Hindon is one of the most sought after villages in the beautiful Nadder Valley and we are delighted to have been instructed to sell an attractive older style chalet bungalow on the edge of it. With its versatile accommodation, good-sized South facing garden and pleasant outlook this property would make an ideal Christmas present! More information can be found on the Properties For Sale section or give us a call.

There has recently been a survey of insurance claims resulting from damage to cars in car parks, the result of which is that the insurance industry has seen a substantial increase over the last ten years. The cause? Apart from careless and possibly impatient driving, the principal reason seems to be that cars have got bigger. The vogue for ever larger cars and SUVs has meant that that the older car parking spaces are now simply too small, resulting in dinks to car doors and scrapes to wings.

Older garages, too, are becoming less of an attractive proposition as their width restricts even the slimmest of us struggling to squeeze out of the car door – that is if you want to keep your car in a garage at all. Let’s face it, unless you have a prized classic car that needs to be locked up for insurance purposes or under cover to keep it in shape, are you likely to need a garage for keeping a car in? At this point I should apologise to those of you who do indeed store your car away from the elements, since I know that some do, but the majority of people these days are happy to park in the open.

So how valuable is it to have a garage at all? They are useful for all sorts of things; storage being the principal benefit, of bikes (motor and peddle), boats, gardening equipment, outside furniture and more. But they are also an escape, somewhere to tinker, somewhere to think. The Americanism ‘man-cave’ may have gender overtones, and when viewing a house it is normally the husband who is the most keen on the outbuildings, but the truth is that we all need that that getaway and a garage or other decent outbuilding is therefore an essential requirement for many.

The properties that we sell do invariably have a garage or accessible shack of some size, and they are held back in value if they don’t. Alternatively, most of the country houses and some of the village properties that we market will have space within the grounds to build a garage or car port and many heritage designs are very attractive, with plenty of space and often a first floor room for an office or hobbies. They come at a cost, but add a further dimension to a property and will generally see a good return.

2016 has been something of a ‘stuttering’ Stop-Go year for the local property market. The early months showed signs of promise with good buyer and seller activity whilst not actually delivering many firm sales. Early summer was much busier although the progress of on-going sales was frustratingly protracted by long delays with Local Authority Searches. Things came to a halt briefly at the end of June with the unexpected European Referendum result, London, an important source of buyers, being particularly affected. The local market has however remained resilient and trade has remained robust from mid-summer deep into the autumn/early winter period.

This is the time of year when property instructions tend to drop off, agents’ listings start to empty and ready purchasers feel ever more frustrated. There has been a distinct lack of available property this year, especially since the Brexit vote and there are an awful lot of buyers who have secured sales earlier in the year, but can’t find their next move.

Market conditions apart, however, November through to March are often seen as the quiet months of the year for the property market. There is no particular rationale for this, given the unbroken demand from buyers, but grey skies, bare trees and bracing winds will invariably influence the actions of those who are planning to sell. Unless you have to, why not wait until the spring?

The property market, though, does soldier on. Under some circumstances there is little choice as to when to sell a property so these are the houses that come to the market, but it can also be a perfect time of year to quietly float a marketing campaign without full exposure. There is no measurement of how many deals are softly concluded in this way; the majority will be at the top end of the market, but in the middle market we are certainly no strangers to arranging a deal from the bottom drawer. Indeed, this winter we have been instructed to quietly promote a number of houses, without open marketing, but simply by offering them to those buyers who we know would be interested.

Success in these sales ultimately relies on the buyer. If they are motivated enough to register with us then they will be in the frame to receive confidential information; if not then how will they ever know? We are fortunate enough to be well known for covering the Salisbury valleys to the west, as well as further afield, so keen buyers will invariably get in touch with us and our register is currently splitting at the seams – which makes selling property under the covers so much more straightforward. No advertising, no property portals and little fuss.

We don’t have a crystal ball and 2017 will no doubt be a hesitant year, but at least we know that vendors are speaking to us about marketing their properties either quietly now, or openly in the spring and with the buyers that we have on our books our market must remain resilient.

Wylye is a village and civil parish on the River Wylye approximately 9 miles northwest of Salisbury and a similar distance southeast of Warminster.  The hamlet of Deptford is included in the civil parish as was the small village of Fisherton de la Mere in 1934.

St Mary the Virgin

The Church of England parish church St Mary the virgin is Grade II listed.  The church has 13th century origins but was rebuilt in 1846 to designs of T H Wyatt and D Brandon.

Bathampton House

Bathampton House is a Grade II listed country house built in 1694 for Francis Perkins and the Mompesson family and altered in the 1760’s for William Moody.  The house is on the site of the earlier Mompesson Manor House.  The Mompesson town house can be found in Salisbury Close.

Fishing

The river Wylye is a classic southern England chalk stream; champagne clear water flowing over gravel.  It is, quite naturally,  popular with anglers keen on fly fishing.

Walking

Short and long distance walks are very popular in Wylye with stunning scenery through the chalk downs and water meadows.   Maps which can be downloaded from the Internet or contact the walking groups in the area.  There are several pubs in the area for refreshments either during or at the end of the walks.