In this edition’s news, learn more about some of the projects we’ve been working on and let's dip our broomsticks into the latest housing news.
Badger Hall, Gerrards Cross
Under Offer on Open Day – what a result!
Sally Jane Hobson of Moveli called us for help … she had just taken on a new instruction and knew it needed some assistance, given it had been for sale with another agent for 12 months with limited interest.
A sprawling farm and serene views greet you as you drive up to this amazing home which is not lived although has some furniture and accessories on display. Badger Hall is a high specification home created from part of the barns on the property and just needed some sort, style and stage magic.
We recommended some repairs, including addressing peeling paint on some of the fascias and internal light décor work. Once the client had made these improvements, we were ready to stage this lovely 4 bedroom home and bring some life back to it, both inside and out.
We always prefer to work with client pieces - providing they are in good condition and suit the overall style aesthetics. This also benefits our client by reducing their potential investment on staging. There were a number of pieces which were in excellent condition so we made good use of these. For the pieces we did not use, they were either delivered to our client’s home or taken to charity (we always recycle wherever we can).
The large grey sectional sofa in the open plan was moved into the formal living area as this better suited the space. We gave it a deep clean. The sofa that was originally in the formal living area was better suited in the open plan space, so we moved that there.
We used lots of accessories such as potted faux plants, artwork, rugs, cushions and throws, bathroom essentials, lamps and children’s toys throughout to enhance every room.
As we know what the target market is likely to want from this home, we created two children’s bedrooms - one for a very young child and one for an older child. We also created two adult bedrooms so buyers had as much flexibility on how to use the home.
On the upper level, in the primary ensuite bedroom we started from scratch. We added furniture and then we relocated our client’s incredible artwork into this space. This also set the colour tone for the accessories we introduced - the azul chair and cushions complemented each other and set off the artwork brilliantly!
We added a home office to the formal living area (given that buyers are likely to use the open plan on a day to day basis).
The fireplace in the formal living area was brought back to life by cleaning and styling it with some firewooed and our home staging tricks.
Lastly the garden terrace stonework and door surfaces were washed and tidied. We added outdoor seating to make the outdoor space truly welcoming.
This home went under offer at the open house which was brilliantly hosted by Sally from Moveli! We just love adding value to properties while keeping practicality as a focus.
“Ceri and her team from 'sort style and stage' were absolutely amazing and gave a 5 star service.
From initial introduction to my client through to completion of the staging of a barn conversion in Gerrards Cross which had been empty and on the market with another agent for over 1 year with no tangible interest.
Following staging, we held a successful open house and secured 2 offers within a few weeks! Ceri was professional, dedicated and with a perfect eye for the best styling brought the barn to life again for the next owner.”
Sally Jane Hobson, Moveli
Lyncroft Place
Paul Leslie from Leslie & Co, a long term estate agency partner of ours, asked for our help … he had just taken on this incredible property on one of the best roads in Ealing. He knew it needed some help to get it sold quickly and for more so this is where we come in!
Warmth and welcoming are the words that comes to mind the moment we started working on this home. Even though this was an empty home, it has lots of potential to become the perfect home for today’s modern family, so we wanted to make of this.
This typical London Victorian terrace is split over three floors. There are two fabulous living areas with a fireplace, crown mouldings and ceiling roses. There is a large modern open plan kitchen and dining as well as seating area with bi-fold doors leading onto the garden (and in between there is a cloakroom and utility) at the rear. Upstairs there are 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
The home was tired in places so we recommended essential improvements so that buyers can focus on how they would make this their home rather than worrying about the time and cost involved in doing these repairs. Repairs included some light touch décor, swapping round the washer and tumble dryer so they are actually useable, “siliconing” the bathrooms, tidying up the garden, prepping and painting some of the window frames, jet-washing the driveway and sills and so on. Once we'd completed the repairs, we were ready to go with the staging.
Given the number of bedrooms, we wanted to create a dedicated home office as we know the target buyer will likely work from home, at least some days a week.
On each of our home staging projects we find innovative solutions to maximise the size of the spaces we work in. This project was no different. We decided to transform part of the living room into a library and reading area, highlighting the floor to ceiling bookcase (without this, the room felt like a corridor into the next area of the home). A final clean-up of the fallen autumn leaves externally, adding statement plants and pot created the necessary kerb appeal - this home was ready to launch for sale.
We definitely hit the mark with this one because within weeks this amazing home was sold!
The homeowner, Jennifer, was delighted with the results. She says:
“Ceri was a great partner in sorting and staging our home for sale.
Having been rented for 8 years the house was looking a little tired and had some specific cosmetic issues. Ceri immediately identified the things that would make a difference to how the house was presented, making sound recommendations and pricing reasonably.
In four weeks she completely project managed the team to manage the improvements and staged the house so it photographed and presented beautifully. We were delighted to work with Ceri to be able to the show the house at its best and would happily recommend her.”
Jennifer Woolford
Hillcrest View, Ealing
One of our regular estate agents that we work with, Kikku Maini of Moveli, asked for our help. He’s taken on a substantial multimillion family home in a highly desirable area of Ealing. This home has been for sale with other estate agents over a number of years. This incredible Victorian home was modernised in the 1980s but had limited modernisation since – it has incredible history and amazing bones and can be turned into a wonderful family home.
With a grand hallway and staircases, formal dining and living rooms, well fitted out kitchen, huge garden areas and swimming pool and jacuzzi, this property has much to offer its next homeowner.
We met with Kikku and his clients to work through the potential on offer. For each and every client project we work on, the solution we recommend is bespoke to truly maximise the changes of selling and for the best price.
Source: Moveli
Given the size of the home at 8,500 sq ft as well as its unmodernised nature, it was apparent that staging alone will not be sufficient to draw in those buyers. A different strategy is required so buyers can truly see the potential on offer.
Source: Moveli
Modernising the property will require significant investment and time and given our client is seeking to obtain a proceedable sale, we recommended the following:
Create a dramatic moment as buyers enter the first hallway with its dark wood panelling by painting the ceiling in a deep dark colour. Once through this, buyers will then be greeted by the very bright main hallway given the huge landing window above.
Given that there is incredible wide planked flooring, hidden below the dated carpets in the key living areas on the ground floor, expose this wooden floor by removing the carpets. This will give buyers a real sense of what’s on offer as they enter the home and will incentivise them to delve deeper into the home.
Physically stage the hallway, stage the living and dining rooms as we want buyers to imagine themselves living in the home. This is impossible now, given there are various furniture pieces dotted around but nothing is cohesive nor is there sufficient volume for buyers to see this as a home
The current kitchen is well fitted out although dated and quite small given the overall size of the home. It’s also on one corner of the home so is “out of the way” . There is huge potential to open up the rear of the first floor to create an incredible open plan kitchen, informal dining and family room. The investment to do this is significant and would take many months. To show buyers what is on offer, the best way to do that is virtually, using Computer Generate Imagery (CGI). We will use the floorplan dimensions to digitally create a large open plan room (from the current three separate rooms) which is accessed from the main hallway through large glass French doors. On the left, we will create a luxe open plan kitchen with large island, which connects with the middle area which we will turn into a large informal dining area with large sliding doors onto the incredible rear garden with views onto the sunroom at the rear boundary. On the right, we will embrace the historic fireplace and use that to create a welcoming family room. We will also add French Doors to the family room so the homeowner has direct access to the garden from this space. We will retain or recreate the character features such as woodwork, coving, ceiling roses and dado rails and add modern touches such as integrated hot drinks unit, wine chiller and large cooker range.
The left hand side of the first floor has a primary bedroom and en-suite and a corridor to another bedroom. Given the size of the home, the buyer is likely to want a primary suite. Therefore create a CGI so that the large front bedroom becomes a luxe en-suite, the existing en-suite and corridor become a large walk in dressing room and the primary bedroom remains on the rear but without the existing dated wardrobes and with the addition of French doors and Juliet balcony to maximise the outlook onto the fabulous rear garden.
The home has a leisure complex although this is dated. There is currently no gym. However with CGI, we can show buyers the true potential on offer by creating a spa like pool with bi-fold doors onto the rear garden and a separate gym using space from connecting conservatory.
Kikku can then walk buyers through the vision when they view the home.
The major physical changes buyers are likely to require or may consider are below – we’ve recommended that these are costed up so buyers can then use this to determine what further investment they are likely to need to enable them to determine whether they can proceed with an offer. These include:
Modernising all bathrooms
Add en-suites to two bedrooms by reconfiguring the existing floorplan
Upgrading the plumbing and electrics
Implement the open plan CGI to transform the rear of the ground floor into an open plan kitchen, dining and family room
Reconfiguring the entrance to the utility room and remove the corridor so it better connects with the kitchen and increases and improves the available workspace of the utility
Create a true primary suite based on the CGI
Create a luxury leisure complex again based on the CGI
Removing the first-floor pvc landing window and replacing with metal equivalent. Retaining the stained glass style is critical to reflect the history of the home
Turning one of the bedrooms on the first floor into a home office by adding a wet kitchen
Removing the spiral staircase connecting the first and second floor as this is impractical, out of character and to gain further useable space on the second floor. Replace the staircase with an L shaped design mirroring the staircase on the lower floor
Creating a further bedroom with en-suite on the second floor as a result of reconfiguring the access on to this floor
New décor throughout
Exposing the wooden floor on the staircases, add a runner to these and expose as much of the wooden floor on the first floor. Replace carpets elsewhere
Remove the glass barrier above the staircase on the ground floor as this is not in character with the wood panelled hall
Take a look at the floorplan.
Source: Moveli
We look forward to sharing more details on this very exciting project with you.
Housing News
Since it’s been getting chilly and a little spooky let’s sit with a cuppa and digest the latest housing news.
Rightmove
Rightmove report that average asking prices rose to £371,958, an increase of 0.3% (equivalent to +£1,199). This is much lower than the average 1.3% increase at this time of year. However, there is strong activity:
agreed sales are up 29% year-on-year (a strong rebound from the same period in 2023)
underlying buyer demand is strong - the number of buyers contacting agents is up 17% compared to 2023, despite some uncertainty caused by the Autumn Budget (more on that below)
there are 12% more homes for sale compared to 2023 (and the highest per estate agent since 2014!)
The outlook remains positive for 2025, although affordability pressures remain. Rightmove noted that some buyers may be waiting for Budget clarity and cheaper mortgage rates before taking action. The average 5-year fixed mortgage rate is at 4.61% (from 4.55% last week), the first weekly increase since May 2024). The average annual energy bill with an EPC rating of D is up 10% compared to September, the equivalent increase of £2,465.
Financial markets are still predicting two bank rate cuts before the end of 2024. Combining this with wage growth currently outpacing house price growth, indicates an active housing market in 2025.
Take a look at the key metrics below – overall positive increases all round!
Source: Rightmove
Ahead of the budget, Tim Bannister, Rightmove said:
“Market activity remains strong, despite affordability pressures on movers.
Once we have more certainty about the contents of the Budget, hopefully followed by speedy second and third Bank Rate cuts, we could see another surge in market optimism like we had in the Summer. Affordability is still the biggest barrier facing many movers, with mortgage rates still high, so if the expected two cuts come to fruition it could be the boost that many buyers-in-waiting need. 2025 could see the return of the previously priced out buyer.”
Here's the five year asking price trend - as you can see since June, we're on an upward trajectory!
Source: Rightmove
If you'd like to learn more, click here for a full report - House Price Index | Property blog
Zoopla
Another positive story from Zoopla, with sales activity being the highest since 2020. House prices are up 1% compared with -0.9% in 2023. The pipeline of agreed sales is £113bn, 30% higher than 2023. First time buyers are the highest proportion of buyers covering 36% of all sales. The average property price is at £267,500.
With mortgage rates at their lowest for two years, Zoopla reports that 2024 will be a bumper housing sale year.
Look how the volumes of sales per year is on the upturn in 2024.
Source: Zoopla
If you'd like to learn more, click here for the latest report - UK House Price.
Budget News
As we begin to digest the impacts of yesterday’s Autumn budget, here are the key housing implications:
The government have allocated £5bn towards housing spend, some of which will include affordable housing
Right to buy discounts from council homes will be reduced
Local government will retain earnings from council home sales to enable them to reinvest this in their housing stock
Hundreds of new planning officers will be hired – this is so the government can meet its 1.5m new build target. £46m of additional funding will be made available to recruit and train 300 graduate and apprentice planners to accelerate large sites that are stuck in the planning system and boost and upskill local planning authority capacity to deliver housing targets
Stamp duty on second homes will increase from 3% to 5% from 31 October. There is no change for residential homes
To learn more, click here.
50+ 5* Independently Verifiable Reviews
We’re incredibly proud to have achieved over 50, 5* reviews across multiple independently verifiable websites. This would not be possible without our amazing team and you, our amazing clients. Thank you. Take a look at one of our recent client reviews so you get a sense of how we transform our client’s properties and their lives!
“It has been a wonderful journey to work with sort style and stage during our full-renovation project.
Ceri is a very helpful, responsive, resourceful and hardworking person. She always answers your questions timely and gives you options until you are satisfied with the result. She listens to your thoughts carefully to understand your taste and wishes, then comes up with brilliant ideas to make your dreams come true. We were able to work together very well. She encouraged us to give a chance to our ideas that we were afraid to apply, and the results made us very happy. We could not make choices between different styles and got very confused. She helped us select and combine our favourite pieces and showed us why some of the things we liked could not match the rest of the house. All her choices were spot-on; even our bathroom designer confessed that after seeing the designs in real life.
We learnt so much from her.
We cannot recommend her enough if you would like to create your dream place while working with a passionate and friendly person, Ceri is definitely the person to go for our future projects!”
Nilgun Kucukozen Gulhan
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and much more.
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If you need help with any property related matter, do reach out to us on info@sortstyleandstage.com.
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