Between April 23rd and May 18th 2012, England rugby international and World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio and England cricketing legend Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff will undertake the ride of their lives and our director Adil Akkus is joining them for the second of the 5 Stages!

Spanning across 22 days, the Dallaglio Flintoff Cycle Slam 2012 supported by Virgin Media will kick off on St George’s Day (23rd April) from the ancient birthplace of the Olympic Games, Olympia in Greece.  The journey will take them through Italy, across the Swiss Alps and through France before reaching London on 18th May. Each Stage Rider has committed to raise in excess of £3,000 to support Lawrence and Freddie in reaching their fundraising goal of £2.012m

Adil is undertaking this massive challenge in order to support 3 fantastic charities; the Dallaglio Foundation, the AF Foundation & Virgin Unite,  any money you donate will help develop three amazing projects.

Firstly, the Dallaglio Foundation is supporting Cancer Research UK’s cutting edge project on prostate cancer genetics that will help to build a new era of personalised medicine.

Secondly, the AF Foundation, set up by Andrew and Rachael Flintoff, is a children’s charity raising funds to build, develop and improve Child Rehabilitation & Physiotherapy Units throughout the UK.

Thirdly, Virgin Unite. A contribution of all donations will be made to the not-for-profit foundation Virgin Unite to support their programmes that help young people in the UK to increase their employability and entrepreneurialism.

Adil will be cycling 728 km and he is hoping that you will dig deep to help him raise money for these incredible causes!

At Appleton Estate Agent Maidenhead, we appreciate your help and support in  getting the word out as well as your donations.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=AdilAkkus

Provided by Appleton Estate Agents Maidenhead

With its long history, Royal connections and  natural beauty, the Windsor and Maidenhead area of Berkshire is one of the most hot spots to raise families.

Over 80% of the area is estimated to be on the green belt, which means that the local natural beauty is well preserved.

With its significant number of parks and children’s play areas, there are a lot of cost-effective alternatives for days out as well as keeping the children healthy and active. Ockwells Park and the Jubilee River that stretches from Maidenhead to Windsor can be counted as one of many such opportunities.

The children safety is also a priority for the Royal Windsor and Maidenhead Borough, which is combined with many local initiatives and Neighbourhood Watch schemes.

It’s close proximity to London and Oxford also means that there are a lot of famility orientated attractions and activities are close.

However, the prices of residential properties in Maidenhead and Windsor follow the London trends, and tend to be over the national average. But, you can always rent a property near Maidenhead or Windsor quite easily.

If you’d like to find out more about the properties to let in Maidenhead, please contact Appleton Letting Agents Maidenhead.

Written by: Appleton Estate Agents Maidenhead

According to the Nationwide Building Society, the house prices remained relatively unchanged in 2011, and the bleak outlook to continue in 2012.

Experts argue the reduced “real” income and the ongoing significant unemploymentlevels contributed the downbeat housing trend.

In 2012, the uncertainty in the economy, restricted mortgage products and limited new properties will mean the continuation of low levels of residential property activity.

Latest figures from HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs) indicate that November has seen the most number of property sales in 2011 with 85 thousand home sales.

This accounts for a 7.6% increase from the October 2011 property sales.

However, across the whole year the numbers were more gloomy compared to 2010.

For more information on property for sale in Maidenhead and property for rent in Maidenhead, please contact Appleton Estate Agents Maidenhead.

from Appleton Estate Agents Maidenhead

So much has happened over the past 12 months, we don’t even know where to begin!

We have successfully let and managed dozens of properties and had so much fun, while constantly developing our service to make your experiences better and better.

Its been a fantastic year and we cannot wait until 2012!

So from all of us at Appleton Maidenhead Estate Agents, thank you for all your support in making 2011 another brilliant year in property letting and management.

Have a Great Christmas and a Wonderful New Year.

On 8/Dec/2011, the Bank of England kept the interest rates at a record low of 0.5%.

However, there were no signs of an increase in its policy of quantitative easing.

Also a couple of weeks ago, the Chancellor announced plans to help the small and medium sized enterprises via an initiative called “credit easing”.

If you have a lot of cash to invest in property etc, this may seem to be a good opportunity, but there are still a lot of sceptics who argue that the governement is not doing enough  to help small businesses better deal with the current economic climate.

Amongst them, there is a stong argument that the property should be at the heart of an economic recovery as well.

At Appleton Estate Agents Maidenhead, all we are seeing is that the lettings market continue its strong trend with higher rents and corporate lettings.

The HomeLet Rental Index* suggests that residential rentals in October fell by 2.5 per cent compared to September down to £763 per calendar month.

Although there has been a slight dip in October compared to September, the average rent is still 4.3 per cent higher than October of 2010.

The HomeLet Rental Index also indicated that the average income for the the UK tenants incomesdropped by about 0.6 per cent from September down to just over £27K.

According to the report, the number of tenants sharing a property has also increased in the last two years. The average number of tenants per property was 1.7 in October 2011, compared with 1.4 in October 2009.

Sarah Akkus of Appleton Estate Agents Maidenhead commented, “If the rent increases of 2011 continue in 2012, a number of people may be pushed out of the lettings market”.

* The HomeLet Rental Index shows rents agreed by letting agents rather than prices that are advertised on property portals. The HomeLet Rental Index also includes data on key tenant demographics to provide further insight to the market trends of the Private Rented Sector.

Some people argue that the good schooling for the children is a key decision in selecting a property to rent or property to buy near Maidenhead, Marlow or Windsor.

Here we gathered a small list of private schools in and around Maidenhead:

For further information for the Maidenhead, Marlow or Windsor areas, please contact Appleton Estate Agents Maidenhead.

Due to partly the slump in the property sales in the Maidenhead, Marlow and Windsor areas, the house rental market has seen a significant improvement in 2011.

This has led to a lot of would be tenants competing for the same houses or flats in the Maidenhead and Marlow areas. And, the applicants are finding it harder to get their dream property to rent.

At Appleton Estate Agents Maidenhead, we gathered some top tips on securing a house to rent in Maidenhead in today’s highly competitive lettings conditions for you tenants:

• Work out your budget
  Renting a property has additional costs associated beyond the monthly rent! You need to work out the council tax, average utility bills, commuting costs, etc.Before booking viewings, set in place key ‘deal-breakers’ as well as areas for compromise. Knowing what things you’re willing to be flexible on can aid the decision-making process and help your agent select properties to suit your specific needs. This will determine the range of properties you can afford.
• Prioritise your needs
  Do you have constrainst that you cannot change? For example, do you need to be near a particular location? Do you need to be near the Motorays, within walking distance of the station etc? Then work down to wanting an extra bedrooms, etc. Again, this will focus your search.
• Be ready to make a quick decision
  When you find the property that is within your budget, and inline with your prioritised needs, be prepared to make an offer pretty quickly. With the number of applicants targeting the same properties, this will increase your chances.

If in doubt, do you a local letting agent in Maidenhead or Marlow. Appleton Estates have helped thousands of tenants in finding their dream home in the local area, and they will be able to help you though the rental process as well.

The Common Law requires the tenants to behave with a “tenant like manner”.

This means that the tenants should not do anything that may damage the rental property. Similarly, they should not fail to do something that may lead to the damage to the property.

The Law implies that the tenants must keep the property clean, and carry out small maintenance tasks, such as replacing the bulbs, mowing the lawn, etc. And, if the maitenance work is deem significant, the tenant should inform the landlord or the landlord’s agent as soon as possible to prevent damage.

Call us at Appleton Letting Agents Maidenhead to further discuss the details.