In Property

IT LOOKS like a brick-built cousin of the nightmarish sci-fi pods seen in The Matrix.

But this egg-shaped home could help homeowners heal the planet.

Alternative builders Eco Hab Homes are showcasing their unusual dwellings at the Grand Designs Live exhibition in Royal Docks. The curious cocoons range from four to six metres in diameter, and range from an £8,900 bungalow to a two-floor home with its own bedroom, living area, kitchen and bathroom, costing nearly £80,000. See www.ecohab.co.uk for more details.

The zero-carbon pod is among several eco-projects taking place at the nine-day show at ExCeL. Presenter Kevin McCloud kicked off his attempt to build a home in six days over the weekend, and rail closures did not stop waves of designers making the trip to East London. The exhibition is expected to attract up to 500,000 visitors this year, and is the subject of a live Channel 4 broadcast.

“NOW is a really good time to buy abroad. There are so many bargains to be had because of the credit crunch.”

That’s the opinion of Amanda Lamb, property expert and presenter of Channel 4’s A Place In The Sun. She thinks recent economic woes haven’t really affected people’s appetite for investing overseas.

She said: “I was expecting it to but, to be honest, I haven’t noticed [a change]. But what we will get now are more serious buyers, the ones who can genuinely afford it.

A BOUTIQUE 150-bedroom hotel could be on the cards near Westferry Circus.

Plans for the luxury hotel overlooking the Heron Quays roundabout have been submitted to Tower Hamlets Council.

Architect Patel Taylor has drawn up a clear and opaque glass design for the 37-storey tower and podium development, known as Newfoundland.

It has been proposed by South Quay Properties, which is part of estate owner Canary Wharf Group. The 2,500 square metre site is currently a 75-space private car park.

Property tips column

Providing additional space in your home requires special considerations. In some cases extra rooms in the roof may be an appropriate solution.

Otherwise you may consider a single or two-storey extension, or perhaps a straightforward garden room or conservatory would suffice.

Whichever you chose it could be a lot less costly and stressful than moving home.

London’s waterways have been subject to frenzied regeneration of late but the banks of the Thames have seen most of the action. Now, with the Olympics just over four years away, east London’s maze of waterways is undergoing a renaissance with schemes such as Caspian Wharf on the banks of Limehouse Cut in Bow.

Planning permission and funding is being granted to build on the banks of the waterways, complemented by many of the original warehouses being brought back to life. One of the new-build developments is Caspian Wharf – Berkeley Homes (South East London) Ltd’s apartment block.

A TWISTING tower could be the flagship building in new plans for the London Arena site.

The distinctive design was unveiled this week as part of revised proposals for the Crossharbour site.

Developer Ballymore received planning permission for an office, residential and commercial space in October last year, but is pushing for a new design to take advantage of views around the site.

The altered scheme will also dump the proposed office space in favour of more hotel rooms and retail floorspace. The new design will increase the number of residential units to 1,111.

Diarmuid Gavin, Naomi Cleaver, Matt James and Jason Bradbury will be joining Kevin McCloud at this year’s Grand Designs Live London at ExCeL London.

Fans of the TV show should put a date in their diaries for May 3-11, when the event at ExCeL in the Royal Docks will be held for a fourth year.

New homes buyers in the south are faced with stamp duty bills that are £7,533 higher than those in the north, based on the current average price of a new home recorded in February.

The figures come from the latest SmartNewHomes.com index, revealing that the average residential stamp duty bill is nearly five times higher in the south than in the north.

The most expensive stamp duty bill is in Greater London at £12,184 and the least expensive is in the East Midlands at £2,130.

The property market across the UK is facing significant challenges – but central London is buoyant.

Members of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) reported the property market is “dull” as recent monthly figures show external pressures are causing buyers to be prudent.

They said the number of house buyers on books, houses available and percentage of first-time buyers decreased throughout February.

The Home Front property column by Dawn Sandoval

I am one of the executors for my late friend’s estate and have been given the responsibility of selling his house. Can you give me some advice on the best way of moving forward on this?

Before you do anything else you need to get the property professionally valued, regardless of your intention to sell or not.

The reason for this is your friend’s estate must be assessed for inheritance tax – and any liability must be paid before probate can be granted.

Probate, incidentally, is the legal authority you’ll need to have before you you can start distributing your friend’s estate, in accordance with his will.

Most estate agents will be more that happy to co-operate and carry out a free valuation, with a formal written appraisal for probate purposes.

You’ll also need to have the contents valued for inheritance tax purposes.

Once you have been granted probate, you will be free to place the house on the market for sale and either distribute or dispose of the contents as desired.

If time is urgent, you can put the house on the market before probate is granted. However, it must be in place before contracts are exchanged.

Dawn Sandoval MNAEA is head of residential agency at Alan Selby & Partners LLP, Westferry Road, E14, 020 7519 5900. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the comments given. Individual cases must be studied by a solicitor. Email enquiries to newsdesk@wharf.co.uk.