AS many home-buyers who bought their dream house in the ‘race for space’ of 2020 have already discovered, finding an electrician, plumber, carpenter or builder to carry out even the simplest of repairs or renovations is currently the stuff of nightmares.
It’s a situation that will take time to resolve, says Liam Bailey, head of research at Knight Frank, who expects that ‘delays in the delivery of building materials and inflated building costs will continue to affect the market next year, with completion dates pushed forward, construction postponed or schemes put on hold. Delivery times for construction materials have increased sharply as supply chains struggle to keep pace with demand’.
The reverse side of the coin is that ‘oven-ready’ properties, especially historic or listed buildings that have been renovated to high standards of construction and design, will continue to command a premium in the coming year. Three fine historic houses currently on the market in sought-after areas of Hampshire and West Sussex will give discerning buyers the chance to test that premise in the run-up to Christmas.
The cathedral city of Winchester is rightly proud of its rich architectural heritage and its planning and conservation laws are among the strictest in the UK. But it’s all grist to the mill of Julian Long, managing director of Winchester-based Lonmer Construction, a family-owned firm of builders and designers that specialises in the renovation and rebuilding of listed urban and farm buildings.
Denne historien er fra December 08, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra December 08, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
