Looking ahead, projections point to modest improvements. Savills has revised its 2025 price growth forecast down to 1 %, citing economic uncertainty and early-year softness, though it expects a stronger rebound of 24.5 % cumulatively from 2025–2029 as mortgage conditions ease further. RICS data shows buyer demand has returned to positive territory (+3 % net), but price pressures linger (net balance –7 %), suggesting a stabilizing but cautious market. The consensus is clear: affordability improvements and an uptick in transactions are on the horizon, but any
EWS1 assessments, or External Wall System 1 assessments, were introduced in the UK in 2019 as a standardized process to evaluate the safety of external wall systems, particularly in residential buildings. The form was developed jointly by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Building Societies Association (BSA), and UK Finance in response to heightened concerns about fire risks following the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
An EWS1 form is typically needed when selling, buying, or remortgaging a flat in a residential building with external wall systems, especially if there’s cladding or
The Office for National Statistics has reported that UK house prices experienced their fastest annual growth since December 2022, increasing by 6.4% in the 12 months to March 2025, up from 5.5% in February. This surge was mainly a result of impending expiration of temporary tax incentives aimed at aiding buyers of lower-cost properties and first-time purchasers.
Depending on whether a conservatory is thermally separate from the main house it may be classified as an extension.
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Unheated conservatories (i.e., those without a fixed heating system connected to the house): Must be thermally separated to be exempt from full Building Regulations.
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Heated conservatories: If connected to the home’s central heating or fitted with permanent heating, the conservatory is treated as a full extension and must meet the same insulation and energy performance requirements as the rest of the house —
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This week, the UK residential property market is experiencing a notable surge in activity, driven by a combination of anticipated Bank of England interest rate cuts and impending stamp duty changes. Rightmove forecasts a 4% rise in average asking prices for 2025, marking the strongest prediction since 2021. The market is particularly buoyant as buyers rush to complete transactions before the stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers decreases from £425,000 to £300,000 on April 1st. This urgency has led to a 12% increase in new sales agreed compared to the same period last year, according to Zoopla. Despite these positive
Customers Comments
Below is a selection of comments that clients have kindly provided following surveys.
