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Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Say no to gnomes? New study says the cute lawn ornaments could 'knock £12,000 off price of neighbour's home'
Collecting garden gnomes has become a peculiarly popular British hobby and always provides a treat for passersby. But 'a lawn' filled with the quirky statues might not be as much fun for neighbours – as it can knock £12,000 off the value of their homes. Researchers at Churchill Home Insurance quizzed 500 estate agents across the country to find out the biggest problems caused by neighbouring properties when selling a house. They found that messy front gardens filled with junk or rubbish and decrepit sheds were the number one and number two issues, each knocking £13,000 off the asking price of a property. Excessive use of garden gnomes, statues and ornaments slotted in at third place, causing buyers to lower their bids by £12,000. The study found the average house price in the UK now is £268,000, but that having neighbours who 'lower the tone' could see up to £43,000 wiped off the selling price. There are believed to be around six million garden gnomes across the UK, up from five million in 2020. In Germany, the home of the gnome – where they were invented in the early 19th century and are known as Gartenzwerge (garden dwarfs) – there are between 25 and 30 million gnomes. The eccentric decorations were introduced to Britain in 1847 by renowned gardener Sir Charles Edmund Isham, although popularity dipped severely during the two World Wars. The British love affair with gnomes peaked in the 70s, after manufacturers came up with 'naughty gnomes' including ones dressed as Smurfs, in football strips and daft costumes. In the past five years, however, sales of garden gnomes have soared by around 20 per cent. Alison Taylor, 45, of Tring, Hertfordshire, said she would be put off buying a home next to someone who didn't keep their garden tidy – or had an 'army of gnomes'. She said: 'Obviously a messy garden is an indication of what your new neighbours could be like. 'If you see cars with flat tyres in the driveway and a sofa in the front garden, you're probably not going to put an offer in - or if you do, you'll put in a lower bid. 'Garden gnomes and ornaments are fine, within reason, but if you're talking 20-odd gnomes then it would definitely put me off, but that's because I find them creepy - I'm sure other people might love them.' A spokesman for Churchill said this week: 'We asked 500 estate agents to find out how much unattractive or poorly maintained neighbouring properties can reduce the selling price of a home by. 'We found that it can reduce the price of the average home by £43,000. 'Things like rubbish in the neighbouring front garden, broken windows or excessive garden gnomes or statues are common buyer turn offs and costing sellers thousands in property prices.' The study found that 97 per cent of estate agents had told clients to 'have words' with their neighbours before putting the house on the market in a bid to get them to 'tidy up'. Sarah Khan, Head of Churchill Home Insurance, said: 'Much like family, you cannot choose your neighbours, or who moves in next door. 'Sometimes you get lucky with neighbours and sometimes less so. 'Unfortunately, no matter how well presented your house is, a messy or poorly maintained neighbouring property can have a significant, detrimental impact on your sale price. 'If you find yourself in this situation and it is a cause for concern, it is worth trying to have a chat with your neighbour to see what can be done about it. 'Even a quick tidy up can make a huge difference, it does not have to be expensive but could significantly improve the curb appeal and the price you achieve for your home.' Top neighbourhood no-nos Researchers found the top neighbourhood no-nos, and how much they could cost someone selling a house next-door; 1 - Rubbish and junk in front garden/drive - £13,000 2 - Ramshackle sheds/outbuildings in back garden - £13,000 3 - Excessive use of gnomes, statues, garden ornaments - £12,000 4 - Broken or boarded-up windows - £11,600 5 - Bad DIY jobs - £11,180 6 - Shoddy extensions - £11,180 7 - Broken down cars in front drive - £11,100 8 - Overgrown garden/weeds - £11,000 9 - Pebble dash/bad decor - £10,750 10 - Overflowing gutters - £10,320
Times
30-05-2025
- Business
- Times
UK house sales fall after April's stamp duty changes
Fewer house sales completed in April than in any month since the first lockdown after the increase in stamp duty costs. There were 55,970 residential transactions in the UK, according to the latest data from HM Revenue & Customs. That was 66 per cent fewer than in March, which was an especially busy month for estate agents, solicitors and removals companies. HMRC said it was the biggest month-on-month fall it had recorded. April was the slowest month for completions since May 2020 during the first lockdown, when the housing market was still effectively shut. By contrast, 165,340 sales went through in March, which was an 81 per cent month-on-month increase and the most since June 2021, just before the last stamp duty holiday was due to end.
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Tim Dowling: let my tortoise's humiliating mishap be a lesson to him
After an hour's work on a hot morning I leave my office shed and return to the kitchen for a coffee. Halfway there I find the tortoise lying on his back on the path. He can't have been there for more than an hour, as he wasn't there when I came out. 'What happened to you?' I say, setting him on his feet. But it's pretty obvious what happened: he tried to exit the garden bed by climbing over the border of diagonally laid bricks and overbalanced. It's an obstacle he surmounts without difficulty between five and 10 times a day in the warmer months, but occasionally – perhaps once every four years – he puts a foot wrong. So far, I have always been there to turn him back over. The mishap comes less than a week after he made his first serious escape bid in about a decade, slipping out through the open side door and getting all the way across the street before some estate agents found him. It's easy to think of the tortoise as being self-regulating and largely content, when in truth he is simultaneously vulnerable and wily – always probing the garden's perimeter for security weaknesses. 'Let this be a reminder of how poorly you'd fare out there,' I say, pointing towards the road. Then I walk away, because the tortoise always gives the impression of preferring to be left alone with his humiliation. In the kitchen I find the oldest one drinking a large coffee and staring at his laptop. He works from home on certain unspecified days of the week, this apparently being one of them. 'Hey,' I say. He watches as I go to the coffee machine, empty out the old grounds and fetch myself a cup. 'There's no milk,' he says. 'Ugh,' I say. 'Now I have to put on shoes.' Stomping to the shops, I think about the sudden spike in our milk consumption. The oldest one has returned home indefinitely. Because of this his brothers drop by more often, generally without warning. Supper plans get changed, beers are opened and the evening is suddenly dominated by frankly insane arguments about the middle ages. It's not that I don't enjoy the sound of a house filled with merry laughter and clinking glasses, it's just that I've got used to having all that by prior appointment only. The shop is out of two-litre containers of milk, so I buy two one-litre containers. I have a strong urge to write my name on one of them. In the afternoon the day turns hotter still. The tortoise sits outside my office door in the shade of a rosemary bush, perhaps imagining for a moment that he's back home in Greece – a place, I would like to remind him, where I've seen lots of empty, bleached, upside down tortoise shells lying around. The sky turns hazy and the air grows close, as if presaging a coming storm. But then the sun comes out again. I start thinking about supper, but this raises a question I can't answer: how many will we be? The tortoise has pushed himself deeper into the rosemary, which is where he'll spend the night. I head to the house to assess the situation. My wife and I arrive in the kitchen at the same moment, from opposite directions. 'What are you doing in here?' she says. 'Never mind that,' I say. 'What are you doing in here?' There is a thoughtful pause. 'Can't remember,' she says. A key turns in the front door lock, and the middle one walks in. His hair is matted to his head, his sleeves are dripping on to the floor, and his shoes squelch as he walks. 'You're soaking wet!' my wife says. 'I just got caught in the worst downpour I've ever seen,' he says. 'But it hasn't rained here at all,' I say. 'Hail, lightning, flash floods, everything,' he says. 'It was crazy.' 'Take everything off and put it in the dryer,' my wife says. 'Not a drop,' I say, 'I was going to water the garden later.' The oldest one walks in. 'What happened to you?' he says. 'Do you want to stay to supper?' my wife says. 'Yeah,' the middle one says, a puddle forming under him. 'So that's four,' I say. 'No, I'm going out,' the oldest one says. As I stare into the fridge it occurs to me that the more often people are here, the more likely it is someone will find me when I end up on my back on the garden path.
