Do you own a holiday-let? 5 tips to get it up to scratch for next season Nottingham Estate Agents

Independent estate agent, Chartsedge, reveals the vital checks needed to ensure your holiday-let home is in good order for the year ahead It’s no surprise that many property owners are short of time and will find it difficult to visit their holiday-lets to arrange for minor work to be carried out. However, as we approach […]

The post Do you own a holiday-let? 5 tips to get it up to scratch for next season appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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Does a local Lidl really bring down house prices?

Houses near a Waitrose are worth 12% more than average – and now three of its supermarkets have been sold to Lidl. But the discounter’s arrival might not be all bad news …

Waitrose has sold off three of its supermarkets to Lidl, sparking a wave of middle-class outrage. It’s not just concern about access to venison meatballs or pistachio ice-cream – residents of Bromley in London, Oadby in Leicestershire and Wollaton in Nottinghamshire apparently fear their house prices could take a dive.

Kal Kandola, 49, told the Telegraph: “We are regulars at Waitrose and not very happy about this at all. I have houses in Wollaton that I rent out. The issue of house prices is a concern as Wollaton is an affluent area.”

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Basement conversions: all you need to know about digging down Nottingham Estate Agents

If you have extended up and out, now’s the time to turn your attention downwards. The good news is basement conversions can add between 10-15 per cent to your property’s value, according to Savills. They can add much needed living space, or even be rented out as a separate flat, making them a nice little […]

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Young Britons believe dream of owning home is over, survey says

Santander survey suggests only a quarter of under-34s could own a home by 2026

One of Britain’s biggest mortgage lenders has found that 70% of young people now believe that the homeownership dream is over for their generation.

Having carried out the largest-ever survey of potential first-time buyers, Santander said its own figures suggest less than 25% of 18- to 34-year-olds will be in a position to buy a home by the year 2026.

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How has Brexit vote affected the UK economy? July verdict

Each month we look at key indicators to see what effect the Brexit process has had on growth, prosperity and trade

• Experts debate the data
• British consumers keep the UK afloat
  

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How to keep valuables safe: use cereal and toy boxes, say ex-burglars

Panel of ex-offenders reveals underwear drawers and pillows are first places to be checked

Forget hiding your valuables under your pillow, in a safe or stuffing them in your underwear drawer – those are among the first places professional burglars look for jewellery and cash.

A panel of former burglars, brought together by department store chain John Lewis, have advised holidaymakers that the safest places for family heirlooms are actually cereal boxes or storage for children’s toys.

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Keeping your home damp free Nottingham Estate Agents

For a problem that affects millions of properties, damp is not as well understood as it should be. OnTheMarket.com offers top tips for a dry and healthy home Everyone knows that if they have a large hole in their roof, or leave their windows open during a thunderstorm, they will end up with soggy carpets. […]

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Build to Rent – the new era of renting?

From high-end townhouses to more modest studios, Build to Rent providers are seeking to serve a wide array of renters who are making an active choice to stay renting.

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I live in a conservation area – can I cut back our trees?

We have two large oaks that block light and want to know how much we can prune them

Q We recently bought a house with a garden that’s dominated by two large oak trees which block light. Although we’d love to fell the trees, they’re protected because we live in a conservation area although the trees themselves are not protected by individual tree preservation orders (TPOs). The trees overhang the fence into neighbours’ gardens. That fence denotes the boundary of the conservation area. Without individual TPOs, could we argue that any part of the tree that overhangs over the boundary is outside of the conservation area and could therefore be pruned back to the boundary of the conservation area? JD

A No you couldn’t and it would be very unwise to carry out any work on your trees without contacting your local planning authority (LPA). Although your trees aren’t protected by individual TPOs, as you say, because they are growing in a conservation area they are protected by the provisions in section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. These provisions require people to notify the relevant LPA (using what’s referred to as a section 211 notice) six weeks before any intended work on the protected trees to obtain the LPA’s consent for the work. However, you don’t have to get permission for a tree which has a trunk which is less than 75cm measured at 1.5m above ground level but I doubt this exception applies to your trees. You might want to let your neighbours know that if they plan to lop off the overhanging branches, they also need to get consent from the LPA before doing so. Even though the branches overhang non-conservation area land, the trees are still protected because they are growing in a conservation area. Doing work without LPA consent carries a hefty fine of up to £20,000.

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Top tips on becoming a landlord Nottingham Estate Agents

There are many things to think about when becoming a landlord. Here, Matthew Williams, Co-Director of Redbrick Properties in Leeds, gives his advice. Renting out a property comes with many pros and cons. Before you can decide on whether to manage a property yourself or have a lettings agency take care of it, it’s important […]

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Gardens contest could help tap into tourist demand, say MPs

Committee says scheme similar to city of culture could raise profile of garden tourism

A competition to crown the best UK cities for gardens could boost the economy through untapped tourist potential, MPs have suggested.

Similar to the UK City of Culture initiative, such a scheme could raise the profile of garden tourism, according to a report by the digital, culture, media and sport committee.

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Gardens contest could help tap into tourist demand, say MPs

Committee says scheme similar to city of culture could raise profile of garden tourism

A competition to crown the best UK cities for gardens could boost the economy through untapped tourist potential, MPs have suggested.

Similar to the UK City of Culture initiative, such a scheme could raise the profile of garden tourism, according to a report by the digital, culture, media and sport committee.

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Killing plants is a gardener’s rite of passage

All the great horticulturists have lost dozens of plants, so don’t be afraid to treat your duds as a learning experience

It’s a fear I am forever hearing from my friends, on social media, even down the pub: “I would love to grow plants, but I killed my last one.” For timid first-timers, it seems, the idea of plants dying is one that fills them with dread, so much so that it put off even the most nature-loving ones from embarking on their horticultural adventure.

So I’ll let you in on a secret: I have killed plants, too. In fact, even though I get paid to tell people how to grow them, I have killed hundreds, maybe even thousands. And when I get together with my best mates, who all happen to be professional horticulturists at places like Kew Gardens and the Royal Horticultural Society, you know what we talk about? The plants we’ve recently killed.

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The Garden Jungle by Dave Goulson review – evangelical, radical and angry

This exquisite book argues that gardening can be a powerful force for resisting climate change

Every year, towards the end of May or the beginning of June, I catch my wife looking shifty. She always sets to work in the evening, as dusk draws in, hoping that I’ll be too wrapped up in a book to notice her nefarious activities. By some strange and unstated rule of garden administration, the hydrangeas in our two-acre plot of Kentish Weald are her preserve. After our first year in the house, when they were ravaged by slugs, she now surrounds the Annabelles and Emile Mouillères with little blue pellets of songbird – and hedgehog-killing metaldehyde. I disapprove – I run my horticultural bailiwicks on strictly organic lines – but I recognise that I am still in the minority when it comes to Britain’s gardeners.

Dave Goulson is the country’s foremost expert on bees, the author of the superlative A Buzz in the Meadow, and has now written an exquisite, compelling and quietly evangelical book about how gardeners can play their part in saving the planet. Each chapter of The Garden Jungle begins with a recipe – from home-brewed cider to mulberry muffins to Jerusalem artichoke soup. These culinary snippets paint a picture of the good life, showing how our approach to managing our gardens can lead to a deeper and more permanent re-engagement with nature, one that feeds through to our physical and mental health, as well as being a necessary counterbalance to the chemical-intensive aggro-industrial complex that is doing its best to destroy our environment.

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Killing plants is a gardener’s rite of passage

All the great horticulturists have lost dozens of plants, so don’t be afraid to treat your duds as a learning experience

It’s a fear I am forever hearing from my friends, on social media, even down the pub: “I would love to grow plants, but I killed my last one.” For timid first-timers, it seems, the idea of plants dying is one that fills them with dread, so much so that it put off even the most nature-loving ones from embarking on their horticultural adventure.

So I’ll let you in on a secret: I have killed plants, too. In fact, even though I get paid to tell people how to grow them, I have killed hundreds, maybe even thousands. And when I get together with my best mates, who all happen to be professional horticulturists at places like Kew Gardens and the Royal Horticultural Society, you know what we talk about? The plants we’ve recently killed.

Continue reading...

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The Garden Jungle by Dave Goulson review – evangelical, radical and angry

This exquisite book argues that gardening can be a powerful force for resisting climate change

Every year, towards the end of May or the beginning of June, I catch my wife looking shifty. She always sets to work in the evening, as dusk draws in, hoping that I’ll be too wrapped up in a book to notice her nefarious activities. By some strange and unstated rule of garden administration, the hydrangeas in our two-acre plot of Kentish Weald are her preserve. After our first year in the house, when they were ravaged by slugs, she now surrounds the Annabelles and Emile Mouillères with little blue pellets of songbird – and hedgehog-killing metaldehyde. I disapprove – I run my horticultural bailiwicks on strictly organic lines – but I recognise that I am still in the minority when it comes to Britain’s gardeners.

Dave Goulson is the country’s foremost expert on bees, the author of the superlative A Buzz in the Meadow, and has now written an exquisite, compelling and quietly evangelical book about how gardeners can play their part in saving the planet. Each chapter of The Garden Jungle begins with a recipe – from home-brewed cider to mulberry muffins to Jerusalem artichoke soup. These culinary snippets paint a picture of the good life, showing how our approach to managing our gardens can lead to a deeper and more permanent re-engagement with nature, one that feeds through to our physical and mental health, as well as being a necessary counterbalance to the chemical-intensive aggro-industrial complex that is doing its best to destroy our environment.

Continue reading...

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Last year’s long, hot summer has claimed a life

Record-breaking temperatures and sandy soils have felled a silver birch, but there are daisies galore

I think we have lost a tree: a first for me. I have been anxiously waiting for signs of life. There were some buds in early May, but we were worried. It was some way behind the others in the small batch of silver birch we bought 10 years ago to mark a birthday. I scratched its trunk and it was green beneath the bark so we soaked it with a sprinkler for a few hours a few times. The forecast was for regular rain.

By the middle of June the buds still hadn’t opened so we ran a trickle hose overnight, every three or four days. There was still no sign of leaf while its sisters shimmered. This tree is a little more exposed than the others. Our soil has a lot of sand. We are close to the coast. The sea is just a short walk away.

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Last year’s long, hot summer has claimed a life

Record-breaking temperatures and sandy soils have felled a silver birch, but there are daisies galore

I think we have lost a tree: a first for me. I have been anxiously waiting for signs of life. There were some buds in early May, but we were worried. It was some way behind the others in the small batch of silver birch we bought 10 years ago to mark a birthday. I scratched its trunk and it was green beneath the bark so we soaked it with a sprinkler for a few hours a few times. The forecast was for regular rain.

By the middle of June the buds still hadn’t opened so we ran a trickle hose overnight, every three or four days. There was still no sign of leaf while its sisters shimmered. This tree is a little more exposed than the others. Our soil has a lot of sand. We are close to the coast. The sea is just a short walk away.

Continue reading...

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Room to grow: how allotment life can be the best therapy

When his wife became ill, Barney Norris found that growing his own food helped him through the trauma

For the past year I’ve kept an allotment. Taking it over in a state of disrepair, some years after the death of the previous tenant, I’ve cleared weeds, dug beds, planted apple trees, improvised panels for the greenhouse out of bits of transparent plastic conservatory roof, mowed grass and failed to fix the leak in the potting shed. In between all that, I’ve grown vegetables.

I’ve always had an interest in gardening. My mother encouraged me and my brother and sister to keep a flower bed each when we were kids – mine, being in the shade next to where we buried the pets and underneath the tree house, never thrived, while my brother’s was an absolute suntrap and full of delicious-smelling lavender. We all helped with the veg beds in the back garden, watering inadequately and massacring slugs, which I’m not all that proud of, but must confess I enjoyed at the time.

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Room to grow: how allotment life can be the best therapy

When his wife became ill, Barney Norris found that growing his own food helped him through the trauma

For the past year I’ve kept an allotment. Taking it over in a state of disrepair, some years after the death of the previous tenant, I’ve cleared weeds, dug beds, planted apple trees, improvised panels for the greenhouse out of bits of transparent plastic conservatory roof, mowed grass and failed to fix the leak in the potting shed. In between all that, I’ve grown vegetables.

I’ve always had an interest in gardening. My mother encouraged me and my brother and sister to keep a flower bed each when we were kids – mine, being in the shade next to where we buried the pets and underneath the tree house, never thrived, while my brother’s was an absolute suntrap and full of delicious-smelling lavender. We all helped with the veg beds in the back garden, watering inadequately and massacring slugs, which I’m not all that proud of, but must confess I enjoyed at the time.

Continue reading...

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Blowing bubbles in Cambridge

Retro style is given a surreal twist by two designers who use their home as a testing ground

If Lewis Carroll’s Alice had done up a house, she might have sought out Brendan Young and Vanessa Battaglia. The Italian-English duo have a knack for art and design that confounds expectations – and pigeonholing. In the world of Mineheart, the company they founded in 2010, nothing is quite what it seems. Tiny beaded chandeliers seem to float inside overscaled Edison bulbs that dangle from brass chains. The sitters of grand 18th-century portraits blow bubblegum, and haughty flamingos in ruffs look like fugitives from an Elizabethan menagerie.

It’s a process of filtering until we hit on something original

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Blowing bubbles in Cambridge

Retro style is given a surreal twist by two designers who use their home as a testing ground

If Lewis Carroll’s Alice had done up a house, she might have sought out Brendan Young and Vanessa Battaglia. The Italian-English duo have a knack for art and design that confounds expectations – and pigeonholing. In the world of Mineheart, the company they founded in 2010, nothing is quite what it seems. Tiny beaded chandeliers seem to float inside overscaled Edison bulbs that dangle from brass chains. The sitters of grand 18th-century portraits blow bubblegum, and haughty flamingos in ruffs look like fugitives from an Elizabethan menagerie.

It’s a process of filtering until we hit on something original

Continue reading...

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'It didn't matter if someone liked it or not': six leading architects revisit their first commission

From a beach cafe to a social housing ziggurat: this is where it all began for Norman Foster, Asif Khan and others

Amenity centre and passenger terminal for Fred Olsen, Millwall docks, London, 1969-70
I met Richard Rogers in the early 60s at Yale School of Architecture in the US, where we were both studying for our master’s. We got on well and combined forces to form Team 4, with Wendy Cheeseman and her sister Georgie Walton, who was the only registered architect at the firm. Wendy and I married and, after four years, we set up Foster Associates in her bedsit. It was 1967: there were no associates and no projects.

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How to cope with ground elder | Alys Fowler

Our gardening expert on the pervasive weed with its lovely white flowerheads

There is a front garden near me that is so staggeringly lovely that I made my girlfriend take a picture when the car stopped at traffic lights. It takes a few seconds to realise that it’s nature’s work rather than the owner’s. Oxeye daisies and foxgloves wave above a sea of ground elder, resplendent in flower. For a second it might make you reconsider that pernicious plant: its flowerhead is as good as any other umbel we lust over, such as Orlaya grandiflora or Ammi majus.

Of course, we don’t actually plant ground elder because it plants itself and then rapidly takes over, sending those thin, wiry rhizomes (underground stems, not roots) in between every other plant’s base and thoroughly beds itself in. The rhizomes are brittle, so any attempt at extraction by forking them out will leave fragments behind that will quickly sprout; so if you have it – well, you have it for life.

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Gardening tips: plant verbascums in a sunny border

Then find an independent plant nursery, and try wick watering houseplants while you’re away

Plant this Verbascums are underrated. They’re drought-tolerant, with spires of flowers above a rosette of felted leaves. My favourites are V phoeniceum ‘Violetta’, with dark purple blooms, and ‘Clementine’, which is apricot with purple centres. Try planting in a sunny wildlife border.

Click this If you are sick of giving your money to the big chains, find an independent plant nursery near you through the Independent Plant Nurseries Guide. The independentplantnurseriesguide.uk, set up by Hill House Nursery in Devon, offers a county-by-county guide to your local growers.

Continue reading...

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Little house, big home: the Parisian pad that’s both solo retreat and family space

Vintage furniture and exposed beams meet modern styling in this open-plan 19th-century Paris maisonette

Camille Hernand’s Paris maisonette is designed with solitude in mind. The architect’s three children, Madeleine, 10, Adelaïde, nine, and Honoré, five, divide their time between here and their father’s house, on alternate weeks. Stylish steel-framed internal glazed doors and windows, and open-plan spaces where walls once divided, help her feel less enclosed and alone when her brood ups sticks. “Even when my children aren’t here, I have a sense of their presence and personalities,” she says. “If it was a house of ordinary walls and doors, I believe it would feel different. I would feel the solitude. It’s important that when they return, this place immediately feels welcoming, open and like home. But, equally, the house has to feel good for me on my ‘off’ weeks, when everything goes quiet.”

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Little house, big home: the Parisian pad that’s both solo retreat and family space

Vintage furniture and exposed beams meet modern styling in this open-plan 19th-century Paris maisonette

Camille Hernand’s Paris maisonette is designed with solitude in mind. The architect’s three children, Madeleine, 10, Adelaïde, nine, and Honoré, five, divide their time between here and their father’s house, on alternate weeks. Stylish steel-framed internal glazed doors and windows, and open-plan spaces where walls once divided, help her feel less enclosed and alone when her brood ups sticks. “Even when my children aren’t here, I have a sense of their presence and personalities,” she says. “If it was a house of ordinary walls and doors, I believe it would feel different. I would feel the solitude. It’s important that when they return, this place immediately feels welcoming, open and like home. But, equally, the house has to feel good for me on my ‘off’ weeks, when everything goes quiet.”

Continue reading...

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How to cope with ground elder | Alys Fowler

Our gardening expert on the pervasive weed with its lovely white flowerheads

There is a front garden near me that is so staggeringly lovely that I made my girlfriend take a picture when the car stopped at traffic lights. It takes a few seconds to realise that it’s nature’s work rather than the owner’s. Oxeye daisies and foxgloves wave above a sea of ground elder, resplendent in flower. For a second it might make you reconsider that pernicious plant: its flowerhead is as good as any other umbel we lust over, such as Orlaya grandiflora or Ammi majus.

Of course, we don’t actually plant ground elder because it plants itself and then rapidly takes over, sending those thin, wiry rhizomes (underground stems, not roots) in between every other plant’s base and thoroughly beds itself in. The rhizomes are brittle, so any attempt at extraction by forking them out will leave fragments behind that will quickly sprout; so if you have it – well, you have it for life.

Continue reading...

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Gardening tips: plant verbascums in a sunny border

Then find an independent plant nursery, and try wick watering houseplants while you’re away

Plant this Verbascums are underrated. They’re drought-tolerant, with spires of flowers above a rosette of felted leaves. My favourites are V phoeniceum ‘Violetta’, with dark purple blooms, and ‘Clementine’, which is apricot with purple centres. Try planting in a sunny wildlife border.

Click this If you are sick of giving your money to the big chains, find an independent plant nursery near you through the Independent Plant Nurseries Guide. The independentplantnurseriesguide.uk, set up by Hill House Nursery in Devon, offers a county-by-county guide to your local growers.

Continue reading...

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A guide to buying property abroad: Seven top tips Nottingham Estate Agents

Are you thinking about buying a dream holiday home? Not sure where to begin? OnTheMarket.com reveals seven top tips to get you started. Buying a property overseas is a major decision. It’s important to do as much research as possible and to seek independent advice. You’ll also need to bear in mind that the legal […]

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Let’s move to Ceredigion: all bushy-tailed and bustling

There are few places in better spirits than this remote and ancient place

What’s going for it? Hardcore, the Cardigans. They take no nonsense. Owain Gwynedd, Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd and Gruffydd ap Rhys kicked out the Normans, razing the castle and building their own, thank you very much, which stands there to this day. The relative remoteness of Ceredigion, and, of course, the doughty character of its inhabitants, has long made this stretch of coast a bastion of Welsh culture and language. The nearby coast has everything from rugged cliffs and sandy beaches to secret coves – not to mention dolphin sightings. Today, the castle, where the first eisteddfod was held, back in the misty reaches of time, is freshly renovated and revived, as a home to Welsh poetry jams and whatnot. And the rest of the town? I’ve rarely seen a place in better spirits. The high street is all bushy-tailed with Specsavers, nail bars, butchers, greengrocers beside sans-serif bakers and kool koffee spots with hashtags. There’s culture aplenty: a great cinema, Theatr Mwldan, a film society, and an “alternative” theatre venue, the Small World Theatre. This is one of those corners of Wales that has long attracted outcasts and hippies, rat-race escapees, such as the brains behind the Meghan-sported Hiut jeans, and those who have frankly had enough of everything (who can blame them right now?).

The case against Precious little. Unless you can’t live without motorways and skyscrapers. Probably harder to find work unless you are Welsh-speaking.

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Let’s move to Ceredigion: all bushy-tailed and bustling

There are few places in better spirits than this remote and ancient place

What’s going for it? Hardcore, the Cardigans. They take no nonsense. Owain Gwynedd, Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd and Gruffydd ap Rhys kicked out the Normans, razing the castle and building their own, thank you very much, which stands there to this day. The relative remoteness of Ceredigion, and, of course, the doughty character of its inhabitants, has long made this stretch of coast a bastion of Welsh culture and language. The nearby coast has everything from rugged cliffs and sandy beaches to secret coves – not to mention dolphin sightings. Today, the castle, where the first eisteddfod was held, back in the misty reaches of time, is freshly renovated and revived, as a home to Welsh poetry jams and whatnot. And the rest of the town? I’ve rarely seen a place in better spirits. The high street is all bushy-tailed with Specsavers, nail bars, butchers, greengrocers beside sans-serif bakers and kool koffee spots with hashtags. There’s culture aplenty: a great cinema, Theatr Mwldan, a film society, and an “alternative” theatre venue, the Small World Theatre. This is one of those corners of Wales that has long attracted outcasts and hippies, rat-race escapees, such as the brains behind the Meghan-sported Hiut jeans, and those who have frankly had enough of everything (who can blame them right now?).

The case against Precious little. Unless you can’t live without motorways and skyscrapers. Probably harder to find work unless you are Welsh-speaking.

Continue reading...

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Homes for sale with air conditioning – in pictures

Best the heat in these chilled-out properties, from London to Leeds

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Legionella: A Landlords Guide Made Simple Nottingham Estate Agents

We interviewed water hygiene specialist and Managing Director of uRisk, Luke Cheetham, to provide advice to landlords and tenants. Here’s what he had to say. How do you get Legionnaires’ disease? You can get Legionnaires’ disease by inhaling tiny droplets of water that contain Legionella bacteria. It is more commonly caught in commercial premises rather […]

The post Legionella: A Landlords Guide Made Simple appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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Introducing ‘Hide it’

We’re making it easier than ever to shortlist properties.

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We reveal Great Britain’s most in-demand seaside town

Can you guess where it is?

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The Garden Jungle by Dave Goulson review – gardening to save the planetby Dave Goulson

From ponds to planting … how to transform your garden into a refuge for threatened flora and fauna

One of the most evocative and powerful slogans of the 1968 Paris revolts was sous les pavés, la plage – beneath the pavement lies the beach. Today in the UK, where more than three quarters of us live in cities, many people have lost touch with the natural world. They have forgotten the earth beneath their feet. Dave Goulson wants to reverse that dangerous trend and reconnect us with the wildlife that lives under our noses, in our gardens and parks: “the jungle that lurks just outside your back door”.

In the last 30 years, Goulson – a professor of biology who specialises in bumblebee ecology and founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust – has had six different gardens, from “a pocket-handkerchief rectangle” to his current one, a “slightly unkempt but delightful” two acres. But every garden, large or small, is teeming with life, from the worms to the birds and butterflies. Beginning in the 1970s, Jennifer Owen – “one of the great heroines of wildlife gardening” – recorded the plants and creatures living in her little Leicester garden. In 35 years she found 2,673 species.

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The Garden Jungle by Dave Goulson review – gardening to save the planetby Dave Goulson

From ponds to planting … how to transform your garden into a refuge for threatened flora and fauna

One of the most evocative and powerful slogans of the 1968 Paris revolts was sous les pavés, la plage – beneath the pavement lies the beach. Today in the UK, where more than three quarters of us live in cities, many people have lost touch with the natural world. They have forgotten the earth beneath their feet. Dave Goulson wants to reverse that dangerous trend and reconnect us with the wildlife that lives under our noses, in our gardens and parks: “the jungle that lurks just outside your back door”.

In the last 30 years, Goulson – a professor of biology who specialises in bumblebee ecology and founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust – has had six different gardens, from “a pocket-handkerchief rectangle” to his current one, a “slightly unkempt but delightful” two acres. But every garden, large or small, is teeming with life, from the worms to the birds and butterflies. Beginning in the 1970s, Jennifer Owen – “one of the great heroines of wildlife gardening” – recorded the plants and creatures living in her little Leicester garden. In 35 years she found 2,673 species.

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Cabin fever: the Cuprinol shed of the year shortlist – in pictures

Celebrating the great British shed in all its forms – from the miniature to the massive, the modern to the traditional, the cosy to the minimal and everything in between. The competition welcomes entries in all shapes, sizes and functions, with 21 shortlisted works of art waiting to be voted Cuprinol shed of the year by the public

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Cabin fever: the Cuprinol shed of the year shortlist – in pictures

Celebrating the great British shed in all its forms – from the miniature to the massive, the modern to the traditional, the cosy to the minimal and everything in between. The competition welcomes entries in all shapes, sizes and functions, with 21 shortlisted works of art waiting to be voted Cuprinol shed of the year by the public

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Moving out: A guide for tenants Nottingham Estate Agents

Residential Sales and Lettings Agent Kivells, which has offices in Devon and Cornwall, shares top tips for tenants vacating a property. Pack in plenty of time – Don’t leave packing until the last minute because it can take a lot longer than you think. Label all your boxes so you know what’s inside to make […]

The post Moving out: A guide for tenants appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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As co-working spaces colonise cities, are workers paying the price? | Filipa Pajević

As businesses look to save money and space, providers such as WeWork are booming. But co-working is not all it’s cracked up to be

Co-working isn’t just booming – it’s taking over our cities. The co-working space provider WeWork is the biggest occupier of office space in London after the government. It has surpassed JP Morgan as the top commercial real estate holder in New York. This week we learned it is being paid £55m in “inducements” to fill Brexit-related office vacancies in Canary Wharf.

It’s not just WeWork. Amsterdam-based Spaces (Regus’s answer to WeWork) just unveiled 9,000 sq ft of co-working spaces in New York’s Chrysler building and is speedily adding new locations across Eastern Europe and Asia and the Pacific to its already impressive arsenal.

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Meet the estate agency founder whose son is a global music star

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How to add space and value to your home Nottingham Estate Agents

Selling your home quickly and for the right amount doesn’t need to be a daunting prospect. It’s all about giving your property the edge over others. OnTheMarket.com looks at effective ways of breathing life into your home Major conversion projects, such as excavating basements or building conservatories, take time and money but they can yield […]

The post How to add space and value to your home appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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Specieswatch: the ‘UK rainforest’ threatened by gardeners

Sphagnum moss is a vital carbon store but peat bogs are being dug up to fuel our love of horticulture

Left to its own devices, Sphagnum fallax, together with a large number of close relatives, will form dense mats of plants on wet ground and become deep peat bogs. These bogs create a habitat for a vast number of creatures, the most prominent of which are dragonflies and frogs but there are literally thousands of others, mostly microscopic.

Related: Plantwatch: is sphagnum the most underrated plant on Earth?

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Specieswatch: the ‘UK rainforest’ threatened by gardeners

Sphagnum moss is a vital carbon store but peat bogs are being dug up to fuel our love of horticulture

Left to its own devices, Sphagnum fallax, together with a large number of close relatives, will form dense mats of plants on wet ground and become deep peat bogs. These bogs create a habitat for a vast number of creatures, the most prominent of which are dragonflies and frogs but there are literally thousands of others, mostly microscopic.

Related: Plantwatch: is sphagnum the most underrated plant on Earth?

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What is the environmental cost of ironing?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific concepts

What is the environmental cost of ironing? Am I saving the planet by being a scruff?

Nick Riches, London W13

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What is the environmental cost of ironing?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific concepts

What is the environmental cost of ironing? Am I saving the planet by being a scruff?

Nick Riches, London W13

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Explore private pubs, cricket stadiums and a celebrity home

These quirky homes are off the scale.

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Is it cheaper to rent or buy a home? Nottingham Estate Agents

If you can’t afford to buy, renting is cheaper. Right? Well the latest figures show that might not be the case. Here the Money Advice Service looks at whether buying a home costs less than renting Content provided by OnTheMarket.com is for information purposes only. Independent and professional advice should be taken before buying, selling, letting […]

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Britain's third-richest man faces fresh New Forest planning battle

Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to transform derelict ‘tin cottage’ into three-bedroom home

Britain’s third-richest man is fighting a fresh planning battle for permission to transform a derelict “tin cottage” into a three-bedroom home for a “permanent guardian” to protect and maintain his £6m dream beach house on the Solent coast in the New Forest national park.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who made his £18bn fortune from the petrochemicals and fracking company Ineos, lodged the application for the caretaker’s cottage after he eventually emerged victorious from a six-year dispute with planning authorities and conservationists for permission to build his controversial Thorns Beach House costal home next door.

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Nine questions all first-time buyers should ask

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How can we reduce inheritance tax on my mother's property?

My sister and I would like to be joint owners of my mother’s house to reduce liability on her estate

Q Would I, together with my sister, be able to become a joint owner of my mother’s property so that the house wouldn’t be counted as part of her estate for inheritance tax purposes? Is this possible and if so what is the best way to go about this?
MN

A Yes it’s perfectly possible for you and your sister to become joint owners of your mother’s house (assuming that’s what your mother wants to happen). But unless you and your sister go and live in the house with your mother – and carry on living there until her death – the whole of the value of the property rather than just the value of your mother’s share will be taken into account when working out how much inheritance tax is due. Giving away a part or the whole of something – whether it’s a property or a valuable antique painting, for example – while continuing to benefit from it makes it not a proper gift or a “gift with reservation” in the eyes of HMRC and so the whole of the property is included in the valuation of her estate when she dies. So if your mother’s estate is worth more than the £325,000 nil-rate band if she dies in the 2019-20 tax year, there will be a tax bill of 40% of the amount over £325,000. However, if your mother’s will says that the family home is to be left to you and/or your sister (or other direct descendant), the nil-rate band goes up to £475,000 (£500,000 in the 2020-21 tax year) thanks to the “residence nil-rate band” or “family home allowance” introduced in April 2017.

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Garden gets the summer blues- Country diary, 28 July 1919

28 July 1919 From the tall and stately Larkspurs, to harebells and shrubs, a garden it Kew is in a blue phase

Kew
The garden is in a blue phase. The largest clumps of blues are the larkspurs. Tall and stately, in many shades, they stand rain remarkably well. Next in height comes the blue and white monkshood, Aconitum Bicolor, the first of its family to bloom. The peach-leafed bell-flower and Campanula Grandis grow from 2ft to 3ft high. The Platycodon is another of this family with an uncommon beauty, handsome shrubby growth and curious balloon-shaped buds and deep blue flowers. Campanula Lactiflora has fine heads of delicate porcelain-blue.

Related: Alys Fowler: blue flowers

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Garden gets the summer blues- Country diary, 28 July 1919

28 July 1919 From the tall and stately Larkspurs, to harebells and shrubs, a garden it Kew is in a blue phase

Kew
The garden is in a blue phase. The largest clumps of blues are the larkspurs. Tall and stately, in many shades, they stand rain remarkably well. Next in height comes the blue and white monkshood, Aconitum Bicolor, the first of its family to bloom. The peach-leafed bell-flower and Campanula Grandis grow from 2ft to 3ft high. The Platycodon is another of this family with an uncommon beauty, handsome shrubby growth and curious balloon-shaped buds and deep blue flowers. Campanula Lactiflora has fine heads of delicate porcelain-blue.

Related: Alys Fowler: blue flowers

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The Guardian view on housing inequality: the young are paying | Editorial

The promise of a property-owning democracy is laughable when so many millennials cannot afford to buy – and will struggle to rent in old age

The UK’s dysfunctional housing market – or more accurately, markets – is a problem affecting people of all ages. But the plight of millennials, born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, deserves special attention. These people, now in their 20s and 30s, are far less likely than previous cohorts to be able to access a socially rented home or afford to buy one – particularly in London, Edinburgh, Oxford or any of the country’s other hotspots. Those who went to university, particularly since 2010 when tuition fees rose to £9,000 annually, have large debts. This week a parliamentary report said a chronic lack of affordable housing means that 630,000 of them are on course for an old age of homelessness.

How to turn this situation around and enable millennials to achieve a good standard of living – including secure housing tenure and the freedom this brings – is a question that should exercise not just policymakers but voters. A good society should strive for intergenerational fairness as a matter of principle, but also because we depend on younger people to look after us when we grow old. For this arrangement to break down, because earlier generations have failed to share opportunities and resources with those coming up behind them, would be deeply harmful.

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Tenants will be given access to rogue landlord database

Move follows Guardian/ITV News investigation that found contents were to be kept secret

Campaigners have welcomed government plans to open up its rogue landlord database to prospective tenants, as part of proposals to give greater protection to renters.

A package of reforms published for consultation includes proposals to stop no-fault evictions, which the charity Shelter has described as “far and away the most important thing the government can do” to help renters.

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Why terrarium plants like a nice cup of tea | James Wong

Suspended in their glass bowls, terrariums are a delight but they are susceptible to mould. Here’s how to tackle it

It’s one of the most frequent gardening questions I’m asked: “How do you tackle mould growth in terrariums?” On Instagram I have been asked at least half a dozen times today – and it’s only lunchtime. I guess that’s what happens when you share your tiny flat with 30 or so tanks and terrariums, in all shapes and sizes. So, as you asked, here are my tips for keeping your ecosystem under glass healthy and mould free.

Terrariums are an ingenious piece of technology first invented in the 19th century by amateur naturalist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward. He discovered that delicate, moisture-loving plants, like ferns and mosses, that were next to impossible to grow in the dry, drafty air of Victorian parlours suddenly thrived when the humidity and warmth were sealed around them in closed glass cases. Unfortunately, the same sky-high humidity levels that keep these plants alive can also be perfect for the growth of mould, which can strike without warning and soon overtake a terrarium. However, there are three simple steps you can take to keep the balance in check.

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Why terrarium plants like a nice cup of tea | James Wong

Suspended in their glass bowls, terrariums are a delight but they are susceptible to mould. Here’s how to tackle it

It’s one of the most frequent gardening questions I’m asked: “How do you tackle mould growth in terrariums?” On Instagram I have been asked at least half a dozen times today – and it’s only lunchtime. I guess that’s what happens when you share your tiny flat with 30 or so tanks and terrariums, in all shapes and sizes. So, as you asked, here are my tips for keeping your ecosystem under glass healthy and mould free.

Terrariums are an ingenious piece of technology first invented in the 19th century by amateur naturalist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward. He discovered that delicate, moisture-loving plants, like ferns and mosses, that were next to impossible to grow in the dry, drafty air of Victorian parlours suddenly thrived when the humidity and warmth were sealed around them in closed glass cases. Unfortunately, the same sky-high humidity levels that keep these plants alive can also be perfect for the growth of mould, which can strike without warning and soon overtake a terrarium. However, there are three simple steps you can take to keep the balance in check.

Continue reading...

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Nine things you must know before buying property abroad

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Self-seeding leads to happy garden accidents | Allan Jenkins

Allowing unexpected guests to make themselves at home in the plot results in some unplanned developments

A piece in praise of accidental planting. Or at least, allowing some self-seeding. Every year, now, we have red orach, though it was last sown here 10 years ago. The purple seedlings start sprouting early, signalling when our soil is warm enough to germinate. A trigger to sow our own rows. Some I eat young as salad. Others I cook later, like a crimson spinach. But I always leave a few plants to grow tall and punctuate through the chard and beetroot leaves.

It’s the same, of course, with the nasturtium and calendula that pop up in what might at first feel like an inappropriate place, but with some small management work well and is easy to work around. Others I will move or perhaps not want this year, but being open to some randomness in my growing increasingly appeals.

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Self-seeding leads to happy garden accidents | Allan Jenkins

Allowing unexpected guests to make themselves at home in the plot results in some unplanned developments

A piece in praise of accidental planting. Or at least, allowing some self-seeding. Every year, now, we have red orach, though it was last sown here 10 years ago. The purple seedlings start sprouting early, signalling when our soil is warm enough to germinate. A trigger to sow our own rows. Some I eat young as salad. Others I cook later, like a crimson spinach. But I always leave a few plants to grow tall and punctuate through the chard and beetroot leaves.

It’s the same, of course, with the nasturtium and calendula that pop up in what might at first feel like an inappropriate place, but with some small management work well and is easy to work around. Others I will move or perhaps not want this year, but being open to some randomness in my growing increasingly appeals.

Continue reading...

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Revealed: The UK’s most valuable driveways Nottingham Estate Agents

Empty driveways in London can earn their homeowners up to £5,860 per year, with the first £1,000 tax-free, making them some of the highest earning driveways in the UK, data from parking app firm JustPark has found. According to Direct Line Car Insurance, 3.5 million Britons are renting out their parking space and across the […]

The post Revealed: The UK’s most valuable driveways   appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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Head in the clouds on the Isle of Man

Perched on one of the highest peaks on the island this amazing eco-home is a birder’s paradise

In 2012, Peter and Carole Lillywhite visited the Isle of Man for the first time. Three days into their visit, they had an offer accepted on a small, 19th-century cottage on Sartfell in the west of the island. The derelict cottage – the third highest on the island – sits alone on the brow of a hill and is known locally as Cloud Nine.

“The cottage wasn’t really fit for 20th-century living, never mind 21st,” recalls Peter, a retired management consultant with a background in scientific research. The couple, who are both in their 60s, appointed the architect Will Foster to design a contemporary, carbon-neutral home for them next to the existing cottage.

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Head in the clouds on the Isle of Man

Perched on one of the highest peaks on the island this amazing eco-home is a birder’s paradise

In 2012, Peter and Carole Lillywhite visited the Isle of Man for the first time. Three days into their visit, they had an offer accepted on a small, 19th-century cottage on Sartfell in the west of the island. The derelict cottage – the third highest on the island – sits alone on the brow of a hill and is known locally as Cloud Nine.

“The cottage wasn’t really fit for 20th-century living, never mind 21st,” recalls Peter, a retired management consultant with a background in scientific research. The couple, who are both in their 60s, appointed the architect Will Foster to design a contemporary, carbon-neutral home for them next to the existing cottage.

Continue reading...

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Keep off the grass: five alternatives to a lawn

It’s hard to keep that lush, green look through ever-drier summers. There are other options, no mower required

Do we need a lawn? That was the question on my mind back in January. The weather was exceptionally mild and I was mowing the one remaining patch of grass in a garden that had been all lawn when we bought the house nine years ago. Last summer, the same sward was brown and apparently lifeless during the heatwave. That is the problem with a monoculture – if the prevailing conditions don’t suit it, there are no backups. Except that my lawn, spared from weedkiller, was not a true monoculture. Apart from different species of grasses, there were large patches of clover, which relished the heat; unmown, they flowered freely, fuelling countless bees. It was the clover that prompted me to lose my lawn completely.

We are very attached to our lawns and can be obsessive about maintaining them as finely textured, evenly green carpets. A whole industry is built on turf insecurities – mosskillers, weedkillers, fertilisers, not to mention treatments for “diseases” such as chafer grubs, red thread and fairy rings. Drought and rain also challenge the holy grail of the perfect lawn. But there are alternatives. From a gravel garden or a massed planting scheme to an outdoor “room”, you can lose your lawn and recreate its open space without resorting to sterile decking or paving. Here are five ways to do this.

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How to grow foxgloves | Alys Fowler

Digitalis sown now will bulk up before autumn and be ready to plant out next spring

One of the many joys of foxgloves is that they appear just as spring’s flurry of blooms has disappeared and the garden is waiting for summer to take off. It can be a surprisingly dull moment in the garden, with all the yellowing leaves of tulips among the tired aquilegias. But the spires of foxgloves unfurl to raise your eye away from the dying back below. Combined with ferns, astrantias, dusky cranesbills and cultivated cow parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’, they make the most of dappled shade and please the bees with it.

This moment is long gone. In fact, many will now be setting seed. If you don’t have your own plants, this is the moment to start sowing. Digitalis sown in the next month or so will bulk up before autumn and be ready to plant out next spring.

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Gardening tips: plant a hydrangea for summer-long colour

Then investigate carnivorous plants before feeding your roses

Plant this Looking for a flowering shrub with zing? Try hydrangea ‘Kardinal Violet’. On acidic soil, its flowers are violet and purple; on neutral or alkaline soil, they are pink. Bred to flower all summer, at 1.5m x 1.5m it is compact enough for most gardens. It likes a moist spot in full sun or partial shade.

Visit this If you are fascinated by plants that eat animals, check out the Carnivorous Plant Society show at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey this weekend. Learn how to care for Venus flytraps and pitcher plants, and buy some to grow at home.

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Keep off the grass: five alternatives to a lawn

It’s hard to keep that lush, green look through ever-drier summers. There are other options, no mower required

Do we need a lawn? That was the question on my mind back in January. The weather was exceptionally mild and I was mowing the one remaining patch of grass in a garden that had been all lawn when we bought the house nine years ago. Last summer, the same sward was brown and apparently lifeless during the heatwave. That is the problem with a monoculture – if the prevailing conditions don’t suit it, there are no backups. Except that my lawn, spared from weedkiller, was not a true monoculture. Apart from different species of grasses, there were large patches of clover, which relished the heat; unmown, they flowered freely, fuelling countless bees. It was the clover that prompted me to lose my lawn completely.

We are very attached to our lawns and can be obsessive about maintaining them as finely textured, evenly green carpets. A whole industry is built on turf insecurities – mosskillers, weedkillers, fertilisers, not to mention treatments for “diseases” such as chafer grubs, red thread and fairy rings. Drought and rain also challenge the holy grail of the perfect lawn. But there are alternatives. From a gravel garden or a massed planting scheme to an outdoor “room”, you can lose your lawn and recreate its open space without resorting to sterile decking or paving. Here are five ways to do this.

Continue reading...

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How to grow foxgloves | Alys Fowler

Digitalis sown now will bulk up before autumn and be ready to plant out next spring

One of the many joys of foxgloves is that they appear just as spring’s flurry of blooms has disappeared and the garden is waiting for summer to take off. It can be a surprisingly dull moment in the garden, with all the yellowing leaves of tulips among the tired aquilegias. But the spires of foxgloves unfurl to raise your eye away from the dying back below. Combined with ferns, astrantias, dusky cranesbills and cultivated cow parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’, they make the most of dappled shade and please the bees with it.

This moment is long gone. In fact, many will now be setting seed. If you don’t have your own plants, this is the moment to start sowing. Digitalis sown in the next month or so will bulk up before autumn and be ready to plant out next spring.

Continue reading...

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Gardening tips: plant a hydrangea for summer-long colour

Then investigate carnivorous plants before feeding your roses

Plant this Looking for a flowering shrub with zing? Try hydrangea ‘Kardinal Violet’. On acidic soil, its flowers are violet and purple; on neutral or alkaline soil, they are pink. Bred to flower all summer, at 1.5m x 1.5m it is compact enough for most gardens. It likes a moist spot in full sun or partial shade.

Visit this If you are fascinated by plants that eat animals, check out the Carnivorous Plant Society show at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey this weekend. Learn how to care for Venus flytraps and pitcher plants, and buy some to grow at home.

Continue reading...

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Mortgages: switch now to cut your payments

Homeowners could save £200 a month thanks to competitive rates and higher prices, says lender

More than £26bn worth of mortgage deals are due to mature in October, the largest monthly volume of the year, according to new figures released this week.

So if one of those thousands of home loans is yours, you might want to start thinking about looking for a new deal now – particularly as you may be able to make a chunky saving on your monthly payments.

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Leasehold or freehold: What’s the difference? Nottingham Estate Agents

The two most common forms of property ownership in the UK are freehold and leasehold but what do these terms mean in practice? Leasehold With leasehold you are buying for a fixed period, usually 99 years if the home is new though leases can be much shorter. However, you do not own the land the property […]

The post Leasehold or freehold: What’s the difference? appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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Let’s move to… Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire: more like three towns in one

It didn’t get the best new town architecture, but you can find fragments of the old landscape threaded through

What’s going for it? I bought my first album in WHSmith in Hemel Hempstead. Kings Of The Wild Frontier, by Adam and the Ants, since you ask. On cassette. Like Mr Ant, Hemel was the future once. In 1980, it was in full new-town mode. To get there, Dad had to negotiate the dual carriageways, ring roads and the infamous Magic Roundabout, past the Kodak HQ, the fabulous Dacorum sports centre where I learned to doggy paddle, and perfectly manicured water meadow municipal gardens. I loved Hemel. Especially as it was two towns in one. To the north of the new town was the old town: higgledy high street, antique shops, Norman church and bow-fronted cottages. Now Hemel is three towns in one, the old town and the new town having in turn been gobbled up by the future. Hemel’s new new town is mostly composed of executive homes, Cineworld and the brassy Marlowes shopping mall. The Kodak site has become a luxury apartment complex. And doggy paddling is outgunned by “extreme sports” centres and an indoor ski centre. The future has better coffee. But, call me middle aged, I kind of preferred the past.

The case against If you don’t like the postwar feel, with the 1980s grafted on, it won’t be for you. Though you can get your heritage kicks in the fragments of the old landscape threaded through the new.

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Let’s move to… Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire: more like three towns in one

It didn’t get the best new town architecture, but you can find fragments of the old landscape threaded through

What’s going for it? I bought my first album in WHSmith in Hemel Hempstead. Kings Of The Wild Frontier, by Adam and the Ants, since you ask. On cassette. Like Mr Ant, Hemel was the future once. In 1980, it was in full new-town mode. To get there, Dad had to negotiate the dual carriageways, ring roads and the infamous Magic Roundabout, past the Kodak HQ, the fabulous Dacorum sports centre where I learned to doggy paddle, and perfectly manicured water meadow municipal gardens. I loved Hemel. Especially as it was two towns in one. To the north of the new town was the old town: higgledy high street, antique shops, Norman church and bow-fronted cottages. Now Hemel is three towns in one, the old town and the new town having in turn been gobbled up by the future. Hemel’s new new town is mostly composed of executive homes, Cineworld and the brassy Marlowes shopping mall. The Kodak site has become a luxury apartment complex. And doggy paddling is outgunned by “extreme sports” centres and an indoor ski centre. The future has better coffee. But, call me middle aged, I kind of preferred the past.

The case against If you don’t like the postwar feel, with the 1980s grafted on, it won’t be for you. Though you can get your heritage kicks in the fragments of the old landscape threaded through the new.

Continue reading...

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The 10 best zigzag-patterned items for the home – in pictures

Call it chevron or herringbone: it’s hot

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The 10 best zigzag-patterned items for the home – in pictures

Call it chevron or herringbone: it’s hot

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Tenant demand on the rise as Tenant Fees Act comes in

Find out what this all means for renters.

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Homes with a roof terrace – in pictures

From a Georgian townhouse terrace in Edinburgh to cubist villa in Hampshire

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What is Gentrification? Nottingham Estate Agents

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, gentrification is ‘the process by which a place, especially part of a city, changes from being a poor area to a richer one, where people from a higher social class live’. The area usually sees an increase in property prices which in turn defines who can afford, and is attracted, […]

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Sadiq Khan calls for new powers to impose London rent controls

Exclusive: Report sets out blueprint for overhaul of rental sector including devolved powers

Sadiq Khan will demand an overhaul of tenancy laws in a campaign for London rent controls that is set to be the cornerstone of his 2020 re-election campaign.

The London mayor has said he intends to introduce a London private rent commission, with a board that would include current renters, to enforce measures to reduce rents and keep them at lower levels, but he currently lacks the legal power to do so.

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Renting properties out on a short let basis Nottingham Estate Agents

Have you considered a short let?  Here, we look at the benefits of engaging a trusted estate agent such as the dedicated short let team who works with the London branches of Jackson-Stops. Whether you’re a landlord or tenant, there are huge benefits to both letting and renting a property on a short-term basis. A […]

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Protect your property from severe weather Nottingham Estate Agents

According to climate experts Britain is facing the most savage winter freeze for over a decade. Direct Line for Business highlights the importance for landlords of protecting a property against harsh winter weather. Each year thousands of landlords across the country are caught out by a sudden cold snap. Winter weather, which brings freezing temperatures […]

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How to deal with noisy neighbours Nottingham Estate Agents

It might be a yapping dog, loud music or an all-night party. Whatever the origin of the noise, the decibel level can be both disturbing and distressing. But what can you do about it? OnTheMarket.com offers tips for dealing with noisy neighbours Most homeowners and tenants are confronted with the dilemma of noisy neighbours at […]

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How to live off the grid: 8 things to consider for off-grid living Nottingham Estate Agents

Living off the grid, that great dream of self-sufficiency which burns strongly in many people seems to be coming back into vogue.  Why be reliant on state-run utilities for water and electricity when, with a bit of effort, you can generate your own? Why drive to a supermarket to buy food that has been transported […]

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A guide to sorting out your broadband connection when moving home Nottingham Estate Agents

Moving home can be stressful enough and so decisions about broadband might be the very last thing on your mind. Here Broadband Genie provides eight top tips to help make the process easier Of all the utilities you need to consider when moving home, broadband is the one with the most potential for causing a […]

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Top tips for viewing empty properties Nottingham Estate Agents

Empty properties can often be undesired or even overlooked but they can offer potential buyers many benefits. Find out why an empty home may be worth a second look. Unfurnished homes can be beautiful but they do not appear to attract the same level of attention as furnished properties. While it is true that good […]

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A guide to helping your children get a foot on the property ladder Nottingham Estate Agents

Nottingham Mortgage Services explain how parents can offer their financial help Hundreds of thousands of first time buyers are turning to the ‘bank of mum and dad’ this year to help get a foot on the property ladder – including older children who have long since cut the apron strings. One of the main reasons […]

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A guide to downsizing Nottingham Estate Agents

Are you thinking about packing up your family home and finding somewhere smaller to live?  Here, the NAEA Propertymark offers advice to make the process a little easier: Planning is key – Packing your home into boxes can be a real chore, particularly when you are moving to a smaller property, but planning well in advance can […]

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Why you should check your credit score before searching for a new home Nottingham Estate Agents

Buying or renting a new house can be stressful enough without nasty surprises such as a poor credit rating slowing things down, especially when it may be easy to improve if you know about it in advance. When choosing to rent, letting agents and landlords want to know you are credible and can pay your […]

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Government announces plans for new estate agency regulations

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Five of the biggest and best gardens on Rightmove

Some are the size of villages!

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London house prices fall at fastest rate in 10 years

It is the biggest plunge since the 7.0% annual drop recorded in August 2009, says ONS

House prices in London have fallen at their fastest pace since the financial crash a decade ago as the capital bears the brunt of the nationwide torpor in the property market.

Amid a dearth of potential buyers, the cost of a home in London was 4.4% lower in May than a year earlier, according to the latest official snapshot of the market from the Office for National Statistics.

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London house prices suffer biggest slump since 2009 amid Brexit anxiety - business live

UK's renting millennials face homelessness crisis when they retire

Report finds at least 630,000 will be unable to afford private rents on their pension income

More than 600,000 members of so-called ‘Generation Rent’ are facing an “inevitable catastrophe” of homelessness when they retire, according to the first government inquiry into what will happen to millennials in the UK who have been unable to get on the housing ladder as they age.

People’s incomes typically halve after retirement. Those in the private rented sector who pay 40% of their earnings in rent could be forced to spend up to 80% of their income on rent in retirement.

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10 Essential Planning Tips For A Garden Rooms

Are you considering a new garden room in your back garden – many people are. If you are in the search for a new garden room, then check out these 10 tips to plan ahead. Space This is ultimately the first thing to consider when planning/designing a garden room. There needs to be adequate space […]

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I've seen the future and it's Norwich: the energy-saving, social housing revolution

The 100 homes on Goldsmith Street aren’t just smart and modern. They may be the most energy-efficient houses ever built in the UK. Could this be the start of proper social housing?

Rows of glossy black tiles glisten in the afternoon sun, dripping down the facades like a neatly controlled oil slick. They cap a long row of milky brick houses, whose walls curve gently around the corners at the end of the street, dissolving into perforated brick balustrades, marking the presence of hidden rooftop patios. A planted alley runs between the backs of the terraced houses, dotted with communal tables and benches, where neighbours are sitting down to an outdoor meal.

This is Goldsmith Street, a new development of around 100 homes, built by Norwich city council, without a profit-hungry developer in sight. They are not homes that fit into the murky class of “affordable”, or the multitude of “intermediate” tenures. This is proper social housing, rented from the council with secure tenancies at fixed rents. Not only that, it is some of the most energy-efficient housing ever built in the UK, meeting the exacting German Passivhaus standards – which translates into a 70% reduction in fuel bills for tenants. It might not look groundbreaking, but this little neighbourhood represents something quietly miraculous. And it almost didn’t happen.

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These quirky homes have pirate ships and could earn you money

Ahoy, Mateys!

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Country diary: one small step, but one giant leap for insect-kind

Claxton, Norfolk: A single square metre left unmown attracts more than 50 species

This spring Rotherham borough council received deserved praise for the banks of native flowers it now allows to flourish on its verges. During this period I noted how most main roadsides across Norfolk had been turned brown with herbicide spray, although presently the dual carriageway around Norwich has slopes awash with the colours of wild perennials.

In our parish our small green, which is barely 15m by 100m, is mown according to the unthinking orthodoxy that prevails across much of civic Britain. It’s a waste of money, fuel and resources, but does it really matter to wildlife that the patch is reduced every fortnight to shorn turf?

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Country diary: one small step, but one giant leap for insect-kind

Claxton, Norfolk: A single square metre left unmown attracts more than 50 species

This spring Rotherham borough council received deserved praise for the banks of native flowers it now allows to flourish on its verges. During this period I noted how most main roadsides across Norfolk had been turned brown with herbicide spray, although presently the dual carriageway around Norwich has slopes awash with the colours of wild perennials.

In our parish our small green, which is barely 15m by 100m, is mown according to the unthinking orthodoxy that prevails across much of civic Britain. It’s a waste of money, fuel and resources, but does it really matter to wildlife that the patch is reduced every fortnight to shorn turf?

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Young key workers in London spend more than half of pay on rent

Harder for teachers, nurses and police to keep pace with England’s housing costs – PwC

London and the southern regions of England are facing a dearth of teachers, nurses and police officers as rising rents make housing in large parts of the UK unaffordable for key public sector workers.

A report by the consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said there was an urgent need to increase the supply of homes after it found that the failure of public sector pay to keep pace with soaring housing costs had made it increasingly hard for workers on modest incomes to make ends meet.

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First drop in prices in 2019 signals buyers’ market later in year

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We paid our deposit but the sellers are not ready to exchange

Should we be worried that our conveyancer has our money even though we can’t yet proceed?

Q I am writing to request your advice regarding the time difference between payment of our deposit and the exchange of contracts. We paid our conveyancer our deposit of 10% of the purchase price a week ago. But at the time, they said the sellers and their conveyancers were not yet ready to exchange contracts. Should we be worried? How long does one typically wait between payment of the deposit and exchange of contracts? Is it reasonable to ask our conveyancer to return our deposit and we pay them only when they are ready to exchange contracts?
IR

A I don’t think you should be worried about paying your deposit to your conveyancer as the money will simply be sitting safely in the conveyancer’s client account. It won’t get paid to the seller’s conveyancer until contracts have been exchanged. If that doesn’t happen – because your seller pulls out of the sale or you pull out of the purchase – you’ll get your money back with interest, if applicable. That’s not the case if you were to pull out after contracts have been exchanged because your seller would be entitled to keep your deposit.

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