Tewkesbury is a modestly sized market-town in the north of the county of Gloucestershire, England. In keeping with the general region, Tewkesbury has an incredible amount of history and some very well preserved buildings that date back hundreds of years.

During the summer of 2007, much of the town was flooded. Flooding happens on a reasonably regular basis because of the proximity of the town to two very large rivers. However, in 2007 this flooding was on a scale not seen in decades. We hope that it will be decades until we next see similar events!

Whilst the town has many old and well preserved buildings, there are also a number of newly deveoped areas. These mainly lie on the outskirts of the town and some argue that the use of floodplain land for new homes has contributed to the increased level of flooding. One of these new areas is a very charming community called Walton Cardiff.

In Tewkesbury, the housing market is dominated by a small number of estate agents. A few have very large presences within England, whilst the others are mainly local operators.

Probably the biggest company in terms of sheer quantity of offices is Andrews. However, they do not dominate the market in the way that they did a few years ago. These days that seems to be TAG Estate Agents. The company is called TAG because their main office is in the High Street in a very old building which is called "The Ancient Grudge". To me, it seems an odd name for a company - but it is a charming name for a very historic building!

Needless to say, most if not all of these firms have their own lettings agency - an aspect of business which has been very much in demand since the flooding in 2007. A number also have their own 'in house' financial services arm to assist with mortgage applications. These mainly would relate to the sale and purchase of properties via the estate agency office.

Purchasing property within the Tewkesbury area - and obtaining a mortgage on that property - has become much more difficult since the 2007 flood. This has been because many properties that had previously been regarded as 'safe' from flooding were found to not be safe. Insurance companies are taking a very long look at individual properties in areas considered to be 'at risk' in ways that they were not a few years ago.

This does cause some problems. Only a few years ago the 'at risk' portion of Tewkesbury could be quite clearly described. Now, that area is starting to be considered as the entire town unless proven otherwise.

Mortgage lenders use professional valuers and their reports to decide whether or not to lend money to assist with the purchase of a property. However, lenders and insurers are now also using sophisticated postcode research to help them make decisions. Clearly, this takes much of the human element out of the process and away from an individual assessment.

It probably goes without saying that the above means that obtaining a mortgage for a property purchase in the area of Tewkesbury now requires more skill and negotiation than it once did. The time when a member of the public could simply apply for a mortgage without assistance has probably passed from the town.

It seems that obtaining knowledgable mortgage advice in Tewkesbury is now a very important feature in the house buying process.