Shop/Office to rent

Let's be generous and say that my former tenants of 22 Market Place are another victim of the global recession – like Woolworths.

Needless to say these premises are now available for rent on the assignment of the lease which currently runs until 2016 at an annual rent of £15,500. Timing of occupation is down to the speed of solicitors and your keenness to get your business up and running in this prime, central location.

The property has a main ground floor area of approx. 40m² ( 430ft²) and a first floor kitchenette, WC and office of approx. 18m² (194ft²) .

To arrange to view call me on Ely (01353) 665020.

How did we do in the Budget?

HOUSING

• Scheme to guarantee mortgage-backed securities to boost lending

• Stamp duty holiday for homes up to £175,000 to be extended to end of year

• Extra £80m for shared equity mortgage scheme

• £500m to kick-start stalled housing projects - including £100m for local authorities to build energy efficient homes

• £50m to upgrade housing for the armed forces

The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, has delivered his Budget for 2009.

The measures are part of the government's efforts to drag the economy out of the deepest recession since World War II. But how will the Budget affect you?

Any help for home buyers?

Yes. The current stamp duty holiday is being extended to the end of 2009. That means anyone who buys a home for less than £175,000 will, until then, continue to pay no stamp duty on their transaction.

I am worried about my home being repossessed

The scheme that lets you claim state benefits to help you pay interest on your mortgage - Income Support for Mortgage Interest (ISMI) - is being extended so the support lasts for an extra six months.

45 Hop Row, Haddenham

Front, originally uploaded by clarky1446.

My clients bought this house through me a few years ago and have set about bringing parts up to date and restoring others. There are two reception rooms with stripped floorboards and one with a completely original fireplace. Beneath these rooms are two linked, dry cellars. The kitchen and utility have been brought up to date and on the first floor are 4 bedrooms, two with en suite showers, and a family bathroom with stylish claw-foot bath.

In the rear garden is a superb, mature Walnut tree and access to a double garage. There are other photos of the interior and the garden on the main part of our website and at an asking guide price of £330,000 I recommend you take a look!

'Little London' - street scene view

Little London_streetscene view, originally uploaded by clarky1446.

This development in Lynn Road, Ely (central area 0.6 mile) is rapidly starting to take on a very stylish and inviting appearance. We have a show home available for viewing at weekends and also by appointment at any other time. Eight of the 17 homes are now sold or under offer and we can show you almost completed properties too. Prices start from £237,950 to £289,950 with incentives and discounts also available. Visit http://www.lynnroad.com for further information on availability and call us on Ely (01353) 665020 to arrange your viewing.

With February now under way I'd like your opinion on a few things, please. It won't take very long and when I have enough responses I'll be making the results known right here!

Click Here to take survey

Many thanks!

Dare I Say “Green Shoots”

I hardly dare say this out loud let alone commit to print but, like this year's Snowdrops, the green shoots of activity are becoming apparent. January 2009 has seen increased activity, more viewings, more running around and, until, this the last week of the month when I thought it was all going to come to nothing, the offers started coming in and vendors were seizing the opportunity to secure a sale and move on.

Two Labour MP's were taken to task recently for daring to say positive things but I was contacted by the National Association of Estate Agents and asked to urgently complete an online survey as they had anecdotal evidence of a slight improvement in the market. The purpose was to get this 'news' to the media as soon as possible. Of course on Monday of this week The Independent managed about 2cm of text on left hand page 4 publicizing this information. Did anyone see anything better? I hope so!

2009 here we come!

Just a short commentary on the start of 2009.

Most agents weren't back until the 5^th of January after finishing on the 23^rd or 24^th of December. Don't misunderstand me, 2008 was one of the toughest years for estate agents on record so I'm not knocking anyone who took the opportunity to recharge batteries that were severely drained by the market. We were around between Christmas and New Year and a lot of the time our phones were switched through to my mobile. During the break we let two properties and since the start of 2009 it has been the rental market that has shown most life. We let 3 on Saturday 11^th alone!

So, the rental market is alive and kicking strongly – for us anyway.

Sales need to get going and we have certainly arranged plenty of viewings so we are hoping for some offers to work with from 12^th January onwards. Judging by the activity on our website and Rightmove there appears to be some pent up demand. In truth the lenders need to lend – then we will have a market in recovery. Not fixed, but in recovery.

I'll keep you posted!