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Bats and Buildings By taking bats into account prior to starting work or purchasing a property, you will: • Minimise any costs and delays • Help to avoid disturbing bats or their roosts, which means you will be avoiding the risk of prosecution and helping to conserve an important protected species. Protection and the law … Read More »

In 2008 the government announced that 10 statutory water and sewerage companies will take over ownership of private sewers and lateral drains (which connect to the public sewer system). So, this is taking place from 1 October 2011. Privately owned pumping stations which meet the same criteria will also be adopted by sewerage/water companies on … Read More »

Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) is a member of the Parsley family (which includes Wild Carrot, Fool’s Watercress, Cow Parsley, Hogweed, Wild Angelica, Alexanders, Sweet Cicely and Hemlock) and is native to Asia. It has hollow green/purple stems with fine spines, that make them appear furry, and dark green coarsely toothed leaves. Small white flowers are … Read More »

Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is an invasive non-native species that is highly regenerative and can cause both ecological and structural damage. Japanese knotweed is an impressive species that grows rapidly to a height of 2 – 3 metres (6-10 feet) in a single season. In the spring, new growth emerges as rapidly growing soft red/purple … Read More »

The southwest part of England has been a holiday spot for UK residents for years, and now many are purchasing instead of renting. Though letting a house or apartment is still a popular, and reasonably-priced, way to find a holiday home, owning a second home here and throughout the UK is becoming more and more … Read More »

The extraordinary story of a country manor near Okehampton in West Devon surfaced recently after its new owners discovered a secret wall to the side of its main hall. And it was no small affair; as you can see from the picture below, it’s basically a mammoth sash window-cum-partition that slides into the floor, in … Read More »

Cockrams Surveying is set to move to new offices at the end of the month! The location of the new premises will be on the brilliant Lemon Street in Truro set amid all of the major estate agents. Keep an eye out for us as we move in and put up our signs. Clients will … Read More »

Approvals for house purchases dropped by about 2,000 on the previous month to 45,166, the Bank of England reported, reversing much of the pick-up seen following December’s 20-month low as the snow hit. The level of loans tallies with falling house prices, said Nida Ali, economic adviser to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club. “A … Read More »

House Prices remained virtually static in May, rising by just 0.1%, according to figures released by the Halifax. The figures support those reported by the Nationwide building society last week, which announced a small rise of 0.3% in May. The 0.1% rise follows on from a 1.4% decrease in April, but the quarterly change – … Read More »

The average cost of a home dropped 1.4pc during the month to stand at £160,395, the lowest level since July 2009, according to the latest Halifax house price index. The latest slide led to property values being 3.7pc lower during the three months to the end of April than during the same three months of … Read More »