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Thursday, May 20, 2021 51

Newbury Weekly News

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Find your perfect home in west berkshire here each week in Newbury home search and online anytime at www.newburyhomesearch.co.uk www.newburyhomesearch.co.uk A Newbury News Limited publication

Hussars is a hit A SPACIOUS, detached family home in Hussars Drive, just a short walk to Thatcham railway station, this property benefits from a garage, driveway parking and a south-facing garden. rooms with fitted wardrobes, a fourth bedroom and a modernised family bathroom. The property has a lawned front garden, with a hedge for privacy, and a footpath. To the side of the house is a single garage with driveway park- ing in front and to the rear is a gen- erous garden, predominantly laid to lawn, with a large patio. The ground floor accommodation comprises an entrance hallway, with cupboards and drawers under the stairs, a living room with feature fireplace, a dining room with French doors opening on to the rear garden, a modernised kitchen/breakfast room with breakfast bar, a utility room, cloakroom and study. All main services are connected. The property operates on gas fired central heating and benefits from double glazing. The guide price is £450,000.

You can bank on this family home Will the property market continue to boom? To the first floor is the master bed- room with en-suite shower room and fitted wardrobes, two further bed- For more details, call (01488) 733337 or visit jonesrobinson. co.uk

THIS beautifully-presented four-bedroom detached family home is located in Burys Bank Road, opposite Greenham Common. It is ideal for leisure and dog walks, and within easy reach of Newbury just to the south east of the town. The spacious accommodation consists of an entrance hall, kitchen/breakfast room, dining room, living room, conservatory, study, utility room, cloakroom, master bedroom with en-suite and built-in wardobes, two further double bedrooms with built-in wardrobes, fourth bedroom with built-in wardrobe and family bathroom. Benefits include driveway parking, garage, very well-maintained enclosed rear garden, gas-fired central heating and upvc double glazing. The guide price is £595,000. For more details, call (01635) 523777 or visit www.downer.co.uk For private sale and rental properties, see the classifieds section of the Newbury Weekly News. @newburytoday ❑ Follow us through the week Thursday January 10, 2019, £1 Families in emergency meeting on care home Newbury Business Today See the full story and all the area’s latest business news inside Gabrielle on a mission to boost local economy Council’s new economic development officer wants to strengthen digital infrastructure NEW YEAR NEW YOU Time for a fresh start 8-page pull-out inside

By SIMON DOWNER Director, Downer & Co

ALL the signs are that the Newbury housing market is sitting on good foundations, yet one key hazard could still scupper the market. ‘UK Property Prices Rising at Record Levels’ is the headline of many newspapers. In the last few weeks, the Halifax reported they had grown by 6.5 per cent in the last 12 months, while the Nationwide said 7.1 per cent and the Government’s own Land Registry said 8.6 per cent. Nothing new there then, you might think – don’t UK house prices always increase? Actually, they don’t, as many homeowners will remember 2009, when they dropped by 19 per cent. Also, some more mature homeowners will remember the early 1990s where house prices dropped just over 40 per cent over four years. So, the increase in UK house prices over the last 12 months has mystified all the forecasts made by most economists. House prices were forecast to drop during the pandemic because during the previous six UK recessions experienced since WW2, they have always fallen sharply in real terms. Yet 2020 was different, with house price growth increasing at its highest rate since 2014 as the substantial Government support programmes (including Bounce Back Loans, grants and furlough) has mollified the hit to

mortgage affordability, which measures the proportion of mortgage payments to average incomes. For all mortgage holders in 2015, this stood at 24.13 per cent and today it is only just above the national long-term average of 25 per cent, demonstrating that property is still affordable. Yet, the lifeblood of the property market are first-time buyers. The long-term average percentage of income which goes on mortgage payments for first-time buyers is 33 per cent. Just before the 1989 property market crash, this stood at 54 per cent, while before the 2008 crash, it reached 49 per cent. Today, it stands at 31.7 per cent, thanks to low interest rates. n Continued next week Newbury’s Van & Truck Hire Specialists Make the smart move, call 01635 552200 smart hire vehicle rental CARS ● VANS ● MINIBUSES ● TRUCKS www.SmarthireVehicleRental.co.uk

household incomes. Add to that the pent-up demand from the Boris Bounce, all the people working from home wanting an extra room for an office and therefore needing to move, plus the Stamp Duty tax holiday and 0.1 per cent Bank of England interest rates and borrowing has been kept affordable. This has meant Newbury property values are 7.9 per cent higher than a year ago, yet the affordability of property is still a big issue. By the time of the height of the last property boom in 2008, the national ratio of average property values to earnings had risen from 5.1 in 2000 to 8.8 (ie the average house price was 8.8 times the size of the UK’s average person’s annual earnings). We then had the property crash, and the ratio dropped to around late sixes/early sevens. However, over the last few years, the ratio has been steadily rising and now with the recent growth in demand for property, the ratio has now smashed past nine. So, are we heading for another crash? Maybe, maybe not – because the house price to earnings ratio only tells us part of the story. Another indicator of the property market is

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newburytoday ❑

No new admissions after multiple complaints

WELFARE checks are being carried out at a Newbury care home follow- ing complaints about the quality of care and the treatment of residents. Reviews are also being completed for all those who reside at Winchcombe Place after a number of concerns were received from concerned relatives. Care UK, the provider that runs the home on Maple Crescent, admitted the quality of care had “fallen below the high standards” it expects. It added that it would not be accept- ing new admissions for the foreseeable future, so it could focus on the care it gives to existing residents. West Berkshire Council said it had been made aware of the issues and was working with the Care Quality Commission to ensure an appropriate improvement plan was in place to keep people safe. The local authority added that it took the responsibilities of the people in its care “very seriously” and confirmed it has th bil e a ity to ter i t

The balloons that had Newbury looking up A composite picture of four images taken over a period of 40 minutes of balloons rising from Donnington Grove Hotel on Saturday morning, as seen from Donnington Castle Picture by Chris Meads

Report by DAN COOPER email dan.cooper@newburynews.co.uk twitter @danc_nwn

only received one formal complaint, it had been contacted by multiple family members to alert them to further concerns. In a statement, the council said: “These issues have been raised by vari- ous people including the Care Quality Commission and the family and friends of residents at the home. “Once we became aware of these concerns we wanted to meet with rela- tives to inform them of the situation, to give them the opportunity to ask ques- tions and gain further information from the families about their experi- ences of care at the home. “The meeting was attended by approximately 70 family and friends of residents.” It d a ded: “We t B k

A COLOURFUL array of hot air balloons floated across the skies above West Berkshire over the weekend. The annual Icicle Refrozen Balloon Meet – an informal, unsponsored event

which is open to all balloonists – took place on Saturday and Sunday morning. Around 50 balloons left the Donnington Grove Hotel and Country Club shortly

before 9am, much to the delight of onlookers who had gathered to witness the spectacle. Go to Newburytoday.co.uk for more pictures.

Extra mental health support for district’s children A PROJECT to support and improve children’s mental health is being trialled in West Berkshire.

said: “I have seen first-hand the excellent work already being done in schools to support children and young people with their mental health. “These new dedicated teams will build on this working clo l i , se y w th childr

Council, Reading Borough Council and Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Both local authority areas will have their own ment l h l a ea th support t

Berkshire West has been selected by NHS England to pilot a three-year project to run two dedicated mental health and support teams

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