The property market was a large part of the Brexit discussion 2 years ago and has continued to be part of the discussion ever since.

Initially, after the vote, the market saw a bit of a slowdown in terms of activity and many became hesitant to make any property transactions.

Brexit negotiations continue to rumble on and property experts continue to debate and forecast its potential impact on property prices, but how have prices changed since the vote?

New figures from the Land Registry and analysed by Emoov.co.uk have revealed just how much of change the country has seen.

Over the past 2 years since the vote, the UK as a whole has seen house prices jump by 7.3%.

When broken down into individual countries, Northern Ireland is top of the table with a 7.7% increase, followed by England and Scotland, where both countries homes rose by 7.3% and Wales saw a similar increase of 7.1% across this period. 

Analysing the individual regions, the Midlands leads the pack by a decent margin, with the West Midlands and East Midlands house prices rising by 10.9% and 10.3% respectively. Not too far behind unsurprisingly, was the East of England, with properties valued at 9.5% more than they were 2 years ago.

What may come as a surprise to some is the more modest changes in the Capital. London saw an increase of 1.8%, however, for Outer London, this figure is more than double at 4.1% as homes on the outskirts have seemingly taken a sharp rise in value.

Although all regions did see a rise, some did not see as great of a leap as others, this is especially the case for the North East, where prices remain almost unchanged and recorded growth of 0.3% in the last 2 years.

Chief Executive at Emoov – Russell Quirk – commented on the findings of the analysis, stating; “while the headlines may paint a picture of doom and gloom, it’s interesting to see which areas of the UK are actually driving this slowdown and which have ignored the market naysayers to record extremely positive price growth trends.”

If you and your family have ever looked for a new home, there is a good chance you’ve taken a look at the local schools so you can make an informed decision about your purchase.

If you’ve got young children then living in the catchment area of a good school is without a doubt a bonus, but have you ever considered how the top schools impact the price of your home or how much buyers are willing to pay to be near one? New research from Santander Mortgages has sought to answer these questions.

According to their data, homes located in the catchment area of one of England’s top 100 state secondary schools, receive a 42% boost to their value.

This price premium even applies at a primary school level, as homes in the catchment area of a top 1000 state primary school are valued at 8% more than homes in the surrounding areas.

It appears that parents are happy to pay a little extra for a home near a top school, with Santander’s research finding that they would be willing to pay almost £27,000 more than the average price of a home in the UK.

What is more interesting about these statistics, is that top schools rank far above any other local amenity, such as low crime rates or good transport links, as buyers are only willing to pay 11% and 10% for these benefits.

The research also found that 30% of parents with children of school age are considering finding a new home within the next 2 years in order to secure their child a place at a top school and just under 1 in 4 parents would even consider downsizing to send their child to a private school.

Managing Director of Mortgages at Santander UK – Miguel Sard - offered his comments on the results of the research, he said; “Living in the vicinity of a top-ranked school carries a significant house price premium. If families are looking to move into a catchment area specifically to boost their chances of getting into an elite school, they can expect to pay a hefty price

“It is important when considering purchasing a property that people understand the true costs as the house price is just one of many. Stamp duty, solicitors’ fees and moving costs mount up. Parents are prepared to sacrifice a lot to give their child the best start in life and given these costs, it is important to find a mortgage lender that offers the best rate for you to ensure repayments are manageable, and the buying process is made as smooth as possible”

When trying to sell a property we all do our best to make sure our home is in tip-top shape and that we present it in the best light possible.

The little things can go a long way when it comes to selling a home and what may look like minor issues to you could be deal breakers to a potential buyer.

ScS recently surveyed a number of prospective buyers with the goal of discovering the biggest turn-offs when viewing a property.

Whenever you’re selling a home, making each room feel as spacious as possible is key to the sale, so it comes as no surprise that the number 1 turn off is clutter or obvious lack of storage, with 41% of survey participants stating that they would be put off a property which is clearly lacking for space.

Not very far behind at all and chosen by 40% of participants was pets, bad smells and general mess, as it appears that the thought of lasting damage from pets and odours is a big enough deal breaker for some buyers.

Continuing the theme of wear and tear and chosen by 36% of those who took part in the survey was old/damaged carpets, flooring can be quite costly to replace so it is understandable that a worn-out rug could ruin a viewing.

The kitchen is arguably the most important room in a home when it comes to a viewing as if it’s not to the buyers liking, it's easily one of the most expensive rooms to renovate. This holds true according to the results of the survey, as 35% of people said they would not buy a home if they were not a fan of the kitchen.

Coming in at 5th place was being near a main road, as one-third of us (33%) prefer a home in a more secluded spot away from noisy traffic.

The study also found which features were considered ‘must-have’ with 57% searching for a home with the right number of bedrooms, 40% looking for off-street parking, 32% wanting a well-maintained garden and a similar number of participants looking for new windows and a new kitchen, chosen by 31% and 30% respectively.

For a lot of older homeowners today, downsizing can be a great way not only to have a good clear out after your kids have left home, but also a fantastic way to create some equity. This financial boost will also most likely come with the added bonus of a reduction in running costs as you move to a smaller home. While there are plenty of benefits of downsizing, moving home can still be a complex and stressful experience, so we’ve put together a quick guide on what to consider to make the transition a much smoother process.

Decide what you REALLY need

The most important step to a successful downsize - and it’s one that you’ll want to take as early as possible - is taking a good look at all of your possessions and shedding as much as possible. This is the part where you have to consider your day to day life and think about how much you use all of these items. You should ask yourself, do you still need all of that seating in the living room, or do you need such a large dining table? If the answer is ‘no’ to questions like these, then it’s time to start dividing item into piles marked ‘keep’ or ‘give away’.

It’s not an easy process; letting go of a life’s worth of possessions, many of which will have sentimental value is tough to do, but the benefits on moving day will be worth it. For one thing, you won’t have as many things to move, and there will be less worry about how to fit all of your possessions into your new home as a result.

Don’t Throw Anything Away

Once you’ve decided which items don’t belong in the ‘keep’ pile, it’s time to see if you can get some extra cash from your unwanted possessions. Most likely, there will be some items that may not be fit for use anymore and could be recycled, but those that are in good condition can be used to help purchase new items that are more suitable for your smaller home.

As we said earlier, separating your items early is the best strategy, as you will now have plenty of time to use websites such as Gumtree and eBay in order to facilitate selling the things that you don’t wish to keep. You might even be surprised by the how much interest they generate, and how much money they bring in.

Assess Your New Space

At this point, you should have divided your items and possibly sold a few, too. Even though you’ve probably gotten rid of a lot of possessions, it may still be a challenge fitting everything that remains into your smaller space.

If you’re already part of the way through the moving process and have agreed on which house you’re going to buy, start looking at measurements of each room and compare them against the furniture you currently have. For example, your king size bed may fit into your new bedroom, but will it leave room for much else? Start planning how everything is going to fit in and figure out how to get the absolute most out of each space. You may need to invest in smaller and more suitable items for your home such as a dining table that seats 4 instead of 8.

Prepare for moving day

Your last move was likely to a home of similar size if not bigger. However, this time you must consider that you’ll have less space to work with, meaning it won’t be just as simple as getting everything in and unpacking it later.

Whether you want to label all your boxes with ‘living room’ or ‘bedroom’ or use a colour coded system, it’s best to know what goes where before you begin to move things. As with any move, it’s wise to focus on the bigger items such as beds and chairs first, as this will give you a better idea of where to place all the small things.

Normally when a family moves into a bigger space, they initially use the extra room to store things that they’re too tired to unpack right away. If you’re downsizing then you probably won’t have room for a bunch of items to be out of sight and out of mind, so you should begin unpacking and organising all of your items as soon as you can. Moving into a smaller place and being surrounded by boxes for the first couple weeks will only ruin the experience for you by making it feel even smaller. Get organised early and get the full use out of your new home.