The National Self Build & Renovation Centre is to host its second Self Build & Renovation Show at the Renovation Centre, just off Junction 16 of the M4 next month, (Thursday 6th – Sunday 9th March 2008).

The show is offering a unique practical learning experience for anyone interested in building their dream home.

With a shortage of the right kind of affordable homes and uncertainty in the existing property market, ‘doing it yourself’, whether self building or renovating, to create a home that is compatible with individual lifestyles’ is becoming more appealing and is a very realistic option for many people looking to get on, or move up, the property ladder.

• This year’s show offers visitors:
  Lots of instructive seminars; product demonstrations, and presentations.
• Visitors can get to grips with a selection of the newest technical gadgets, professional tools and accessories from leading suppliers, including Festool, ITW and Skil.
• Sample the latest in kitchen cooking ranges and appliances from AGA and Britannia.
• Learn about finding land, arranging finance and buying materials from self build and renovation experts.
• Book one-to-one sessions with CAD designers and take part in practical skills workshops in plastering, bricklaying and tiling, with Trade Skills 4U.
• There will also be an exclusive launch of ‘Tommy’s House by Potton Homes; a new eco-friendly timber frame package range, inspired by Tommy Walsh’s eco house, which he built for £60,000 in 60 days.

The Self Build & Renovation Show will run between Thursday 6th and Sunday 9th March, at the National Self Build & Renovation Centre in Swindon. Entry cost £10 per adult, or £15 per couple.

Buildstore Ltd has kindly arranged a generous ½ price ticket discount for UK Home Ideas readers, who are invited to log on to the website to book their tickets and enter this code - SBMUKH005, for the discount, on any of the four days of the Show.

Web: http://www.mykindofhome.co.uk/show

Tel: (01506) 409 616

Speed Building is a new concept in housing developed by the UK self build experts Potton Ltd, as a fast and easy way of creating the perfect home to suit your lifestyle.

The company brings all the services you need to design and build your home under one roof, starting with research and finishing with your completed dream home.
 
The Speed Building experience starts with Potton’s new Self Build Forum, the fastest way to find out about the self build process; meet both self build experts and other self builders at the same time.

Held free of charge, every fortnight at Potton’s conference and leisure centre, Wyboston Lakes, the Self Build Forum begins with a one hour introduction to self build, which covers each stage of the process from finding land to claiming the VAT back.

Guests then spend 15 minutes at a workshop with each of five different experts, to put their own specific questions.

At the end goodie bags are given out, packed with complimentary copies of self build magazines, a portfolio of Potton’s 76 standard house designs and an introduction to land sourcing specialists Plotsearch.

Guests are then invited to visit the UK’s only Self Build Show Centre nearby, where there are three magnificent examples of homes for self build:

The Caxton and the Gransden - two beautiful Tudor style homes, featuring exposed post and beams and inglenook fireplaces;

Plus the elegant Queen Ann style Milchester from Potton’s Rectory range.

To reserve a place on Potton’s new Self Build Forum and Workshop visit:

Web: http://www.potton.co.uk/forum
Tel:  (01767) 676476
 

The Property Investor Show, The UK’s largest dedicated property investment exhibition - will make its Birmingham debut at the NEC from 23rd to 25th March 2007, following 5 years of consecutive growth at ExCeL London.

The show is co-locating at the NEC at the same time as the comprehensive Homebuilding & Renovation show, making this a most important weekend for Midlands-based property investors during 2007.

The show brings together the very best in the property investment world, as the 100 plus exhibitors attending, will cover every aspect of making money from property and offer expertise from the UK and overseas, for both residential and commercial investments.

Mortgage and financial advice will also be available from specialist organisations for local, national and international investment.

The show is an excellent source of information and inspiration for people who want to make money from property, bringing together buyers, sellers and professional services that aim to make investing in property as profitable and as painless as possible.

The Property Investor Show also features a programme of seminars, at a cost of £5 per place to help in making the route to property investment easier and more profitable for everyone.

The Property Investor Show provides a real opportunity for investors to arm themselves with as much information as they can, in order to develop the insight that builds successful property portfolios that can finance a lifestyle and last a lifetime!

Entry is free and online registration for the show and the 60 seminars is at:

Web: http://www.propertyinvestor.co.uk/birmingham
Tel: (020) 8877 3636

A major new centre opened on 9 February 2007, dedicated to helping people build their dream homes, or undertake renovation projects; the Swindon based Centre is the brainchild of BuildStore the pioneering self build and renovation experts.

The 67,000 sq ft National Self Build and Renovation Centre, brings together under one roof for the first time all the products, services inspiration and advice required for self build or renovation.

The centre will cater for the booming market in self build and renovation, with over 20,000 people building their homes and an estimated 300,000 more undertaking major renovation work every year.

More and more people are building their own homes for two principle reasons:

You can design the home that best suits your lifestyle.

With lower costs plus a VAT exemption, savings can be up to 30% on the cost of buying a similar property.

It is an ideal way to move up the property ladder and people are catching on quickly.

The new centre is within an easy 2 hour drive of over 25 million people and it is packed with features to help visitors through every stage of their project:
            Inspiration for your design
            Learning how it’s done
            Finding a plot or renovation project
            Securing the right finance
            Getting the right advice from the experts
            Finding the right tradesmen
            The best products and services
            The Trade Village features the products of over 220 companies.

The Centre is open to the public five days a week.  Tickets cost from £8 for a full day.

Demand is expected to be high and customers are encouraged to pre-book online at:

Web: http://www.mykindofhome.co.uk/
Tel: (0870) 870 9991

Standard Life Bank’s new mortgage website has just won the “Best Financial Website” award in the recent Interactive Marketing Awards.

The site is designed to be visually attractive with an emphasis on user-centric design. They’ve even used icons familiar to users of iPods and mobile phones to make the site easy to use.

The products are shown with a series of demos rather than the blocks of dry text usually found on financial websites. Standard Life Bank say the site was designed to be “pleasurable to interact with”. It’s asking a lot of a website to make reading about mortgages fun - but if you’re in the market for a new mortgage anyway, it’s probably worth a look.

web: http://www.freestylemortgages.com