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Everyone knows the value of having a home with easy access to good transport links, but many prospective purchasers are put off buying a house near a station because of the noise. “No need”, says Andrew Bush, Managing Director of Bush Property Services.

For many people, the dream of being able to fall out of bed and onto a train, particularly when they’re running onto the platform with a piece of toast in their hand, is only tarnished by the thought that living close to a station might make the property tricky to sell.
The reality, says Andrew Bush, is much less the stuff of nightmares.

“Houses not far from stations hold their value extremely well and a village with a station in it will almost always command higher prices than one without.

“Ease of transport is the most obvious reason and that’s particularly true now that people working in London are prepared to commute from further away. An hour in the train doesn’t seem quite so bad if it’s only a five minute walk to the station.
“Naturally, the closer the village is to London, the more expensive the property is likely to be, but you only have to look at places like Whittlesford, Shelford and Waterbeach to see that you don’t have to live on the City’s doorstep to have a station inflate your property’s value.
“The ‘London pick up’ is particularly noticeable as more city bonuses are being spent on property in this part of the world. Last year’s Channel 4 show The Best and Worst Places to Live in the UK put South Cambridgeshire fifth overall and other research shows that in 2006 20% of all Cambridge properties were bought by people working in the City.
“With the area seemingly proving irresistible to those working in London, the demand for property close to the station can only increase.”

In the wake of England going smoke-free on July 1st, The Grafton has introduced a policy of naming and shaming retailers who fail to clear up discarded butts behind their units.

The centre itself has been smoke-free for two years, with only two restaurants allowing smoking in designated areas and centre director Michael Wiseman is keen to use the new legislation as an opportunity to both encourage smokers to give up and take a firm line with those who don’t clean up after themselves.

“The current practise of smoking out of the back of units and chucking the butts on the ground must stop,” says Mr Wiseman. “We have provided five designated areas around the centre, complete with butt bins, where staff can smoke, but managers are responsible for making sure that the area behind their units is butt free. We are also obviously keen that customers don’t have to walk through a sea of smoke as they enter the centre, and we have created ‘smoking fee’ buffers zones at each of the entrance.

“Retailers that fail to comply will be named and shamed as the centre can’t afford to employ more people to clean up after them.”

Mr Wiseman does recognise how difficult it can be for people to quit and The Grafton is supplying all retailers’ staff who smoke with personal ash cans. He is keen, however, that smokers should take advantage of the new legislation to think about stopping.

“With smoking in public places becoming more difficult,” he says, “This is an ideal time for smokers to quit. Many of our own staff have used July 1st as an incentive to stop smoking and I’m encouraging retailers with employees who smoke to take advantage of the services of CAMQUIT, a free, countywide service designed to help people who are thinking about, or trying to, give up.

“CAMQUIT is run by Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trust and research shows that smokers are four times more likely to give up with support and nicotine patches than simply going alone.” CAMQUIT 01223 723022