Skip to main content

Switch on the lights!


There is a new feel and look to the double front office window of David Clark & Company estate agents on Market Place in Ely. The windows have always been well lit in the early evening but David had become concerned about the heat generated by the spotlamps and the obvious energy wastage. In addition some of the bulb holders had disintegrated with the heat so bulbs could not be replaced.
In conjunction with a local electrical wholesaler the window spot lights have been re-fitted with low energy LED lamps which produce the same, if a different colour, light. The original lamps were 50 watts per bulb and the new LEDs are only 1.5 watts. This should result in some energy savings and lower bills.
The introduction of Home Information Packs has had an impact on people’s focus on energy use within their home as a Domestic Energy Assessor calls to provide an indication of a property’s current energy use and it’s potential after any improvement to insulation etc. David said “This got me thinking about how we could do as much as we could in the office for the environment , with the spin-off of cheaper bills.” Other measures have included ensuring that all PC’s are completely shut down at night.
Home Information Packs have been extended to 1+ bedroom homes from the 14th December and these smaller homes will then be showing details of their energy efficiency to prospective buyers. The likely purchasers for properties at this end of the market will be financially hard pressed first time buyers so the energy efficiency of a home may well become more of an issue when they decide on which property to buy.
David Clark & Company have teamed up with Aran Services Ltd to offer free insulation surveys and in some cases there may well be grants available towards the work. Call them on 0800 5877795 and quote David Clark & Co.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

House builders discuss 95% mortgages with lenders

So the house builders and the lenders have had a meeting to discuss how they can create 95% mortgages. Basically a good thing, as you would imagine most estate agents would say. But what proportion of the housing Market is represented by new homes sales to first time buyers? Also any first time buyer who purchases a new home is then a cost to the second hand Market of who knows how many sales! If I think back 30 years my wife and I as first time buyers were providing a deposit of 10%. To do this we sold her car, saved up by not going out as much and generally committed ourselves to the task of buying our first home together. Ah, you might say, but house prices were so much cheaper then. True but my salary was just under £2,000 per annum with the prospect of perhaps another £1,000 in commission from selling at lease 6 houses per month personally. The first 4 didn't count towards commission but were to cover my costs to my employer! I personally don't think 95% mortgages are ...

Coming soon...

The iPhone (iOS) and Android powered phones have been around for a while now and 1000's of 'apps' have been downloaded to enable users to go about their daily lives, hobbies etc.  Developers were not slow to target estate agencies and convince them that their own App was a 'must have'. I have always been resistant to their charms and pleadings as I firmly believed an agent's app was n othing more than egotistical vanity! After all, I would rant, why does anyone want to use a search tool for just my listed properties? Homebuyers are looking for their next home and they really don't care who has it for sale - that's why Rightmove has been so successful. That was until I was introduced to Paul Fuggle (rhymes with Bugle) www.gobusinessapps.com  . Paul is currently creating me an app that let's me communicate with everyone downloading it, via Push technology. I can reach out to people rather than passively waiting for them to search my website or use the ...

£10k refit competition ??

I have just returned from hospital having had a procedure carried out on my foot/ankle that involves repairing a damaged tendon and realigning my foot by breaking my heel! While waiting to be called down to theatre I sat in my room checking e-mails - as you do when you want to take your mind off things. There was an e-mail from Colin Clayton of Desk Centre Limited http://www.deskcentre.co.uk talking about a £10,000 office refit and all I had to do was create a blog post suggesting why my office should be the one to receive it! What an opportunity - here I am laid up for two weeks before I can mobilise on crutches and my office certainly would benefit from a revamp in 2013. Like most surviving, small, independent estate agents we have done this by cutting costs, reducing premises and regrettably letting staff go. Our address used to be 20-22 Market Place but is now 20 Market Place only. We originally moved to No.20 from our first premises in Newnham Street in 1993- my then bu...