property INDEX
Royal Wells Park on show
marketing suite at its new development, Royal Wells Park, which will provide a stunning collection of new homes, including superbly appointed one, two and three bedroom apartments and three, four and fi ve bedroom houses. The elegant architecture and landscaped
P
grounds have been carefully designed to ensure that the new homes make a valuable addition to the historic town. All the houses at Royal Wells Park have plentiful storage space throughout, many with a utility room and integrated garage The development is located within easy reach of many major road and rail links in
otential homeowners looking to buy in Tunbridge Wells can pop along to visit the Berkeley Homes show home and
the South East. Tunbridge Wells train station is a short walk from the development with services into Charing Cross and Cannon Street taking less than an hour. The M25 and M23 motorways are within a 40-minute drive, linking to both Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
• For further information, call 01892 532011 or visit
www.royalwellspark.co.uk
Lifestyle quiz to secure a mortgage
Mortgage applicants face tougher questions about their lifestyle, under new rules that have recently come into effect. The changes are designed to “hardwire common sense” into the mortgage application process, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said. Questions from lenders about customers’ regular outgoings – including childcare costs and even haircuts – could be included in affordability checks. Brokers say the changes could lead to delays and rejections of applications. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said the transition to the new rules would be smooth, despite it being the biggest change to the mortgage market for more than a decade. And many lenders have already changed their systems so they comply with the new rules, known as the Mortgage Market Review (MMR). Martin Wheatley, the Chief Executive of the FCA, said: “The core principle is a very sensible one – lend to people what they can afford to repay. We’ve come out of a period, particularly in 2008-09, when there was no attempt to verify people’s ability to pay, and we’ve ended up with lots of payment problems, lots of people in mortgages that are problematic for them, and if we had a different interest rate environment we’d see a lot of foreclosures.”
DID YOU KNOW? • One in 10 of us would pay
someone to put up a shelf, while the same number would hire someone to bleed their radiators? Despite Britain’s reputation as a nation of DIY enthusiasts and home improvement lovers, new research reveals we might not be as quick to rely on our own skills as we once were.
According to the study, carried out for mortgage and secured loan broker
OceanFinance.co.uk, more than half (57%) of UK adults polled (2,000 adults aged 18 and over were questioned) would pay a handyman to do some or all of a number of relatively
straightforward
jobs around their home. Of those willing
to fork out to get odd jobs around the house done,
the task they were most likely to call a handyman to help with was clearing the gutters (54%), installing a washing machine (46%), wallpapering a room (41%), and fi xing a dripping tap (41%).
Young people were the most likely to admit they would contact a handyman to help with the odd jobs around the home – with neatly two-thirds (63%) of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they would hire someone. This compares to just over half (52%) of 35 to 44-year-olds who would contact a tradesperson rather than do it themselves!
RENEWABLE ENERGY – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The government’s latest ‘go-green’ incentive – launched in April – could save homeowners hundreds of pounds on their heating bills… but only if they understand it! Here we answer some of the most frequently asked questions:
What is a renewable energy heating system? It’s a heating system that uses alternative sources of energy to fossil fuels. What is the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme?
RHI is a world fi rst – a government scheme 136
that incentivises customers to switch to a renewable energy heating system. It pays people for every kilowatt hour of renewable energy they produce. Domestic RHI payments are made quarterly over a seven-year period. A non-domestic scheme was launched in 2011, and has just been extended to the domestic market. Can anyone claim?
Domestic RHI is for new installations of eligible renewable heating systems, it is also available to people who have installed eligible systems since July 2009, if, and only if, their installations were carried out by appropriately accredited
installers, who must have Microgeneration Certifi cation Scheme (MCS) accreditation. It will also need to have been registered on the government’s MCS Installation Database (MID) by 22nd October 2013. Where do I start? A Green Deal Assessment must be completed for your home before you can apply for RHI payments. It’s vital you fi nd a suitably qualifi ed and registered Green Deal Assessor to undertake this. You can fi nd one by searching on the Department for Energy and Climate Change Green Deal Assessor database (gdorb.
decc.gov.uk/consumersearch)
www.indexmagazine.co.uk getting married? –
www.planningyourwedding.co.uk
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