Worthing - A Year In Property 2014
12 Nov, 2014
Looking back, 2014 has been a funny old year really. A year of contrasts.
Super low interest rates, out of town buyers and the Government’s much publicised Help to Buy Scheme ensured that property prices continued to rise throughout the year, only slowing very slightly in the final months of 2014.
Our two offices in Worthing and Goring have been doing really well and independent research places us consistently in the Top Three agencies in the area (and frequently Number One!).
The rental market has continued to go from strength to strength with demand consistently high from tenants and achieved rents going up and up.
So all in all, it’s been hard work but we all feel very lucky to be in such a successful firm during such a busy time.
And that got us thinking…
Whilst it’s true to say that the UK is well on the way out of the difficult times of a few years ago, there are still many people who haven’t benefitted from the Worthing market’s boom. Quite the opposite in fact. Living costs have risen much faster than wages, not helped by ever higher housing costs as rents or buying costs have rocketed. Who had even heard of Food Banks before the actual Banks collapsed in 2008? Yet now they are a regular feature in the lives of many Worthing families.
As estate and letting agents we don’t have control over the market, we can only follow the trends, but we wanted to do something.
Last year you might remember, we ran an event in December to gather together as many Elves as possible in aid of St Barnabas and Chestnut Tree Charities and raised some much needed funds for them. This year we wanted to do something just a little more personal that would directly help local people at this sometimes difficult time of year.
We had some meetings with all the staff and took on board as many opinions as we could, and this is what we’ve come up with…
Guild Care – We’re donating 50 Christmas Hampers to be given to local older people at their Christmas Party in December.
Share the Warmth – A great idea to help homeless people by giving them complimentary hot drinks in local cafes and coffee shops. We’ve made a donation to get this kick started and help people in need over the festive Season.
Help a Local Family – We have asked local people to contact us with the details of families who have had a tough time lately and may not be able to get all the things for Christmas themselves. We’ll be choosing a family to receive everything they need from presents to tinsel, and a turkey to a tree. If you know somebody who deserves a bit of luck this Christmas take a look at this page to get all the details you need http://www.robertluff.co.uk/news/have-your-christmas-delivered-this-year but you’ll have to be quick, we have to close nominations on the 5th December.
Food Bank Christmas Hampers - We're also donating some Christmas hampers to the food bank for local families who use the facility.
So what’s in store for next year?
We think it will be another good one for Robert Luff and Co and for Worthing property in general, and sincerely hope that when we reflect on the year at the end of 2015 we’ll see that some of the less fortunate people of the town have felt the benefits of improving prosperity in the town.