Guest: Jonathan Wood, Sowerbys Estate Agents, Norfolk Cladding costs, Leasehold Laws, Communal living becoming unpopular and stories of excessive charges from freeholders have all cast a cloud over the simple lock up and leave lifestyle living in an apartment can bring. So is the market for flats well….flat? or is it springing up all over the place? Jonathan and I took a look around two top floor offerings at either end of the market. Guest: Craig Rowe, Flat Renovator and TV Presenter Whether you’re on the top rung of the ladder of the bottom layer of the housing market, an offering of an apa ..read more

Property is never far from his mind and alongside the odd rental, Craig has made a fantastic job of renovating leasehold flats, an area of the property market struggling against issues including cladding, changes in leaseholder laws and avoidance of communal living.  Before all of those issues crept in, Craig created a fantastic restful retreat from a seventies, South London, second-floor duplex. Richard went to meet him to get a look around. Also on the programme, a round-up of news making the headlines in the property markets right now: Business is booming for bungalows according to ma ..read more

Fresh from our journeys looking at home buying abroad, we’re back in the UK with a great set of programmes and a better lineup of guests from the world of Property purchasing, refurbishing, renting or selling.  Todays’ guest can only be described as a hugely influential force in the property industry. He’s the Commercial Director of an international Law Firm, a developer, renovator, buyer and seller but we’re more familiar with him from his massive on-screen presence.  He's spent almost twenty years helping buyers find their dream home either in the UK as part of the top rating prope ..read more

This special of Home Away from Home: Work looks at the decades-old love affair between UK property buyers and the desire to own a home in the sun.  We specifically home in on an area very popular with overseas homeowners from all over northern Europe – the eastern Costa del Sol. We talk to ‘A Place in the Sun’s Jasmine Harman about her knowledge and experience in the area, an estate agent from the local town of Competa shows us around two very different villas and an Englishman tells us why he bought and the changes he’s seen in his life since he made the step of investing overseas.  ..read more

This special of Home Away from Home: Work is devoted to a lady who’s spent almost twenty years making our overseas property dreams come true…Jasmine Harman started her job presenting Channel 4’s ‘A Place in the Sun’ 18 years ago. For over two decades the programme, Jasmine and her colleagues on the show, have made dozens and dozens of dreams come true as budding Brits realised their desires of home owning abroad was more than just the preserve of the rich and famous. I managed to find a gap in Jasmine Harman’s schedule, in between returning from Gran Canaria and flying off to Tenerife, and I s ..read more

In episode 7 we summarise DES RES and move on to the ten questions you should ask when looking at a new home. The programme contains a round-up of stories affecting the property market right now. If you are a new listener to Home:Work, we would love to hear from you. Please visit our Contact Page and let us know how we can help you today! In this episode, we discuss: ● Property Market ● Renovations ● Self Building ● Fine property ● The advice of buying in today’s property market Follow our Podcast ● Thehomework.co.uk Follow our Host ● Richardblack.co.uk Explore these Resources or Items Ment ..read more

To Buy or Not to Buy confronts a set of first-time buyers with a brand new house – whilst it sounds like a match made in heaven, the decision process puts Jamie and Sarah through hell.  Meanwhile, at the very top of the housing ladder, there’s trouble of a different kind. Rachel and Grenville admit they are property addicts, they’ve moved 14 times in 20 years and own around £10,000,000 worth of property. Even with all of that success and wealth, the route to downsizing from their £3.5million home is turbulent – hear their remarkable story. In episode 6 we put the second S into Des Res, as ..read more

Lockdowns and a desire to be away from people triggered home moves in unknown quantities as people sought a place away from the rigours of Covid. We speak to one man who, after over 30 years living and working in a City, has sold up and is heading for the Countryside and his first-ever back garden! In episode 5 we put the second E into Des Res, as we work through our Home Made Home Work six-stage process to bag a property bargain Richard finds a development opportunity for less than £100,000 but what are the benefits and burdens of buying this bleak little studio flat in a sought after town ..read more

Her story is repeated by many, often dreaded by some, but cannot be ignored by any of us. Sarah (and her partner Jamie) are taking every chance they can to get on the first rung of the property ladder, but even with good jobs, good salaries and a good deposit, the market outruns them with potentially devastating consequences.  In episode 4 we put the R into Des Res, as we work through our Home Made Home Work six-stage process to bag a property bargain Richard finds a development opportunity for less than £100,000 and not only is it detached and developable it could also have a sea view ..read more

How do you solve problems? Like Maria… in this edition of Home:Work we meet self build and renovator Maria and she tells Richard about her property journey and the latest project she’s embarking on. We find out a bit more about who is Richard Black? The show puts the first ‘S’ into Des Res the six-stage information process to help buy a property. And; Are you a postcode snob? Richard Black and Jonathan Wood talk about the absurdity of one digit in a postcode adding (or subtracting) thousand of digits from the price of a home. The programme contains a round-up of stories affecting the proper ..read more