Blog

Read our blog for opinions, insights and advice about property management, building surveying and design.

Our talented team provide a wealth of expertise, guidance, opinions and insights for our monthly blog. Please let us know if there are any specific topics you wish to see discussed.

15th July 2020
Oliver Gristwood, Senior Surveyor
building surveys / pre-acquisition surveys / company updates / residential / heritage / asset management / property management / housing associations / sillence hurn

Top Tips from a Building Surveyor when Purchasing a Home

15th July 2020
Oliver Gristwood, Senior Surveyor
building surveys / pre-acquisition surveys / company updates / residential / heritage / asset management / property management / housing associations / sillence hurn

Purchasing a property or your dream home can be a stressful and daunting process, however Sillence Hurn are here to help!

We have collated our top considerations any purchaser should consider when making that big step of a property transaction.
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1st July 2020
David Sillence, Co-Founding Director
building surveys / insurance claims / listed buildings / company updates / residential / commercial / heritage / asset management / property management / sillence hurn

Why Are Reinstatement Cost Assessments So Important?

1st July 2020
David Sillence, Co-Founding Director
building surveys / insurance claims / listed buildings / company updates / residential / commercial / heritage / asset management / property management / sillence hurn

We’ve all read the official guidelines on Reinstatement Cost Assessments, but many property owners are still unaware of how they are delivered and what they mean for your business.

Reinstatement costs are extremely important, as they take into account the cost to replace, repair and rebuild a property in the event of loss. Having an accurate property value assessed is essential to being correctly insured.
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18th June 2020
Lauren Marshall, Business Administrator
monitoring surveying / cost management / refurbishment management / building procurement advice / business advice and tips / company updates / commercial / property management / sillence hurn

Sillence Hurn meets …. Jack Jiggens Acquisitions Director and Co- Founding Partner of EXP Property

18th June 2020
Lauren Marshall, Business Administrator
monitoring surveying / cost management / refurbishment management / building procurement advice / business advice and tips / company updates / commercial / property management / sillence hurn

Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do at Sillence Hurn. To showcase our clients and the relationships we have established with them, we introduce our ‘Sillence Hurn meets………’ blog series, starting today with Jack of EXP Property.

EXP is the merge of two independently successful development companies. This combined expertise compliments each other to create precision, growth and versatility.

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17th June 2020
Alex Hurn, Co-Founding Director
monitoring surveying / quantity surveying / refurbishment management / business advice and tips / company updates / sillence hurn

Demystifying the role of the Monitoring Surveyor

17th June 2020
Alex Hurn, Co-Founding Director
monitoring surveying / quantity surveying / refurbishment management / business advice and tips / company updates / sillence hurn

A Monitoring Surveyor is instructed by those with a financial interest in a construction project but are not directly involved in the building phase. These parties could be lenders, owners, investors or developers and it varies for each project.

Why do you need a Monitoring Surveyor?

The property market is extremely competitive with many people looking to get involved in their own projects to build a career or simply make a profit. This high demand means that it can be difficult to secure finance to carry out such projects. Lenders need to be sure about who they are lending to as construction projects are much higher risk than lending on a completed property as it is unknown at the beginning of the project what setbacks may lay ahead, affecting the profitability.

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6th April 2020
David Sillence, Co-Founding Director
business advice and tips / company updates / sillence hurn

Dilapidations consultancy explained

6th April 2020
David Sillence, Co-Founding Director
business advice and tips / company updates / sillence hurn

Dilapidation is the term used to describe the state of condition and disrepair due to neglect in maintenance of a property. Dilapidations are the associated potential costs that could be due to the landlord from a tenant at lease expiry, to return the property back to its original pre-let condition.

It is strongly recommended that both parties consider dilapidations well in advance of the lease ending. The landlord should ideally serve a Terminal Schedule within the last year of the lease term to allow agreements to be reached, the appropriate works to be undertaken or a suitable financial settlement to be reached.
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30th March 2020
Lauren Marshall, Business Administrator
business advice and tips / company updates / sillence hurn

5 Top tips for working from home

30th March 2020
Lauren Marshall, Business Administrator
business advice and tips / company updates / sillence hurn

Many of us have found ourselves turning our home into an office and if you are not used to this it can be challenging to adapt to the new routine (or lack of) and keeping focused.

Here at Sillence Hurn we offer a flexible approach to our working environment and will often work from home. With this in mind, we thought it would be useful to share our top 5 tips with you
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18th March 2020
David Sillence, Co-Founding Director
party wall consultancy / planning applications / property design / residential / commercial

Party Wall Matters

18th March 2020
David Sillence, Co-Founding Director
party wall consultancy / planning applications / property design / residential / commercial

If you’re planning new development works, refurbishing or extending your commercial property, undertaking a house extension, proposing a loft conversion or renovation works, you should be aware of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 and how it could affect your plans and building works.

We’ve asked our Director, David Sillence, some important questions that will help you understand how it can apply to certain developments. With 30 years of industry-related experience, David specialises in Party Wall matters and takes a pragmatic approach to all matters with the sole aim to benefit his clients.

Here is our brief overview on this topic:-
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1st March 2020
Alex Hurn, Co-Founding Director
building surveys / residential / commercial

What is a survey and why you need one when buying a property?

1st March 2020
Alex Hurn, Co-Founding Director
building surveys / residential / commercial

When you are purchasing a property, whether it’s residential or commercial, making an informed, confident decision is best. But, on top of such an investment the thought of spending even more money can lead to the question of whether you really need that all ‘important’ survey.

It’s the building equivalent of a car’s MOT but as it is not a legal requirement and is an extra cost, it can be easily disregarded. So perhaps the question should really be, could you confidently buy a car without the MOT?
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