In previous blogs, we explored three motivators for people moving home – education, working from home and the desire for a change in lifestyle.

Another factor driving people to get in touch with us to find them a home, is the search for an aesthetically pleasing property with the frequent brief - ‘red brick, white sash windows, period, symmetrical in design’ and, if possible, ‘not listed’!!

So, we spend a lot of time looking for old rectories or ex-vicarages, typically a village house or one of the best dwellings in the city, town or village. 

Believe it or not, that immediately rules out a significant number of areas and even whole counties. As an example, Kent and East and West Sussex have only a minuscule number of properties matching this style and specification. Why? Well, when they were built, the materials available to build houses was limited; hence the reason for so many timber framed properties in Kent and why flint was used in the construction of older Hampshire houses, both very evident in these counties today.

There has been a definite trend towards houses in a period style that have been built more recently using modern house construction. These are much easier to maintain and often have been built using eco-friendly materials making them more economical and cheaper to run.

With land continuing to hold its price, large new build houses, between £2m and £5m, in popular locations like Hertfordshire, Essex, Surrey and Berkshire are in high demand.

Buyers are more knowledgeable than ever before about lateral space, solarPV, insulation and energy efficient homes which bring significant cost savings. Zero carbon homes are also proving more popular as the environment continues to be an important factor for many but by far and away the most important criteria is how the property looks aesthetically when arriving home from a day’s work.

If you are looking to purchase a new property in the coming months and need help finding that period property within your price bracket, please contact Nigel Sellers on +44 (0) 1962 793100 or email: enquiries@premier-propertysearch.co.uk.