Search
Search
Selling
When it comes to selling it can be a real fear that these quirks could negatively impact the sale of your property. Yet this need not be the case.
We’re all familiar with the stories from the Second World War and the scars it left on the country, particularly as the result of heavy bombing. Today there are many tools at the disposal of estate agents which are designed to ensure a smooth and successful sale of a property and all good estate agents will be actively using them on a daily basis.
A WWII Bomb Map and a Seller Survey can specifically help to answer any worries or questions from vendors and potential buyers about the physical state of a property, how any damage could have been caused and whether or not there are any future risks that should be of concern.
People’s thoughts are drifting towards their plans for the weekend, when suddenly the silence is shattered by the unmistakable sound of air raid sirens and the increasing drone of fully laden Luftwaffe bombers approaching New Malden.
Pictures of WWII bomb damage in Park View and Hillbrow, New Malden – Image Source: www.maldenblitz.co.uk
As people rush to the safety of nearby air raid shelters, the bomb doors open and their ordnance begin to fall onto the town. The devastation from the attack is instant, causing mass destruction to homes and buildings and resulting in huge loss of life.
This was one of the first daylight bombing raids that London and the surrounding towns and villages would experience, and like many others, New Malden would never be the same again.
Nearly 80 years on, whilst there are very few people alive today who will recall first-hand the raids, you can still see the scars left from these devastating attacks.
Post-war, brand new homes were built on the bomb sites and those less seriously damaged were repaired, but from time to time when selling homes today, a buyer can understandably show concern over distortions to door and window frames and external brickwork that has been caused by historic movement.
This is when a WWII Bomb Map and a Seller Survey become essential tools for an estate agent tasked with achieving the best price for owners when it comes to selling.
In September 1940 the Government started to collect and collate information relating to damage sustained during bombing raids. This was known as the ‘bomb census’. Initially, only information relating to London, Birmingham and Liverpool was collated, but by September 1941 the bomb census had been extended to cover the rest of the UK.
The data collected continues to prove invaluable to this day. If potential buyers or overzealous surveyors show concern over distortions to a property, both a Bomb Map and a Seller Survey can prove that the blast from a bomb that fell nearby is the most likely cause of the property’s historic movement and as a result will not pose any potential risks and should not be a concern to future buyers.
If you are interested in exploring the mapping of bombs that fell during the WWII bomb census, you can visit www.bombsight.org
