Reside - Reside Bath

Bath Boules 2015: The Reside Retrospective

Posted on 01/07/201504/07/2025 by prateek

Bath Boules returned in 2015 with a bigger, better and more exciting tournament. Two sides of Queen Square were closed to traffic, and the roads lined with boutique food and drink stalls run by the likes of Yammo!, Pieminister and Masterchef champion Ping Coombes. The event, sponsored by a host of local businesses including Reside, proved a major success, drawing large crowds and raising valuable funds for local charities.

Warned by the Bath Boules staff that no team had ever won the competition two years running, the victorious 2014 Reside team crumbled under the pressure of the organisers’ mind games, losing the first game badly. A stern team talk later, and Team Reside was back on song, winning all seven of the remaining group ties. It was, alas, too little too late, as their first match opponents went on to win all eight of their games, thus knocking Reside out of the competition.

The Reside team were unable to repeat the heroics of their triumphant 2014 campaign, but a superb day was enjoyed by colleagues, family and friends. Congratulations to all involved for putting on such a wonderful few days’ entertainment, and to the winning Actual Experience team for pipping us to the post. We’ll be back to get you in 2016!

Reside5 – The Great Bath Feast

Posted on 03/10/201404/07/2025 by prateek

Such is the passion in Bath for high quality, locally sourced food and drink, the city’s motto should really be ‘Liberty, Equality, Gastronomy’. The Great Bath Feast is a month-long celebration of all things edible, and this year’s event promises to be the biggest, busiest and most filling one yet. From farmers’ markets to cocktail classes, there are 150 events during October that are bound to appeal to anybody with an appetite. To save you the hassle, we have waded through the listings and picked out five events which made our taste buds tingle. If you try any of our recommendations, please do let us know how you get on, either on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. Bon appetit!

Bath Feast Logo

1. The Great Bath Breakfast
Various locations throughout October
www.greatbathfeast.co.uk/bath-breakfast/

Nineteen eateries across Bath will be celebrating the Full English during October by serving high quality, locally sourced breakfasts. For the full list, you can either click the above link or just follow the sumptuous smell of sizzling bacon. There are enough days in October to try them all, but we suggest trying The Hare and Hounds, the Komedia Arts Café & Graze (who list the origins of their ingredients on their website!). All of which leaves you with just one important decision to make: tomato ketchup or brown sauce?

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2. High Tea with The Thoughtful Bread Company
Barton Street, 12th, 19th & 26th October
www.thethoughtfulbreadcompany.com/high-tea-thoughtful-bread-event-details/

The Thoughtful Bread Company quite thoughtlessly opened their first shop just across the road from Reside this year. Our daily travails now regularly take us past their incredible array of breads, pastries and cakes, and several waistbands in the office have suffered as a consequence. The prospect of a Thoughtful Bread High Tea was too much for this correspondent to resist, and I booked myself in as soon as the Great Bath Feast brochure was released. Finger sandwiches, micro wraps, petits four and double choc ganache brownies are expected to appear on the menu.

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3. Wan Ping Coombes with Chris Staines at Allium Brasserie
North Parade, 14th & 15th October
www.greatbathfeast.co.uk/ai1ec_event/wan-ping-coombes-chris-staines-allium-brasserie

Many of us who were glued to BBC1’s Masterchef earlier this year were blown away by the flair and creativity of the eventual winner, and local resident, Ping Coombes’ Malaysian-inspired food. This 4-course menu will contain starters and main course created by Ping, with puddings by Allium Brasserie head chef Chris Staines. The pair are catering four meals over two days and, with half of the sittings already sold out, you’ll have to act quickly if you want to try Ping’s famous Wan Ton Soup!

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4. Yammo! Pizza Show
Walcot Street, 14th October
www.greatbathfeast.co.uk/ai1ec_event/pizza-show

Yammo! offers authentic and high quality Neopolitan food, and its vibrant atmosphere, passionate staff and stunning pizzas (using a secret pizza dough recipe) have made it a popular destination for visitors and locals alike. The Pizza Show is one of just five different Great Bath Feast events hosted by Yammo! during October, and they promise a breathtaking array of pizza varieties including fried, folded, sweet & savoury. Oh, and if you have any room left at the end, ask to try their misto fritto starter – delizioso!

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5. Bath Brew House vs. Smoke House
James Street West, 23rd October
www.greatbathfeast.co.uk/ai1ec_event/bath-brew-house-vs-smoke-house-beer-food-matching-evening

Bath prides itself on its wide array of very high quality local ales, and the very popular Bath Brew House has its own microbrewery right in the heart of the city. A smoke house is also located at the foot of the beer garden, with their own beer often being used in the smoking process. This evening will take place in the Tank Room, where guests will be invited by the head brewer to match a range of beers with dishes that have been smoked on the premises.

If our blog has set your stomach rumbling, do head out this October and experience The Great Bath Feast. Don’t forget to tweet us to let us know what you get up to – we’re always looking for new places to eat!

Photo credits: greatbathfeast.co.uk / yammo.co.uk

Bennets to Bonnets: The Reside Guide To All Things Austen

Posted on 08/09/201404/07/2025 by prateek

Visitors to Bath during September will notice an unusual superfluity of breeches, bonnets and corsets, and a staggering abundance of petticoats, parasols and cravats. For ten days from the 12th of September, hundreds of ‘Janeites’ will flock to Bath in full Regency costume as part of the annual celebrations of the life and work of Jane Austen.

In anticipation of the fourteenth Jane Austen Festival, we have unearthed some fascinating facts about Jane and her creations. Whether you are a Bingley, a Bennet or a Darcy, we hope it will help you to find your festival spirit!

The Write Stuff

Posted on 27/02/201404/07/2025 by prateek

First time landlords invest as tenant demand increases

Posted on 13/08/201304/07/2025 by prateek

A recent study by major buy-to-let lender, Paragon Mortgages, found an increase in borrowing by first-time landlords as compared to the same time period last year.

Similarly, the percentage of business coming from landlords looking to grow their rental portfolios also increased.

John Heron, director of Paragon, said: “It would seem that an investment in property is increasingly attractive against a background of low returns on cash and volatility in global markets.”

“With perceptions shifting in terms of the improved availability of buy-to-let finance too, the lending industry is in a good place to support the ambitions of both new and experienced landlords.”

Also of interest to new landlords are the increases in average monthly rental costs in England and Wales – up by 3.5% in the 12 months to May 2013, according to LSL Property Services’ buy-to-let index.

David Newnes, director of LSL Property Services, said: “With wage growth so weak compared to inflation and house price growth, it looks like deposits will become less affordable – which will keep demand for rented accommodation high.”

He added that “private renting will become a more and more vital aspect of the economy.”

In line with these findings, we at Reside are seeing local demand for properties increasing significantly. July 2013 was our busiest month ever in terms of properties let, which were up 44% compared to July 2012 and 116% compared to July 2011. New properties added to our website also rose by 33% in July 2013 compared with last year.

Given also that rent arrears and voids are in decline, according to the National Landlords Association, this suggests that now is an excellent time for new landlords to consider investing in rental properties.

You spin me right round…

Posted on 10/07/201304/07/2025 by prateek

We’re always looking for new ways to show our landlords’ properties, and better ways to help our tenants decide which properties suit them. So when we came across BubblePix, producers of a brand new technology that creates 360° photographic images, we saw an exciting opportunity.

The BubblePod creates 360° images that will give our prospective tenants an honest view of property interiors – before they decide to visit.

We’re proud to announce we’ve made a small investment in BubblePix and that inventor Tom Lawton has agreed that Reside will be pioneering this exciting technology.

There are two elements to the technology: the BubblePod and the BubblePix App.

The BubblePod is a clockwork turntable that grips your smartphone and smoothly, silently rotates it by 360º.

Meanwhile the BubblePix App on your phone captures the 360º image. Users can shoot and share images in less than a minute.

Reside has agreed to act as a test bed for the early production versions. This means we’ll be one of the first letting agencies to use these images to present our properties.

Once they go into production, this will create a fantastic tool for letting agents everywhere.

To find out more about the BubblePod, click here.

Video tours – The future of property marketing?

Posted on 01/11/2012 by prateek

We have recently trialled a fantastic new way of marketing our rental properties – video tours. Working with a local multimedia company we have produced this high quality, visually stunning tour of a two bedroom apartment in Bath.

Our brand new YouTube channel can be found here.

Rent payments to go on tenants’ credit files

Posted on 16/03/2012 by prateek

By the end of 2012, tenants will have details about their rental payments included in their credit file under an initiative launched by Experian, one of the UK’s three credit reference agencies.

Under the new scheme, tenants who consistently pay their rent on time will benefit from an enhanced credit rating, thus boosting their chances of being granted mortgages, loans, credit cards and future tenancy agreements. Conversely, tenants who have paid their rent late will find that their credit score falls – something that will show up on future credit checks by banks, landlords or letting agencies.

Tenants living together under a joint tenancy agreement will also have to keep on their toes, as late joint rent will also count against them, regardless of who is to blame.

Reaction to the announcement has been mixed, with experts coming out both for and against the proposal. Quoted in The Guardian, Sian Williams, head of Transact, said “this could be a very useful tool for allowing [renters] to access a wider range of services at a more affordable cost.” She concludes that it is a “very welcome development for many people living in private rented accommodation, who until now have often found it difficult to build a credit history.”

Dan Plant, a money analyst for MoneySavingExpert.com, is rather more reserved in his reaction to the initiative: “This adds to the ever-expanding pool of information banks can use to make a snap judgement about you, and it’s not even about how you’ve previously borrowed money. This makes it absolutely crucial you pay your rent on time, and regularly check credit files to make sure everything that’s reported is true – and if not, get it put right.”

Experian is now beginning the process of talking to major letting agents and landlords to encourage them to state in tenancy agreements that they can share tenants’ payment history. If successful, the data should start to appear by the end of the year.

At Reside, our tenants are referenced through Endsleigh, a branch of of Experian.