UK property market ‘in line for summer Brexit relief rally’

Signs of bounceback in prices over past month, says property website Rightmove

The property market is likely to stage a Brexit “relief rally” over the summer, according to Britain’s biggest property website, as it revealed signs of bounceback in prices over the past month.

Rightmove said asking prices on its website jumped by an average of 1.1% – an increase of £3,447 – in the month to April 6 but remain 0.1% below the level of a year ago.

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‘I have PTSD and got depressed’: how no-fault evictions affect tenants

Annie Goodwin, 73, says three no-fault eviction notices in six years have taken their toll

• ‘Outstanding victory’ for renters amid plans to scrap no-fault evictions

When Annie Goodwin was given her first no-fault eviction notice, it terrified her. She remembers the moment a letter came in the post, explaining that she had to leave the property within two months. It happened two days before Christmas Eve.

“The letter arrived on 22 December … I was told my landlord needed the property for family members. I had two months to get out in the middle of winter. I went into a complete state of shock and could not do anything. I was stunned,” she says.

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Short-notice evictions face axe in tenant rights victory

Housing campaigners hail government plans to scrap ‘no-fault’ removals

• ‘I have PTSD and got depressed’: how no-fault evictions affect tenants

Housing campaigners have hailed a groundbreaking shift for tenants’ rights after the government announced plans to scrap “no-fault evictions”, which it described as the biggest overhaul for renters in a generation.

The government will consult on abolishing section 21 evictions in England, meaning private landlords would no longer be able to evict tenants from their homes at short notice and without good reason.

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For a piece of Jurassic Park in your lifetime…

Until 1994, amazing Wollemi pines were presumed long extinct. Now you can grow one for yourself

I know gardening is supposed to be about patience, but some plants can test even the most resolute of characters. Almost 20 years ago I bought myself a little monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), having had a fascination with them since I was a child. Dating back to the time of the dinosaurs, it is thought their spiky green leaves evolved to defend against Brachiosaurus attacks. Seeing great forests of them as a teenager in the BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs, I was desperate to capture a small piece of this primordial landscape in my family’s tiny suburban semi. Flash forward two decades, and I am still waiting. The damn thing is barely 1m tall and is pretty much the same width it was when I first bought it, despite generous lashings of water and liquid feed every summer.

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from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2IiIFkC
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For a piece of Jurassic Park in your lifetime…

Until 1994, amazing Wollemi pines were presumed long extinct. Now you can grow one for yourself

I know gardening is supposed to be about patience, but some plants can test even the most resolute of characters. Almost 20 years ago I bought myself a little monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), having had a fascination with them since I was a child. Dating back to the time of the dinosaurs, it is thought their spiky green leaves evolved to defend against Brachiosaurus attacks. Seeing great forests of them as a teenager in the BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs, I was desperate to capture a small piece of this primordial landscape in my family’s tiny suburban semi. Flash forward two decades, and I am still waiting. The damn thing is barely 1m tall and is pretty much the same width it was when I first bought it, despite generous lashings of water and liquid feed every summer.

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Down to earth: the joy of digging potatoes | Allan Jenkins

Planting out the early potatoes is a statement of intent – and yields dividends later in the season

Time for some chit chat: our potatoes are in. Dad would be proud, though he only grew King Edwards. He wasn’t one for turning, didn’t want different varieties for this and that. If he found something that worked for him, he stuck with it. We tend to differ that way.

I often agonise about growing spuds, they take up extravagant room, spread luxuriantly. But the allotment gardener I most admire, who quietly encouraged us at the sticky start, always grows them. And he’s one of my garden gurus.

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Down to earth: the joy of digging potatoes | Allan Jenkins

Planting out the early potatoes is a statement of intent – and yields dividends later in the season

Time for some chit chat: our potatoes are in. Dad would be proud, though he only grew King Edwards. He wasn’t one for turning, didn’t want different varieties for this and that. If he found something that worked for him, he stuck with it. We tend to differ that way.

I often agonise about growing spuds, they take up extravagant room, spread luxuriantly. But the allotment gardener I most admire, who quietly encouraged us at the sticky start, always grows them. And he’s one of my garden gurus.

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2X9oWqO
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