You may be surprised to hear this, but despite all the negative headlines, property remains one of the best investments you can make.

Have a look at the chart below, which shows the growth in house prices over the last 50 years. It clearly shows that, while there certainly has been a hiccup over the last few years, the overall trend is resolutely upwards.

Obviously, these are the national averages, and ‘your mileage may vary’, as they say. Also, the past may not be a guide to the future. But we can’t ignore the key messages from this graph. Most notably, those who’ve owned homes for 30 years or more have clearly done very well. Those who bought nearly 50 years ago, when average house prices were in single figures, have seen a staggering return on their initial investment – perhaps as much as 5000%!

Yet those who have only been on the housing ladder for 10 years or so have also been rewarded. And those who joined the party over the last few years may already be looking at gains, or perhaps a modest loss that will soon be reversed. Despite the headlines, very few people have lost out.

There’s no doubt that these are difficult economic times. In the wider economy, growth is low, inflation is high, and many people are struggling with real hardship. And the idea of investing in property seems to have disappeared from most people’s minds – certainly, we’re hearing a lot less about buy-to-let landlords than we used to. But for many people, the rationale for putting their cash into property, one way or another, is as strong as it ever was. It all depends on your individual circumstances.

For most people, their home remains their most significant asset and the largest single purchase they make in their lifetime. The equity in their home represents a huge commitment of time and funds, and may also become an important support to them in their old age – or a key part of the legacy they hope to leave to their children or other dependants.

We think it’s important to keep this in mind when considering maintenance work such as roofline replacement. Most people feel that £2500 (on average) to replace their fascias and gutterings is a lot of money. And, from one point of view, it is – for example, if you weigh it against spending that cash on a holiday. But it’s important to realise that updating your roofline is an investment, not just a spend.

Maintaining the integrity of your roofline is a great way to protect your most important asset. On the most superficial level, it makes for an attractive home that will be easy to sell. But go deeper, and it also protects the fabric of the roof and walls from damp, which can be a serious structural enemy.

On top of that, improving what you already have is a great alternative to moving. In the heyday of the housing market, people moved on to larger or better houses just because they could. The credit was there, and there was almost no reason not to. Now, with loans much harder to come by, they’re focusing their efforts on consolidating what they already have – keeping it safe, preserving its fabric and making it the most pleasant, well-kept place to live that they possibly can.

Finally, investing in your property doesn’t just preserve its value – it increases it. Every improvement you make to your home gives it another step up in terms of value – so while the ‘trend is your friend’ in terms of prices increasing over time, you’re also giving it an extra boost by creating added-value features.

Another perspective on this is to consider the alternatives. If you have spare funds, leaving them in the bank brings you almost no interest. There may be buying opportunities in the stock market, but it remains volatile and unpredictable. In our view, putting your hard-earned cash into a home improvement such as roofline maintenance is one of the wisest financial moves you can make.

I was recently asked by a customer why there was such a vast price difference (£1500 +) between the three company’s he had asked to quote for Plastic Guttering & Soffit replacement.

He told me that his criteria when making any purchases was to compare apples with apples, so predictably his initial impression was that the highest provider was overcharging him. When you consider people’s perceptions of greedy bankers & fat cat bosses today, it’s easy to see how he was convinced that he was paying too much for the job.

To balance this argument I asked him to consider seven areas where costs can be slashed within the approach to roofline replacement.

7 Ways Of Reducing Costs

Asbestos Removal
Many properties contain asbestos Soffit boards, either a Cement based asbestos, or Asbestos Insulation board (AIB). In appearance both look very similar but only by having a sample of the Soffit tested can you distinguish between the two.

Whilst a general builder is permitted to remove the cement based version, only licensed asbestos removal company’s can replace the fibrous AIB board.

If an installer either has no asbestos removal or carriers license, or is unsure as to the nature of the asbestos, he will generally advice you to leave it in situ & cover it with a Pvcu Soffit board, essentially locking the problem in for another day.

Warranty Back Up
It’s a fact that many business cease trading long before they honour their warrant period (usually ten years) deeming the warranty worthless to the customer who’s plastic has faded or has Gutters that have leaked.

Consider a Bargeboard (gable end) area where the work needs repairing, often resulting in scaffolding needing to be re – hired at a cost of £450.00+.

Only a warranty that is insurance backed (underwritten) offers you the certainty that if there are any problems with the quality of the product or Installation you are covered.

Division Of Labour
If you can fit a uPVC conservatory, then you can fit Plastic fascias right? Maybe. But consider though for a moment how difficult it is to keep chopping & changing between tasks. By consistently sticking to one trade both dexterity & proficiency improves. Fascia Board installation is work best suited to a joiner, so a carpentry background is essential.

Heavy Duty Or Standard Fascias
It’s often assumed that plastic fascia is plastic fascia; not really. The heavy duty product is 18mm, the standard board just 10mm. While the thicker board is used as a replacement Fascia, the standard product is better suited to covering the wooden Fascias. Imagine the effects of trapping the moisture in to the timbers, often resulting in the both the wood & the plastic cover falling off. Also, plastic is made from dye processes; better dyes have a glass finish giving the board a reflective high gloss surface.

Access Equipment
The tools required to install Bargeboards & Soffits are inexpensive, mostly hand & power tools. The Access equipment needed (easideck platform systems) to meet health & safety requirements are, however, a substantial capital outlay for a company. It is neither safe or efficient to install the products thoroughly from ladders, particularly if there is a lower level building to bridge.

Liability insurance
Suppose for a moment that an installer has an accident on site, or a object falls & breaks an expensive glass conservatory roof. Does the company have sufficient cover to pay for the repairs? It’s wise to check with the firm that they have al least £10 million public liability cover.

Local installations
How about a track record? Has the company installed locally? Only by visiting installations & speaking to their existing customers can you be sure that the firm will offer you good value for money. Also check out referrals on their website, preferably over a two to three year period.

In Conclusion

It’s never wise to pay too much. Nobody wants to pay more for something that doesn’t benefit them directly (salesman, showrooms, advertising campaigns, etc.).

Paying well below the market price generally stores up problems for years ahead, maybe budgeting in a monetary percentage at the outset enables you to spend the extra on a reputable and good value for money firm to begin with.

Home improvement is a billion-pound industry, but size doesn’t equal reputation – particularly in double-glazing, kitchen replacement and drive/patio installations. Sadly, many of the salespeople working in these areas (often in telesales) haven’t had adequate training in how to deal appropriately with the customer. That results in a pushy, domineering attitude towards them. As well as alienating customers, it’s an inefficient way to run a business, because it costs a lot of sales and damages a lot of reputations.

However, over the last few years, the landscape of sales and marketing has changed dramatically. For home improvement (roofline) service providers like ourselves, business used to arrive by one of three routes: through word-of-mouth recommendation, via ‘cold’ approaches from homeowners who’d seen us installing PVCu replacement fascias and guttering, or from good old-fashioned salesmanship, often carried out door-to-door or on the phone.

The internet has changed all that. People can now find out so much more about the services they need, and the companies that will provide them, without leaving the comfort of their armchair. And they can also access dozens, if not hundreds, of testimonials from customers very like themselves, who have shared their views on firms they’ve used in online forums such as ReferenceLine (you can see our entry here).

The salesman’s role used to be to educate the prospect about the benefits of the service being offered, and explain how it met their needs. But with these technological advances shortening the distance between the customer and the market, many firms are asking themselves whether they really need to pay commission to a salesperson. Can’t we just cut out the middleman, they wonder, and let the customer come straight to us?

While we welcome all the new methods for drumming up business, we still feel there’s a place for traditional selling techniques. Perhaps not in the sense of pounding the pavements or working the phone, delivering the same spiel over and over in the hope of breaking down resistance through sheer hard work. But definitely in the sense of offering customers a relationship based on trust, listening and responsiveness.

Even with online testimonials and recommendations, it can be hard to find a supplier you truly trust. And the only way for a company to win trust is to demonstrate that it really does know what it’s talking about. The best way to do that is by providing salespeople who truly understand the product or service they’re promoting, and can convey their knowledge to potential customers in the right way to guide them towards a sale. We steer clear of ‘making sales’, with its adversarial, ‘you vs me’ mentality, in favour of getting people involved with the company.

In our experience, a big part of sales success is being supportive, sympathetic and responsive to the customer. The successful salesperson focuses on listening first, talking second – making sure they fully understand the customer’s needs before they move to proposing a solution. Customers want to be treated as individuals and considered on their merits.

Like most salespeople, we’ve certainly done it the other way – going in like Jack the Lad, thinking fast and talking fast – but we found that it’s simply not the best way to get results. Even suggestions that might help the customer, if made at the wrong time or in the wrong way, will make them feel hemmed in and hassled. And that’s not the right frame of mind for making a purchase decision.

Today, when we talk to customers, we make sure we don’t arrive with any preconceived ideas. We try to arrive with a completely blank slate – albeit one backed up by a lot of experience and expertise.

We think it’s important to recognise that everyone has finite resources – whether that means time, money, knowledge or anything else. Listening to people’s needs, and uncovering the motivations behind them, is the only way for us to find the right way to fulfil them. If people want to save time, we can suggest ways to speed things up. If they want to save money, we can help them prioritise their work and stagger it over two or more years, to spread the cost.

So, do we still need salespeople? Our answer is ‘yes and no’. We certainly don’t need old-fashioned, pushy salesmen (and they are usually men) who try to bully or browbeat the customer into making a purchase. But we certainly do need informed, diplomatic advocates who can help people make a major buying decision at a time when money is tight across the board. In our opinion, that’s what selling really means.

If you’re like most people, your home is your most important possession. As well as being a place of comfort, retreat and security, it’s also by far your biggest asset. The equity in your home can support you in comfort in later years, and if you have children, it may be a significant part of the inheritance you hope to leave them.

For all these reasons, it’s worth caring for the fabric of your home as well as you can. But one area that many people neglect is the roofline. That’s surprising in a way, because problems with the roofline can lead to serious water damage to a property – and addressing those problems might cost less than you think.

Other homeowners are tempted by a policy of ‘make do and mend’ when it comes to the roofline. Popular approaches include covering up ageing woodwork instead of replacing it, or painting the ends of fascia boards where they are starting to decay. Some people use friends or acquaintances for the work, or carry it out themselves.

But while out of sight might mean out of mind for the homeowner, this sort of patch-up job doesn’t address deep-seated problems around the roofline such as decaying boards, silt discharge from the roof or damp problems.

If your home was built after 1940, it’s unfortunately very likely that your roofline was constructed with undried timbers, made from poor-quality softwood, and unleaded paint. As a result, most rooflines require regular maintenance and repainting, usually around every four years. And with the increasing regulatory requirement for proper access equipment such as scaffolding towers, the cost of that maintenance can only increase over time.

Sometimes, properties built too close together can make access to the roofline more difficult, which – along with cost concerns – tempts homeowners to defer their repairs. But that just leads to more problems further down the line.

The desire to save money by patching up the roofline, instead of replacing it, is entirely understandable. Many of our own customers felt that way. But they found that, while they could put off replacing the roofline for a few years, the problem didn’t go away. So they ended up spending twice over: once to do the job cheaply, and again to do it properly. From a long-term perspective, running repairs to an ageing roofline are a false economy.

In contrast, replacing the roofline in its entirety – fitting new gutters, fascia boards and soffits made from durable, high-quality UPVC – does away with the need for running repairs. Modern UPVC fascia boards and soffits need no maintenance whatsoever, and can last for two decades or more. And choosing an expert, professional roofline provider gives you the reassurance that you’re getting the best product, fitted in the best way – with new underfelt, birdstop materials and proper ventilation installed. Everything will be stripped out, renewed and made good from scratch.

In other words, you really can ‘fit it and forget it’ – invest in a new roofline now, and reap the benefits in savings, peace of mind and an attractive, well-maintained property for years to come.

If you’d like to talk to an expert about roofline replacement, call Anglia Roofline on 01603 261481.

Fitting replacement gutters is one of the most important maintenance tasks you can carry out at your home. As well as improving the look of your property, replacing guttering also safeguards its structure and helps to reduce maintenance costs in the future. But how should you choose the right installer for your replacement guttering?

One thing to look for is specialisation. Many firms in related areas (such as sealed-unit double glazing) offer replacement guttering as an add-on to their other services. But there’s a world of difference in terms of the service you’ll receive.

While a window company might offer guttering purely as a way to increase revenue, a specialist replacement guttering installer has built their entire business (and its reputation) on roofline services. Instead of replacing guttering once or twice a month, they’re working with gutters day in, day out. That means they’ll offer deeper knowledge, more focused expertise and a genuine commitment to making sure you get the replacement guttering you really need.

Check out local guttering replacements that your prospective installer has done. If they’re genuine and reputable, they won’t object to giving you details of some properties where they’ve replaced the guttering.

On the same theme, ask to see some testimonials from customers who have had their guttering replaced. Look for confirmation of the service aspects you’re particularly interested in – prompt attendance, on-time completion, helpful suggestions, considerate working practices and, of course, the quality of the guttering replacement itself.

Your replacement guttering installer should be happy to come to your home in order to survey your home, ascertain your needs and talk you through the product options. They should also provide a full, detailed proposal for your replacement guttering without obligation. This will include crucial elements such as an assessment of the water flow across your roof and the correct ‘fall’ (distance between roof-edge and guttering) to ensure proper drainage – as well as gutter guards, which pick up leaves and silt to stop replacement gutters from becoming blocked.

You’ll probably want your replacement guttering installer to have all the relevant warranties in place, as well as a few years’ trading under their belt. You might also like to confirm that the fitters who will be replacing your guttering are experienced, and have worked for the installer for a reasonable period. Many guttering firms now feature this type of information on their websites.

Finally, you’ll appreciate the reassurance of a guarantee (say, for 10 years) and a commitment to offering after-sales service, with a promise to respond to calls within a certain time frame.

At Anglia Roofline, we pride ourselves on offering everything homeowners need when they look for replacement guttering. We have been trading for five years, focus exclusively on roofline services and are backed by guarantees from the Consumer Protection Association. Check out our dedicated page on replacing guttering.

Once we’ve completed the work on their fascias, soffits or guttering, many of our clients tell us that their strongest feeling is one of pride. While they may have previously been embarrassed by the way their roofline looked, they can now take pride in a clean, beautifully finished roofline that provides the perfect finishing touch the ‘look and feel’ of their property.

Sometimes, people are prompted to address problems around the roofline when they realise that their property is looking under-maintained in comparison with their neighbours. Even though the fascias or soffits may be in reasonable shape in physical terms, it only takes a few years for paintwork to start looking tatty. In contrast, replacing the roofline with uPVC  ( plastic) materials transforms the appearance of the whole property, putting nearby properties in the shade.

While the roofline may not immediately seem the most prominent or eye-catching part of a property, improving this area can actually have a dramatic impact on the visual appeal of your home. Although the roofline area itself is small, the eye is naturally drawn to it because it forms the boundary between roof and wall. That’s why flaking paintwork or splitting timbers can stand out a mile – but a brand-new roofline in Upvc finishes off a property beautifully, providing a strong sense of reassurance both to the homeowner and to any potential buyer too. While you may not be anticipating selling your property any time soon, it’s always reassuring to know that if you did need to, for whatever reason, the exterior is already well-maintained and looking good.

Replacing all the elements of your roofline gives you the peace of mind of knowing that you don’t have to worry about them for years to come. All our materials and workmanship are guaranteed for at least 10 years, so you can relax in the knowledge that whatever happens, you’ll be enjoying a great-looking roofline for decades with no maintenance or replacement costs. And that’s a feeling that you simply can’t get from traditional wood and paint.

On top of that, the fact that the roofline has been fully inspected during the course of our work gives additional reassurance that the purlings, roofing felt and other elements are definitely sound, free from damp and now fully protected. It’s a really good feeling!

For any information or to book a free Quotation for your Fascia work call 01603-261481