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As he prepares to leave his W4 home.

Actor and director Maurice Lane reminisces about Chiswick

Chiswick resident Maurice Lane is currently in the throes of rehearsing for a new production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, coming to the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in August. He has acted in over twenty West End shows during his long and distinguished career, but this marks his debut as director.

Maurice has been associated with the stage throughout his working life starting out aged nine touring the variety theatres with his father who was a comedian and dame. One of his earliest memories of Chiswick is his appearance in a Variety show with his father, at the old Chiswick Empire in 1952, with Dorothy Squires topping the bill.

Maurice is a stalwart of the West-End stage performing in Fiddler on the Roof, Witches of Eastwick, Funny Girl, 42nd Street, Showboat, and Gone with the Wind. He has shared the stage with Topol, Barbara Streisand and Michael Crawford. ‘I must have been about ten when I first took to the stage at the Chiswick Empire. It was perfectly legal for children to work and tour at such a tender age back then, but it wouldn’t be permissible now.

‘I studied at the Corona Academy, a local musical theatre school, from the age of fourteen. I then taught there for over twenty years. It was based in Turnham green for over forty years before moving to Ravenscourt Park

The Corona Academy was a full time theatre school for children (training such stars as Susan George, Tony Britton, Judy & Sally Geeson and Dennis Waterman, and later opened an adult branch to run alongside it called the Corona Academy of Theatre Arts. Many famous names passed through those doors as well including Nicholas Lyndhurst, Frazer Hines and Helen Worth.

When the Corona Academy closed down in 1989, Maurice took over one of the student buildings from which he ran his own musical theatre school for four years. The Maurice Lane Academy of Theatre later merged with the London Theatre School.

For the past thirty five years Maurice has also driven a London Taxi. ‘You never know when you’re going to be out of work. There is only ever two weeks notice of a show coming off the West End and you can’t hang around for the next show to turn up because the bills still have to be paid.’

Maurice is currently directing the national tour of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, starring Dave Willetts and Shona Lindsay, in advance of its West End run.

‘I could never have had my career without the driving. My Taxi has given me a little financial security which meant I could say no to acting jobs that weren’t good enough. It’s sometimes been difficult to spin all the plates but it’s been well worth it. Today for example, I’ve been in a three-hour meeting with my choreographer, and the rest of my day has been spent driving.’

Throughout his long and successful career he has also worked extensively in film and television.  On the big screen he has appeared alongside Jane Russell, Kenneth More, Angela Lansbury, Kevin Kline and Catherine Zeta-Jones. His TV credits include The Professionals, Casualty, Poirot and The Bill. 

The family connections with the area run deep. As a young boy Maurice was a boarder in three houses in Wellesley Road before settling in Ellesmere Road via Sutton Court Road and Brookfield Road. ‘I’ve lived in Chiswick for over fifty years. My wife Sandy used to run the Heathfield Nursery for twenty five years before moving to Chiswick Lane to establish the Lane Nursery. She also ran the 1 o’clock club there called the Sandy Lane Play Group, for fifteen years until about seven years ago.’

‘We have lived in Ellesmere Road for the past twenty five years. We had a tough time finding a home because the properties we liked were out of our price range. But we were lucky enough to find a decent family-sized house with a large garden at a price we could afford. This house is more reasonable because it is on a main road. It’s been a great family home. We’ve brought up our three children here and we now have eight grandchildren so the garden is full of swings and toys once more.’

Maurice and Sandy are moving out to Bracknell to be near their daughter who has just had three children in three years. ‘It will be good to be more involved with the children. We haven’t found anywhere to live yet but we haven’t really been seriously looking until our house is sold.

‘Our favourite Chiswick restaurants are Pizza Express and Andy’s kebabs by Turnham Green station. We also go down to The Bull on Strand on the Green. I will miss our trips to Chiswick House grounds with the grandchildren where we visit the cafe for cappuccino and ice cream.

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Small is best when it comes to lettings management.

A problem shared is a problem halved for landlords.

Letting property can be a stressful business for landlords when tenancy problems arise. Recent research has revealed the main areas of concern include finding reliable builders (identified by 17 per cent of respondents), the cost of repairs (16 per cent), tenant debts and arrears (14 per cent), and finding good tenants (11 per cent). Surprisingly, 8 per cent of dwellings are let without a written tenancy agreement.

According to the Private Landlords Survey letting agents are responsible for the day to day management of 47 per cent of private residential lettings. The report examined the range of problems experienced by landlords and agents.

Commenting on the survey, Bellengers said: ‘The findings correspond with the businesses experience of dealing with hundreds of lettings in West London over the past fifteen years. Maintenance, rent collection and accurate financial records are the biggest concerns for landlords locally. They need to keep on top of what is happening within their properties. This is why such a large proportion of them turn to agents to find tenants and manage the occupancy.’

The survey suggests that agents are likely to deploy a range of more formal management practices than landlords, but that there is still room for improvement, particularly in the provision of written tenancy agreements.
Automated banking systems give instant access to financial information but locating elusive tenants is one area that is still conducted manually.

All agents work to protect the interests of landlords but small independent agencies have a relationship with the tenant as well. This helps when it comes to getting the rent paid on time. Large corporate estate agents don’t offer landlords continuity says Mark: ‘The letting and management of properties is often conducted in different parts of the business and this, coupled with a high staff turnover, means landlords deal with several people regarding one tenancy. So negotiators negotiate, administrators follow up references, the finance department collects rent, and property maintenance falls into the gaps in between.

‘In large firms there is often no direct contact with the properties or tenants, just a reliance on comments fed into a computer. This is OK as a record of what has been agreed but is no substitute for on-site knowledge.’

An increasing number of rental properties are owned by new landlords lacking in relevant knowledge and experience. The survey revealed that most said they intended to remain in the sector for the medium term. Selecting the right lettings and/or management agents is even more critical to first time landlords. ‘In an area such as Chiswick it is essential that landlords maintain their properties to the correct level or they won’t achieve the maximum rental potential when they re-let,’ says Mark.

If there is a burst pipe for example, owners need a tried and tested team of specialist tradesmen, and they need to get the best job done for the best price. If things aren’t dealt with swiftly, relatively minor problems can escalate. People are busy with families and careers and don’t have the time or the inclination to do what it takes to drop everything to sort out problems with their tenants and property.

‘We have experienced local builders who we know to be reliable, trustworthy and who aren’t going to rip you off,’ says Mark. ‘If you select a good enough agent, any property management fees should be offset by the time, energy and money saved in the sourcing of labour and damage limitation alone. There’s also the potential tax advantage to take into account.’

New landlords tend to adopt more formal management practices than long standing landlords according to the survey. This suggests that property management standards generally are set to improve - which is good news for all concerned.

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Chris Burton looks at the buy-to-let potential in Chiswick. Do’s and don’ts of buy-to-let in W4. According to latest Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors quarterly survey, rents are on the up as tenants return to the lettings market. Last August's interest rate cut also made property more attractive especially since many of us now depend on property for our pensions. Household names such as Nationwide and HBoS are grabbing a share of a new lending boom by offering more buy-to-let mortgages and higher lending limits. Chiswick offers a good opportunity for buy-to-let properties as plenty of people are looking to rent in this area - especially families and young professionals. The holy grail of the rental market is the yield – buying at the right purchase price to achieve the highest possible rent, against the best possible tenants. What is yield? If you’ve got a mortgage of £10,000 at an interest rate of 5%, you pay £5,000 interest. If you rent the property at £6,000, you’ve got a yield of 6% of the cost of your building. So when purchasing a buy-to-let property - look for a yield of 6%. This figure fluctuates with the market as interest rates can go down as well as up. At the moment we seem to be in a pretty stable pattern of 4.5%. So property investors must make more than 4.5% for it to make sense, otherwise it’s better to keep your money in the bank. This is only mitigated by rising house prices. Landlords sometimes take the view that any negative impact due to an interest rate change will be offset by the equity earned over time as house prices increase. But it isn’t wise just to rely in an uplift in equity to ensure a sound investment. Generally rental yields are low in Chiswick because there is an expectation that property values are firm. The perception is that the market, although generally flat previously, will continue to increase as it has done this last quarter. Buyers need to be aware of the full cost of ownership. This includes legal fees and stamp duty (up to 4% of the purchase price) to calculate a realistic yield. It is also critical to understand the operating costs of the property – buildings insurance, any service charges etc. Always allow for downtime - an empty property between tenants - in your calculations. Depending on the strength of the lettings market, this could be two to four weeks on average, rising to six. The agency letting fee and if managed, the property management fee, should also be included. My advice is to look for investments that have the potential to add capital value. Look for a property that requires a small amount of work that will immediately increase the value. ‘In need of modernisation’ shouldn’t put you off. Top

A new 24-hour service gives buyers on-the-spot feedback. New text service helps buyers find dream home.
Have you ever walked past a property with a ‘for sale’ board outside and wondered about the asking price? Now if you’re in Chiswick you can find out. A new 24-hour service called Keytxt gives buyers on-the-spot feedback. On Bellengers ‘for sale’ and ‘to let’ signs there is a unique text code which potential buyers key in to their phone. This triggers an answer within seconds, to the questions that everyone asks when they are interested in a property: how much, how many bedrooms, is it still available and who should I contact to arrange a viewing?

This new service, pioneered in Chiswick by Bellengers, is due to be rolled out by other agents later this year. Texts cost £1 per message, which at peak times, is likely to work out less than a mobile phone call and is less intrusive.

Simon Gale, senior negotiator at Bellengers, recognises the importance of keeping abreast of technology to provide a straightforward, accessible service to house hunters. “A number of our clients are busy young professionals who go to work very early and come home late. They find it hard to make the time in their day to call but now they can contact us via a text.”

To date, over 60% of text enquiries have been out of normal working hours. This is like having a virtual 24-hour estate agent helping to free up time for buyers said Simon: “Often the only time buyers have is during lunch. This way they can find out about a property on the way to work.”

This all makes the house-hunting process a little easier which is good news for everyone.

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Bellengers champions American style viewings in Chiswick.

‘Open homes’ accelerate moves for buyers and sellers.

As a rule, when it comes to buying and selling our homes we are quite a traditional bunch, but we’re now beginning to embrace a new trend in the property market – open houses.

This method of showing and viewing homes has recently migrated to Chiswick. Instead of arranging ad-hoc appointments between owner and purchaser – homes are opened up for a specified length of time, usually during evenings and weekends. The estate agent compiles the guest list of house hunters which is supplemented with neighbours, and even other agents and their clients.

There is no question that open houses sell homes in the US and Australasia - but can it work over here? Sunday and evening viewings make good sense in an area such as Chiswick, especially if you’re someone who works long hours or can't easily take time off to see properties during the day.

According to Simon Gale of Bellengers, there are huge advantages for buyers. “It can take the best part of a week just to see half a dozen properties. Some vendors want twenty four hours notice, others will only show during the day, others only in the evening. You may find you have to rush a viewing to get to the next one because you grabbed the only time slot left.”

With the open house system you can arrive without a prior appointment and without the usual time constraints. You can stay as long as you need but equally you can be in and out as quickly as you like. Therefore it is easier to fit in other viewings. Out-of-hours viewings also help with another perennial Chiswick problem – parking. There are fewer parking restrictions thereby reducing the stress of arriving at the right address at the right time.

There are also big advantages for vendors. They are liberated from the need to remain in a constant state of readiness for viewings - potentially for months on end. “If you’re a busy parent trying to juggle jobs, chores and children, you generally haven’t the time to blitz the house when your estate agent calls to arrange an appointment in half an hour”, says Simon. If people are genuinely interested in a property, they will be sure to attend the open house, rather than lose out to other buyers.

Bellengers advise vendors to leave their properties during the open house session. Viewers details are obtained at the door and fully-briefed staff are on hand to answer questions. In this way buyers don’t feel pressurised or feel like they’re invading someone else’s territory. They can determine if the estate agents confidence is valid by seeing at first hand if the property is genuinely sought after.

In some countries this is the main method of buying property says Simon. “In New Zealand they have it down to a fine art. Buyers can take in eight to nine viewings in a day. They simply do some prior online research, shortlist interesting open-houses and drive directly from one to the next. It makes the buying process a whole lot quicker”.

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