17/10/2022
05/09/2022
16/08/2022
19/07/2022
15/06/2022
17/05/2022
26/04/2022
20/03/2022
21/02/2022
14/02/2022
21/01/2022
24/11/2021
11/10/2021
08/09/2021
30/08/2021
18/08/2021
27/07/2021
12/06/2021
15/05/2021
22/04/2021
30/03/2021
30/03/2021
12/03/2021
Well another month has passed but now spring is in the air! As normality continues to threaten to return to our lives, the Conservative government gave another adrenalin shot in the arm for the property market with this months budget. Firstly by extending the stamp duty holiday and then announcing the mortgage guarantee scheme to help buyers access better mortgage rates with lower deposits. Hopefully this should be enough to awaken the property market from its Covid slumber and could be the start of a bullish trend.
We hope you enjoy this month's newsletter, but if you have any questions please contact your nearest office and speak to a member of our team.
10/02/2021
The property market although allowed to remain open in the current lockdown, continues to remain pretty stagnant. Talk of extending the stamp duty holiday beyond March has currently failed to produce any announcements and lenders continue to be risk adverse. An average rule of thumb was a sale would take approximately twelve weeks to complete from the time the offer was accepted. With searches taking up to eleven weeks to be returned, sales now seem to be averaging twenty weeks.
Although all this may sound pretty negative, considering we are in a national lockdown it could be considered pretty good news. When the current lockdown is lifted, we are hoping that the property market will start to be pretty buoyant. With BREXIT now behind us and the current COVID-19 infection rate falling, barring a third national lockdown the property market could start once more to take on a bullish trend.
27/11/2020
Well here we are again! It only seems like yesterday when we finished our last years' efforts.
This year I thought I would put together one or two newsletters, so I could update all the various elements of the Christmas efforts at the same time. So whether you are a school, charity or council body, or one of the 1000 people sponsoring food and/or presents or maybe you are donating your time, hopefully you will find this helpful.
So to quickly recap what was achieved last Christmas. Deliveries were made to 344 families in the general areas of Crawley, East Grinstead & Horley. Over 700 children smiled when they opened their wish . This was achieved by 137 people who volunteered to make it happen and over 600 people who made donations. We could not have achieved so much without everyone's generosity, time and energy.
However this year I think more can be achieved and the aim is to help 500 families and make at least a 1000 wishes come true. However we are somewhat on the backfoot. In February 2020, The Greenaway Foundation became a formal charity and the plan was to have a couple of fundraisers in August and October. However due to Covid19 all fundraising events had to be cancelled. This means more than ever we are very hand to mouth, and making plans is difficult.
Despite this, I still believe we can make even more happen and I am resolute to this task over the next four weeks to make as many people smile on Christmas Day.
However, regardless of the results, it is the journey that is important and if we only make one parent smile, or create a lasting memory for one child, we have all achieved a good thing.
So lets enjoy this years journey together and finish off 2020 by making as many people smile as we can.
Best wishes
Darren Greenaway
Chairman & Trustee
The Greenaway Foundation
03/11/2020
So as we start the run in to the end of the year, we find ourselves preparing for another lockdown. For how long, we are not sure but we are being told until the 2nd December. The good news is the property market is to remain open, so Greenaway Residential will be open all the way through lockdown, as best we can within all the rules.
In the meantime, the property market remained active throughout October, although we have seen a slowing for demand of apartments. We feel this is because many first time and investment buyers are just waiting for the market to settle down.
On top of all our normal estate agency duties we are also working hard within The Greenaway Foundation to get ready for our Christmas efforts. Every Christmas since 2011 we have provided to financially challenged families all the ingredients they need to cook a two course healthy Christmas dinner. Children from these families can then make a wish for a present (from £10-£25). We anticipate this year to make deliveries to 500 families and make 1000 wishes come true.
If you would like to know more or get involved with this years efforts or make a donation, please contact your local office. Alternatively, you can find us on Facebook at 'The Greenaway Foundation'.
02/10/2020
So as we enter the final quarter of 2020 of what will be a memorable year for everyone, we continue to weather the COVID storm.
The good news is we have continued to see a very bouyant market and should you believe the press reports this week house prices rose 5% in the past month. We would certainly challenge such reports but we would definately agree a more bullish pricing strategy is continuing to yield results.
As company we continue to follow our business plan which is on track, with recruitment and training at the heart of it. This month we welcomed Tracy Rose to our team, who joins our proeprty management department.
Our charity efforts via The Greenaway Foundation have now gone into over drive and we know we will be flat out from now until Christmas.
We hope you enjoy this months newsletter.
11/09/2020
What a month it has been. Can it really be possible that we can officially be in a recession but with rising house prices? Well it genuinely seems to be the case for the first time in history. With record low interest rates, a stamp duty holiday and would be buyers and sellers being unable to get away, the property market is experiencing a 'mini boom'. Recent reports have indicated that house prices during August 2020 rose a whopping 4%.
Unless there is another lock down over the coming months we predict the housing market will continue to be very active, at least until mid November. However the Christmas slow down may come early this year as Brexit raises its head one last time.
If you are thinking of selling, letting or buying a property now could be an ideal time to make hay whilst the sun is shining and we would love to chat to you.
03/08/2020
It has been a while since we have sent a newsletter, but we are back!
So what has happened over the past few months, well interest rates we lowered to an historic low, stamp duty below £500,000 has disappeared until March next year (although second properties still attract 3%) and yet more legislation has been introduced when letting a property in the form of the new Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR).
Overall the residential sales market has sprung into life with lots of activity from both buyers and sellers. Although it is to early to report a bullish market we can certainly see the writing is on the wall for the market to be very active from now until at least November.
At Greenaway Residential we have been very busy since lock down recruiting new team members. In May James Lambert joined the team as Property Manger to run our property management department. He was quickly followed by Ross Brown who joins the company as a Senior Property Consultant with twenty years experience in the Crawley market. In August we will be welcoming Chris Durnston who joins us as branch manager for the East Grinstead office.
If anyone is interested, we currently have three other vacancies for two weekender positions, to work alternate weekends (one for Crawley and one for East Grinstead). We also have a vacancy for a part time property coordinator to work in the property management department in Crawley, Monday to Friday 9.30am-2.30pm. For details email darren@greenawyaresidential.com
We hope you have a great August and happy reading.
14/02/2020
After so much press about Brexit, when it finally happened the event went fairly unnoticed. We all seemed more interested in Prince Harry moving to Canada than the UK leaving Europe.
But the good news is that the property market has sprung into life with every statistic lighting up green. Although it may take a few months for property prices to start recovering the grass shoots are definitely showing. Interest rates are set to remain low throughout the year and there have been murmurings of a possible cut in interest rates. In the up coming budget which is due in a few weeks there has been rumours of a money-raising 'Mansion Tax', it is understood some of the proceeds would be used to reduce stamp duty for everyday buyers.
The outlook for the UK property market in 2020 is very positive with very few reasons on the horizon to dampen spirits.
16/01/2020
Happy New Year to you all.
Firstly, we would like to thank everyone who engaged with us ad helped over the previous two months with all of our efforts. Without your participation and help, we would have never been able to achieve as much as we did. December was a busy month for the Greenaway Foundation, so we thought we would write to you all to let you know how things went and what we have planned for 2020.
As this newsletter is going out to people who nominated families, made donations and helped with some of our events, it will cover quite a few topics. But we hope you will find it of interest and should you wish to be involved with some of the future events please let us know.
Best wishes
Darren Greenaway
Chairman & Trustee
13/01/2020
Happy New Year to you all.
So 2020 has started calmly, Brexit is hardly being mentioned, currently over shadowed by a potential World War Three, Harry & Megan Stepping back from Royal life and the sad stories of the bush fires in Australia. We now hope for some form of normality to return to the property market.
There are rumours that the Government will continue its relentless tinkering with the housing market, both with stamp duty in the March's budget and the lettings market with the review of the Housing Act 1988 in relation to Section 21.
It was a very busy last quarter for both Greenaway Residential & The Greenaway Foundation. We would like to thank everyone who engaged with us ad helped over the previous months with all of our efforts. Without your participation and help, we would have never been able to achieve as much as we did.
07/01/2020
Happy New Year to you all.
Firstly, we would like to thank everyone who engaged with us ad helped over the previous two months with all of our efforts. Without your participation and help, we would have never been able to achieve as much as we did. December was a busy month for the Greenaway Foundation, so we thought we would write to you all to let you know how things went and what we have planned for 2020.
As this newsletter is going out to people who nominated families, made donations and helped with some of our events, it will cover quite a few topics. But we hope you will find it of interest and should you wish to be involved with some of the future events please let us know.
Best wishes
Darren Greenaway
Chairman & Trustee
11/12/2019
So, as predicted with the immanent general election and Christmas rapidly approaching, the housing market has been slightly temperamental. Our lettings department has been reporting a slight upturn, with more instructions coming to the market. Demand for rental properties is still healthy, so we are seeing the new properties let quickly. The residential sales market has been cautious, but the first and second time buyers market is still active.
As a company we have been flat out. We were at the national Negotiator Awards which was held on the 29th November at the Grosvenor Hotel Park Lane for the Community Champion. unfortunately, our efforts were not worthy of the top three but we were recognised as highly recommended. But that does not detract us from our community efforts. This week after asking all the schools to help us with hat, scarves and gloves donations, we will be distributing to the homeless these items plus blankets and other sundry items. Not only will these be distributed in Crawley, Horley and East Grinstead, but we have been approached by other charities in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings.
Our Christmas Dinner & Wishing Tree Appeals are in full swing, we predicted this year we would deliver to 500 families and make 1000 Children's wishes come true. Within the first week of December we have already had 300 families nominated by local schools, council bodies and other charities.
05/09/2019
Well August has been a funny old month and even though it is traditionally quiet there has been a fair amount happening.
Since the start of the tenant fee ban we have seen the number of tenants looking for a new home home has risen by 7%, this is seven times higher compared to the same time over the last four years. (in London it was up 13%).
The number of buyers registering to look for a property has also increased, showing higher transactions nationally since 2015. However it has still been tough going in the local market above £500,000 as overall confidence is still low due to Brexit and conflicting reports.
Greenaway Residential has had an excellent month with a good level of sales and lettings, instructed on two new developments in East Grinstead (The Willows and Farringdon House) and The Greenaway Foundation pushes on with the plan of forming it into a formal charity.
We hope you enjoy this months newsletter.
Best wishes
Darren Greenaway
Managing Director
01/08/2019
Well as expected July been a testing month, with record weather being achieved, Boris Johnson moving into his new home and a cliff edge hard Brexit looming on the 31st October 2019. On the plus side of national news Greenaway Residential continue be upbeat, positive and jovial. We hope you enjoy this months newsletter. Should you have any spare change after paying out a small mortgage for your recent holiday and want to do a good deed, can we be so bold and to draw your attention to the 'Our Community Matters' article.
02/07/2019
As we approach the mid point of 2019 the property market continues to remain subdued, despite the Nationwide Building Society reporting that house prices increased in June 2019 by 0.25%. Traditionally the next two months will also remain flat as we rapidly approach the holiday season. However, as long as properties that are placed onto the market are priced correctly they are still selling and letting within reasonable timescales.
03/06/2019
It was widely predicted by many leading sources that the housing market would show signs of a bounce back in the second half of 2019. Naively this was based on the belief that by the end of June a clear plan of action was agreed with regards to Brexit. However, as we all know, the one thing that is currently certain is the uncertainty of everything.
With both main political parties being literally slapped across the face with the ballot box in both the Local and European elections, a Prime Minister resignation and now the side show of a Conservative leadership contest all to be evaluated or completed before the remaining task at hand is revisited, it is pretty easy to grasp that the uncertainty will continue throughout the rest of 2019.
Add into this the ban on tenant’s fees [link to website] and now the consultation on Section 21 notices, one may be left asking what hope is there for the property for the rest of the year.
Well whilst we believe homeowners are still concerned about Brexit, generally people are now bored, frustrated and exasperated by the whole show and just want to move forward with their lives. This was shown in the two recent elections and in the past month Greenaway Residential have been experiencing a pickup in activity. It is too early to say whether there is enough activity to start a positive trend but it certainly is enough to hold back a negative one. The hope was that the market would go through the traditional holiday season of July and August, by which time decisions would have been made and people would accept them and carry on. The reality will be though many people returning to work after the holiday season only to be reminded of the current Groundhog Day.
Overall we still believe that whilst the market does remain subdued a good Estate Agent must work harder, not sit back on their laurels, and find new ways to leverage technology, but above all stay in regular contact with all clients by talking to them regularly.
01/05/2019
What a month April has been for both the property market and for Greenaway Residential. As expected the property market has been a little subdued with a late Easter and the ongoing Brexit issues. However despite the comedy show we now call Parliament, amazingly the Government have found time to continue meddling in the property sector. The ink is not even dry on the Tenants Fees Act 2019 and now they announce a consultation on a Landlords right to serve a Section 21 notice.
As a company we introduce two more new members to the team at Crawley with the arrival of Emily Segens & Emma Wells. We have decided Simon the Branch Managers memory must be going as it appears he is recruiting people with the name Emma, as he now has two Emma's, one Emily and is married to an Emma!
03/04/2019
As expected, the housing market continues to remain a little subdued in the lead up to Brexit. Add to this the easement of tax relief on buy to let mortgages and the ban on tenant's fees, it is no wonder why some buy to let investors and first time buyers are sitting back at the moment as they contemplate what the future holds. However, we are still experiencing good levels of activity in the property market for both sales and lettings, so at the moment we would describe the housing market subdued but active.
22/02/2019
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