We have over 40 years' experience providing removals and storage services across Kent, London and the UK. We specialise in piano removals and have moved Beethoven's piano on a European tour. Our facilities in Ashford include container storage, piano storage and document archive.
People of Kent – Al Murray, The Pub Landlord, has announced he will be stand for election in Kent on 7 May 15. He has chosen the Kent constituency of South Thanet to take on Nigel Farage and is representing the newly formed Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP).
The comedian is standing on a platform of self-professed “Common Sense”, part of which includes leaving Europe by 2025 and the edge of the Solar System by 2050. On economics Al Murray has promised to revalue the pound at £1.10 making the pound allegedly worth 10p more.
The FUKP logo, which includes an upside down pound sign, is clearly a snub to UKIP, as it includes an upside down pound symbol. Al Murray has also said “It seems to me that the UK is ready for a bloke waving a pint around, offering common sense solutions.”
If Al Murray wins the election in Kent, he promised “The other parties offer a moon on a stick. We will do better than that: a British Moon on a British Stick”. Some of the other FUKP election pledges include:
1p a Pint, as well as white wine or fruit based drink (Crisps will remain the same price)
To brick up the Channel Tunnel, with British Bricks.
Greece will be bought and operated by Kent County Council.
Reintroduce National Service, but only for those who don’t want to do it.
To look up the unemployed as they cause crime.
The South Thanet Seat is currently held by the Conservatives who won it from Labour in 2010. Laura Sandys, the Conservative MP, won with a majority of 7617 and a 48% majority. UKIP candidate, Trevor Shonk, on the other hand only managed 5.5% of the vote.
If you’re a betting man, Ladbrokes are currently offering 66-1 that Al Murray can win the election in Kent. Although if he does win, South Thanet would become the Nation’s capital and a Demilitarized Zone will be established between North and South Thanet. According to FKUP their official poll has found the following:
FKUP First Official Poll
To see more of FKUP and the policies effecting the election in Kent, go to:
Piano Tuning – How Often Should You Tune Your Piano?
Tightening the piano strings
When we are delivering pianos, our customers often ask us when is the right time for piano tuning. People feel that moving a piano will have affected the piano pitch and that they might need to get it tuned. This is not usually the case and changes in tune are normally down to humidity, but we will get to that later. First let us look at why pianos need to be tuned.
Pianos need to be tuned as the metal piano strings stretch over time, the high tension that piano strings are under cause them to slowly lengthen as they age, this happens whether you play the piano or not. It is a myth that you won’t need to tune your piano if you don’t play it, the piano will go flat if you don’t tinkle those ivories.
Did you know that each piano string is under about 170 pounds of tension? Each piano has 231 strings and this means that when you add up all that tension the piano frame is resisting 19 tons of pressure! Now that is a lot of strain and is the main reason a piano is so heavy, it has a strong metal frame to take the tension. This is also why it is not a good idea to move a piano by yourself, the metal frame in the pianos make them very heavy and cumbersome and it is very easy to either damage the piano or yourself when moving it.
If you have bought a brand new piano, first of all congratulations, second you should look to have your piano tuned every 3 months for the first year. That means you need to get it tuned four times in the first year to, as it were, break the piano in. New pianos need more regularly piano tuning because the steel strings in a new piano have never had any tension put on them before and therefore initially stretch faster than older strings, this causes a new piano to lose its tune faster than an older one.
For pianos older than one year we recommend getting it tuned every 6 months. It is not recommended to tune less frequently than this as the piano can not only lose tune but lose pitch. If the piano is left too flat for too long, the piano tuner may not be able to bring the pitch of the piano back up to what is called standard pitch (i.e. each piano at standard pitch should sound the same). Old pianos that have not been tuned for a long time may not be able to take the strain of raising the pitch back to standard, this could cause strings to break or worse damage the frame or pin block. See what some of the best piano manufacturers say about piano tuning at the end of this article.
Servicing your Piano
If you find your piano is losing tune between the usual 6-month piano tuning cycle, the most likely culprit it humidity. A piano is normally about 85% wood and as such changes in humidity cause the wood to expand or contract which affects the piano tune. If you find your piano is losing its tune rapidly it may be a good idea to invest in a humidifier or dehumidifier. Your local piano tuner will be able to help you here, see the links below for more.
So we come back to the question of does moving a piano cause it to lose its tune. The answer is no, moving a piano does not generally cause the piano to go out of tune. Each piano is carefully wrapped and protected to safeguard it against temperature and humidity changes during the move. It is the humidity, temperature or physical changes from one location to another that alter the tune. For instance unevenness of the floor or differing levels between the old and new location may effect the tune of upright pianos. This means that your piano may sound good on delivery but lose it tune of a few days or maybe weeks as it adjusts to its new home.
We therefore don’t recommend that you get your piano tuned as soon as it is delivered to your new location. The piano move shouldn’t have affected the piano tune but the new environment will over time. So it is always best to leave it a couple of weeks after moving before you get your piano tuned.
This is what some of the top piano manufacturers say about the piano tuning:
Steinway & Sons
“We usually recommend our customers at least 2 or 3 tunings per year for a piano getting average use in the home.”
Bosendorfer Pianos
“To insure the quality of your grand piano we recommend to let it be tuned two times a year (before and after the heating season) or even more regularly by an experienced concert technician.”
Yamaha Pianos
“To keep your piano in the best possible condition, we recommend a regular tuning appointment every six months.”
Kawai Pianos
“In general, Kawai recommends 2 to 4 tunings per year. However, your piano technician can best recommend the appropriate interval for your specific environmental conditions and use.”
These two links are a good place to start to find your nearest piano tuning expert:
In the budget George Osbourne fundamentally changed the way Stamp Duty is calculated and charged. If you’re buying or selling a property make sure you understand these changes as they can make or break your house purchase. The good news is that the changes will save money for most of us in Kent, Surrey and the South East, those living in London will feel the pinch though.
So here is how it works, bear with me as there are lots of figures here.
Stamp Duty – The Maths
From 4 December 2014 Stamp Duty is calculated on the portion of the property sales price that falls into each band. You only pay the rate of tax for the portion of the house price that falls in each band. So you pay 0% for all of the sale price that is below £125 000, 2% for the amount that falls between £125 001 and £250 000, for the sale price between £250 001 and £925 000 is charged at 5% and so on, see the table below for more. So not only have the rates changed but you only pay tax on the portion of the property sale in each band. Simples!
Stamp Duty Tax Rates and Bands
Worked Example
It is probably easier if we work through an example. Let’s say you have just agreed to buy a loverly 4-bedroom house in Canterbury, Kent for £450 000 your Stamp Duty will be calculated as follows. For the first portion up to £125 000 there will be no Stamp Duty to pay, for the portion falling between £125 001 and £250 000 the fee will be £2500 and the final £200 000 will incur £10 000. This means that the Treasury will charge you £12 500 for a house purchase of £450 000.
Now that is a lot of money but the good news is that under the old scheme we would have been charged 3% on the whole house price, which would have meant a stamp duty bill of totalling £13 500. So most of us moving house in Kent or the South East will be better off under the new regime, although it may take a while for us to fly get our head around the new tax law. In fact the Government has said that nobody buying a house under £925 000 will be out of pocket.
For more information regarding stamp duty on house purchases check out:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all the team at Colin Batt Removals. Whilst we pride ourselves on being great removers the ultimate removal man has to be Father Christmas. He can deliver to every child in the land in one night…phew – just think of all those stairs and chimney pots! Whilst Father Christmas will be busy moving heaven and earth to get all the pressies to the kids, we will take a well earned break, the office will be shut from 24th December but we’ll be back to look move your house or piano from 5th January 2015. That said the phone will be periodically monitored for any emergency calls, just in case Santa needs a hand moving your new piano upstairs!
2014 was a great year and that is thanks to all the hard work the whole team put in. A big thank you to all our Porters who move your furniture, the office staff who arrange your removal and the management team who look after the rest of the staff. To celebrate we all had a Christmas party in Canterbury, Kent and had a traditional Indian curry! The vindaloo was too hot for everyone even in the depths of December.
Best wishes to all for the New Year and we look forward to helping all of our existing and new customers from Kent, Surrey and beyond with any and all of your house removals needs. Remember to call us if you need to move house, want some items stored after all the Xmas gifts you received, or have a piano you want delivering. Don’t forget we can help with document archives if you are doing a bit of office spring cleaning too.
All the best to you and yours and have a fantastic, fruitful and fun 2015.
House prices have risen remarkably in Kent and the South East recently and so it is more important than ever to understand the other fees involved in moving home. When you buy a property the cost to move house is more than the price you pay for the property, there are many more fees and charges that you need to budget for. These fees can quickly add up and so you should account for them before you agree your sale and mortgage. To help you with this we have compiled a list of charges you should consider when moving house, everything from mortgage fees to house removal costs.
Colin Batt Removals Kent House Move
All house price figures were obtained from Zoopla using their Zed index and are accurate as of 21 October 14.
Deposit
Zoopla currently estimates that the average house price in Kent is now in excess of £278,000 and has reached the previous highs set before the economic crash in 2008. This means that the deposit requirements for your mortgage are also increasing. Listed below are the average prices and illustrative deposits you may need for a variety of example properties currently available in Maidstone, Ashford and Canterbury.
Location
Property
Average Price
20% Deposit
Maidstone
Detached
£456,047
£91,209
Canterbury
Flat
£188,076
£37,615
Ashford
Semi-Detached
£233,222
£46,644
Mortgage Fees
You will be acutely aware of the costs and long-term financial responsibility a mortgage brings – with the added bonus of your own home! What you may not be so mindful of is all of the other fees mortgage providers charge you. There is obviously the interest on your loan but there are additional fees they may charge to set up your mortgage. Some of these can be added to you loan but doing this will obviously increase your monthly payments and the overall cost of your loan. The mortgage fees vary between lenders but can include:
Valuation Fee £150-1500
Set-up Fee £99-300
Arrangement Fee £0-2000
Stamp Duty
Properties bought for more than £125,000 will incur a stamp duty fee paid to the exchequer on completion of the property sale by the buyer. This fee is charged on a sliding scale dependent on the property sale price. These are set by HMRC and can be viewed at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sdlt/intro/rates-thresholds.htm. For an average priced property in Kent (£262,028) the stamp duty fee is 3% of the purchase price and so would cost £7860.
Purchase price
SDLT rate
Up to £125,000
Zero
Over £125,000 to £250,000
1%
Over £250,000 to £500,000
3%
Over £500,000 to £1 million
4%
Over £1 million to £2 million
5%
Over £2 million
7%
Over £2 million (purchased by certain persons including corporate bodies)
15%
Legal Fees
These are the fees incurred by the solicitor or conveyancer on your behalf for the legal work required to complete the sale. The fees vary whether you are buying or selling (clearly you are usually doing both). The charges are usually between £300-£700 for selling and £400-1000 when buying. If you are purchasing a property the solicitor will also usually instruct all the relevant searches on your behalf (such as those to check appropriate planning permission, flood risk, chancellory etc) and these will amount to approximately £200. There is also the Land Registration Fee to pay and this usually varies between £20 and £455 depending on the property price. In total the legal fees for both selling and buying a property can vary between as much as £1000 and £4500.
When choosing you solicitor, surveyor and estate agent (see below) use a reputable firm and use firms recommended by your friends and colleagues – a cheap initial price can actually turn out to be very expensive. As always, obtain several quotes before you decide and always negotiate.
Estate Agent Fees
As with the legal fees these vary from agent to agent. The fees can vary anywhere from 1% to 3% of the final sale price. Your estate agent can also usually organise an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for you as this is a mandatory item for sale. The EPC will cost around £100 and so for an average price property in Kent the estate agent fees and EPC combined will set you back £2720-7960. Remember both the estate agent fees and the EPC charges are only paid by the seller.
Surveyor
A house purchase is the most expensive outlay you are ever likely to make as such it is always advisable to get a qualified surveyor to inspect the property. A home buyers report will highlight any major defects within the property and a full structural survey gives you in-depth detail on the state of the house you are considering buying. Either report could well save you thousands of pounds and a lot of heart ache in the long run. A home report will set you back around £300 and a structural survey start in the region of £500.
House Removal
Your house removal costs are completely dependent upon the amount of furniture and belongings you have to move, how far you are moving and whether you plan to do the packing yourself. Additional charges could be incurred for moving bespoke items such as pianos or fine art. Just like any other purchase do your research and use a firm recommended by your friends and colleagues. You can also use independent sites such as ReferenceLine to get a feeling for the company’s reputation.
We recommend you get three independent quotes from member of the British Association of Removers (BAR). Members of the BAR agree to abide by a strict code of practice and all members are fully insured. The BAR provide an online estimator for you to get a rough idea of how much your move may cost but always get an on-site survey before you choose your removal company. We also provide an online form to provide you with a removals estimate, see the link to the right.
Buying a house is an expensive business with lots of additional costs to move house in addition to the actual purchase price. Careful budgeting is key as is shopping around, but do use recommended companies. After spending all that money on your dream home don’t start your first night there stressed having tried to save a few pounds by using a disreputable removal company. They are, after all, moving all of your worldly belongings so it may cost you more money in the long run.
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