Welcome to Cockrams Surveying Blog

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 »

House prices in seaside towns in England and Wales have soared by 128% since 2001, with seven out of 10 towns seeing greater increases in property values than for the country as a whole, according to high street bank Halifax. Wadebridge in Cornwall has seen the biggest gains, with house prices more than tripling in … Read More »

The recent launch of what is being cheekily referred to as crimelocation.com, the new Police crime website, illustrates just how much information is now available online. Web sites like this show how the internet has levelled the playing field for buyers and tenants who are now able to peer into the murky world of property. … Read More »

If you are only buying your own home to “invest” in property you may find the next couple of years a little disappointing. Most predictions for house prices for 2011 are that they will be lower by the end of the year than the beginning. I do not see any sustained house price growth re-emerging … Read More »

The disposal of plasterboard first became an issue when the Environment Agency produced new landfill guidelines in April 2009 relating to material containing gypsum. The main issue with gypsum based plasterboard is that when mixed with biodegradable waste in landfills, the subsequent decomposition can result in the release of sulphide gas (H2S) which is both … Read More »

Service quality: 5 Stars Value for money: 5 Stars Cockrams Surveying Limited – 5 – happy – 16/05/2011 “very efficient very helpful very polite very fast very professional”.

They’re small, furry and firmly part of traditional British fauna. Douglas Kent, SPAB Technical Secretary, reveals all about the masonry bee, an opportunist loner with a taste for old brickwork. Q. What are masonry bees? A. “Masonry” (or “mortar”) bees are one of those solitary types that do not nest in a colony but within … Read More »

Service quality: 5 Stars Value for money: 5 Stars Cockrams Surveying Limited 5 Ann 14/05/2011 I was thrilled to bits with this firm, Colin was really great and Simon who did the survey did a smashing job, we really enjoyed the cd with pictures of the property we are buying, we didn’t really take in … Read More »

Colin our Company Director and Surveyor always goes that one step ahead of other surveyors! Last week Colin was going through deep dark holes to inspect a property! Now that’s what I call a surveyor! It was lucky he did as he found that there was traces of Fras (the refuse and excrement of boring … Read More »