News


Village tidy-up VILLAGERS are being urged to help tidy up as part of the Great British Spring Clean. Trottiscliffe Parish Council is


holding a litter-pick in the village on Saturday,April 28, as part of the campaign, which aims to “bring people across the country together to clear up the litter that blights our towns, villages, countryside and beaches”. Anyone who would like to join


the team on the day is urged to contact the clerk on 07900 693572 or at trottiscliffepc@btinternet.com.


MayDay fun THE villageMay Day celebrations will take place on Offham village green on Saturday,May 5. Activities include crowning of


the May queen, maypole dancing andmorris dancing. Therewill also be fairground rides, raffles, games, a barbecue andmuchmore.


Coffee dates THERE are Come 4 coffee chats at St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Aylesford from8.45amonWednes- days. These will be followed by a communion service for those who want to stay. Colouring activities will be available for youngsters.


downsmail.co.uk


Makingmost of dying ash trees before they go


THEY have dominated our coun- tryside for about 12,000 years – but people arebeingurgedtomake the most of our ash trees before they disappear forever. It is feared that up to 98% of the


trees, the dominant ones in the Downs, will be wiped out in the next 10 years as ash dieback – or Chalara – runs through them. The trees inMote Park are among


those to be hit by the disease, and most of the towns andvillages in the area are populated by ash trees. MadeleineHodge, of theAshProj-


ect, set up to highlight the trees’ plight, said: “It’s not scaremonger- ing to say this is a large-scale eco- nomic catastrophe. Itwill change the landscape of theDowns forever. “We can’t stop it, but we want to


celebrate the trees that we have whilewe still do.Wewant people to take photos andrecordwhat it’s like –we’ve seen lime and elmtrees die out andwe have no records of them, and we want people to love the landscape before it’s too late.


“What is happening to the ash


trees is a real concern. It is a seri- ously degraded landscape. The ash tree isprominent inKent andwe are already seeing a dramatic change.” It is not just the visual effect of the


landscape that needs attention,with a number of species also at risk if the ash trees fall away – and even some risk to road users. Volunteer tree warden David


Carey said: “Wemight expectmost ash trees in woods around Maid- stone to be badly affected or die in


Ash trees dominate the north downs – but for how


much longer? Pictures: Fiona Fyfe and Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty


the next 15 years. “Itwillmean a loss of diversity of


trees and fewer specific insects. It’s also badfor thewoodowners as ash sellswell as firewood. Itdoesn’t look good. “Even the largestwell grown trees


in more open areas will be increas- ingly affected. They could pose in- creasing dangers to pedestrians and traffic, unless they are expensively managed, as they die slowly and lose larger branches over the next couple of decades.”


downsmail.co.uk


House prices | News Summer house prices to hot up


THE summer looks set to see further growth in property prices across the region, according to estate agents in the borough.


With mortgage interest rates on


offer at an all-time low, in spite of the Bank of England warning that interest rates will rise this year, property prices across Maidstone, Malling and the region stand 5.9% higher than a year ago. Claire Harvey, from Seekers in


Maidstone, believes house prices in the area over the next 12 months will end up between 0.2% lower and 1.5% higher, although she warns itwill “probably be a bumpy ride to get to these sorts of figures”. The influence of inflation, rising in- terest rates, and Brexit, and its effect on the London market will be among themajor factors, she says. Aquick look at property prices by


Downs Mail on five of the key house sellingwebsites puts average prices on a two-bed house inMaid- stone at £220,000 and a five-bed at £569,000; in Tovil £193,000 and £568,000 respectively, while in Bearsted, the same properties will set you back £387,000 and £618,000. InWestMalling, the average price


is £308,000 and £688,000 for a five- bed home, and in Aylesford £259,000 and £625,000. In the villages, such as Staple-


Your business is our business


LOCAL businesses are as important an element to community life as a parish council, cricket club or the Women’s Institute. Here at the Downs Mail we have always recognised the pivotal role commerce plays in a vibrant, thriving economy. Be they small, medium or large enterprises, we have tried to celebrate the great things they bring – jobs, career paths, training, entrepreneurship, industry awards, in- novation and prestige.


That is why we have been promoting our recently-enhanced Business Notice Board (BNB) at downsmail.co.uk in recent months.


And it is paying off. Our BNB is rap- idly becoming a place where the busi- ness world can communicate with one another, share ideas, offer advice, drum up business or simply promote them- selves. And it is completely FREE to use.


You can use it as many times as you like without having to pay a penny. Perhaps you have news you’d like to share, seek tenders for an important contract, trum- pet a new product or put feelers out for specialist expertise. Feel free. Use it, it’s yours!


24 Malling April 2018 Taking notice


ORGANISATIONS are able to make as many entries and use as many categories as they wish on our Business Notice Board.


They can upload an image, headline, detailed text, contact details and links to their own and associated websites. The service is quick and easy to use – go to the business no- tice board page on our website and just click on the red post your free listing here button or submit your business news link to get started.


Directory advert


THE Downs Mail Business Directory is a searchable database of local businesses, suppliers and tradespeople where companies can advertise for a year for just £48 plus VAT.


hurst, the same size properties are commanding an average £300,000 and £605,000. Tim Ferris, the owner of Ferris


and Co estate agents,which has of- fices in Bearsted and Penenden Heath, says 2018 started with a shortage of properties to sell. He added: “But thenwe gained a


healthy supply of properties and are experiencing great demand across all price ranges. We were warned at the beginning of the year by Governor of the Bank of Eng-


THE average property price inKent shot up by about £11,000 in 2017. According to Zoopla, the average


values of properties in parts ofKent sawastonishing rises. For example, figures showSwan-


ley, which has an average price of £364,434, saw the highest leap in property value of £28,110. In Tonbridge, with an average


property value of £482,180, prices went up by an average of £24,128. West Malling saw the average


property price increase to £480,023, a jump of £24,071. According to Zoopla figures, it


comes as the average price of a property in Kent is £11,418 more than a year ago, at £346,048.


Nigel Harvey, director at Seekers estate agents, believes prices in theMaidstone area will remain ‘resilient’


land, Mark Carney, interest rates would rise this year by one or two quarter points, which will slow the market and so the spring and sum- merwill undoubtedly represent the most buoyant period in the prop- ertymarket in 2018.” NigelHarvey, director at Seekers,


concludes: “Maidstone house val- ueswill remain resilient because de- mand for rental property remains strong,with persistent immigration and population growth and the simple lack of new house building inMaidstone; not even keeping up with current demand, let alone eat- ing into years of under investment mean one thing: property owner- ship and investment in Maidstone will always outride the storm.”


But, in some areas, the average


property value has fallen. In Romney Marsh, properties


dropped by £9,021 on average to £277,677 and Longfield sawa drop of £2,754 to make its average prop- erty price £460,862. Managing director of Rochester


estate agents Dockside Property Services, Spencer Fortag, said that property investments boosts con- sumer spending and economic growth. But he conceded a strong sellers’


market makes homes less afford- able for the first-time buyer. He added: “It’s almost a forgone


conclusion that house prices in- crease so it’s no great surprise.”


Average prices across the region Location


(Prices in £k) Maidstone


Barming Fant Tovil


Bearsted Leeds


Grove Green Headcorn


East Farleigh Staplehurst


WestMalling


Holborough Lakes Aylesford


2-bed flat


224 197 181 177 282 –


207 200 188 160 330 296 259


2-bed house


222 280 240 193 387 292 257 374 202 300 309 300 266


3-bed house


320 335 307 332 448 347 310 425 402 318 469 364 320


5-bed house


570 619 –


568 618 870 608 671 793 605 689 –


625 Kent rises ‘astonishing’ National hike unexpected


HOUSE prices in the United Kingdom in March saw the biggest monthly gain since Au- gust, according to the Halifax. The country’s biggestmortgage


lender said that the average price of a house rose by 1.5%to £227,871 lastmonth. Prices in the three months to


March were 2.7% higher than the year before, up from the 1.8% an- nual growth in February. The news was unexpected after


months of lacklustre growth and even declines in December and January, said Halifax. Even in the capital,where house


prices have seen a sustained rise in recent years, there were drops


of 15% in prime locations such as Wandsworth. But Samuel Tombs, the chief


UKeconomist at PantheonMacro- economics, said: “The jump in Halifax’smeasure of house prices inMarch just looks like volatility, rather than the start of a strong upward trend. Halifax’s index is prone to large swings.” Russell Galley, Halifax’s man-


aging director, said low unem- ployment, lowmortgage rates and the ongoing shortage of proper- ties for salewould underpin price growth in comingmonths. Halifax is predicting annual


price growth to remain close to 3%.


Malling April 2018 25


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