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Marlborough NewsJune 2014

Smiths Gore Partner up with Audley Inglewood

Smiths Gore in Marlborough is delighted to announce its partnership with retirement village specialist Audley Inglewood in Kintbury. As one of the UK’s most respected care providers, Audley has built the most impressive Inglewood House on the edge of Kintbury near Hungerford. It offers purpose built apartments of the highest standards and exceptional taste and style. In addition there is the luxury of the Audley Club which provides spa therapies, swimming pool and relaxation area, hair salon and fitness studio with professional staff to advise. A first class restaurant, bistro and bar offer an alternative to home cooking and there is the option of care packages as required by its residents as time goes on. Smiths Gore now has the enviable role as the sole agent to Inglewood and would be happy to provide more information or arrange viewings for those thinking about downsizing.

The latest Land Registry figures to the end of April show London powering ahead with an average annual rise of 17%. Market activity in the majority of England appears to be gathering pace with higher levels of sales if not, as yet, sharply rising prices. If you take London out of the picture, the market in England appears to be largely healthy, with buyers and sellers in reasonable equilibrium, and talk of a bubble is premature. Certainly, any measures the government may be considering to take the heat out of the market in London would be very unwelcome in the provincial markets, in which we are only just in the early stages of recovery. Along with the traditional north-south divide, there are signs of a gap opening up between east and west, from Hampshire up to North Yorkshire. Possibly no surprise here, as the country’s economic performance is so dependent on London, and the regions with swift connections to the capital have traditionally benefited from a quicker pick-up in activity. The East Coast main line seems to be a significant influence, adding weight to the view that HS2 should bring benefits to the provincial cities along its route. Probably more than prices rises, the most

startling change has been in the number of house transactions - up by over 50% on all properties over £300,000 compared with a year ago. And another key indicator of a healthy market - reducing numbers of sales of repossessed homes - is showing a significant dip by 33% on a year ago. The worry of course is that any anticipated rise in interest rates may see repossessions on the up again. This, together with any hardening of the government’s approach to the housing market, may mean that things become tougher again for the market outside of the capital.

Rural House Price SurveyAnnual change in house prices

Year to the end of April 2014

>-2%

4 to 6%

0 to -2%

6 to 8%

0%

>8%

2 to 4%

0 to 2%

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We are more than just the largest rural

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Property Forums: Get the facts from the experts and join Smiths Gore for one of our regular property forums. The Marlborough estate ageny has assembled experts from the fields of law, accountancy and financial planning to provide FREE advice on a variety of subjects from inheritance tax to equity release.

Edward Hall of Smiths Gore is keen to emphasise that this not a selling opportunity. “Smiths Gore is all about service, both to our clients and to our community. This is a chance for members of the public to put their questions on

property finance to a solicitor from Awdry Bailey and Douglas, an accountant from Monahans and a financial advisor from Chilvester Finance. These are local experts who are giving up their spare time and we hope that anyone with questions or doubts about the right course of action will grab the opportunity to find out more.”

Smiths Gore is hosting the event at their office at 42 High Street, Marlborough from 5-7pm on Wednesday 25th June. To help the evening go with a swing there will be some refreshments on offer.

Are you in one of the south west’s “Not Spots”? Then the government backed Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP) could be the answer to your problem.

Rural areas in the south west have long been subjected to poor signals for mobile phones and smart phones but all that could soon be a thing of the past with the MIP. This project aims to improve the coverage and quality of mobile network services for the five to ten per cent of consumers and businesses that live and work in areas of the UK where existing mobile network coverage is poor or non-existent. The project intends to extend coverage to 99 per cent of the UK population.

“It’s hoped that the introduction of the MIP will lead to a number of economic, social and sustainable benefits to businesses and communities in rural areas in the south west and bring about improvements to health and safety by facilitating access to the breakdown and emergency services which some rural areas currently lack” comments Chris Anderson of Smiths Gore’s Truro office.

In order to increase network coverage, there is currently demand for additional mast sites to be commissioned. The agent for the Government is currently looking for sites across Cornwall and the South West with a view to the first of these sites being operational in 2015. Leases are being sought for a minimum 20 year period.

Chris Anderson adds: “While there is no question that greater coverage in Cornwall and the south west is desperately needed, farmers and landowners should tread warily; the terms of the leases that we have seen so far are less flexible than usual because of the public funding aspect of the project.

“Farmers and landowners also need to be aware that a lease of this type is subject to the Communications Act 2003, which can benefit mobile operators but to the detriment of the site owner.”

Smiths Gore has recently held discussions with the agent contracted by the Government to implement the scheme across Cornwall and the south west and made recommendations in order to

ensure the lease terms that are offered to local farmers and landowners reflect a fair arrangement that will assist with the delivery of this vitally important project.

For any further information please contact Chris Anderson at Smiths Gore in Truro on 01872 274646 or christopher.anderson@smithsgore.co.uk or Kay Paton, National Head of Telecoms on 01387 274 394 or kay.paton@smithsgore.co.uk

Are you fed up and frustrated with not being able to get a signal for your mobile or smartphone where you live?

ON THE MARKET77 West Overton

RECENTLY SOLD (STC)The Beacon Marlborough

NEW TO THE MARKET81 High Street, Ramsbury

Downsizer’s Dream or London Getaway Sold in 8 days 4 bed with riverside frontage in need of TLC