Thursday 29 September 2016

Larkfleet invests in the future through training

At Larkfleet we are serious about supporting communities and it gives us great pleasure to put this into practice by backing local education and training initiatives.

Greater Peterborough UTC (GPUTC) is an exciting new University Technical College in the heart of Peterborough. It aims to provide students with an educational experience that will equip them with the technical skills and practical work experience needed to get ahead in their chosen technical career.

The college is very much based on training and Larfkeet is delighted to be part of this great initiative.

Karl Hick, CEO of The Larkfleet Group of Companies, said:"Larkfleet has been involved in the creation of the Greater Peterborough University Technical College since before the first plans were drawn up. We were one of only three local ‘employer sponsors’ at the outset of the project, donating both cash and expertise to help get the college started. 

"As a company we have always placed an emphasis on investing in the future of the construction industry by supporting young local people. The GPUTC will help local students get a solid foundation of hands-on experience alongside educational learning, increasing their skills and providing them with great career potential for the future." 

Our photo shows Karl talking to students at GPUTC just after the start of its first term.

Larkfleet is really dedicated to training the next generation of construction professionals. If you are interested in this being you, visit www.gputc.com






Wednesday 28 September 2016

A perfect home for nature lovers

At Larkfleet we understand that all our customers are different. This is why each of our property developments aims to offer you something different.

Gretton Valley is a great example of this Larkfleet ethos.



Set in 1,200 acres of parkland, this new development will see you living in your very own eco-friendly one, two, three, four or five bedroom house.

The local village to Gretton Valley is Weldon with all the village amenities you need - a church, shop and pub!

The area also offers great local and private schools making Gretton Valley an ideal place for you and your family to set up home.

For more information on availability visit the Larkfleet website or call sales adviser Pam Mirfin for more details on 07825171512.

Saturday 24 September 2016

Make a move to Stamford

Have you thought about making a move to the historic and beautiful market town of Stamford in Lincolnshire?


Voted in the top four places to live by the Sunday Times back in 2013, it's easy to see why so many people favour Stamford when it comes to relocating and making that wonderful new start.

With great commuter links, top schools, beautiful architecture and great shopping, moving to Stamford is a.. well... great move!

At Larkfleet, we make sure our property developments are placed in top locations and Anvil Mews is no exception.



A luxury collection of ten stone townhouses designed in keeping with the tradition limestone buildings of the town, this development is pure luxury. 

Call 07717895399 to arrange a viewing - we have one property left and we want you to have it!


Friday 23 September 2016

Macmillan Coffee Morning - The countdown begins!

With just a week to go until the fun begins, us busy people at Larkfleet are getting ready for one big coffee morning!

The Macmillan Coffee Morning is a terrific event and one that Larklfleet takes great pride in being a part of.

The first Coffee Morning happened way back in 1990 with a small and simple idea - a few people gathering to have a coffee and donate the cost of their cuppa to Macmillan in the process.

Well, it's safe to say the campaign has certainly grown in popularity since that first coffee date.

A staggering £138 million has been raised for Macmillan so far!

Now it's our time to show some support and we will be holding our very own Macmillan Coffee Morning at all of our developments on Friday 30th September. 

You can enjoy some delicious cake too! We will see you there!

Visit www.larkfleet.co.uk for more info.



Is it time to relocate to Oakham?

According to The Guardian, 'there comes a time in a person's life when one starts to appreciate a place like Oakham' and here at Larkfleet, we couldn't agree more!

Nested perfectly in the Rutland countryside, Oakham is a beautiful market town with plenty to offer its new residents.

From quirky shops to traditional bakeries, a farmer's market and one of the country's top public schools, you could do a lot worse than making a move to Oakham.

The Larkfleet Buttercross Park development is situated off Barleythorpe Road in Oakham and offers a fine selection of homes and townhouses aimed at couples and growing families who are looking for a stylish, traditional and environmentally friendly home. 

So if you want a rural lifestyle in a pretty market town with all the benefits that come with good transport links, Oakham should be at the top of your 'looking to move to' list.

The sales office is open daily from 10am - 5pm and you can call us on 01572 722262 to get the ball rolling (and the keys for your new beautiful Larkfleet home), 



Friday 16 September 2016

Selling your house? Get prepared!


Before you move into your lovely new Larkfleet property, we thought it would be a great idea to offer you some top tips on how you can best sell your house. We've found a great article offering just that which we hope will make your new home buying adventure so much more fun and remove all the horrible stress!

Planning

Creating a budget

Are you one of those who think that selling a house will not cost that much, retrace your thinking process and evaluate again. Selling a house means that you have to make upgrades in order to make it more presentable to the potential buyers and to increase the sale-ability of the house, to set aside money for the agent, to plan the budget for moving and to buy things like packing boxes and tape for easy moving.

Creating a budget will help you deal with the expenses that come with selling your property, as you can make better decisions beforehand about what and where to spend money on, and be prepared to deal with the spending in an efficient manner.


Don’t sell your house before you buy your new one 

Many people make the mistake of thinking that since selling a house before buying a new one is a better choice, either because they think they can use the money for the house that they just sold to buy the new one, or that they think that the selling process would take a long time and would be a hassle, and it would be better just to sell it first and buy a new one later.

How very wrong!  The problem with this thought is that you lose precious amount of time and money if you think about selling before you have bought. It’s like putting a horse before the carriage—it just doesn’t work.

Buying a new home comes first, since you need to ensure that you have somewhere to go. If you don’t do that, the moving will be extremely difficult and costly. You will have the choice of renting a place until you shift to the new home, in which case the cost of rent and the cost of moving twice (to the rented place and to the new house) will probably empty all your savings, and put a constant strain on you as you would have to think about buying a new place and moving again.

On the other hand, if you sell your house after you secure a place for your family or yourself, you get the benefit of saving on hundreds and thousands of pounds and getting the peace of mind of finally settling in a home.

Don’t forget to get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)

In the United Kingdom, you are legally bound to get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) before you sell your property. In case you don’t, you will be fined for it. You are required to show the EPC to the buyers as it helps them get an insight about the energy efficiency of your home. The ratings of EPC range from A to G, with A being the most efficient and G being the least efficient. The EPC also illustrates:
  • The energy use of the house and the typical cost of energy.
  • The suggestions about limiting energy use and saving money.
Make your decision about how you want to sell your house

There are three ways that you can sell your home:
  • On your own–the traditional way
  • Through a high street agent
  • Through an online agent.
If you or your spouse has a former experience in real estate business, and you don’t mind spending long hours searching for buyers and doing the grunt work, then by all means sell your property the traditional way.

The middle ground is using the high street agent, and the most modern and easier way to sell your house is through an online agent.

Online agencies use property portals like Rightmove and Zoopla, which are checked by serious buyers, so you can ensure that the buyers that contact you are thinking about making a deal, and not just “window shopping”.

Decide when you want to sell your house

Almost all of the property experts agree on the matter that there are some times in the year that it is beneficial to sell, while others in which it is disadvantageous to sell. If you are not bound by any other considerations, like if you have to sell your house fast due to an emergency, then you should definitely time when you put up your house for sale.

The best and worst times to sell your property in the UK are spring and autumn, and summer and winter, respectively. Since spring and autumn are the times when people have free time to consider the lengthy process of looking for a house, there is a lot of traffic of buyers in the market. During summer, people are busy enjoying their holidays, and in winter, they are preparing for Christmas, so these times are often less successful.
Preparing

Now that you have planned everything, you need to prepare your house and yourself for the process of selling your house.

Most of the renovations that we will discuss here are the ones that improve the curb appeal of the house. This is because spending your money on improving the curb appeal gives the most returns when you sell your house in the UK. So, here we go:

Take care of the basics

If you are investing money on the expensive stuff and ignore the basic upgrades like leaking ducts or broken windows, all your hopes of impressing a potential buyer will be torn, shredded and burnt to ash.

If the buyer sees that the basic necessities are up and running, they might not even mind making some upgrades on their own!

Insulation

During winters, heating expenses increase, and if you show your viewers that you have insulation installed that will manage the expenses to an affordable level, you will get more points.

Front door replacement

More often than not, minor replacements can reap huge benefits and a front door replacement is one of them.

Replacing your front door is a simple, tried and tested method that can significantly increase the value of a home. Your front door is one of the pieces making up the curb appeal of your house.

New garage door

A new garage door will go a long way to improve the curb appeal of your house. The best part is that you can get it at quite an affordable price, so you don’t have to worry about overspending your budget, either.

Convert your attic into a bedroom

Whew, we’ve talked a lot about the exterior. Let’s now talk about the interior of your home.
Thinking out of the box comes in very handy when you need to get something done in a tight budget. If you think that adding a room will increase the value of your house, why not think about converting your dusty, old attic into a bedroom? Sure, it will cost more than replacing your front door, but it will also cost less than adding a new room. There is also less hassle as you don’t need to worry about the foundation costs and dirt work.

Not having to add on your house’s footprint keeps the remodelling costs under control while adding a functioning and pleasant living space in your home.

Use neutral paint and remove personalisation

If your home is personalised to your taste, it is time to remove that. This is because the potential buyers would need a blank slate to picture their house in, and if a house already brims with your personal touch, they will have a harder time imagining it from their perspective. This is why you should use neutral paint like white and beige to make it easy for the viewers to imagine themselves living in the house.

Set the price of your house

Once you have all the necessary upgrades and renovations, you need to set a price on your house. Check the pricing of the houses in the neighbourhood, and make an estimate about the price of yours. To get a calculated estimate, you can use the online free estimate by Zoopla, which takes the information about your house and guesses the price. You can use this estimate as a head start and discuss with your agent to make a more accurate estimate.

Prepare yourself for viewers

Viewers are going to come by according to their own schedule, and the house needs to be available even when you are not home. It is very disappointing to a potential buyer to see that a home that they wanted to check out is locked, and they are unlikely to come back. In order to prevent this, simply give a spare key to your reliable agent or trusty neighbour who will do the job of showing the viewers around when you are not at home.

Exchange contracts

Once you successfully negotiate the deal, you can now exchange drafts. This is the legal binding that transfers the property to the buyer. Because neither party can get out of this agreement without paying a penalty, you need to make sure that you are on the same page with your buyer and everything has been discussed and agreed upon before you exchange the contracts.

Packing (and moving out)

Once you have been through with the whole process of selling your house, you need to move out. You need to pack carefully, and it is better that you start doing that beforehand. All the items that are not in used should be boxed up so that you only need to worry about packing the essentials when it is time to make the move. If your new house is nearby, you can take all the stuff easily on your own, with some help from friends. However, if your new house is quite far, it is better if you hire a moving service to aid you.

We think that has it all covered and a big thank you to www.journalism.co.uk for publishing such a great article! So, now you know how to sell your house, give us a call at Larkfleet and buy your new one!

Monday 12 September 2016

Larkfleet aim to supply renewable power to off-grid rural communities in India


Lark Energy recently submitted a proposal to build the containerised version of the Solar Steam technology to supply renewable heat and power to off-grid rural communities in India.

Dubbed ‘solar steam’, the Larkfleet technology concentrates the power of the sun’s rays to heat water to create steam which can be used as a sustainable energy solution in industrial processes.

If successful, Larkfleet proposes to deliver a two-year project which will be carried out in partnership with Cranfield University and an Indian solar collector manufacturer. The total budget is about £550,000 and Larkfleet is directly contributing £128,000 to see the project to fruition.

Simone Perini, renewable energy development engineer at Lark Energy, said: “Solar steam has the potential to transform energy access in developing countries. In particular we are looking at delivering a mobile containerised energy system that is able to operate where the grid is unbalanced, unreliable or unavailable – like rural India.”

The Larkfleet solar steam system works by focusing the sun’s rays through a Fresnel lens array onto a tube which contains water. The water is heated to create steam which can be used in industrial process heating and cooling applications or for power generation.

Simone added: “To show the global potential of the technology we have entered round four of the Energy Catalyst competition. We are collaborating with academic and commercial partners to deliver this project in India and we are also seeking to demonstrate the viability of this technology in other regions.”



For more information on solar steam visit www.solarsteam.co.uk