If you’ve been looking at properties in Scotland, you’ll have noticed that they follow a different buying system than the rest of the UK. They ask for “offers over” the asking price. So if you’re ideal home is £200,000 in England, you could put an offer in at that price. In Scotland, you’d have to go in over that mark. And here’s the clincher: You don’t know how much more another buyer has offered. You could lose the home you want by bidding too low, which means that the power stays with the seller.

Depending on the property market, you’re expected to pay around 10-20% over the starting offer. Quite a large amount more. The good thing about this, is that this does work in favour of the buyer – if the market is bad, you can offer less. It’s a very strange system indeed.,

But it certainly makes the Scottish property market stronger. English buyers tend to ‘over bid’ which drives the property market inflation up. The Scottish property market isn’t in nearly as sore a state as the rest of the UK. There’s good reason for it. You might still find that some properties are sold at a fixed price and this is a direct correlation to how well the property market is doing. If the majority of the properties are sold as ‘offers over’ then the market in that area is in pretty good shape. ‘Fixed price’ and you’re looking at a shaky market, one where the buyer can take control and get themselves a great deal.

There are pros and cons to the ‘offers over’ system, as at first glance it appears to favour the buyer. But the pitfalls put the strength back into the hands of the seller. It might take a while longer to find your dream home in Scotland, and you could lose out on a couple you really like, but you get a much better idea of the property market and how best to bid for the house you want. That information is priceless.

I’m shocked that people are reacting somewhat negatively to Kirstie’s Homemade Home. Yes, she’s very twee. And incredibly Sloaney. But my goodness the women talks sense. She’s got a great sense of style and she knows what she’s doing. So why don’t people like her?

Well, my thoughts are that we’re stuck in an Ikea generation. We like things that come in flatpacks. Stuff we know is sturdy! We play it safe when it comes to our homes. Buying something from an antique shop is risky. But on the other hand… it’s new, and it’s exciting! It’s fun! I’m making a career out of looking for unusual home stuff so I’m smitten with the woman and her new show.

But for some reason, some people aren’t buying Kirstie’s Homemade Home. She’s getting quite negative comments around the interwebs, so I thought I’d find out what you lot think. I wanted to wait a week until the show had settled in, but I really enjoyed last night’s episode, and I wasn’t expecting to be hugely inspired by bathrooms. What did you think? Love her or hate her? Tell us in the poll.

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More and more people are getting into gardening and ‘growing your own’ seem to the buzz words of the season. One of the great things about gardening is that gardens can be created in both small and large spaces – even if you live in an apartment and only have limited room on a balcony, you can still grow flowers, plants, vegetables or herbs in containers.

Not all houses have gardens, especially when based in city locations, and if you live in a flat, you’re often lucky to have any outside space. However, if you’re keen to have somewhere to put your green-fingered skills into action, one possibility is to look out for somewhere with a roof garden. Roof gardens are a great way of fully making use of all the available space, offer you the chance to create your own leafy haven and can be used to successfully grow all manner of plants.

Feeling inspired? Here’s a round-up of properties up for sale that all feature roof gardens in the package.

Located in the Holland Park area of London, this three storey house is a prime example of how a roof garden adds the finishing touch to contemporary living. The stylishly designed house has three bedrooms and a good sized roof garden, for outside dining or gardening. It’s priced at £1,495,000.

This three bedroom flat in the W5 area of London not only benefits from three bedrooms, a conservatory, double garage and parking, but it also has a roof garden too. It’s on the market for £675,000.

If you’re not much of a gardener yourself, but wouldn’t mind use of a roof garden, then this two bedroom apartment in a warehouse conversion in Central Chiswick benefits from having a communal roof garden. It’s on the market for £599,950.

Another nice communal roof garden, with plenty of seating for unwinding at the end of a long day, can be found at this two bedroom apartment at Wharfside, Birmingham. The apartment includes hard and soft furnishings and is priced at £189,000.

This duplex apartment with three bedrooms, located in the Gloucestershire town of Stroud boasts not one, but two roof gardens. The large, open plan apartment makes full use of natural light and space and offers plenty of opportunity for budding gardens to make their mark. It’s priced at £269,950.

An architect designed four bedroom (all en suite) house in the Dartmoor village of South Brent, Devon is on the market for £535,000. Finished to a high standard, it benefits from having a courtyard and decked roof terrace gardens, with plenty of space for growing plants and enjoying a spot of sun.

Finally, in the Tobacco Wharf area of Liverpool, a two bedroom top floor duplex apartment is up for sale. French doors from the dining room lead out onto a good sized roof garden and sun terrace. It’s priced at £155,000.

Imagine, a stunning huge penthouse flat, brilliant original walls and great huge spaces. The idea of open plan living seems appealing to most. Huge sweeping flats, stunning decor and a rather grand feeling are all things that you can get with a well designed open plan property. But is that all you have to think about? There are some pros and cons that you really should weigh up before you get carried away with finally having somewhere to play Wii tennis.

Pros:

1. Well, it looks pretty damn swanky for a start. One good thing about open plan flats is that they always look more modern. But you also get to make the most of the structure of the property as well. Original wall features and high ceilings really come into their own and you can make the most of them.
2. Being able to chat to people as you’re in another part of the house. This is very handy for cooking for friends. You can also keep an eye on kids while you get on with housework.
3. Perfect for entertaining. Parties are much nicer if everyone is in the same room. Otherwise you’ll end up missing all of the action if you get stuck in the kitchen.
4. Very easy to tidy.
5. Cheaper to keep lit – you can swap standard lights for more appealing mood lighting. Wall sconces and spotlights suit open plan flats much more than just one bright light, meaning you’ll save money.

Cons:

1. Not that easy to hide the mess! Let’s face it, if you have unexpected guests, the easiest way to tidy is to move junk from one room to another. You can’t do that if you have no rooms! Open plan suits tidy people.
2. They can feel cold if they’re all one colour. Try and separate different areas with different coloured accents. You’ll have a sense of space as well, which can be a good thing.
3. It can get noisy. If you’re trying to read a book, you don’t want someone blaring out music in the same space. Think about how much privacy you want.
4. Don’t underestimate the need to shut a door. Sounds strange, but being able to close a door can give you a feeling of safety and calm. You need your own space sometimes. Sweeping great rooms are great, but make sure you don’t mind not having a space of your own.

Open plan living might sound great, but have a think about it. If you’re not sure about it, think about how you live now. Do you stay in the biggest room in the house, or do you prefer to stay cosy in the tiniest spaces? Something like an open plan flat can really affect your mood, so it’s not just location and decor that’s a factor here.

Q. Ours is an unusual situation to say the least. My partner and I live a rural existence and have done for the past twenty years. As country dwellers, we are quite used to (and do not mind) living next door to open farmland. However, the farm changed hands last year and the new owner also changed the field use from arable crop to organic livestock – he has actually diversified and is now keeping goats for milk and cheese production.

Although we applaud his organic mission, the goats are causing damage to our land by eating our vegetation, which they can reach over the inappropriate field gate fencing. A polite word has only had our farming neighbour laughing but we feel very strongly, having spent a great deal on money on creating a beautiful landscaped garden. I believe that the onus should not be on us to put up new fencing and which would obviously spoil our uninterrupted view. Is there any action we could take which might have a more positive effect?

A. Legally, the law is on your side as The Animals Act 1971 makes provision for the victim of damage caused by animals kept on neighbouring land to be compensated by the land owner. I would suggest that if a polite word has failed, you write to the farmer more formally reminding him of his legal obligation and, whilst wishing to retain good relationships with him, emphasising your equal determination to prosecute to recover any loss or damage caused by his livestock. I would further suggest that you put to him that he either erects more appropriate fencing next to your two properties, installs electrified fencing as per standard agricultural fencing procedures, or that he keeps you supplied in perpetuity with delicious milk and goat’s cheese gratis!

I won’t lie, I was dizzy at the mere mention of the new Kirstie Allsopp show on Channel 4, Kirstie’s Homemade Home. And she didn’t disappoint! She’s one savvy girl. Selling houses right now isn’t going to make her a fortune, so she’s turned her property skills on their head and decided to invest in making a house a home. It’s clever.

The house she’s doing up – Meadowgate – is stunning. In fact, it’s my dream house. Each week she’s going to take a room and show you how to make it look beautiful. She’s pulled out some great tricks too. There’s something so fabulous about watching someone make pottery. Maybe it’s the Patrick Swayze thing? The glass blowing seemed a little out of most people’s leagues, but everything else she did was pretty much accessible to everyone watching. If the reaction on Twitter is anything to go by, people lapped it up like interior design loving puppies.

One of the highlights was her talking to Cath Kidston, and she explained why her chintzy designs worked so well. She might have a lot of busy prints going on, but they all work with the same colours. That’s pretty clever. It means that as long as you keep stuff the same colour, you can mix and match with prints and textures. That’s much more fun than having everything the same pattern, don’t you think? Keeping a theme in your rooms holds everything together, and as long as your main idea stays the same, everything will work.

The house was out of most people’s budget, but everything Ms. Allsopp featured could have been transferred to another house. I have an interiors website and I can’t wait to get started with simple things like picking up old furniture and doing it up. It just doesn’t look that difficult anymore. Some people might not like Kirstie’s posh Sloaney ways, but I find her quite charming (although she looked shattered for some reason). There’s something about the way she presents that makes everything she does look easy. And she’s tough too. The way she haggles and lugs great big bits of furniture about is fun. She comes across as very girlie but she’s strong too and I like that. She also mentioned the art of not buying every single pretty thing you see otherwise your house will look like a junk shop. I could learn a thing or two from that. (What’s wrong with your house looking like a junk shop?!?)

Channel 4 got this show just right. It’s just the right amount of showiness and fancy stuff to make it interesting, but it’s also got an appealing side to it as well. I imagine a lot of people are going to be making cushion covers after this. Next week she’s doing up the bathroom, and while that’s generally the dullest room in the house for me, I’ll tune in. Kirstie was the perfect choice and frankly I could agree more with Jess’ call to make her Prime Minister. She’s not all frills and pretty things y’know.

Shrewsbury is my home town, although I live in London now. It’s actually a pretty famous place in its own right. Put on the map by its yearly flower show (sure, it’s no Chelsea in the bloom stakes, but it’s still impressive) and there’s been a load of period dramas filmed here too. It’s very pretty if you get excited about black and white Tudor buildings. Shrewsbury Abbey became a household name in the 90s after fictional character Cadfael took up residency there.

The High Street is also famous historically too – the buildings encompass more of a time span from old to new than any other street in the world. Impressive huh? There’s a population of 100,000 (even though I’ve fled the coop so really it’s one less) and no less than 600 listed buildings. One of those is a mighty big castle too. Fancy.

The people who built the town were very clever indeed. Giant castle, at the top of the hill, surrounded by the river Severn. That could go some way to explaining why the old buildings are still in such good condition, in Medieval times it was pretty well defended. Of course, now that means that any way you walk through the town you seem to be walking uphill, and the bottom of the town floods every year leaving everyone stranded. It’s like a snow day, but with more damage to shops and houses. Although they’ve been lucky the last couple of years and haven’t had any major problems.

Location wise, Shrewsbury is perfect. An hour away from Birmingham and only three and a half hours to London Euston. You can also get to the beach in an hour and a half as it’s just next to the Welsh border. With its picturesque black and white buildings, countryside surroundings and easy transport routes, it’s easy to see why people want to live here. It’s convenient for both Wolverhampton and Chester Universities and there’s a good mix of private and comprehensive schools in the town and surrounding area, The Shrewsbury High School being the most renowned.

It’s a stunning town, with a really strong property market. The houses in the town itself are period buildings and they’re on the market rarely. Obviously if you want a river view you’ve got to be well prepared against flooding, but if you look in the right areas,like Wyle Cop, Belle Vue and Frankwell you could find yourself living in a rather special town.

The big day is almost upon us – after months of preparation, we’re all rubbing our hands with glee in the 4Homes office as we gear up for episode one of Kirstie’s Homemade Home. The show will see Primelocation.com’s own favourite property presenter, Kirstie Allsopp, getting crafty as she restores from scratch a run-down rural retreat in North Devon.

Along the way Kirstie explores the marginalised trades and skills that used to be so prevalent in Britain, from glass blowing and blacksmithing to knitting and willow-working. She also teaches us all about her forte – bagging a bargain! Each week a different room at Meadowgate, Kirstie’s home-from-home, is transformed using the crafts and thrifty tips Kirstie has learned during the programme. It’s an Allsopp-inspired lesson in shabby chic.

As ever at 4Homes, we’ve pulled out all the stops to provide loads of content we hope will be of interest to viewers. We’ve got over 20 step-by-step craft guides you can try at home, covering everything from making curtains to potting plants. On top of that there’s essential info on how to find a craft course near you, and shopping information for all the items you’ll need to transform your house into a homemade home.

If all that Allsopp is a bit overwhelming, Kevin McCloud will be revisiting memorable Grand Designs projects for the next three Wednesdays, and moving into May you can expect an all-new series of George Clarke’s The Home Show.

Kirstie’s Homemade Home starts this Thursday at 8pm on Channel 4.

Rich Payne is Deputy Editor of Channel 4′s property website, 4Homes.

As this is my first blog post for Primelocation.com, I’ve been having a think about what I would want in my home if money was no object. Truth be told, I’m a writer living on the outskirts of Greenwich in South East London. Home is actually a rickety little house on a teeny budget but it’s nice to dream every now and again, isn’t it?

Location isn’t a huge issue for me, although living near a city would keep me happy. But I do want a house and not a flat. More space for decorating then. Somewhere surrounded by green would be nice, maybe a river, but close enough to civilisation so I don’t go stir crazy. Richmond would suit me just fine thank you very much.

I need a garden, although I’ve never gardened in my life and kill any plant I try to look after, but I have a notion that there would be a cat rolling about in the sunshine and lovely wild flowers growing. A patio with a BBQ and friends in the summer. You can picture it now can’t you? Wine flowing, lots of laughing and having fun. Who’s doing the garden for me? I don’t know. It’s my dream, don’t ruin it with technicalities.

Inside? Well I’m a bit more fussy about this. The kitchen is vital to me and I really want one of those islands in the middle, with all of the pots and pans hanging up around it. A proper farmhouse kitchen. It has to be big enough for a dining table as well – I like cooking while chatting to people. No TV. I hate TVs in the kitchen. But I’d like a fridge with an ice crusher. Simple things, I know.

I also really, really want a library. Not a huge one. But one with a cosy comfy reading chair and lots of books from wall to floor. Might have a little desk in there too but I don’t want a home office, just somewhere just for being quiet and reading. Being surrounded by books is important to me, even if I can’t quite budget for a spare room to dedicate to them just yet. That’s a bit of a luxury isn’t it?

A loft room would be ideal, but with a huge skylight. And a spiral staircase. I’ve also wanted a spiral staircase ever since I was a child. All the good fairy tale books have spiral staircases in. And I think it goes without saying that I’d want a walk-in wardrobe. What girl doesn’t?

Everything would be simple and classic. A modern country style that looks cosy. I spend a lot of time at home and it has to be cosy. I have to want to curl up at the end of the day and forget about work – which isn’t easy to do if you work from home.

Everyone has a picture of how their dream home would look, these are just the bits that are important to me. So tell me, what would be in your dream home? Sea view? Huge bathroom? Or somewhere cosy to sit and share a bottle of wine with someone lovely? Everyone’s idea of the perfect home is different. I guess that’s what makes it a home instead of a house.

If you’re keen to buy a home in a safe neighbourhood, where there’s a low risk of flooding, burglaries or criminal damage, then help could be at hand. Virgin Money Home Insurance has revealed details of the safest places to live in England and Wales.

According to the findings from Virgin Money Home Insurance, homeowners in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea can breathe a sigh of relief, as they’re living in the safest place (and also some of the most expensive properties in London). Next up in the safe ranks are Dudley, in the West Midlands and Poole in Dorset, which were both noted for having a low number of burglaries. The news isn’t quite so cheery for those living in Doncaster, as the researchers claim that the South Yorkshire town is the least safe place to own a home.

The findings were based on a rating system that measured the riskiness of various factors for the major towns and cities in England and Wales. Places were ranked, for example, in terms of the amount of criminal damage reported, the number of burglaries committed, the risk of flooding and the amount of protection on offer from local police and Neighbourhood Watch schemes.

Along with Doncaster, the next two cities on the not-so-safe list were Sheffield and Nottingham. They all suffered from higher risks of burglary, flooding and criminal damage. Despite doing well overall in the survey, it was noted, however, that Kensington and Chelsea does have a high risk of burglaries.