is energy generation in older homes cost effective? Gordon Miller says


COVER FEATURE


“Yes! It can be” as he explores the choices, costs and returns in part two of our sustainability programme.


38 Radical moves Housing strategies are changing, says Winkworth’s CEO, Dominic Agace,


but will the ‘Right to Buy’ and other government initiatives work?


40 Trust me REITS seem like such a good idea for property investment, but while they have been popular (if not hugely successful) in commercial property, they just haven’t yet taken off in residential. Will they ever?


43 Freehold? Leasehold? Being accurate about the status of a property is critical, says The Property


Ombudsman, who has had some complaints about agents who didn’t seem to know what they should know.


NEW HOMES


44 How green was my valley? Green planning is a misleading interpretation of reality, says


Adam Challis, Head of Research at Hamptons.


4 DECEMBER 2011 PROPERTYdrum


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