The excitement is growing, in anticipation of the new homes by Aspire being released to the market for sale very soon.
The builders are very busy on site creating five high specification homes, located in sought after Eversley village in Hampshire.
To find out more telephone 01252 842100.
We are pleased to provide this video and photographic preview of a wonderful property, which is about to be placed on the open market at an estimated guide of £1.550m.
Located in the delightful hamlet of Mattingley on the outskirts of Hartley Wintney, this is a significant property which provides around 3,700 sq. ft. of luxurious space.
Take a look at the video above and enjoy a tour of the property and local area, we think you will be impressed.
Early viewings before going to the open market will be possible, so if you are tempted to view please contact our Hartley Wintney branch on 01252 842100.
There will be many photographs and insights available soon, but in the meantime here are a few images courtesy of johnjoe.co.uk
And if you are selling or letting a luxury home, discover the benefits of professional video marketing.
A sweet, new look is coming to our homes thanks to Dulux, who’ve revealed Spiced Honey as its Colour of the Year for 2019.
An earthy, caramel hue, according to the experts at the paint brand, it’s versatile enough to introduce into a wide range of home interiors – because it can be “calming and nourishing” or “stimulating and energising”, depending on the palettes and light surrounding it.
“Spiced Honey is a warm caramel with notes of amber, that perfectly reflects our new sense of optimism and resilience for 2019,” says Marianne Shillingford, Dulux’s UK creative director.
“While 2018 was seen as unsettled and unpredictable and saw us retreating and hiding behind our sofas, next year is one where we’re ready to ‘let in the light’,” she adds.
Here, Shillingford shares her guide to using the colour to create successful settings…
What is Spiced Honey?
“Spiced Honey has a raw, natural quality that works like a warm neutral, which makes it so adaptable to pairing with different materials and styles of decoration,” she enthuses.
“It looks especially good when teamed with whites and off-whites in furniture and furnishings, which gives it a contemporary feel.”
What can it do for rooms?
“Its rich caramel tones visually turn up the thermostat a few degrees, and so it’s perfect for creating a relaxed, cosy atmosphere in places where we like to think, dream, love and act,” Shillingford notes. “Its the colour of warm woods, and while there’s something reassuringly familiar about it, which may pay a nod to Seventies retro, this is a new colour with a fresh, modern spin.
“Paired with off-whites and a dollop of deepest inky Cobalt Night, Spiced Honey offers a room a fresh contemporary bite, but introduce soft warm greys and muted pinks like Angora Blanket and Soft Stone, and you achieve a look that is as sweet and delicious as honey on hot buttered toast.”
DECOR TIP: For a sophisticated living area, use the shade as a backdrop and add touches of soft pink, intense burgundy and sophisticated deep blue. Polished woods, mid-century furniture, graphic rugs and textiles will emphasis will enhance this look.
How can this shade be used in rooms?
“It’s a colour that’s happy to play the supporting role rather than being a full immersion shade on all the walls, but it could be a wrap-around colour in a small room where you want an intimate atmosphere.
“Otherwise, feature it in bands and blocks, as well as on interior woodwork or for painted furniture,” Shillingford adds. “Be guided by when you most use a room, as well as the light levels it enjoys. If it’s mostly used during the day and there’s little light, its bronze tones will be more pronounced and it will be more dominating.
“If, however, your room is north-facing with large windows and ample light, you could decorate a larger area. Light has such a lovely effect on this shade – which is in fact predominantly yellow in its make-up, so in full sunshine it has an invigorating, uplifting feel. As the light fades and it’s seen in lamplight, it takes on a gorgeous cocooning, soothing, almost textile finish. “
DECOR TIP: For an energising atmosphere, partner Spiced Honey with richly pigmented shades, including deep forest green, bold teal and intense terracotta red. With wooden furniture and botanical prints, the effect will be a cosy but lively space.
Where could you use it?
“I’m loving the idea of using this colour on a ceiling, possibly in my bedroom. It’s such a liberating way of decorating because the ceiling is the most uninterrupted space in a room,” says Shillingford. “Focusing the colour overhead allows you to be much more more creative with walls, so you can hang more art and other decoration. Interior designers are starting to call the ceiling the fifth wall!”
DECOR TIP: To create a serene space, pair the shade with romantic powder pinks and blues. Plain pale woods, simple hand-thrown vessels and pretty fabrics will add to the contemplative, centred feel.
What other ways are there to feature the shade?
“Think of this Spiced Honey as flavour for a room. There’s no need to overdose on it, just as you wouldn’t if it was a spice in cooking. It works equally well in small doses. Using it that way is the ideal starting point if you want to experiment and see if it’s to your taste,” suggests Shillingford.
“Paint a shelf, create a painted border around a door frame, or feature it as a low band of colour at dado height on a wall to ground a space. Alternatively, pick up on it with accessories.”
DECOR TIP: Be playful with Spiced Honey and enliven it with pops of vivid red and green among pale pinks, blues and crisp greys and whites. Partner with reclaimed, personalised furniture and bold graphic shapes for an on-trend eclectic look.
By Abi Jackson, Press Association
Want to up ramp up those green efforts? Grand Designs’ Kevin McCloud tells Abi Jackson his top tips.
Trying to be a little more planet-friendly? Like most things in life, it starts at home – but knowing where to start or whether your efforts are worthwhile, can be tricky.
“It’s easy to think of being planet-friendly as something we can buy, which often just adds to the problems of environmental damage,” says Grand Designs presenter and home-style guru Kevin McCloud.
“There’s no doubt that, by contrast, the correct things we should be doing are: A) changing our behaviour, which is hard; B) consuming less, which is hard to get used to; C) sharing our resources more, which is often annoying, and D) thinking ecologically about our wider environment, which is very hard.
Having said that, there are some accessible ways of making our homes more environmentally responsible.”
Wondering what those are? Here, McCloud shares five “easy” ways to make our homes more eco-friendly…
“Start with the simple things, like turning the thermostat down to 18 or19 degrees rather than 21, putting on an extra pullover instead, makinga hot water bottle at bedtime, and buying some slippers.”
“We could all probably insulate our attics more, draught-proof our windows and doors, and maybe fit secondary or double glazing. Insulation may not seem sexy, but it’s much cheaper and delivers quicker cash and energy savings than solar panels or a heat-exchanging thermo-dynamic hybrid heat pump with go-faster stripes,” says McCloud. “Men, I’m afraid, tend to be seduced more by kit than reason. If you find yourself using the word ‘tech’, be wary – my bitter experience is that the more complicated you make your home, the more there is to go wrong.
“Make sure your home is fully insulated with good airtightness and simple ventilation systems. It’s called a fabric-first approach. Only then should you consider the bolt-on technology.”
“New glazing technologies fascinate me,” says McCloud, “because the windows in our homes are effectively holes through which heat pours. Metal coatings on glass and vacuum-extracted systems, like Pilkington’s Spacia, deliver excellent performance – I’m trialling them to see how they perform over time.”
“When I buy free-range tomatoes or FairTrade toothpaste at the supermarket, the product is usually accompanied by a little story and some pictures of the people that made it. Lovely. That makes me feel good and I’m comforted by the legitimacy of the endorsement of the Soil Association, or whichever. Knowing where your meat comes from, who grew it, and its full ‘chain of custody’ weirdly seems to improve the flavour too – so I’m a champion of authenticity and the true narrative of things, because it connects the people who make things to the people that consume them, and seems to damage the planet and all its species a little less along the way,” says McCloud – and he extends the same principles to items he buys for his home.
“Britain is still the largest importer of illegal (illegally felled that is) timber and timber products in Europe, which is shocking. I wrote my book, The Principles Of Home, to partly address all this; it’s shameful that when you or I buy a sofa, some curtain fabric, a pair of jeans or a dining table, there is virtually zero information about the welfare conditions in the factory where it’s from, the chemicals used in manufacture, or the damage wreaked on the environment in its making.
I’ve now started asking retailers for the full story of what they sell, and I suggest you do the same every time you buy something.”
“If you’re designing a house from scratch, talk to an architect who’ll understand designing for orientation, passive solar gain, maximum winter sunlight, shading and minimum summer overheating. You can design in thermal mass with heavy concrete floors or earth walls, humidify and cool the airflow through the house with a buried air-duct or a pond outside a window, allow hot air to be purged through a skylight at the top of the house and allow for some cooling cross-ventilation. There. Easy. So speak to an architect.”
Kevin McCloud will be appearing at Grand Designs Live at The NEC, Birmingham, from October 10-14, 2018. To claim your free pair of weekday tickets, visit granddesignslive.com and use code PRESSASSOC. Offer live from September 25 until October 5. T&Cs apply. For details, see granddesignslive.com/whats-on/1228-t-c-s
To discus the impact any of these or other improvements may have on your property value, please call your local office – details can be found here https://www.mccarthyholden.co.uk/branches/
There is an unexpected short term boost in the higher end of the residential rental market going on right now, because of austere house purchase stamp duty levels and Brexit uncertainty.
A number of high end house buyers are deciding to pop into a property rental for the next year or so, using the stamp duty funds they would have allocate on a property purchase around £2.0m. or more, to pay for the property rental instead of going into the Government coffers by way of stamp duty (about £154,000 at £2.0m. and £274,000 at £3.0m.).
The property above has been placed on the rental market today at £6,000 p.c.m.. This is an example of a luxury house in Berkshire which will attract interest from tenants wishing to live near say Wellington College, Reading and Wokingham yet have easy access to London. The video production and photography by johnjoe.co.uk will no doubt enable a quick uptake in tenant enquiries.
The medium term outlook for top end rentals is good, and for house sales over £2.0m. there could be good new post Brexit because the level of hot buyers in rental looking to buy will be at a good level.
The market insight is that the first half of 2018 saw one of the poorest levels of house sale transactions for some time, however, right now, discerning house buyers are seeing the current market conditions as an opportunity to move whilst prices remain static. The news for house sellers is that you can and will sell successfully in today’s market, but don’t expect a fancy or inflated price.
Large house price gains are gone for a while, but like all markets when they rebound from a low they come back with a sharp and fast uptake. Savvy buyers know this and are taking care of business now.
Another example of positive movement in the rental sector £5,000 to £8,000 p.c.m. is the property shown below, which was recently snapped up by a tenant on a guide of £7,995 p.c.m. So, if you are a landlord looking for an agent to manage and rent a luxury property then go to mccarthyholden.co.uk
Do you like a good cuppa and slice of cake mid-morning?
Well, so do the hard working construction workers at the new Aspire site in Eversely Hampshire…
Paul Wilmott, Managing Director of Aspire will be hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning on Saturday 29thSeptember and would love it if you could join them, anytime from 10am – 12pm.
Work on the Aspire new homes is progressing well and this small select development is really starting to take shape.
This presented Aspire with opportunity to invite you to site to see the progress yourself, while raising money for this worthwhile cause.
Macmillan Cancer Support is a charity close to our hearts and Aspire hope you are able to join them for the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning 2018.
Please note that due to health and safety reasons, Aspire are not able to permit access inside the houses but it will still be an inspiring visit!
How to find the site…..
Call the Hartley Wintney branch of McCarthy Holden or just take a look at the map below.
At McCarthy Holden we strive to deliver great photography and video content for property marketing, so this is a welcome opportunity to preview a selection of shots which have been released in the run-up to the popular exhibition. Sarah Marshall recommends where to go to see the action for real.
Covering every corner of our magnificent natural world, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition always generates interest, envy and debate. Some images are beautiful, others are chilling – but they always tell an important story.
While the winners won’t be announced until October 16, several commended shots featured in the exhibition have been released.
Many of them were taken in locations accessible to the public and feature on the holiday itineraries recommended below…
The meerkat mob by Tertius A Gous
Where: Brandberg Mountain, Namibia
What: When an Anchieta’s cobra reared its head and moved towards two meerkat pups, the rest of the pack foraging nearby reacted almost instantly. Rushing back, the 20-strong group split into two: One group grabbed the pups and huddled a safe distance away, the other took on the snake. Fluffing up their coats, tails raised, the mob edged forwards, growling. When the snake lunged, they sprang back. This was repeated over and over for about 10 minutes.
How: Exodus (exodus.co.uk) offer a 15-day Discover Nambia camping escorted trip, including a visit to Brandberg Mountain, from £2,479pp, with various departures.
Cool cat by Isak Pretorius
Where: South Luangwa National Park, Zambia
What: This lioness drinking from a waterhole is one of the Mfuwe Lodge pride. Lions kill more than 95% of their prey at night and may spend 18 – 20 hours resting. Though lions can get most of the moisture they need from their prey and even from plants, they drink regularly when water is available.
How: Expert Africa (expertafrica.com) offer a tailormade 9-night Civet Safari to Zambia, including a stay at Mfuwe Lodge, from £4,623pp. Flights extra.
Mister Whiskers by Valter Bernardeschi
Where: Svalbard, Norway
What: On a bright summer’s night, these walruses were feeding just off anisland in the Norwegian archipelago. The photographer put on his wetsuit and slipped into the icy water. Immediately, a few curious walruses – mainly youngsters – began swimming towards him. Walruses use their highly sensitive whiskers and snout to search out bivalve molluscs (such as clams) and other small invertebrates on the ocean floor.
How: Aurora Expeditions (auroraexpeditions.com) offer an 11-day Svalbard Odyssey cruise from £4,000pp, including the opportunity to go polar snorkelling (£411pp). Flights extra. Departures on July 15 and 25, 2019.
Ahead in the game by Nicholas Dyer
Where: Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe
What: A pair of African wild dog pups play a macabre game of tag with the head of a chacma baboon – the remains of their breakfast. The endangered African wild dog is best known for hunting antelopes, such as impalas and kudus. But over the past five years, this pack has been regularly killing and eating baboons – highly unusual, not least because baboons are capable of inflicting severe wounds.
How: Wildlife Worldwide (wildlifeworldwide.com) offer a tailormade 10-day Zimbabwe Highlights tour, with a stay in Mana Pools, from £5,995pp including flights with various departures.
Glass-house guard by Wayne Jones
Where: Mabini, Philippines
What: On the sandy seabed off the coast of Mabini, a yellow pygmy goby guards its home – a discarded glass bottle. It is one of a pair, each no more than 4cm long, that have chosen a bottle as a perfect temporary home. The female will lay several batches of eggs, while the male performs guard duty at the entrance.
How: Dive Worldwide (diveworldwide.com) offer a 10-day Philippine Secret Dive Safari from £2,095pp, including flights. Various departures from March to May.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition runs at London’s Natural History Museum from Friday, October 19 until summer 2019. Tickets cost £15 for adults, £9 for children. Visit nhm.ac.uk/wpy
As the new season approaches, plant some pretty pots to brighten the scene. Hannah Stephenson digs up top tips.
As pots of tired summer bedding are tipped onto the compost heap to make way for autumn and winter flowers, there are certain things you should do now to ensure your container plants for the cooler months get off to a good start. Here’s our step-by-step guide…
1. Provide good drainage
Once you’ve emptied your pots of summer bedding and given the containers a good clean, line the base of your pots with crocks from broken terracotta pots or bits of polystyrene that your new bedding comes in, to make sure you have ample drainage for new autumn and winter bedding.
As autumn rains come, if your pots are exposed to the elements, the roots of your plants can become too wet if you don’t include sufficient drainage when you plant them up.
Mix a handful of sharp stone or grit into the fresh compost to help drainage and stand your pots on feet, so the moisture doesn’t come up through the pot and soak the roots from below.
2. Fill pots well
Unlike summer bedding, which grows rapidly to cover the whole area of the pot, winter bedding is slower to make an impact – so it’s best to plant winter bedding closer together in tubs, troughs and hanging baskets.
They won’t have as much growing time as summer plants had to make their mark, so don’t penny-pinch on the amount you buy.
3. Don’t over-water
Winter-flowering pansies and other bedding won’t need as much water as your summer annuals did, so don’t mix water-retaining granules into the fresh compost, or you’ll end up with rotten roots and wilted plants.
4. Shelter containers
If you have planted up pots with spring bulbs, violas and pansies, put them in a sheltered spot – say under a porch or cold greenhouse when the winter weather is at its worst – but make sure they get maximum light so they can benefit from even weaker sunshine.
As the weather gets cooler, protect plants by grouping containers and moving them closer to the wall to keep off wind and rain.
5. Choose plants wisely
Some bedding only appears in the autumn, including dwarf Michaelmas daisies, pot chrysanthemums and miniature cyclamen, while orange-berried winter cherries and ornamental kales appear slightly later on in the season. All can be put to good use in a container and enhanced with evergreen foliage plants.
Garden centres will now be awash with autumn and winter bedding, including pansies and violas, wallflowers, dianthus and cyclamen. Use a showstopper as the centre plant and then use trailers, such as creeping Jenny or ivy, around the outside of your pots, filling the gaps with pretty violas and pansies.
So, if your are looking for a property with a great patio and extensive grounds with far reaching views, then take a look at this Hampshire property.
Designers have revealed their new decor schemes for autumn and winter. Gabrielle Fagan selects her three favourites.
Autumn is the time of year when nature changes it’s colours, and thanks to the new home collections, it’s easy to ring the changes indoors too.
Choose from sumptuous florals, a cool Nordic theme that celebrates easy, stylish comfort, or full-fat maximalism, with its emphasis on luxury and individuality.
Be inspired – whether it’s a total revamp or just a refresh with a few new accessories – so that your rooms are fashionably kitted out for the seasons to come…
Make magic with moody blooms
“Escape the everyday and saturate your home with glorious jewel tones this autumn. There are so many ways to use them – in Oriental, deco, and bold floral prints – I love that it all feels a bit fantasy,” enthuses Lois Vincent, home designer at House of Fraser.
“You can up the glamour quota by mixing in a few gilded accessories; after all, who doesn’t need a flamingo candlestick in their life?”
DECOR TIP: Rich plum and berry shades are the perfect autumnal palette for a cosy feel. If you don’t want to go full-on floral, choose dusky pink and warm neutrals for a backdrop and then layer up with petal-rich accessories, from throws to bed linen.
Conjure calm chic spaces.
“Simple, minimal and layered – soft crafted neutrals and materials are set against stripped back rustic woods for this calm, tranquil look,” says Karen Thomas, head of design for Home at Marks & Spencer.
“This palette of ‘Calming Neutrals’ is inspired by the change in seasons, and evokes a restful and relaxing feel for the home. As we move into autumn, we celebrate the urge to nest and stay indoors.
“Layer soft knits and textures for a casual lived-in feel, and use clean lines and smooth surfaces of cool marble and craft glazes to accessorise your living space.”
DECOR TIP: If you’re reworking your entire living space, keep to a palette of pale grey, wood and white for walls, floor and furniture. Declutter to create a pared-back base, and if you want to warm the scheme, add accents of yellow or green in accessories or plants.
Decorate to the max.
“We expect maximalism to be one of the breakthrough looks for autumn and winter, and we’re already seeing people investing in bold, bright pieces for their homes,” says Fionnuala Johnston, senior designer at John Lewis.
“Maximalism is not necessarily about overcrowding a space, but choosing to be bold by showcasing your own unique style in a creative way.
“Carefully considered mixing and matching of colours, prints and textures is key to achieving the look, and it’s the perfect opportunity to layer designs and blend references.
“A good example would be combining a contemporary drinks trolley with tropical, vintage wallpaper, for a refined glamour that celebrates old and new style.”
Designer Abigail Ahern has embraced the luxe look and made it her own, with her richly designed animal-inspired Edition homeware for Debenhams. Our favourites include the Lizard Cushion, £45; Table Light, £80; Bison Planter, £14; Highland Cow Wall Art, £35; Lantern, £24, and Honeycomb Sideboard £760 (range available from late September).
DECOR TIP: Floor-to-ceiling curtains and reflective surfaces, such as mirrored glass and metalllics, contribute to the luxe look and create an atmosphere of elegance. A successful home will reflect your personality and taste and contain pieces that make you smile – don’t be afraid to experiment.
Alternatively, if the thought of redecorating is not appealing then why not start a property search for the idea home.
Was this a forecast?
The Governor of the Bank of England has warned ministers that house prices could crash by more than a third in the event of a disorderly, no-deal Brexit, according to a report by Gavin Cordon, Press Association Whitehall Editor.
Yesterday, Mark Carney briefed Theresa May and senior ministers on the Bank’s planning for a “cliff edge” break with the EU at a special Cabinet meeting on Thursday to review the Government’s no-deal preparations.
It is understood he warned house prices could fall by up to 35% over three years in a worst case scenario, as sterling plummeted and the Bank was forced to push up interest rates.
“What could be lost in the alarmist headline is that Carney wasn’t making a forecast,” says John Holden Chairman of McCarthy Holden.
We’ve been here before
“And hang on, haven’t we been here before?” Holden continues.
Back in May 2016, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne warned that following a leave vote house prices would drop by 18%. Around the same time US President Barack Obama said Britain would go to the “back of the queue” for trade deals with the US if it votes to leave the European Union.
“So again today we read headlines which could damage confidence further in both the wider economy and the UK residential property market.” continues Holden.
Understanding the context
Fortunately, some leading economists have stepped up and put Mr Carney’s comments in a framework of context.
Take BBC’s economic editor Kamal Ahmed, who stated today that it appears that the Governor wasn’t providing the Cabinet with a forecast of what the Bank believes would happen in the event of a no-deal Brexit. He was briefing the Cabinet on what preparations the Bank was making if that does happen, including last November’s stress test.
It was not a forecast.
It was an apocalyptic test where the Bank deliberately sets the parameters beyond what might reasonably be expected to occur. The major banks all passed the test, giving reassurance that the financial system can cope with whatever happens next year.
The Governor believes that a ‘no-deal’ scenario would be bad for the economy. But not as bad as the headlines today which are based on a doomsday scenario that is not actually forecast to happen.
The market insight from John Holden is that “On the shop floor at McCarthy Holden the first half of 2018 saw one of the poorest levels of house sale transactions for some time, however, since July positivity was in the wings because house buyers began surfacing again with intent.”
“Right now, discerning house buyers are seeing the current market conditions as an opportunity to move whilst prices remain static. The news for house sellers is that you can and will sell successfully in today’s market, but don’t expect a fancy or inflated price.”
“Large house price gains are gone for a while, but like all markets when they rebound from a low they come back with a sharp and fast uptake. Savvy buyers know this and are taking care of business now” concludes Holden.
“Sold before it went on the market for more than a rival agent was planning to market it for. One viewing and very smooth transaction.”
©McCarthy Holden 2024.
