Our research team has just sent round some pretty amazing figures: in August the number of visitors to FindaProperty.com passed the three million mark.

The actual total was 3.1 million, a whopping 34.2 per cent year-on-year increase, and the highest monthly total since records began way back in 1997.

That means that in August one of you lovely people logged onto the site every 0.85 seconds – and we’re grateful to each and every one of you for your support.

Our sister site, FindaNewHome.com, also set a new record of 369,000 visitors, which was an impressive 57.8 per cent higher than last year.

We are, however, always working to improve the site and make your property hunt easier – our latest addition is User Notes on every property detail.

If you have any suggestions for other features we could add, please send them to:

CoolNewFeatures@findaproperty.com.

So that’s it: summer appears to have gone for another year, before it even really arrived.

I say this after having been absolutely drenched twice yesterday – once on the way into work and again on the way home – followed by an evening of listening to relentless rain lashing against the windows.

Not surprisingly, the expression ‘batten down the hatches’ has subsequently been at the forefront of my mind.

So it got me to thinking, to coin a Carrie Bradshaw phrase, what would it be like to actually live in a houseboat during wintery weather like this?

I imagine it to be rather romantic, all cosied up and battened down against the elements – although I’m willing to concede that the reality may be somewhat different, particularly in gale-force winds.

But a fantasy’s a fantasy, so for this week’s Five to View, welcome to the wonderful world of floating homes that is houseboats.

(Click on pics for full property details)

1. Cadogan Pier, London SW3
£1,000,000

2. Taggs Island, Hampton. Middlesex
£485,000

3. Victoria Steps Quay, Brentford, Middlesex
£465,000

4. Chertsey, Surrey
£349,950

5. Southall, Middlesex
£89,995

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
Why, ’tis Juliet on her new Bloomframe balcony.

Had Shakespeare been alive today, and living in Amsterdam, then it’s a dead cert that ‘Romeo and Juliet’ would have included a Bloomframe balcony scene (and more sex and drugs probably, but this is a family show, folks).

A whattyframe? A bloomingpardon?

Hush dear reader, read on and understand.

Winner of the 2009 Wallpaper* Design Award, and designed by Hofman Dujardin Architects, the Bloomframe is a simple and elegant fold out balcony designed for use in dense urban areas where outside space is of the premium.

Still confused? Here’s the video:

It’s a window *click* it’s a balcony *click* it’s a window. Genius!

It’s been written about before, but now it’s actually gone into production. So all you hi-rise dwellers, start saving your pennies and schmoozing your planning officers.

(via NotCot)

Here’s a new video about rent arrears from the Ministry of Justice.

It’s presented by District Judge Stephen Gold, who, presumably, knows a thing or two about landlord/tenant disputes.

His … err … Worship? Lordship? … is a rather dapper looking chap, not, we think, the type to gaze down from the bench and loftily enquire of the court: “Who is Gazza?”

Which is just as well, because the last thing you want when you’re in a sticky financial situation is baffling advice from some unintelligible legal relic.

Gold, it has to be said, is a tad plummy, but he’s also sensible, engaging and easy to follow.

And he obviously knows exactly what he’s talking about.

I was browsing through the site the other day when I came across this: the former home of Giant William Bradley in the Yorkshire town of Market Weighton.

Who he? A quick Google of the name reveals that Bradley (b. 1787)  is the tallest British man that ever lived – he was a shade under eight feet tall, tipped the scales at 27 stone, and wore shoes that were 15 inches long and 5.5 inches wide.

It wouldn’t be easy being that tall now, but back in the eighteenth century it was even tougher, and the story of his life is a sad one.

Former home of Giant William Bradley

Bradley was teased, and feared, as a child, became a farm labourer as an adult and later toured successfully with a travelling show, his appearances alongside Edward Calvet, a dwarf from Shiptonthorpe, attracting huge interest and large crowds.

Ripped off by the show’s manager, he then toured on his own, checking into local hotels and charging people a shilling to call and see him. King George III paid him a call in Windsor and presented him with a gold chain.

He eventually retired to his home town where he had a house specially built to accommodate his massive frame. It’s currently up for sale and retains many of the original features.

The doors are wider, the ceilings are taller, there’s a large marble fireplace, and a special bedroom, named the long room, that was designed to house his huge bed.

Bradley suffered ill health in later life, and his years on the road as a sideshow freak clearly took a psychological toll: he became a recluse, hid from people who came to gawk at him and requested a dawn funeral in a bid to avoid crowds.

They came anyway, and he had to be interred inside the church for fear that grave robbers would steal his body.

Bradley has enjoyed posthumous fame in Market Weighton. They hold an annual William Bradley festival and have recently erected a statue in his honour. The house features a plaque bearing the imprint of his enormous boot.

Giant Bradley’s house is being sold by Hornseys, Market Weighton (Tel: 0843 2820 79)

Click pics for full details

The Bank of England published their monthly stats on lending yesterday so I thought it would be interesting to feature a graph displaying lending levels over the past few years.

Lending for house purchase was up again in July – indeed, with 50,000 approvals, July was the strongest month for lending this year and 53 per cent higher than July 2008.

As we’ve noted before, traffic to FindaProperty.com reached record levels in July, and it’s clear from these lending figures that more people managed to access finance.

However, lenders remain extremely cautious and lending is still way below the highpoint it reached in July 2007 before the credit crunch hit.

On the positive side, the graph reveals that last summer was the bottom of the lending cycle; on the negative side, lending is still being rationed.

With prices now recovering, we would hope that lenders, buoyed by huge amounts of public money, respond by easing their lending criteria.

If they don’t, there’s the very real danger that recovery will be choked off before it’s had a chance to take hold.

Interesting piece over on the Guardian’s Money Blog today about a timber shed up for auction for £150,000 – just £10,000 less than the Nationwide’s average UK house price, as Hilary Osborne notes.

Osborne wonders if this is “a return to pre-crash price insanity, or is it money well spent on a prime spot?”

Looking at the details, and with the blog post below about sea views in mind, I think I’m in the money well spent camp.

Why? Because you’re not paying for the “semi-derelict one-bed bungalow” (aka: shed), you’re paying for the site: two acres in the heart of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park with quite breath-taking views over the Heritage Coastline.

True, you’ll only be able to develop it subject to acquiring the necessary consents; and yes, you’d be bonkers to bid on it without first talking to the local planners about what they would allow.

But even so, I think the potential here surely justifies the guide price. What do you think?

We’ll keep you posted on how it fares when it comes under the hammer. Auction to be held at: the Falcon Inn, Staintondale on: Wednesday 16th September 2009 at 7.00pm prompt.

The Property: Listed Victorian church

The Place: Aberfeldy, Perth & Kinross, Scotland

The Price: £190,000 OIEO

The Pain: It’s a big and potentially expensive project – all the more so since planning permission is for conversion into four large apartments.

And at the end, you’ll have to find four buyers to make your money – which in the current market is not the easiest.

The Gain: The property is attractively located in an elevated position with fine views over the countryside and is perfectly placed to attract second-home buyers – fishing, hiking, golf, skiing and water sports are all within easy reach.

The building itself is in good shape, and has some fine period features.

When completed, the apartments, says the agent, will be worth £200,000-£300,000, so there’s potential for a decent return on this one.

The Agent: Strutt & Parker, Edinburgh (Tel: 0843 2823 308)

With this year’s Edinburgh Festival almost in its closing stages, we decided to don our tartan bonnets and kilts, and hotfoot it north to Scotland’s capital city.

As well as hosting the world’s most famous arts festival and being home to the globe’s biggest Hogmanay party, Edinburgh always ranks highly on those Most Fabulous Places to Live lists on account of it being so unutterably cool.

With all that in mind, we’ve only picked properties that are in or close to the city centre, and therefore well placed to take advantage of everything that “Auld Reekie” has to offer.

So, in the words of one of the city’s illustrious former residents, Muriel Spark, here’s the crème de la crème of Edinburgh properties for a variety of budgets.

(Click on pics for full property details)

1. Blackhall, Edinburgh
£2,300,000 OIRO

2. Warriston, Edinburgh
£1,100,000 OIRO

3. New Town, Edinburgh
£975,000 OIEO

4. Edinburgh City Centre
£340,000 OIEO

5. Corstorphine, Edinburgh
£245,000 OIEO

Barry over in the Build Cool New Stuff team has done it again: his latest wheeze is a very handy Add Notes tool on every property detail.

Keep an eye open for this icon – it’s on the right hand side of every property detail.

As a registered user you can click on this, write some comments in the pop-up box – what you think of the property, why it might be worth viewing and so on – and save it.

The note will remain on this property detail (as one of the icons on the right hand side) and the property itself will automatically save to your Saved Properties folder (it can be accessed via the purple house icon at the top of the page).

The Add Note feature is a great way to record your thoughts about properties as you browse.

What’s handy about this is that when you check them again you’ll immediately be reminded about what you liked and disliked without having to read through the entire details.

Nice, no?!