Rumball Sedgwick

07/10/2020

We're your local property specialists for surveys, valuations and planing and development advice

30/09/2020

We were delighted to be a sponsor of this year’s St Albans District Chamber of Commerce Community Business Awards, co-hosted by our Director and Chamber President Alastair Woodgate. It was great to see so many business people coming together, albeit online this year.

Mr Rumball first opened his door for business in 1750: as one of the District’s longest running businesses it seemed appropriate for us to sponsor the New Business Award. Congratulations to the five finalists and to the winner, Redway HR!

We heard many inspiring and humbling stories, across the 8 award categories, proving yet again that the St Albans community is blessed with many fantastic business people.

12/05/2020

The Government has, today, given the green light for the resumption of estate agency from tomorrow, Wednesday 13 May.

We are now undertaking surveys and Homebuyer Reports again, in accordance with Government advice, following strict guidelines and implementing thorough safety measures. Contact Tim Hollingsworth on 01923 200099 or Alastair Woodgate on 01727 519140 if we can be of assistance to you.

27/04/2020

Lofty heights...

Last week we took a look the ‘Garden Room’ as a possible solution to creating a permanent work space at home. But what if you don’t have the space for such an outbuilding, or would rather work from within the house? Another solution might just be a loft conversion. Look along virtually any street in St Albans District and you’ll see evidence of rooms within roof spaces. It’s no wonder: a loft conversion is one of the most straightforward ways of getting extra space, subject to any planning and physical constraints.

If you are thinking of converting your loft, there are several issues to consider.

Many conversions will fall within “Permitted Development” not requiring prior planning permission, provided certain criteria are met. Any additional roof space must not exceed 40m3 for terraced houses and 50m3 for detached and semi-detached. No part of the extension can be higher than the highest part of the existing roof and materials must be similar in appearance to the existing.

However, within an Article 4 Area, conservation area and other designated land, loft conversions are not permitted development. Neither is an extension beyond the plane of the existing roof slope of the main elevation fronting a highway. Verandas and balconies are not permitted development.

Features that will decide the suitability of your roof space include the pitch and head height (ideally greater than 2.2m), any obstacles such as water tanks or chimney stacks (if they need moving, where can they be re-sited?) and the type of roof structure: your house will have either traditional rafters or roof trusses. Converting a loft with trusses is possible, but extra structural support is needed which is likely to be more costly.

Buildings Regulation approval will be required. This will cover the floor strength, (the existing ceiling joists are unlikely to be adequate, so additional joists will be required), fire protection (including a protected stair enclosure), the minimum headroom over the staircase, the size of steps, the thermal efficiency, electrics, plumbing and glazing. Your work will need to be inspected by a Building Control Officer. And don’t forget to notify your home insurers.

If your home is semi-detached or terraced, you’ll need to notify your neighbour of your proposals if the works fall under the Party Wall Act requirements.

Think carefully about the external proportions and appearance of a loft conversion. There are some around that detract from the visual appeal of the property. Try and achieve a scheme that reads as an integral part of the original design.

Get it right and, working from home in your new room, you’ll feel on top of the world.

For more information you can contact us on 01727 519140 or at [email protected]

22/04/2020

Is it time for a ‘Home Office’ in the garden?

With many of us currently working from home, there’s been much discussion about whether we’ll want to continue doing so once the current restrictions are lifted. But recreating your office amongst the paraphernalia of day to day family life can be challenging, and your thoughts may have strayed to the idea of building a separate office in the garden.

A Home Office, away from house itself, can be the ideal place for creative ideas to take root: for instance, Hewlett Packard started in a shed and Roald Dahl wrote his stories in his.

But planning controls can apply to these garden structures. It’s not enough to rely on suppliers’ websites that say ‘planning permission not required’: whether you need Planning Permission or not depends on:

1. what you are using the structure for,
2. its location within your plot and its proximity to the boundary
3.if the eaves height and ridge height exceed certain maximum figures
4. if your outbuilding includes verandas, balconies or raised platforms.

Within the curtilage of a listed building, any outbuilding will require planning permission.

So do check out the planning position before you go too far down the process, as, in the worst-case scenario, you could be made to take down an unauthorised building - and you wouldn’t want to have to go back to the kitchen table! And, if you want to enjoy your garden office through the summer months, bear in mind it can take around eight weeks for a planning application to be determined plus the build time on top of that.

Your proposed outbuilding is unlikely to require planning permission if it meets the following criteria:

• It is not on land forward of a wall forming the principal elevation of the property.
• It is single storey with a maximum eaves height of 2.5 metres and a maximum overall (ridge) height of 4 metres for a dual pitched roof, or 3 metres for any other roof (eg a single pitch or flat roof).
• There are no verandas, balconies or raised platforms (a platform must not exceed 0.3 metres in height)
• Not more than half the area of land around the "original house"* would be covered by additions or other buildings.

The Building Regulations cover the technical side of construction. Building Regulations ensure that a building is built to the highest standards, is energy efficient and is safe for occupation, particularly in relation to the spread of fire.

Building Regulations Approval will not normally be needed if the floor area of the building is less than 15sqm does not contain sleeping accommodation. But if you are planning to site your building within 1 metre of any boundary and it is bigger than 15sqm, the Building Regulations will, in all probability, apply. And offices this close to the boundary need to be substantially built from non-combustible materials. The one element of Building Regulations that every garden office needs to comply with is the electrics - these must be installed by a certified electrician.

If you want advice on the planning rules governing garden buildings, you can visit the Planning Portal website – www.planningportal.co.uk which is really informative, or feel free to contact Alastair Woodgate or Michael Fearn at Rumball Sedgwick on 01727 519140 or at [email protected]. They will be happy to give you further information.

04/03/2020

We’ve been at at today looking at sustainable methods of building - and learning about ways to achieve zero carbon communities.

23/12/2019

Wishing all our clients, business friends and colleagues a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The weather looks fair for the Christmas break - so here's a winter scene outside our St Albans Office from earlier this year to put us in the festive mood.

29/11/2019

We’ve been at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Young Surveyor of the Year Awards tonight in Central London. Martin Doyle of Rumball Sedgwick was nominated and we’re over the moon (but not surprised) that he’s won the Residential Property Young Surveyor of the Year Award. A fantastic achievement - congratulations Martin!

15/10/2019

We were delighted to sponsor the 2019 President’s Award at last week’s prestigious St Albans District Chamber of Commerce Community Business Awards. Congratulations to all the finalists and in particular to the winner Michael Weaver, for 50 years of service to the community. Michael is pictured receiving the President’s Award from Martin Doyle (right) of Rumball Sedgwick and Alastair Woodgate, Chamber President and Director of Rumball Sedgwick.

Photo: Rebecca Fennell Photography.

04/10/2019

Harriet Fleming is a specialist in lease extensions and undertakes lease extension valuations for us on behalf of our clients. If you need advice on extending your lease do get in touch with Harriet.

Thank you again to all the solicitors, estate agents, friends and clients who continue to help me make a success of my new business.
These are just a few pics of the places I’ve been to in the last couple of weeks. From Maida Vale, Welwyn Garden city and Harrow to Royston, Leighton Buzzard and Epping amongst others. Seeing a lot of our lovely countryside and a lot of flats.
The lowest lease term this week had 39 years left on it. If you have a flat please check your lease. The value of your flat will diminish as the leases get shorter- so please think about extending them and ideally before they drop below 80 years.

26/09/2019

We are delighted to announce that Martin Doyle of Rumball Sedgwick has been shortlisted for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Young Surveyor of the Year. Congratulations Martin!

Each year the RICS Matrics UK Young Surveyor Awards recognise the outstanding inspiring talent of those set to be the future leaders in the profession.

After several weeks of difficult decisions by the judges the shortlist has now been revealed. Martin is one of just three Surveyors shortlisted in the ‘Residential Property’ category.

The RICS has reported that the standard of entries has once again risen, with some exemplary entries across all ten categories and from a diverse pool of young professionals.

The winner in each category and the overall Young Surveyor 2019 will be announced at a prestigious awards dinner on 28 November at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London. We will be there to support Martin and cheer him on, though regardless of the outcome, in our eyes Martin is already a winner and an impressive and highly respected Chartered Surveyor.