At the last minute we are getting our sash windows painted this week. The windows are hardwood replicas of the original Victorian ones, complete with sash cords and brass pulley wheels and were made by R S Button Joinery in 2003. This is the second time they have been painted since then so I feel they were a good investment. Luckily we were able to use the old-style narrow gap double glazed units to keep the style correct and not have over-large glazing bars. English Heritage have advice on sash windows here http://bit.ly/aQVYOH
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 ...
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