Travelling to Europe from Kent will get a little easier with a forthcoming change in the Eurostar timetable.

December 13 is the day when railway timetables change across Europe - and this year will see big changes in Kent.

As well as the launch of the high speed domestic services, Eurostar is stopping a Lille service at Ashford earlier in the day , giving people a three-hour head start on todya's services.

The change in the timetable also provides more time to travel deeper into France that same day.

A Eurostar spokesman said: “This is about flexibility, giving people more opportunity to have business meetings or go on shopping trips in the Nord-Pas de Calais  region and return the same day.

“It also gives customers more time to travel earlier into the middle and south of France.”

At present the only direct train for Lille from Ashford International Station leaves at 10.28am* and arrives in the French city at 12.28pm.

Changes from December 13 include the provision of a 6.57am from Ashford International Station  arriving at Lille at 9.07am and terminating at Brussels at 9.42am.

That return train will leave Lille at 5.35pm and gets to Ashford at 5.33pm, thanks to the time difference.

This provides more than eight hours for a day in Lille and its surrounding area against the five-plus hours with the present timetable.

The new timetable continues until July 3 and can be viewed in full on the Eurostar website www.eurostar.com from this week.

*All times quoted are local to their country.

via www.kentonline.co.uk

With first-time buyers needing to find a deposit in excess of £50,000, according to latest research from the Mortgage Advice Bureau, aspiring homebuyers struggling to get on the ladder have to look for alternatives.

Jenna and James Scudder are one couple who had been looking to move out of their rented flat for a while, but thought it would never be possible – until they heard about the HomeBuy Direct scheme that Crest Nicholson was offering.

Hairdresser Jenna and her husband, James, who is a heating engineer, were both born and bred in Gravesend and were keen to stay in the area when it came to buying their first property.

On a visit to Crest Nicholson’s Liberty Park development in Wainscott, a few miles away, the couple found their confidence in the market strengthened when they realised they could afford to buy a two-bedroom coach house. “We had wanted to be able to buy our own property for a while, but we weren’t sure if we could afford it,” said Jenna.

“We couldn’t believe it when we discovered that with the HomeBuy Direct scheme we could afford a brand new two-bedroom, two-bathroom coach house with such good commuter links, and close enough to Gravesend that we could come back and visit family and friends.”

Read on ....

via www.kentonline.co.uk

Hillreed Homes has opened new show homes at Greenway, Amber lane, Kings Hill in West Malling, Highland Park, Green Fields Lane, Ashford, ready for occupation by Christmas.

“In our opinion these homes at Greenway are the best value, two-bedroom apartments currently at Kings Hill,” says Jo Richards, marketing and corporate manager at Hillreed Homes.

Spacious and well laid out, the homes offer up to 637 sq ft, come with en-suite facilities and have parking.

There is even a 10 per cent Equity Share scheme available on selected plots. Prices from £187,950 (with equity share £169,155).

Also launched is a three-bedroom, split-level, house at Highland Park. This beautifully presented show home has an exceptional amount of space making it perfect for large families.

Other similar style house types range from £219,950 for a mid terrace with parking and from £229,950 for one with a garage. Show homes open 10am to 5pm daily, call 01622 626800.

via www.kentonline.co.uk

At long last the promised barbecue weather has arrived – although too late for the school holidays. September is turning out to be dry, sunny and fairly warm. And the outlook is for plenty more sunshine to come, marking the first time for well over two months that the entire country has shared fine weather.

Until now the nation has been split by an invisible line running diagonally from the South West to North East — wet towards the North and dry towards the East. Last Tuesday witnessed the most surreal contrast in weather. In the South, a mini-heatwave reached a dizzy 28.7C (83.7F) at Gravesend, Kent, the seventh-hottest day of the year. Even Aberdeen enjoyed 22C (72F). At the same time, though, northwest Scotland was hit by a full-blown gale, with winds gusting to 116km/h (72mph) and more than 60mm (2.4in) of rain in 24 hours, which set off a landslide in Argyll, west of Loch Lomond.

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The whole of East England enjoyed a surge in visitors. “The weather has helped tourism have one of its strongest ever summer seasons,” said Keith Brown, chief executive at East of England Tourism. “The low rainfall gave us a significant advantage over other parts of the UK.”

Read the whole article

via www.timesonline.co.uk

Fast rail service lures house buyers to Ashford

via www.locateinkent.com

A revolutionary bus system is to be extended into Swale and Medway as part of a raft of improvements for north Kent.

Councils in the area have been given new powers to improve employment, skills, housing and transport.

They have agreed to extend the Fastrack transport system to Medway and Swale, increase the number of educationally-skilled people and cut carbon emissions.

It follows the signing of a new multi-area agreement by the council leaders of north Kent.

Speaking at The Bridge £500 million regeneration area in Dartford, the Communities Secretary John Denham this morning said: "Today's agreement will mean North Kent's five councils and partners will have more power locally to deliver jobs, training, welfare support and economic resilience for the region - helping to deliver 58,000 jobs and 52,000 new homes by 2026 as part of the wider growth of the Thames Gateway.

"The issues affecting people's lives don't stop neatly at local authorities' boundaries.

"MAAs are allowing councils to work together to mastermind regional solutions to meet the priorities and needs of their communities."

The targets agreed by Kent, Dartford, Gravesham, Medway and Swale councils are:

• To deliver 58,000 jobs and 52,000 new homes by 2026
• A 14 per cent increase (44,000 more people) in students with five GCSEs A* to C or higher (NVQ level 2) by 2014
• A roll-out of bus rapid transit systems based on Kent Thameside's Fastrack model in Medway and Swale
• The infrastructure to develop Ebbsfleet Valley, including upgrading the A2 Bean Junction and open links between Eastern Quarry and Bluewater
• A promise to cut carbon emissions by 16.7 per cent through retrofitting thermal, energy and water efficiency measures in public and private sector homes.

What is Fastrack?

Two Fastrack services run between Dartford and Gravesend every six minutes.

They call at Bluewater, the local rail stations, the Darent Valley hospital and are the only vehicles allowed across most of The Bridge development.

Fastrack buses have priority at traffic lights, and serve developments where computers advise all home owners when the next Fastrack bus is due.

Two more routes have been planned as part of the development of Eastern Quarry.

Fastrack would be ideal for serving the A2 through Medway.

Routes to Hempstead Valley, St Mary's Island, Chattenden, Rochester Riverside and the Strood regeneration sites could be linked.

It would need reserved roads to serve the employment areas on the Hoo Peninsula.

via www.kentonline.co.uk

This year, Bluewater will celebrate its 10th anniversary, and to mark the occasion there will be a year-long programme of local community events and activities. With 1.5 million sq ft of retail, Bluewater features 330 of the best UK and international brands, 50 restaurants and bars, 13,000 free parking spaces, 50 acres of parkland, seven lakes - it attracts 27 million visitors per year.

Just two miles from Ebbsfleet International, Paris is a little over two hours away. And later in 2009, Bluewater will benefit from the domestic high-speed rail services offering a journey of 17 minutes from London.

The Bluewater story began in a derelict chalk pit in 1994 with one simple belief - that the impossible could be achieved with vision, commitment, and the right team. Since opening in March 1999, Bluewater has made a significant, positive impact on the local Kent Thameside community and its economy. It has created over 22,000 jobs, employed 9,000 local contractors and contributed £2.25 million to the community in charitable donations. In addition, it has launched over 40 new brands in the UK and welcomed over a quarter of a billion visitors.

“Bluewater has played an important role in the local area over the past 10 years. The 10th anniversary is an opportunity for us to underline our ongoing commitment to meeting the needs of the community as it evolves, by creating a better living, working, shopping and leisure environment for many years to come.” Andrew Parkinson, General Manager, Bluewater.

via www.kent-thameside.co.uk

via www.romneymarshtimes.com

The last couple of months have seen some small but encouraging signs from the housing market, which has led to an increase in demand for residential development land according to specialists RPC Land & New Homes.

Early on in the credit crunch developers withdrew from the land market as it became apparent that new homes sales had slowed dramatically and development finance was no longer easily available. However, a number of developers are now looking to 2010 and beyond and need to purchase land now in order to have houses to sell.

RPC Area Land Director Graeme Dowd said: "It seems that those developers who were not overly exposed during the worst of the recession and consequently still have access to finance either through their primary lender or from their own cash reserves are back in the market for land. This is apparent in both large national and small regional developers."

He added: "There is however, caution with the type and location of projects that will be considered and sites suitable for traditional housing, rather than apartments, are preferred."

Land values are still at historically low levels and many vendors rightly do not want to sell at the bottom of the market. To counter this developers are offering more creative deals, where the vendor benefits financially from any future increases in the value.

Graeme Dowd added: "Inevitably there is a delay between agreeing the land sale and the houses being  constructed and sold, during which time it is hoped that the market will have recovered further and values will have increased. No one is able to forecast this, so creative deals such as overages and profit shares are more common now."

via www.rpcland.co.uk

New homes launch in Greenhithe

via www.easier.com

August Bank Holiday Weekend Saturday 29th, Sunday 30th & Monday 31st August 2009

Not only the Country's Largest Multi-Period Living History Event, but now the Worlds largest event of its type with a huge collectors market with hundreds of traders.

Military Odyssey is proud to announce that some of the country's leading re-enactment/living history groups are attending in 2009. Military Odyssey would like to thank all the groups that attend and support the show with their displays and dioramas which are so historically accurate. It is very much appreciated the time and effort that is put into each and every presentation each year, to help make Military Odyssey the successful show it is.

via www.military-odyssey.com

Lord Adonis, the UK Transport Secretary, said that the launch of the Javelin represents a “seminal moment” for the UK, which now joins the ranks of countries that have high-speed trains, including France, Germany and Japan.

Adonis hopes the success of the new service will spur the development of a second high-speed line between London and the West Midlands and the north of England. All the high-speed trains, both current and future, are intended to facilitate transit and jump start economic development in the areas they serve.

Tourist officials hope that the faster trains will entice people to explore more parts of England than London and its outskirts.

France’s extensive TGV system has been a catalyst in the country’s development in addition to its economic growth. For example, many people have purchased primary residences in the Loire Valley, since it only take 58 minutes to commute between Tours and the Gare Montparnasse in the 14th arrondisement, a central connecting point for Paris’s metro system.

via www.consumertraveler.com

Much is already said and predicted about the arrival of the High Speed Rail Link from Ashford International Station to London, will the commuting catalyst - like it happened in France - also happen for Kent now? Many regional estate agents already repost an increase in enquiries from Londoners who want to combine the 'good life' of the county with the speedy commuting to London

Southeastern today announced the expansion of high speed preview services to Ramsgate, Canterbury West, Dover Priory, Folkestone Central and West. The new services will start from 7 September.

Charles Horton, managing director, Southeastern, commented, “We always hoped we could expand the preview service and thanks to the success of the first weeks we are now in a position to do this. We want as many people as possible to be able to experience the service before the full timetable is introduced in December.”

There will be two morning peak services from Ramsgate via Canterbury West and two peak services from Dover Priory via Folkestone Central and Folkestone West, returning in the evening peak. All the new services will also stop at Ashford International, resulting in an additional peak service on top of the current three trains to St Pancras International.

An off-peak return train is also being introduced between St Pancras International and Ashford International via Ebbsfleet. Trains from Ebbsfleet International will continue to have six morning peak services to St Pancras International and seven services back in the evening peak. Throughout the day, services run twice hourly between Ebbsfleet International and St Pancras International. All the services will continue to run Monday to Friday.

The new services will radically improve journey times, for example saving 49 minutes on the average commute from Ramsgate and 47 minutes from Dover.

Read more here....

New build starts in the region this year are likely to be at their lowest levels since the 1950s.

When combined with the lack of supply in the second-hard market – caused by the number of potential sellers opting to wait out the recession – there are now major fears it could lead to a real shortage of properties for sale next year.

Jon Neale, head of development research at Knight Frank, said, “Developers who opt to move now may be in the position of being able to sell into an under-supplied market next year.

“However, they need to be very cautious, opting to deliver in-demand family housing into those areas with resilient housing markets. Elsewhere, a greater number of forced sales could undermine this strategy.”

Hugo Stuttaford, also of Knight Frank, added, “’Over recent weeks, we have noticed growing interest from residential developers and housebuilders in the well located land opportunities which have scope for well designed development. This is in complete contrast to the last quarter of 2008 where there seemed to be little appetite for any form of speculative land acquisition.

“While these buyers remain a relatively small group – for example those with access to cash or private equity – they are beginning to compete aggressively when the right opportunity arises, particularly where the sale may be distressed and offer good value.

“It may be that we are seeing the first stages of a recovery in the land market but for the best sites only – the less desirable opportunities are still likely to struggle to find buyers.’’

The South East research also points out that many developers in the region are shifting their business strategies away from high-density flats to traditional family housing. However, the South East Plan, which calls for an additional 654,000 homes in the region by 2026, does suggest that many of these new dwellings can be accommodated in regeneration sites within existing urban areas.

Mr Neale added: “The final version of the plan suggests that there is scope for substantial high-density development within many existing towns. This may well be the case, but it is unclear who will build these schemes in the near future.

“Housebuilders and other residential developers are becoming more acquisitive but they are focusing on sites suitable for lower density family housing. Regeneration sites or those with consent for flats attract little interest. Furthermore, funders themselves are happier to lend against traditional family housing, both for end buyers and developers. It is difficult to see this situation changing in the near future.”

via www.kentonline.co.uk

House price inflation could reach double digits in the next 12 months, according to the chief executive of Kent Reliance.

It comes on the day the Council of Mortgage Lenders revealed the number of new mortgages granted across the UK leapt 23 per cent in June.

But Kent Reliance boss Mike Lazenby says, at the moment, the UK housing market is still in a mess.

"That 23 per cent increase comes from a very low base. Those who are lending money are doing so to very strict criteria, and that is preventing many first-time buyers, who are crucial to getting the market moving again, from getting loans," said Mr Lazenby.

He believes most building societies have their hands tied in the amount of money they can lend. "Regulations at the moment require building societies to hold artificial levels of liquidity, and until that is relaxed there will not be a significant change in the number of approvals."

Mr Lazenby believes much of the increased interest in property in the London area is fuelled by speculative buyers, mainly from abroad, who are not tied into the UK’s finance industry.

But he says as confidence returns to the market as the economy picks up - perhaps next year - prices will begin to rise again, and the South East will be bouyed with a knock-on effect of the looming 2012 London Olympics.

via www.kentonline.co.uk

via www.southeasternrailway.co.uk

Download the preview time table (services till 07 September 2009 from which date on the services will be extended to towns 'further down the line')

Download Preview Timetable HSRL to 07.09.09

via www.kentonline.co.uk

Proximity to the new high speed railway line has already had a positive effect on sales in north Kent areas.

Whether it’s young professionals looking to commute into London, families moving out of London looking for more space, downsizers who still want be close to London, or buyers wanting a second home by the sea, the proposed easy journey is a real draw.

Plus property prices are still relatively lower in this area than similar commuter locations in the other home counties. Most parts of the county also have the added benefit of being so close to the beautiful Kent coast – in fact we have more coastline than any of the neighbouring counties – another huge attraction for people of all ages.

Having maybe been ignorant of quite how much Kent has to offer in the past, buyers from further afield are also catching on. And it’s not just the property appeal – for those interested in yachting, sailing, golf or angling, there are several clubs. Perhaps the secret is out of just how lovely a place we live in, but it is good for the value of our properties.

Ebbsfleet, Ashford, Canterbury and Ramsgate, along with Folkestone, will all benefit from shorter journey times to London when high-speed rail services begin this December. So all areas within driving distance of these stations or with connecting lines are really set to benefit.

Not all the new times are confirmed, but as a guide, the journey from Ashford International to St Pancras International will take 37 minutes, reduced from up to 84 minutes, and Ramsgate to St Pancras will take 80 minutes, a saving of up to 49 minutes.

We are seeing a surge in sales near these stations, or stations that link with the larger hub stations on the high-speed route. Meanwhile, Herne Bay and Whitstable are both also set to benefit, and homes here have proven especially popular since news of the new rail links.

At Hampton Heights, a development by Blueberry Homes of 24 stylish two and three-bedroom luxury apartments, situated in Hampton Bay, there have been several sales, with 11 reserved since the launch less than two months ago.

Buyers include a range of local downsizers and younger couples as well as investors from further afield, a promising sign.

via www.kentonline.co.uk

On a decent day, somebody taking the North Downs Way across the spine of Kent can, when he or she gets to the top of Detling Hill just outside Maidstone, see the towers of Canary Wharf and Docklands to the west. Geographically speaking, the Garden of England is very close to the capital; closer, in fact, than many counties more traditionally seen as commuter land – counties like Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and parts of Surrey and West Sussex.

But most of Kent, apart from its more western boroughs like Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells, has never been traditional stockbroker country. Travel west along the mainline from Ashford towards Charing Cross in the morning peak and it's only once you get to Paddock Wood, just 40 miles from central London, that the train starts to fill up noticeably.

The problem is the old South Eastern and Chatham Railway itself – a slow and, beyond Tonbridge, twisting network of tracks that winds its way through the southern suburbs of the capital. Where a 60-mile commute from, say, Brighton into Victoria takes just over an hour, a train journey from Ashford – the same distance from London as Brighton – takes almost 90 minutes....

But in a little more than a week a fleet of 29 Japanese-built trains will start to whisk commuters from Ashford into St Pancras International along High Speed One, the Eurostar route to the Channel Tunnel, in just 37 minutes. The service, launched by Southeastern, is a preview of a full timetable coming in December which will see Canterbury, Folkestone, Dover, Whitstable, Ramsgate, Margate and the Medway Towns connected to the high-speed line. Some of the time savings will be remarkable: Canterbury will be an hour from London, a saving of 40 minutes; the journey from Dover will be slashed by 47 minutes and those living around Ebbsfleet near Gravesend will be just 18 minutes from St Pancras...

The prospect of parts of East Kent becoming closer to the West End than some areas of outer London has already had an effect on property sales. Strutt & Parker in Canterbury has just recorded its busiest May on record and Edward Church, a partner, says the agent has more of its properties under offer now than at any time in the last two years.

"There's new interest. Until this year, we'd rarely get phone calls from buyers looking at Kent because of the train. Now we're probably getting them on a daily basis." He does not expect a sudden switch onto the high-speed trains by existing commuters but rather an influx of new buyers from closer to London. "With the publication of the timetables, it's become real. Suddenly, this area is on the map for people who would never have considered East Kent before."

Ebbsfleet, Ashford, Canterbury and Ramsgate, along with Folkestone, will all benefit from shorter journey times to London when high-speed rail services begin in December. Not all the new times are confirmed, but as a guide, the journey from Ashford International to St Pancras International will take 37 minutes, reduced from up to 84 minutes, and Ramsgate to St Pancras will take 80 minutes, a saving of up to 49 minutes. Estate agents say that proximity to stations has boosted sales. Here are a few homes within walking distance of, or a short bus ride from, the stations:

• Ebbsfleet: A five-bed detached home two miles from the station, reduced from £799,995 to £650,000, (Robinson Michael & Jackson, 01474 333111). A two-bed garden flat just under a mile from the station costs £180,000 (Halifax, 01322 224436).

• Ashford: A Victorian five-bed house, just under a mile from the station, is £695,000, down from £750,000 (Stevens & Co, 01233 640400). Ward & Partners has a two-bed terrace for £120,000 (01233 639531).

• Folkestone: A six-bed detached house 350 yards from the station is £480,000, down from £550,000 (Bairstowe Eves, 0845 4082882). Bairstow Eves is also selling a renovated one-bed flat for £129,995, less than 200 yards from the station.

• Canterbury: A four-bed detached new-build house for £635,000, down from £675,000 at the beginning of the year, is 500 yards from the station (Strutt & Parker, 0845 338 0862). Your Move is selling a one-bed flat near the university for £119,995 (01227 454925).

• Ramsgate: A five-bed detached house one mile from the station is £595,000 (Kent Estate Agencies, 01227 274220). New-build two-bed flats two thirds of a mile from the station cost from £129,950 (Miles & Barr, 01843 570500).

New timetable to improve services for Kent

Southeastern published today the draft new timetable* due to come into effect on Sunday 13 December. The timetable, including the UK's first ever high speed service, will result in a 5% increase in capacity on peak services across the entire network. This will be the largest change to the timetable of services in Kent, East Sussex and South East London in forty years.

Charles Horton, managing director said, "The publication of the draft new timetable demonstrates our commitment to improve services. The introduction of the new high speed service will allow us to dramatically reduce journey times from parts of Kent to the capital, as well as increasing the capacity across our entire network, including mainline and metro services. We believe many passengers will benefit from improved journey choices and from an increase of trains throughout the day. The new services will be good news for the region and we are excited by the introduction of the high speed service which will prove vital to support the region's regeneration."

The new timetable, currently awaiting final approval from Network Rail, is driven by the start of the new high speed service to St Pancras. The new service will take passengers to Ebbsfleet in 17 minutes and radically reduce peak times from across Kent, including:

• London to Ashford in 37 minutes
• London to Canterbury in 59 minutes
• London to Dover in 69 minutes