The 50 Most Popular Villages

Historic Property Auction Particulars -- Mersham 1878

By Roger Lightfoot

These have been hanging on the wall in our boardroom for as long as I can remember. I recently happened to ‘bump into’ two of the current owners of the cottages when I gave a […]

Livestock, land and property prices in 1972

By Roger Lightfoot

Our Annual Report from 1972 includes prices and expert views from our former partners for livestock, residential, agricultural and investment property in the South East.

Stunning photos of Mersham in the winter

By Roger Lightfoot

Thank you to Stuart Rodda for allowing us to use his stunning photos taken recently whilst walking his dog in the fields close to Mersham.

Autumn Statement: A cautious sigh of relief for the housing market

By Alex Davies

The news from Downing Street has been pretty grim for the last few months. But, I broadly welcome the news for the housing market following the Chancellor’s announcement in the House of Commons earlier today. […]

Should I put my house on the market before Christmas?

By Simon Godfrey

We get asked this every year in the weeks leading up to Christmas. This year’s answer might surprise you.

Gold award from our clients

By Alex Davies

Our estate agents team have been awarded Gold for the Best Agent in Ashford by allAgents.co.uk

Should I buy a house in a Conservation Area?

By Greg Wood

There are some wonderful properties in the Conservation Areas in Kent and East Sussex but buyers need to make sure they understand the strict planning rules designed to preserve the character of these locations.

How I nearly made a pig's ear of selling my own house

By Bill Lightfoot

Have you ever asked for advice and then ignored it? I guess we all have. Hobbs Parker was founded by my great-great-great-grandfather in 1850. My Dad worked here for 42 years and I’ve been working […]

Post Stamp Duty Holiday: What next for the property market?

By Alex Davies

When Rishi Sunak announced a temporary Stamp Duty holiday on July 8th 2020 to counter the effects of the Pandemic, homebuyers celebrated the chance to save on buying costs. Was he right to do it? […]

Wye - Kent's Super Village

By Greg Wood

So what is it about the village of Wye that creates it’s extraordinary reputation? Unlike many villages in my part of Kent that are equally as pretty and have local facilities, it has a selection […]

Millie Green - A Review of Ashford

By Roger Lightfoot

The Kentish town of Ashford is known for many things: the International Station, the Designer Outlet and a plethora of secondary schools. These are all great assets to the town, but at Hobbs Parker we […]

Stamp Duty Savings - are you buying a house with an Annexe?

By Alex Davies

“We sell many homes with accommodation that is separate to the principal home but very few buyers are aware of the Stamp Duty savings they may be entitled to.” Alex Davies

Very small ski chalet for sale!

By Sarah Holgate

It's tempting to take snowing photos of your home when selling it. But is this a good idea?

How many Ashfords are there in the UK?

By Roger Lightfoot

Our website contains a database of all the villages, towns and cities in the UK. We combined this data with Google Maps to created this map of all the Ashfords in the UK. Note: There […]

The 50 Most Popular Villages

By Roger Lightfoot

Our website is very busy — every day up to 6,000 people visit our website. Many are researching the ideal location for their next home and spend some time reading about the towns and villages […]

Tips to help you establish a great Wild Garden

By Alex Davies

If you’ve been watching TV nature and gardening programmes lately, you’ll have seen a lot of interest in wild gardens. There are many advantages to wild gardens: they cover the ground in a beautiful mix […]

Tips for buyers and sellers when dealing with properties from a bygone era

By Alex Davies

The first clue upon arrival is the general look of neglect. Tired net curtains hanging at the windows, peeling paintwork, stains from a leaking gutter, a rusty gate opening on to an entrance path overgrown […]

Will Netflix and Amazon affect property prices in Ashford?

By Alex Davies

There has been talk of an Ashford metamorphosis for almost as long as I can remember. The opening of the ‘Missing Link’ of the M20 motorway between Ashford and Maidstone in 1991 would surely bring […]

Post-Coronavirus property market predictions

By Alex Davies

Savills research team recently offered some interesting analysis of what a UK property market recovery could look like post-Coronavirus predicting transaction volumes could be down by up to 45% for 2020 with the greatest impact […]

Bucking the national property 'downturn'

By Alex Davies

It is true that we agreed 35 sales during October which we think are good results by anyone’s standards but I can tell you it doesn’t come easily and not without a lot of hard […]

Why 2019 is the right time to invest in Ashford

By Sally Randall

“If you have ever wished you’d invested somewhere that has regenerated, you will know that you are already too late.” These are the words of Alex Davies, Managing Director for Hobbs Parker Estate Agents, an […]

Historic Property Auction Particulars -- Mersham 1878

By Roger Lightfoot

These have been hanging on the wall in our boardroom for as long as I can remember. I recently happened to ‘bump into’ two of the current owners of the cottages when I gave a […]

Listed Buildings Advice

The market for period property is booming and the older the house or cottage, the more likely it is to be listed. By listing a property, it celebrates a building’s special architectural and historic features […]

Will your second home also be your pension?

By Simon Godfrey

Recent research suggests that the level of income people aspire to retire on each year has increased from £35,000 to £42,000 yet this would require a pension pot of more than £1 million. Evidence shows […]

Will solar panels increase the value of my home?

By Alex Davies

As the weather gets colder and darker, and the heating and lights stay on longer, there’s one thing I can predict with even more certainty than the Queen’s Speech broadcasting on Christmas Day. The arrival […]

Why do kitchens sell houses?

By Alex Davies

The party is in the kitchen! When we have a party at our house my wife and I spend hours making our living room look nice and then most of the evening trying to get […]