When trusting someone to protect your property you need to be sure that they have experience and professionalism to do their job properly.
If you work in or around London, you may want to know of those security companies that guarantee their security officers have the expertise to ensure your property remains safe from intruders and vandalism.
Companies that provide a variety of security services pride themselves on providing a high quality service that people can trust and rely on. Putting customers first is their main priority which is why all manned and security guards go through rigorous tests.
Many of the security officers also have a background in the armed forces. This is reassuring and enables them to feel comfortable when confronting situations people compared to those without experience in this field.
Security officers are needed more within different properties including private houses, business premises and general public buildings. Normally associated with banks, hotels and other corporate buildings, this high level of security is now required in more commercial buildings.
Choosing the right company to provide you with these services doesn’t have to be a laborious task these days. The Internet has opened up the opportunity for people to find those specialists of key holding, alarm response or security officers London.
By looking through a specialist web site you can compare their services to others of the same industry. You can find out the standard of security they provide as well as the range they have to offer. Whether you are looking for domestic or commercial security, you will be provided with options best suited to your requirements.
So, don’t leave increasing your security to another day, make sure you enquire about those services that protect you, others and your property from those that may have unsavoury intentions.
The Metropolitan Police have released their latest set of crime figures, they show a sharp increase in residential and non-residential burglaries in the London area; once again this points out the importance of implementing a selection of security measures to protect ourselves and our property.
With crime rates increasing by up to 32% in some areas of London, many homeowners are looking for ways to deter criminals; alongside more generic security solutions such as burglar alarms, CCTV cameras are becoming increasingly popular, particularly because they can often be used in criminal proceedings should an individual or their property fall victim to crime.
There are companies that specialise in the supply and installation of CCTV London, for both the commercial and domestic markets. Just some of the items that they offer include CCTV cameras, lenses and digital recorders; whatever you choose you can be sure that your CCTV system will use the most up to date technologies and there will be no more bad quality images. These specialists are also an NSI Gold company, meaning that all of their CCTV systems are compliant with the latest industry standards.
CCTV systems are useful for when individuals are not present in their home or business premises; not only are all cameras monitored 24/7 in their alarm monitoring centre, but footage can be viewed remotely over the internet. What’s more the latest digital recorders, used in these CCTV systems, enable footage to be stored on a computer.
To compliment their high specification CCTV systems, these specialists also offer burglar alarms, access controls, gates, perimeter security, fire alarms and security lighting.
If you are concerned that your home or business could fall victim to crime, contact a security specialist and discuss the wide variety of products that could help to safeguard you and your property.
Many of the crimes that are committed in London and surrounding areas, are caused by organised criminal groups that swarm in and out of these areas. One place that is badly affected is Surrey, a county that borders Greater London, one of the many places affected by continuous crime.
To try and find a pattern to the offences being committed, Surrey Police Force has enforced Automatic Number Plate Recognition to recognise cars that have been recognised within crimes committed in the area.
Of course till this proves to be entirely successful, people need to be aware of the prevention methods available to protect their property from vandals and criminals.
Many properties seem to feel secure with burglar alarms and fire alarms, to make people aware of any problems. However, to aid an investigation should a crime be committed on site, CCTV is an ideal way to catch potential criminals that may have caused damage elsewhere.
Specialists in CCTV London areas can supply and install CCTV to any premises. It is important to ensure a property, whether it is a home or office, is safe from intrusion. CCTV tends to be an ideal tool to prevent robberies because of the amount of data that is recorded and stored for evidence against a crime.
With CCTV now being more sleek and sophisticated, many people are unaware of the buildings that have it installed. Specialists in security can provide a whole range of CCTV equipment that comply with latest industry standards as well as providing a 24/7 monitoring service.
With burglary statistics showing an increase in the past year, it may be worth finding the right security system for your home or business property. There are those specialists that can offer much more in terms of security to not only prevent crime but to act as an aid should the worst happen.
Regardless of where you are based you want to ensure your property is safe and secure after hours. There are many commercial businesses within the London area that require the need for more security to back up their current systems.
Certain security companies provide a whole range of security services to any property that feels they would benefit from mobile patrols, alarm response manned guards.
Another service that some London specialists also provide is key holding. Included is a lock up service that incorporates the switching off of lights and specified equipment. As well as checking all windows and doors for security and the activation of relevant alarms, this service is ideal for companies that shut after hours but want to ensure everything remains safe till morning.
Key holding alongside other security services are provided and maintained by professionals. You can rest assured you are in safe hands with such specialist companies. They understand how important your property is to you and with this mind they only hire the right person for the job that they can trust and rely on.
Of course, it is important for your company to also look and remain professional. With this in mind security companies ensure that their employees comply with the dress code your company requires to maintain your standards. As well as this, each guard will be available at a time that suits you best to provide an efficient service based entirely on your requirements.
Some companies provide a service that is tailor made to your needs and therefore offers a service that is available 24/7 to give you the best protection for your property.
If you are looking for extra security for your commercial property, get in touch with those companies that specialise in key holding London to ensure you can truly relax after hours.
2008 was a rollercoaster of a year for the UK’s property market. SecureASale Director Tim Jackson looks back on the ups and downs of London’s housing sector over the past year… 2008 started slowly with the hangover for the manic record market of ‘07. By the end of 2008, the UK was in the worst housing slump since the 1930s. There are three main factors that have contributed to this heady downward spiral.
1 / Cyclical economic slowdown
After 15 years of non-stop growth, the UK economy had overheated and house price inflation had far-outpaced rises in average earnings. The average home was costing 7 times average earnings, which was unsustainable. A policy of low interest rates had led to the availability of cheap credit and properties had seemed affordable despite the ever-increasing prices. However, nervous of inflation running rampant, the Bank of England MPC gradually raised interest rates up to 5.75% in July 2007. This hit highly-leveraged borrowers hard, especially those on interest only mortgages and had the desired effect of substantially cooling the housing market.
2 / Worldwide banking crisis
When Northern Rock collapsed in the summer of 2007, it wasn’t a one-off event but was linked to the fallout from the sub-prime market both here and in the United States. Banks worldwide had gambled by lending to un-creditworthy customers who were left unable to afford their loans and therefore defaulted on them, often literally handing back their keys to the lender. As Northern Rock had grown its business by taking on risky debt, it soon found itself unable to secure funding to operate and the government had no choice but to bail it out. The banks then all took note of this and substantially tightened their lending criteria. In a matter of weeks, the days of 100% mortgages were gone and loan to value ratios were cut dramatically.
3 / Lending halt
This alone would be enough to cause a housing crash, but on top of this the banks stopped lending to each- other almost completely. This credit crunch affected the entire economy from small businesses to the largest industrials and we are now seeing the rising unemployment and reduced spending that a shrinking economy causes.
The result of this unhappy alliance of bleak news is that buyers couldn’t borrow money to fund their moves, vendors couldn’t afford to take lower offers on their homes as that often dragged them into negative equity and thousands of builders, estate agents and mortgage advisors went bust as business dried up.
The lettings market has been hit too as thousands of homeowners, unable to Sell House Quickly but needing to move have found themselves having to let their properties out, in effect becoming reluctant landlords and massively increasing supply. The result of this is that cash for houses have been dragged down in the rental sector and many buy to let investors are finding that their rents no longer cover their costs and their investments are repossessed by the bank, further damaging the market.
Is there a way out of this crisis?
The only route back to stability is for the banks to begin normal lending again both to each other and to homebuyers. Without this the market is in for an even worse 2009. Only time will tell.
If you have ever used auction websites to get rid of your old clothes but what about using the web to auction your house? According to most auctioneers, and former property developers, we should all be doing it because not only does an online auction remove the pain of gazumping, it also ditches the estate agents.
There are many new dedicated property auction websites that aim to combine the benefits of auction and private sales.
The only thing agents are really useful for are their databases of potential buyers. If you list your two-bedroom flat with an estate agent, you are paying them three per cent for them to give you, say, 15 people interested in buying a two-bed flat. But by listing your home on the web, buyers will find you. Estate agents try to make you believe they are working flat out to get the buyer or the seller the best deal. But if the buyer and the seller just got together and spoke directly they would be able to come to an agreement much quicker and not end up paying thousands of pounds commission.
What is more, often sellers could make several thousand pounds more because the price has not already been fixed with the buyer.
These auction sites work by sellers paying a one-off fee plus VAT to register their property. After specifying a hidden reserve price, the seller decides on a guide price, the advert goes live and an auction date is set for several weeks ahead. During this time potential buyers can arrange with the seller any viewings or any surveys or searches they may wish to carry out. Bidders can register free and bid on the auction day. To ensure bidders are genuine, the site requires them to provide several types of ID, including a scan of their passport. Bidders are also required to agree to terms and conditions, which are legally binding, to deter from dropping out of the purchase.
After the auction ends, the process is the same as a private sale and everything is handed over to the lawyer of the buyer and seller. After the buyer has won the auction he pays one per cent of the price to the solicitor of the seller to secure the property for six weeks. During this period the buyer can then arrange additional viewings or surveys if necessary. Once the auction is closed, the price is set. There is no gazumping or gazundering. If the buyer wants to pull out, he forfeits his one per cent deposit. For the seller, if the deal falls through, although it may be disappointing, they will pocket the deposit and start again.
But there are some pitfalls to selling your home yourself, warns Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents. People are not necessarily good sellers. There is more to selling a house than saying here is the bathroom, here is the kitchen. There is a knack to it. The idea of the online auction all looks very very good but there are a lot of questions sellers and buyers should ask. You are taking a big risk doing it yourself.
Research reveals that values of prime residential property in central London continued to fall in the third quarter of 2008. Across the prime markets, values fell by 3.7 per cent in the quarter, to bring annual falls to 12.1 per cent.
“The London market has been quick to react to the prospect of falls in City employment and earnings, and the sectors of the market most reliant on demand from the financial and business services continue to be those most severely affected,” says Lucian Cook, director, Savills Research. “These falls are in line with our central forecast that values will fall by 15 percent over the course of the year.”
Where old money and international demand are more prevalent, the falls have been far less severe. This is reflected in the fact that values in the core of prime central London, such as Knightsbridge, Mayfair, Chelsea and Belgravia, have fallen by just 7.1 percent in the year to date, compared to 16.1 percent in Kensington – traditionally a destination of choice for senior City and financial employees.”
In line with past downturns, the market for flats (with the exception of the most exclusive end of the market) in prime central London has been more affected than the market for houses. In the areas of south west London favoured by City employees – the likes of Barnes, Fulham, Wandsworth and Clapham – values fell by 16.5 per cent over the course of the past year. Here, supply and demand is a key factor and vendors, many with large equity buffers, have quickly accepted that values have fallen.
In contrast with the rest of the UK, rental values in prime central London have recorded the first quarterly fall since the second quarter of 2003, down 1.4 percent, again reflecting the weakened employment outlook in the City.
Renting has become the favoured option for many house movers, but the resulting increased demand has been insufficient to make up for the combined impact of reduced demand from the City and increased supply from those forced to let houses as selling has become more difficult.
The imbalance between supply and demand has been most acute in the rental markets to the east of the City, where rents are now 4.6 percent lower than at the same time last year.
In the period to the end of June, the super prime markets dominated by multimillionaires, where average prices are in the order of 5m pounds, showed far greater resilience than the merely prime and held value. At the same time, in the ultra prime market, where values average 15m pounds and where demand comes from the international billionaire community, growth continued.
That picture of resilience is beginning to show some very early cracks. In the third quarter, the falls in the super prime market were contained at 1.8 percent. In contrast, the ultra prime property held value, showing marginal growth at 0.6 percent, albeit well down from 4.2 percent seen in the equivalent quarter of last year.
Lucian Cook says: “We expect this market to be more resilient going forward, as it is driven by a growing number of global billionaires. Market conditions will undoubtedly be tougher than at the height of the market in 2006 and 2007, but we still do not anticipate big falls in value.”
“Evidence from previous downturns is that the very top of the market does eventually soften,” says Jonathan Hewlett, director of Savills London. “However, to a large extent we are dealing with the unknown. The very top end of the market is more global than ever before, and it is currently holding up better than expected, although we are just beginning to see signs of the market slowing.
Having said that, this is a rarefied marketplace and while we don’t expect many records to be smashed in the coming months, we will most certainly not see any distressed sellers either.”
Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action talks about how to avoid a bad tenant. Paul shares his experience as a bailiff on how difficult it is to evict bad tenants and how you can use his tips and experience to avoid this process. How to check tenants, background checks, references, guarantors and due diligence. If you already have bad tenants, Paul teaches about serving notices, possession orders and especially how to get rid of professional bad tenants. A must see for all landlords!
Although London now ranks above Monte Carlo in terms of property prices, recent figures released by estate agents Rightmove show that London house prices rose at their slowest rate in five months, with the cost of a home falling in more than half of the United Kingdom’s capital’s boroughs.
While other regions across the country saw the average house price rise by 0.8 per cent in June, property prices in London rose by 0.7 per cent in comparison – half the rate that had been seen in May, prompting experts to predict a drop in property prices over the next few months.
A nationwide property boom, led by demand from rich foreigners and bankers in the city might be reaching its peak as interest rates reach a six-year high deter homebuyers with record debts. With another interest rate increase looming, it is widely expected by property analysts that another increase may crimp price growth.
The slowdown saw the cost of a home fall in seventeen of London’s thirty-two boroughs, with Southwark, an area south of London’s financial district showing the largest level of decline with prices falling 2.8 per cent. Hounslow, close to Heathrow Airport showed the next biggest decline with a 2.4 per cent drop.
However, property prices within London’s upmarket boroughs continued to increase, with property in Kensington and Chelsea, areas popular with bankers, footballers and Hollywood celebrities recording gains of 3.4 per cent on the month and a staggering 73 per cent compared to the previous year with an average price of £1.4 million. Furthermore, the average time a property remained on the market rose to 69 days from 65 days in May. The average asking price in London is still 23 per cent higher than a year ago, with the prices rising from £315,224 to £387,898.
Property prices across the U.K roise by 13.2 percent in June to an average cost of £239,317, climbing in seven out of ten regions. The West Midlands showed the greatest level of gain with a 5.8 per cent increase, while East Anglia, the North-West and Yorkshire and Humberside all recorded negative growth. The increase in property values has highlighted the growing divide between homeowners and those not on the property ladder, with more than four4 million people expecting never to be able to own their own home.
