What a start to the week!

It has been a lovely bank holiday weekend with the royal wedding (yes I admit it I watched and cried - the bride looked beautiful) and the fact that the sun has been shining and April was a very busy month for work. But then back to work on tuesday, was feeling positive and happy (hoping that work was going to stay busy) did a few epcs in the morning and came back to upload them and book in two vendors who were selling through an estate agent I have known and worked with for the past 3 years.

And what a phone call that turned out to be - I was told in no uncertain terms with alot of swearing that "its a waste of money" "it'll be gone soon like the hips thingy" "I aint chucking any more money anyway". I was (very proud of myself) very polite and professional. I explained that the the regulations were in the process of changing ie 7 days not 28 days, that it was a legal requirement and that it would require doing. In the end though there was no getting through to the vendor so I have had to refer it back to the estate agents and will wait and see what happens.

I will admit that if I end up doing the epc on that particular property I will be slightly nervous as the gentleman was very aggressive.

On a positive side the estate agents were absolutely disgusted and were sending out a letter to the vendor explaining that the epc had to be done regardless of his views on the matter.

Anyway heres hoping that May turns into a very busy month for all of us involved in the housing industry.

Where there is hope

So its now April - the months of 2011 have flown by so far and hopefully work will continue to get busier.

During the month of March I added to my services with Fresh as a Daisy - its an end of tenancy cleaning company that makes sure a property is properly cleaned, oven gleaming, windows smear free and smelling fresh before new tenants move in. One of the reasons for this is I am trying to save estate/letting agents and landlords time - instead of 3 phone calls to get the EPC,inventory and cleaning sorted they now have to make only 1 call (to me!) and its all organised leaving them to concentrate on obtaining new tenants/new sales etc which is of great importance in this current financial climate.

I have noticed though that the DEAs that seem to be surviving the recession are the ones that (apart from making sure they are professional, up to date and have high standards of customer care and quick turnaround times) have added additional services to their business. Its definately a case of making sure that not all your eggs are in one basket.

Have seen some promising news though today via the EAT blog - http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Hopeful-signs-for-spring-housing-market. Which explains that there are signs of new growth in the market!

Am very hopeful about IDEAs petition to bring down the length of time that the EPCs are valid for is taken into account soon with the powers that be - 10 years is definately too long, there is too much that can be changed during that length of time and it really does need to be only valid for 1 year. Fingers crossed!

Off now to check on the seedlings in my greenhouse - am hopeful that should be a good amount of home made salsa from homegrown cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and peppers this year! (Thats if the children stop eating them off the plants)

Before I forget the Draw an ECO house competition ends this friday so please if you have 2 minutes spare log on to Hazel Green Associates on Facebook and have a look at the fantastic drawings the children have done! They had some wonderful ideas.

Been a while

Well its been a long while since I wrote in this and there has been a bit going on........

The competition for Draw an ECO House is underway, and you can vote on the drawings by the children (follow this link.....http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=125357600814357&aid=69402 ) you have to click like on the drawing you want to vote for - you can vote once for key stage 1 and once for key stage 2.
The drawings are fantastic and you can see how much effort the children have put into this competition.

Work has been steady, could always do with it being busier but its given me time to add a new service! So along with EPCs (domestic and commercial), floorplans, photos, descriptions and inventories I now offer an end of tenancy cleaning service. Its definately becoming more of a one stop shop for letting and estate agents! But it saves time if you can get the EPC, floorplan, inventory and cleaning organised with just one phone call and know that it is done to a very high standard.

I am hoping with the news of help for first time buyers we are going to start to see the housing market pick up and start to get busier. I am also waiting to see if the petition that was organised is going to work and the "Life" span of an EPC will be brought into line with that of the gas safety certificates. Given how much can change over 10 years it would make a lot of sense if the EPC was only valid for 1 year.

Lifespan

It has definately been a good weekend. My youngest turned two on Sunday so we spent the weekend doing lots of family things that the kids would like. The only bad point was that agility training was cancelled on Sunday due to waterlogged field - I tend to rely on those 2 hours to give me a break.

Am off to work shortly which is always a good way to start the week. One of the jobs is for a direct client that I have carried out an EPC for before - over 2 years ago, so it is very nice to be remembered!

Had a few interesting emails this weekend. I am hoping to be part of an independant DEA co-operative soon, it should be operating Nationwide which will allow us all to quote (professionally) for larger estate agents as we will be able to offer nationwide coverage with high standards of service. I do feel it is very important for estate agents to be confident that the DEA they are sending out is polite, well presented and does the EPC in a quick turnaround to fit in with the client.

The other interesting email I have had is with regards to a petition -
"Good Afternoon,

After recent discussion on our forum on the Subject of: Ten Year Life Span of EPCs I am writing to make you aware of a petition we have been involved in finalising which is now live.

See here - Petition to reduce the life span of EPCs

We have recently been working hard in association with the Institute of Domestic Energy Assessors (IDEA) on the petition and campaign. IDEA will be coordinating responses and be promoting the campaign to the wider industry.

I would urge those who support the goal of reducing the lifespan of EPCs to become involved. 

So how can I help?

• You can simply download the petition form from the petition's dedicated area. Please gather signatures of as many people who support the petition and return to the address at the bottom of the petition form.
• Forward this email to your friends, family and colleagues.
• Help us promote and raise awareness online. For eg Be sure to "like" and "share" the page on facebook and tweet the subject on Twitter.
• Come to the forum and show your support

With recent indications of a desire to address the EPC lifespan , now is the time to make your voice heard on the subject.

We will endeavour to provide regular updates on the campaigns progression and look forward to your support.

Thank you for your time.

Kindest regards

The Housing Energy Advisor Team"

This is a good idea, alot of the general public (and some DEAs) are still unsure as to how long the EPC is valid for. It would also encourage the home owner to improve the efficency of the property (think energy efficency is the new granite worktop - New York). Any organisation or individual who is involved in trying to improve the EPC and, by a knock on affect, the industry of energy assessors should be thanked and supported so I for one will be supporting IDEA and The Housing Energy Advisor Team in this campaign.

Information highway/Social networking

I was finally (having a spare 5 minutes) investigating twitter and how it works properly - and I found where people had "retweeted" me or tweeted me a message. So firstly apologies to those who have done that - I wasn't ignoring anyone, I was just ignorant of how twitter worked.

While I was checking out twitter I found an interesting blog - worthwhile to follow: http://www.dailygreennews.co.uk

So while I was reading the above blog I found the link to Estate Agent today where there is a lovely story about how there is another wonderful course coming out for Energy Assessors to take, although there is no promise of any work and the Government have not fully committed to anything as yet - am sure everyone can see where that story is going! http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Here-we-go-again%3A-DEAs-asked-to-part-with-more-money

"The Building Research Establishment would like a cool £900 off them for a place on a three-day training course that might (though it’s not guaranteed) give them some kind of qualification to become one of those new Green Deal jobbies, a Home Energy Adviser. Steer well clear, is our advice. As the BRE itself admits, the Government hasn’t even launched an official scheme yet, so “BRE cannot provide an official qualification”.Mystifyingly, it adds: “However, we are very confident that this course provides all the information you will need to carry out detailed and practical home energy surveys and offer comprehensive advice.”"
So we are still in a fairly quiet market, still seeing new DEAs emerge from new training courses (advertised as the opportunity to earn £40k plus!???) and then there is this news - suppose we are going to see more training providers taking this opportunity!

DEAs really need to be fighting their own corner on this, I have repeatedly said it over the past 3 plus years but we all need to stand together and get something sorted with regards to our own industry before it gets any worse.

A horrible day - Lorry versus Mother.

This post is completely unrelated to work, but I feel the urge to vent so this seems to be a good place!

I try and do my bit and whenever possible I walk to collect my daughter from school or son from playschool. It saves me petrol (bloody expensive now!) and keeps me fitter (eating chocolate while you walk doesn't count does it?).

Unfortunately my daughters school is on a very narrow road. The parking there is tricky to say the least which means some parents park on the zigzag lines, double yellow lines, half up on the pavement and double park. You can imagine how much fun negotiating all that is with a double pushchair.

Last wednesday I had walked up the school and my 3 year old was walking so I just had the two year old in the pushchair. As we came out of the school there was a HGV sitting at the side of the road, on the "wrong" side, engine turned off sitting on the zigzag lines. The driver was refusing to move and was trying to make the drivers of cars coming the other way back up so he could get where he wanted to go.

I basically ignored it all and was smugly thinking ha ha this is why I walk up! I walked on the pavement with the children alongside the lorry.

Unfortunately this is when my smugness got shattered. The lorry moved and as it swung back out to the right side of the road its tailgate bars swung out and caught my pushchair. This started to drag my pushchair (containing the 2 year old) backwards and towards the road.
I don't remember much - according to some of the other mothers I dragged the pushchair off the bars, shoved the 8yr and 3 yr old into the hedge alongside the pavement to get them out of harms way before shouting in not so polite terms at the driver.

The driver of the lorry seemed to think that since the children were unharmed and it was only me that had been clipped by the tailbars on my arm (as well as wrenching my muscles by dragging the pushchair away from the HGV) that all should be forgiven and ignored.

I am not so forgiving when it comes to situations like this - IF my 3 year old had been in the pushchair like he is normally those heavy metal tailbars would have hit him in his face doing god knows what kind of damage, if I hadn't have dragged the pushchair off the tail bars my 2 year old would have been dragged down the road in the pushchair. And due to this the police were called.

Have got to admit that the youngest two are having nightmares as am I at the moment.

Hopefully the parking situation will resolve its self soon but it has put me off walking up to school for the time being.

Got to hope.

Reading through the news this morning all I could find was doom and gloom in regards to the housing market - housing market remaining slow, pessimism affecting housing market and highly uncertain, being the main headlines online today.

But click on to them and read through and there is a glimmer of hope! So I have "swiped" the positive comments out for everyone to see below:

"“However, there is a very clear regional pattern emerging, with London seeing a greater level of price resilience, while in much of the North and Midlands the market remains under greater pressure.” http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Housing-market-gets-off-to-a-bad-start-says-RICS

"Atlantic Canadians may feel they can afford to scrimp and save to pay off debt built up during a holiday buying spree, as the bank suggests, but those same people may feel that purchasing a new home is just too far out of their reach for now. But there is a touch of irony that a simple decision by individuals to hold off on making major purchases, such as a new home, ultimately affects the broader economy"
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1226718.html
It seems that the Canadians are experiencing what we in the UK are. There is little confidence in the market and therefore people aren't buying - but if there was the confidence then we would see higher prices, more properties on the market and more work and better for the economy. Unfortunately (yes, I am on that "soapbox" again) until the Government puts pressure on the banks to make it easier to get a mortgage again we aren't going to see the influx of first time buyers on the market that we need.

Ending January in a positive mood!

I am in a very good mood today! Partly because I have EPCs booked in for tomorrow (I always like to start and end the month with work booked in, makes me feel positive for the month ahead) and partly because of all the news I have seen recently:

1. " Quidos investigate Trading Standards regime

Quidos has conducted a survey of all UK Local Authorities and the amount of enforcement that has been implemented with regard to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.It is clear there is very minimal, and in the vast majority, no enforcement action being undertaken by local trading standards in regard of EPBD regulations. 65 of the 177 authorities, that responded, have made zero enquiries into EPBD compliance. A further 48 authorities had made less than 10 enquiries.In 2008/09 £3.4million was provided by DCLG to cover the costs of EPBD enforcement to Local Authorities (in England and Wales). In the following years this has been reduced to £1.9million per year.

To date over £6,000,000.00 has been funded from the public purse to English and Welsh Local Authorities who have made enquiries of under 7,000 buildings in the past 3 years. Of these inspections 75% of them were conducted by just 14 separate TSOs. A total of 23 Penalty Charge Notices have been issued, which represents a lack of appetite to penalise rather than high rates of compliance. What enforcement that exists, is largely reactive rather than proactive. This would suggest that either there is very high compliance with the regulations and no problems exist; or (and far more likely) that there is very low compliance, and very few complaints are received by the Trading Standards Officers because no-one is aware of the legislation. A chicken and egg scenario.
At present the 200 separate Trading Standards departments are under pressure from financial restraint, and increasing emphasis on more ‘high risk’ areas to monitor, hence collectively it is a difficult task to enforce the EPBD regulations.
Philip Salaman, Managing Director of Quidos commented that “Quidos recommendations are to regionalise the enforcement to eight defined geographical areas, with a small number of dedicated trading standard officers to enforce the EPBD regulations. This has been very successfully adopted in Northern Ireland, and should provide a model for England, Wales, and Scotland.” 
In addition Quidos recommend the provision for private companies to be contracted by these regionalised TSOs to provide enforcement if required. Fines can be defined (and retained) by each region, with a maximum being imposed by DCLG.
Mr Salaman adds: “In these austere times we all face, there needs to be an emphasis on cost cutting. Energy certification can provide that, since it highlights inefficiencies and ways to implement cost savings through reduced energy consumption. Local authorities should look to EPBD enforcement not only as a revenue generating exercise, but one in which to reduce energy consumption across their locality.”

Click here to see the full report on Quidos.co.uk"

Lovely to see that things are getting looked into!

2.  "House prices in England and Wales fell 0.2 percent in December, leaving them 1.5 percent higher than the same month a year ago, figures from the Land Registry showed on Monday. "

Brilliant, lets see some renewed confidence in the housing market then please!

3. "David Cameron has claimed banks are being too cautious in restricting mortgage lending, as Bank of England figures showed borrowing falling sharply. The PM said banks and building societies are to blame for becoming too stringent in their lending regulations, and that they were preventing the housing market from progressing. Speaking to voters in Leicester, Mr Cameron said it was vital for the economy that Britain's housing market became more competitive. His comments followed Housing Minister Grant Shapps recent statement that the Government did not want another housing boom. Banks and building societies have introduced more restrictive mortgage rules since the global economic crash revealed millions had been sold mortgages beyond their means. But the Prime Minister called on lenders to return to 'respectable' lending in order to stimulate growth. 'In a way the pendulum has now swung too far the other way,' he said. 'If you are a single person, you are earning a decent salary. You go to the bank or building society, you are actually quite a good risk - they won't give you 80% of the value, they won't give you four times your salary.'

He added: 'You need a housing market where people are able to sell and move. The housing market has become very stuck and we've got to get it moving again.' But the task he faces was thrown into relief by Bank of England figures published today which showed that mortgage lending fell sharply in the final months of 2010, with buyers walking away in the face of the huge deposits demanded by banks.

Demand for mortgages from people buying a home fell sharply during the fourth quarter, according to the Bank of England's Credit Conditions Survey. A balance of 41.5% of banks and building societies said borrowing for house purchase 'fell markedly' during the final three months of the year, with demand dropping at its fastest rate since the third quarter of 2008. A combination of falling house prices and economic uncertainty caused by Government spending cuts caused people to delay decisions to move, and these factors are expected to continue to contribute to subdued lending.

But there was a feeling among lenders that the inability of would-be buyers to raise the huge deposits currently needed to secure a competitive rate was also constraining demand.

What's more, lenders thought they may tighten their affordability criteria further as interest rates rose, while some credit scoring criteria may also be tightened in response to new guidance from the Office of Fair Trading and the Financial Services Authority's mortgage market review "

So from that can we hope that the lenders and the government are finally realising that the current tight restrictions on borrowing is making the market worse? Lets hope so!

 

check, check and check again

I cannot believe it is only ten past 7! All 3 children are washed, fed and dressed and we don't have to leave for school until just after 8, the cleaning is done and my invoicing for my work today is already done. Am in super organised mode today.

I was outside a moment ago (letting the dogs down the garden) and its trying to snow?! I love the snow normally but after Decembers efforts - 3 inches of snow one day the entire country grinds to a stop, followed by no snow just ice and slush then a little bit more snow, I would prefer it to not snow at the moment.

A family friend rang me the other night to talk about renewable energy - and I admit it I learned something new. He works for a solar panel company and he wanted to see if my house was south facing, due to the Governments feed in tarriff the company he works for will install the solar panels on your roof for free. Being the cynical person I can be I wanted to know what the catch was. Apparently to get the solar panels for free your house (this applys to commercial buildings as well) needs to be south facing and must be able to accommodate at least a 3.5Kw system and must be willing to sign a lease agreement for the company to lease their roof for the next 25 years. The benefits of this is that although the company gets the feed in tarrif from the Government for all the energy going back into the grid the homeowner gets the rest of the free energy and therefore lowers their own personal heating bills. I am going to look into it further and see if my house is suitable - as far as I am concerned it would be a selling point for my property (if and when I sell) as who wouldn't want cheaper heating bills for their home!

Last night I was proved right in my obsession in double checking. I did a "tricky" property the other week, beautiful house but there were numerous improvements that the rdsap would not be able to calculate properly. So to make sure that my EPC was produced correctly and as accurately as possible I rang my accreditation company. This is my 4th year of being a DEA but I would rather ring and double, triple check than produce an incorrect EPC. After quite a bit of back and forth calls we came to a conclusion that would produce the most accurate EPC for the client. Last night made me very glad that I had done that as the client queried the result on the EPC - I managed to explain everything and because I had checked thoroughly I was confident and happy in my answers.

Off to get myself up and dressed ready for the walk to school (saving petrol and energy and hopefully working off a bit of the Christmas stodge!)

Austerity mum?

I read this morning that a lady had been writing a blog about tightening her belt, cutting costs and saving money during the current climate - only problem was she was writing this "creatively" as she actually lives in a beautiful 8 bedroom house which includes a ballroom -

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gxc4j1ZnMwlk_CYVjKYfxol0Kihg?docId=CNG.ae92b0aa2b694ca3182261c1f11bfc1a.781

Unfortunately as I write this I am not sitting a mini mansion in a lovely countryside retreat I am sitting in my "office"/4th bedroom/boxroom hoping more work will come in this week!

In all fairness it is getting increasingly difficult for the majority of people - negative equity, not able to remortgage, lack of work, overtime cuts, prices going up in the supermarkets and on petrol!

I try and work as much as I can, send out email marketing letters to estate and letting agents, walk everywhere possible - school run etc to reduce petrol costs, I even have one of those meters (that you plug in) in the kitchen telling me how much electricity I am using per minute - it really does help me remember to turn things off at the socket!

We are all having to tighten our belts and its not fun - but in a minute I am sticking the two youngest in their wellies and we are going into the garden so they can play/get filthy and I can sort out the veg patch and the greenhouse and see what I can start to sow ready for the summer months. I do actually like gardening, its relaxing, I get to see results fairly quickly and its really nice eating fresh tomatoes and cucumbers etc. It might not be much but planting garlic last year meant that we haven't had to buy any over 8 months and in these times any little helps.

Thoughts whilst pedalling.

To try and get fitter so that I can run around after the children and control Dave (the dog) better at agility I have an exercise bike in the conservatory. I sit there, looking out over the garden (when oh when will it be time to mow the lawn again - I miss it) and think/plot.

Today I have thought of a way to promote ECO awareness, EPCs and my business all in one fell swoop! Not quite sure if its going to work though but I can hope. The idea is a colouring/drawing competition in the local primary schools in my area. The winner will get a very very large easter egg, 2nd and 3rd prize will get a smaller easter egg.
The children will have to draw their idea of an eco house, the best 15 will be selected from the entries and then voted for via my company page on facebook.

Obviously the children will get a prize if they win, and hopefully it will encourage more eco awareness in the children. Its going to take me a couple of weeks to set it up and get it organised properly but am really looking forward to doing it now.

Not a bad thought really when I was pedalling away!

More products?

Its a bitterly cold wednesday. Ice on the cars and on the roads. But I am in a happy place right now - I managed to get all 3 kids fed, washed and dressed before 8am without having to shout once! Normally I have turned into the fishwife from hell by 8am on a school day shouting at one or the other to hurry up, we will be late, get moving etc so to have not had to do that feels so good - don't want to jinx myself but maybe the kids are getting into the routine finally?

Work this week is quiet so I am concentrating on researching other products I can offer to my clients and (hopefully) potential clients. I already do EPCs, commercial EPCs, floorplans and inventories so other than check ins of tenants am not sure what else I can offer (any ideas let me know!). Have thought about videos of properties, a walk through of a property for sale - it would save time as potential buyers would be able to get a wonderful feel for the property but am not 100% on that at the moment. It would be similar to the 360 tours that were in fashion some time ago but it would incorportate all of the property so that idea needs some looking into.

The current situation with mortgages is worrying me at the moment, unless the Government does something then the market is going to continue on its current path. We need to see the lending "freeing" up so that more people can get on the market! If the Government wants more people in work it would certainly help alot of builders get back to work if the housing market started moving again and it would, with stamp duty etc, give more revenue for the Government and help the UK get out of debt.

Positive news?

I am by nature a positive person - I must be otherwise I wouldn't be self employed!

I was reading the news this morning and found this titbit :-

"Looking forward, 29 percent more surveyors thought prices would fall in the next three months than rise, down from 41 percent in November.
Heavy snowfall in December kept transaction volumes subdued but surveyors were hopeful turnover would pick up in the spring. Eight percent more surveyors expected sales to increase over the coming three months than decrease, up from six percent in November.
"Surveyor sentiment does appear more positive for the coming months," said RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf."

Now that to me is fantastic - surveyors are feeling more positive and thinking that the turnover will pick up in the spring. January has always been a quiet time but if we see increases in Feb, March and April the optimisim and movement within the market will encourage more vendors to put their properties on the market and hopefully work can pick up for everyone.

But the most negative part of it is summed up nicely with this comment :-

"The key issue now is mortgage finance. However, with commentators suggesting lending constraints are unlikely to be eased, it is hard to envisage a meaningful increase in sales levels in the near term."

We desperately need lending constraints to be eased up to start the market flowing again.
Its alot of ifs but and hopefullys but what have you got if you haven't got hope!

Good time to buy?

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/Escape-landlord-good-yahoofinanceuk-508312233.html

This article is something I have read today and its so nice to see some encouragement about buying a property in the current market.

"But while falling prices and low interest rates make rising rents less excusable, they also mean it could be the best time in years to wave goodbye to the landlord and get a place of your own.
After all why would you want to pay someone else's mortgage when you could own your own home?"

The article goes on to list some of the current mortgage deals available to first time buyers  - and (I am definately NOT an expert on mortgages!) there looks like there are some very good affordable deals out there to help people get on the market.

Getting more first time buyers on the market is definately a step in the right direction - it stops the market stagnating and allows the market to start moving freely. The amount of people an improvement in the housing market would benefit is unbelievable - DEAs, estate agents, solicitors, builders etc it would definately be helping the current economy and taking off alot of the gloom.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend - I'm back on decorating duty!

Moving forward

I have actually had a good week - middle one hasn't been fighting at playschool and eldest and youngest are behaving as well so with my mum hat on life hasn't been too bad.

I have finally managed to feel fully recovered from the virus that I caught in December and am back to my normal self re getting my housework and other chores done so the fact that I am normally "on top" of it all by 8am makes me (although admittedly obsessive) quite happy.

There was a survey that I filled in earlier this week which has been started by IDEA (an organisation for Energy Assessors - tries very hard but needs more members and more promotion because it is doing good work) which dealt with what changes could/should be made to the EPC and the industry. I always say it - we haven't got Christine Milne and England didn't organise this like Australia has done and the EPC has not been promoted as the new "granite worktop" as it is in New York so there is a lot that could be done to aid our industry and weed out the unprofessional DEAs. Hopefully this survey WILL begin the changes that are so desperately needed within the industry.

I am carrying out my first inventory today. I have done them previously when I worked as an estate agent but after researching them over the past few months it has suprised me that more emphasis is not placed upon them - they protect both landlord and tenant if done thoroughly, independantly and professionally. There should always be photographs included in the inventory and it should be very detailed! I am taking video camera, notebook and camera (date stamp included) to make sure that it is done to the very highest standard.

Although most people are now saying how many resolutions that they have already broken I saved myself the trouble by not having any this year although I do have a wish list (lets see if any of them have happened by the end of 2011):
1. Lose weight
2. Grow my client base due to standard of my work
3. Work with other DEAs to form a co-operative (provides better service than some of the panels)
4. See the promotion of the EPC by the Government
5. Watch the cowboy DEAs be removed.
6. Keep my family happy and healthy

Have a lovely weekend.

a little rant.

Am in the mood for a little rant this morning - mainly because the eldest is back to her usual tricks of asking me to "magic" something up that she needs for school 1 minute before we need to be out the door!

We all had a good Christmas and New Year and have finally started decorating the house - we've only lived here five years but we have had 2 babies in quick succession during that time but atleast we've started and I now have a weekend of painting woodwork to look forward to.

Its very quiet on the work front at the moment, it normally is in January but I can't help thinking that although the majority of people blamed HIPs for the drop in house sales we need to look at the fact that there are not enough mortgages being approved. Once 100% mortgages went so did alot of first time buyers. I am not suggesting that we go back to those days but there has to be another solution to open up the market to first time buyers - if the first time buyers are once again able to get a mortgage then that will move the rest of the market. If the rest of the market gets moving we will have busy estate agents, surveyors and energy assessors - that surely will help the economy and improve alot of things for everyone. It would be a ripple affect and one that is much needed at the moment.

I hope that everyone else is well and wish everyone a successful and happy 2011.