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Hickling W. I. ‘Bargain Hunt’ Style Charity Auction Fundraiser

In December, members of Hickling W.I. took part in a ‘Bargain Hunt’ style fund raising event to raise funds for the Nottinghamshire Blood Bike charity. All members participated by working in small groups who were given a budget to seek out and buy items to be sold for a profit at auction. Several items were also donated for the sale.…


Georgian family home latest in several exclusive residential sale instructions.

Shoulers are delighted to be chosen as the preferred agent for Hall Farm, an attractive Georgian family home set in twenty acres of pastureland on the Eastern edge of the village of Kinoulton, Nottinghamshire. The property, combined with a separate annex, stables and other substantial outbuildings is the latest of several residential sales instructions of this calibre.…


Off Market Selling

Richard Cleaver, Head of Residential, Shouler & Son, explains why & how ‘no publicity’ works for some sellers Off-market selling is a discreet service estate agents can offer to clients for whom the circumstances around selling their property are sensitive.…


Future Challenge and Opportunity the focus at Farm Update 2023

Forty delegates with farming business interests gathered in Melton Mowbray at the end of last week to hear speakers from three of the East Midlands region’s leading professional services firms as they shared their views on the challenges and opportunities for the farming & rural sector as it heads in to the second quarter of the year (2023).…


Eyes on the pies

Shouler & Son is supporting the British Pie Awards again this year with sponsorship of the Pork Pie Class 2 category.…


Shoulers residential sales service: so what's new?

As an external appointment to the role of new Head of Residential last spring, Richard Cleaver embarked on a mission to revamp Shouler & Son’s sales offer to sellers & buyers in the estate agency’s own Melton & Vale of Belvoir patch. Here, Richard files his initial mission report………


New ELMS version will not improve farmers' bottom line

The outcome of Defra’s ‘rapid review’ of ELMS, initiated last September, was published at the end of last week (26 January). Having digested the policy paper, Angela Wood, Rural Professional Associate, Shouler & Son, shares her initial thoughts.…


Dressed to sell this winter

Winter time can be the right time for putting your home on the market as long as you heed the advice from your estate agent about what you can do to brighten viewings.  Richard Cleaver, Head of Residential, Shouler & Son shares his illuminating thoughts…..…


First of new year lettings launched

The first Shouler & Son residential lettings instruction for January has just ‘gone live’ and is available, by appointment, for viewings to prospective tenants looking for a family home in a village setting.…


The language of estate agency

Richard Cleaver, Head of Residential, Shouler & Son, talks about the importance of accuracy when it comes to property particulars.…


Repeat recognition of local lets top ranking

Melton Mowbray-based Shouler & Son was the top ranking local agent for residential property letting transactions last month (November) according to the latest monthly report by Rightmove - the leading online property portal - has revealed.…


Barn necessities on view now at The Byre, Somerby

Shouler & Son’s residential agency is more than happy to arrange ‘early bird’ viewings to prospective purchasers following its pre-Christmas soft launch of a modern barn conversion property, with stables and paddock land, in the Melton Mowbray rural parish of Somerby.…


Greengrocer goes to Bowley Court Melton

Shouler & Son has confirmed the recent letting of four retail units at Bowley Court, Melton with Number 8 being let to one of the town’s long established and well respected local greengrocer.…


‘Textbook’ town terrace to suit modern FTBs

A two bedroom, two reception terraced home within walking distance of Melton Mowbray town centre is the latest pre-Christmas property to be launched for sale by Shouler & Son.…


Comment on the Chancellor's Autumn Statement

Responding to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Statement at the end of last week, Harry Baines, Partner & Head of Commercial, Shouler & Son, commented:…


Prime position for new year instructions

A re-grouping of the residential services of Shouler & Son sees its sales & lettings agency teams primed to deal with new instructions now in order to capitalise on new year market moves.…


Listed to let in the Leicestershire countryside

A two bedroom, two storey apartment conversion in a Grade II* Listed property in the Leicestershire countryside between Melton Mowbray and Grantham is the latest letting property listing of Shouler & Son.…


Sale success sees new life for traditional cheese equipment

Equipment from a former dairy in Leicestershire will be given a new lease of life in being reused and repurposed for a number of original and creative uses across the country following a successful dispersal sale by Shouler & Son.…


Lease life health check for apartment owners

Richard Cleaver, Head of Residential, Shouler & Son, signals the importance of a healthy lease life length for apartment owners looking to sell. References to ‘leasehold’ or ‘freehold’ sale are more commonly played out in the regular work of our commercial property agency colleagues at Shoulers and their clients.…


Context is key for residential property in conservation areas

Richard Cleaver, Head of Residential, Shouler & Son sets it straight about a property’s place in conservation areas. According to Historic England, there are circa 10,000 conservation areas in this country and every English local authority has, at least, one conservation area within its boundary.…


Reflections on the sector in Autumn Rural Digest

The autumn edition of Shouler & Son’s Rural Digest is now available. Published twice a year - spring & autumn - the Digests are a round-up of the latest key policy announcements affecting the farming and rural business scene, with additional, expert comment from Shoulers’ rural services professionals.…


EPC enabled with running costs in focus

Richard Cleaver, Shouler & Son’s Head of Residential, is a qualified & accredited domestic energy assessor. And as we head towards the winter, he is sensing that running costs are beginning to figure in potential housebuyers’ calculations in a way they haven’t done before.…


Rural Digest - Autumn 2022

The three Fs - Fuel, Feed & Fertiliser - dominated the sector in the early part of the summer. These remain as pre-occupations but as price spikes bedded in, the widespread summer heatwaves of July & August threw up new challenges for 2022 harvest and plans for 2023.…


Listed property: Protecting our built heritage

With over a quarter of a century’s experience in estate agency, Richard Cleaver*, Shouler & Son’s Head of Residential, knows the pride & pleasure homeowners of Listed properties take in their role as stewards of the finest examples of the country’s built heritage. …


Business growth prompts move to new premises for roofing company

Rotherhill Business Park on Thorpe Road is the location of the second set of business premises for Melton Mowbray-based company Stace Roofing, confirms Shouler & Son’s commercial agency who is acting under instruction on the remaining unit to let this autumn.…


No surprise that ELMS is now under ‘rapid review’

Defra’s strong indication that ELMS (Environmental Land Management Scheme) is under rapid review - along with other previously announced farming policies - is not surprising, according to Shouler & Son’s rural professionals.…


Shouler & Son comments on changes to residential SDLT thresholds

Commenting on the increase of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) thresholds announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s September Statement Growth Plan on Friday (23 September), Richard Cleaver, Head of Residential, said: “While it is easy for headlines to focus on house prices - which do remain historically high - as an indicator of a healthy housing market, it is activity which drives forward the housing market.…


Super sixth former farm shed deal done

The commercial agency of Shouler & Son has confirmed the letting of the sixth business unit to be converted from former farm buildings at Welby Grange, near Melton Mowbray, with more units to let in the planning pipeline.…


Avoiding the burden of void periods

Dan Barradale, who leads Shouler & Son’s residential lettings agency and property management services, explains how landlords can help themselves to avoid the voids.…


Period property: A rough guide to timelines

Houses for sale - or to let - at the premium end of the market are often described by estate agents as ‘period properties’. Richard Cleaver, Head of Residential, Shouler & Son has prepared a quick, rough guide to the most common historical timelines that define particular architectural periods.…


Agent points out perils of ‘very’ short term lets

Residential lettings experts at Shouler & Son are encouraging property landlords, or would-be landlords, in the rural East Midlands to consider the perils of short term, holiday-style lets against the benefits of a long term lease agreement.…


Talking technical when it comes to covenants & caravans

A post-pandemic penchant for ‘staycations’ has seen a reported rise in ownership of caravans & motorhomes and this, in turn, might come to highlight one of the more technical aspects of house buying in processing the paperwork of the sale. Shouler & Son’s Richard Cleaver, the firm’s Head of Residential, shares some general points on the matter of property covenants.…


'Lets' reveal agent's top ranking

Shouler & Son has been identified as the top ranking local agent for residential property lettings agreed in the first seven months of the year in the latest report by Rightmove, the leading online property portal.…


Future Farming: The Generation Game

Oli Arnold is a graduate surveyor in Shouler & Son’s rural services team. He joined the practice in 2021 post-harvest and on graduating from Harper Adams University with an honours degree in Rural Property Management.…


Connect with town's history in Listed retail premises to let

Grade II Listed commercial premises available to let in Melton Mowbray’s Market Place will give the new occupier the right to claim a slice of Leicestershire folklore and a direct linguistical link to the English-speaking world.…


Gorgeous Georgian seeks modern family life in Warwickshire village

A ‘gorgeous’ Georgian, country village residence in Warwickshire is looking for a new family to share its fine accommodation, period features and fulfil the potential of all its mature grounds, swimming pool, and range of formal and informal lawns and gardens have to offer.…


Most modern apartment to let in Victorian villa conversion

Shouler & Son has launched the latest in a succession of apartments to let in a in a newly renovated former Victorian villa residence in the leafy setting of one of Melton Mowbray town’s sought after neighbourhoods.…


Town centre retail units refurbished for investor or owner occupier convenience

Shouler & Son is acting as the sole agent under instruction on the sale of the freehold of two new, vacant retail units located on Melton Mowbray town centre’s busiest thoroughfares. Described by the agent as one of the ‘quirkiest’ of its recent commercial instructions, the two Wilton Road units have been re-purposed for easy to manage retail use from their previous use as one set of the town’s public male and female toilet facilities.…


Paddocks for pooch use gaining ground

Farmers or rural landowners looking for new opportunities for diversification could take a lead from peers and look to re-purpose any paddock amenity to accommodate the nation’s growing penchant for pooches.…


New role filled in residential agency

The expansion of Shouler & Son’s estate agency continues under the firm’s new head of residential with the announcement of the appointment of a new recruit to fill a newly created role. …


Lodge living in cemetery setting to let

A 19th Century residential lodge at the entrance to Melton Mowbray’s Thorpe Road cemetery is one of the latest properties local agent Shouler & Son has in its summer portfolio of new letting instructions.…


Food Strategy white paper published

The Government has set out its Food Strategy for England, and according to Shouler & Son’s rural professionals, the focus of the strategy appears to have moved away from this as its main focus in taking account of recent world events.…


Making market-ready movers

Buyers of residential property being launched by Shouler & Son can be confident that the seller is primed, prepared and ready to proceed when it comes to the paperwork of the sale.…


Farmers have a fortnight left to register use of PPPs

Shouler & Son is reminding farmers that they only have until 22 June to register details of their use of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) and companion substances (known as ‘adjuvants’) to ensure compliance with Defra and Health & Safety Executive (HSE) regulations.…


Much to chew over in Rural Digest

Shouler & Son has published the spring edition of its Rural Digest in which its rural services professionals round up and comment on the latest key policy and funding scheme announcements affecting farming & estates sector clients.…


An appointment to view property on the edge of country living

A detached, five bedroom family home set in mature landscaped grounds, on the edge of Melton Mowbray and close to the town’s cricket club and golf course is being described as an ‘appointment to view’ property by agent Shouler & Son.…


Storage scores for well placed landowners

Rising requirements for depot-scale sheds for commercial storage or shipping-style containers for smaller scale self-storage sees increasing demand for land on which storage can stand. Harry Baines, Shouler & Son Partner & Head of Commercial, feels landowners in the rural East Midlands are well placed to capitalise. …


Making Waves & Wyves with farm sales instruction

Shouler & Son’s latest farm sales instruction has already attracted interest from potential buyers from farming and non-farming backgrounds, confirms the firm’s rural commercial agency.…


Rural setting for high five industrial units to let

A set of five brand new, high quality industrial units to let, just a mile from Melton Mowbray is the latest local instruction the commercial agency of Shouler & Son is marketing to occupiers this spring.…


Urban style vibe to Melton mixed-use statement premises to let

Self-contained, mixed-use commercial premises to let in Melton Mowbray are likely to suit the type of business occupier looking to channel a more urban vibe in a workplace setting than is usually available in the rural market town or the surrounding area.…


Rural Digest - Spring 2022

Affairs of state, quite rightly, occupy our minds at Shouler Son this spring. When we started the year, headline concerns were driven by domestic considerations of increasing operating costs for businesses in focusing on the cost of living crisis. Yet in late February our focus turned to the international scene and the unsettling situation in Ukraine and the wider ramifications of conflict in the state known as the bread basket of Europe.…


Spring into industrial units to let at Rotherhill Business Park

Shouler Son is acting as an agent on behalf of the landlord on two industrial units available to let this spring at Rotherhill Business Park in Melton Mowbray. The two units are among the last in the scheme of fourteen units of upgraded and completely refurbished properties at the Thorpe Road business park in the market town of Melton.…


Make first impressions count this spring

This is the time of year when home owners thinking about selling in the coming months are advised to take advantage of the lengthening days to prepare their properties to make the best impression on potential buyers from the outset, according to Shouler Sons estate agents.…


Biodiversity Net Gain BNG: A new partnership approach?

In the second of an occasional series of guest comments from peer professionals in the property sector, John Coleman, Dip,TP, MRTPI shares his own, personal views on a new opportunity for rural landowners and developers to work together.…


Shouler & Son builds on regional residential expertise

Shouler & Son has announced the appointment of a new head of its residential estate agency. Richard Cleaver has joined the Melton Mowbray-based property practice as head of the estate agency department and senior valuer.…


SFI latest: Defra provides payment rates confirmation

The latest Defra announcement about the Sustainable Farming Initiative (SFI) has been published. Shouler & Son’s rural service professionals agree that the latest announcement (published 30 March) confirms much of what was already known when the SFI policy document was published last December (2021) and on which the firm commented at the time.…


Steady spring in to the housing market

The spring housing market remains steady when set against the prevailing winds of global events and domestic economic concerns dominating the headlines so far this year.…


Local & global focus at Farm Update seminar

Forty delegates with farming business interests gathered in Melton Mowbray at the end of last week to hear speakers from three of the East Midlands region’s leading professional services firms share their views on the farming & rural sector as it heads in to the second quarter of the year (2022).…


Little Diva opens latest salon venue in Melton agents former offices

A national franchise business which hosts pamper parties for children and young families has chosen Melton Mowbray as the location for its latest salon venue where it is now open for business at 1 Wilton Road, Melton Mowbray - the former estate agency offices of local property firm Shouler & Son.…


Energy expert gives fuel for thought

In the first of a series of guest comments from peer professionals in the property sector who work with Shouler & Son, Colin Smithson-Connelly, a domestic energy assessor with Sycamore Energy Assessors Ltd, explains EPCs.…


Lets and pets

According to The Pet Food Manufacturers Association (PFMA), the twelve month period post-March 2020 lockdown saw pet ownership increase in the country by 3.2 million households, with circa 12 million dogs and an equivalent figure of cats living in the UK and spread across roughly 17 million households. In the face of such a volume of pet ownership, it should come as no surprise that attitudes of property landlords change with the times in matters of tenants who are also responsible pet owners.…


Log on to winter warmth

The rising cost of energy bills will be figuring in many households’ expenditure and budgeting this year (2022), but Shouler & Son reports that running costs are not something housebuyers in and around the Melton Mowbray area are identifying as a priority when it comes to making an offer on a property.…


RPA publishes BPS Lump Sum Exit Scheme details

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has recently published details of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) Lump Sum Exit Scheme for those with farming interests who are wishing to leave and/or retire from the sector.…


Lettings property management: the role of an agent

Gatekeeper, advocate, troubleshooter, & steward are just some of roles performed by a property managing agent. Dan Barradale, associate, Shouler & Son, outlines the value to landlords in using management services when it comes to rental property.…


FBTs & ELMS: Defra working group

Defra has recently launched the Tenancy Working Group (TWG), an independent study group with a wide remit to include how the move to ELMS (Environment Land Management Schemes) funding will affect tenant farmers.…


Energy in focus: a commercial agents view

With energy costs in focus on the news agenda this winter, Helen Vesper-Smith, Partner, Shouler & Son offers a view of the significance of energy ratings when it comes to commercial units.…


Pounds from your piggery

Shouler & Son is turning its attention to the plight of the pig farming industry in building on the property firm’s Cash in your cowshed initiative which saw it working with farming clients to successfully bring forward buildings and land holdings for alternative business use.…


Dress to impress for winter viewings

The traditional, busy new year housing market is now well underway and this year is proving no exception when it comes to instructions and viewings, according to Shouler & Son.…


SFI: Whats known so far

Last month (December), Defra finally set out how the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) will work this year (2022). We made our initial comment when the policy paper was published which was, broadly, welcoming of the fact that it had, at least, become available. …


Sustainable Farming Incentive - A digested summary

Tim Harris, agricultural associate, Shouler & Son, has fully digested the available detail of last month’s SFI (Sustainable Farming Incentive) Defra policy document and provides an entrée for those contemplating applying this year.…


Local property is perfectly placed to ride the WFH wave

Melton Mowbray and the surrounding rural district are perfectly placed to capitalise on lifestyle changes sought by homebuyers from London and the South East who are fortunate enough to be able to work from home (WFH) now and into the future.…


SFI: To boldly go in 2022 and beyond

Shouler & Son’s rural business professionals are working with farm & estate business clients on the best way forward from 2022 in having digested the extent - and the limitations - of the ‘Sustainable Farming Initiative’ (SFI) policy document published by Defra earlier this month (02 December).…


Christmas Opening Hours

24th to 28th December – Closed 29th and 30th December – Open 31st December – Open (closes at 12 pm) Reopen on the 4th January 2022…


Year end review:

Covid-19 considerations have been the backdrop to land and property moves this year (2021) but the nature of Shouler & Son’s transactions have set the tone for the sector in the coming twelve months.…


Return to retail sees agents pre-Christmas call for vacant units

The return of more normal retail trading conditions since the summer has seen Shouler & Son recently complete its current portfolio of shop unit instructions and appeal to retail landlords to bring forward any vacant and vacating properties now, ahead of the new year.…


New lease of life for old bricks

Shouler & Son’s lettings department describes one of its latest instructions this autumn as a ‘one-off’ property as it is a development opportunity offering the tenant the chance to convert and live in former school house in the Vale of Belvoir countryside ,near Grantham.…


Climate triggers commercial property opportunities

As another client gains planning approval for a change from rural to commercial use for former farm buildings, Helen Vesper-Smith, the Shouler & Son partner who heads its commercial services, senses a trend gaining momentum.…


Spotlight on farm succession

Farming is a business, a mindset and a way of life for families. Matters of the inheritance of the farm, its assets and the direction of the future business can often be highly charged because passions are in play. Frequently, assumptions are made and what is left unsaid can be disruptive.…


Is your land correctly registered with Land Registry?

With most land being farmed within the same family for decades (if not centuries) you may have never asked yourself whether your land is correctly registered with Land Registry, however, if it is not, it can carry risks that will not only cost you time but money as well.…


The Sustainable Farming Incentive Setting off down ELMS Road

Last Autumn DEFRA released their policy paper entitled “The Path to Sustainable Farming: An Agricultural Transition Plan 2021 to 2024”. This plan set out the changes that were made to agricultural policy in England from the 1st of January and what it means to you as farmers.…


Where theres muck theres money and a potential transformation in farming.

The project is also demonstrating how captured fugitive methane surplus to the farm’s own needs can be made available in gas and liquid form for local sale to create a profitable income stream for the farmer, and how the company’s process can improve the sustainability of land management by using the resulting digestate to help minimise external artificial inputs in the form of manufactured fertiliser. The project aims to provide a proven business model for a roll-out of this radical new approach across the county, the UK and beyond.…


Cash in your cowshed

Back in early 2018 Shoulers launched our Cash in your Cowshed campaign which saw us working with and advising our existing and new agricultural clients to consider diversification as an alternative source of income generation, which has proven to be a great success! …


Residential News

The first half of 2021 has been a busy and successful time for Shouler & Sons letting department. Similar to 2020 demand has stayed strong with the unprecedented need for rental properties ranging from one-bedroom apartments to five-bedroom country residences. Due to this demand rents have continued to remain strong within the area as people are looking to move to properties offering more outside space and larger gardens due to the effects of the past two lock downs making people re-assess their priorities and living situation.…


We have moved

Our Wilton Road office has relocated to join our County Chambers office on Kings Road from the 5th July 2021.…


Winter Newsletter 2019

A roundup of our recent successes, achievements, news and updates. Click below to read more...…


The Cedars Farm Sale

Farm Sale On behalf of K.V. Bonser The Cedars, Normanton-on-Soar Complete Farm Machinery Sale of Tractors, Trailers, Machinery, Equipment and Implements Saturday September 28th 2019 at 10.30 am …


Cross Compliance

If your business submits a BPS claim form, you are automatically committed to the rules of cross compliance, which began 1st January 2017.…


Is your farm a zero cost factory floor?

Farming and farming incomes are as volatile as they have ever been and we are yet to see how Brexit will impact them in the coming months and years.…


A local success story...

Shouler & Son handle more business premises than anyone else in the second most successful town in UK.…


Local Property Market

With all the doom & gloom in the press about the world at large, right down to the local economy and housing market we are glad that Spring is nearly upon us. With the bulbs flowering,…


Residential Lettings

Since our last newsletter it has become apparent that the increase in stamp duty targeting residential landlords has not had much negative effect. Nor have the changes to income tax in terms of mortgage interest for let residential no longer being allowable expense to offset against income. We believe that the investment yields…