Blast From The Past

House naming is an old British custom which began with the gentry naming their manors, halls and castles. This custom gradually spread to the masses and ordinary folk began naming their homes.  Originally the house name was based on who the house was tied to or located at.

Trades also began to start naming their properties for example Forge Cottage or Mill House, other property owners followed suit naming their houses after distinguishing features within the boundaries of the house such as Oak Cottage, Rose Cottage.

Today people draw inspiration from many varieties of source:

• The previous usage of the building like The Barn, The old Rectory.
• Well known beauty spots, such as Windermere.
• Happy holiday places like Sorrento.
• Features of the house for example Red gables, Two Chimneys.
• The view from the property, River view, Mountain View.
• Animals usually seen in the area such as Cuckoo Cottage, Fox Cottage.

Act of Parliament

In 1765 an act of Parliament stated that all new properties must have a house number and street name. From then on every house built in a town or city has designated number followed by the name of the road it is located in.  The first house in the road is number one and the last house is the number of individual dwellings or buildings in the street. Usually odd numbers are to the left of the street and even numbers to the right.

What’s in a name?

Even though each house has a designated number it does not mean you can’t personalise it with a house name as well.  Agents can advise clients to change house names regularly, nothing too quirky or obscure but something established and English. ‘The Cottage’ has been Britain’s most popular house name with ‘The Old Rectory’ leading the over £800,000 category, with ‘The Coach House leading the £350,000 - £800,000 bracket.  

Names can be about association, The Old Rectory conjuring up Georgian or Victorian ideals of summer afternoons, fetes or village life for example.

Name changes can raise the profile of the property and help define them and make them appear more prestigious. 

New or Old

A house name such as ‘The Cottage’ does not blend with a new home build so developers tend to use names of famous architects or aristocrats for new builds.

Some view the house name as adding to a home’s desirability rather than the actual value and it is worth noting that a new house name could work against the sale for example adding ‘Manor’ detracts from some properties as people imagine something grander and larger than they see. 

Last but not least

At David Jordan Estate Agents we are creative, inspirational and responsive to our clients and to the ever changing face of our industry.  So if you are thinking of selling, buying or letting then give us a call.

David Jordan Estate Agents are on hand to welcome you as a new client or welcome you as one of existing clients with lot of advice and tips to help you.

Call or email us using the details on our website www.davidjordan.co.uk

 

MMR a Vaccination ! No a Mortgage Market Review

So what’s a mortgage market review (MMR) we ask ourselves. MMR was a review of the mortgage sector carried out by the then Financial Services Authority back in 2009. They had concerns about:

• varying qualifying requirements by lenders;
• conduct of business; and
• advice and disclosure charging.

The detailed analysis looked at the effectiveness of the existing regulatory framework and outlined some proposed changes.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew!

In essence the changes want to ensure that customers don’t bite off more than they can chew and be unable to meet their monthly mortgage payment if interest rates rise.

 

Having debated the proposals put forward for some years the following summarises the changes that were implemented in April this year. 

• Introducing the Affordability Assessment. The lender/broker must check borrower meets lenders eligibility criteria.
• Mandatory income verification on all loans. No more self-certification lending.
• The stress test. Mandatory interest rate stress test.  The lender has to take account of future interest rate rises on the mortgage payment.
• All staff selling mortgages must have a relevant professional qualification.
• Key facts illustration will be used less and the Initial Disclosure Document (IDD) will be replaced by a requirement for firms to disclose key messages to the customer.

Test your stress

This new test is not designed to test your own stress levels but encapsulates the new MMR rules by clearly defining a ‘stress test’ for homebuyers to make sure they could afford a possible higher monthly mortgage payment as and if mortgage rates rise. 

Also to overall make lenders lend more responsibly and in line with this the buyer to be sensible about what they can really afford.

Number 7 lucky for some

Many banks and building societies have already embraced these changes and already test potential applicants on the basis of mortgage rates hitting 7% in the next five years to make sure they can meet that payment. To elaborate some lenders are offering very low fixed rates so if rates were to rise to 7% this would be a large increase to monthly outgoings.

The regulator want to make sure that loans are not granted if a bigger mortgage bill could break borrowers’ finances.

The Nitty Gritty

The new rules are a dramatic change to by-gone days of the 4 times your salary and a few checks got you a mortgage offer.  Potential borrowers will face a much more stringent check on their day to day finances and spending down too food bills, utility bills, debts, holidays, and social, all a far cry from years ago. 

Wherever you hang your hat

Where you hang your hat is your home as they say and ensuring you always have a hook to hang your hat on is important to most of us.

David Jordan Estate Agents aspire always to deliver to you a cutting edge service and work with you to find your dream property.

The time is now David Jones Estate Agents is here to make it a clean run whether buying, selling or letting.

Call us on: T:  01323 898414

or email us using the details on our website www.davidjordan.co.uk