Tim Dowling: who has been bothering the garden centre fish? Not us

There’s a wall of CCTV stills of men. The youngest one looks at me, eyes wide. ‘What the hell did they do?’

It’s haircut day, that quarterly standing appointment when the hairdressing twins Kelly and Hayley come to our kitchen to do my wife’s highlights, and as many additional haircuts as there are heads. My wife still has a long morning ahead of sitting around in a foil helmet talking to Kelly and Hayley about coronavirus, but my hair is already cut and I’ve got places to be.

“When I successfully replaced that rotten trellis last week,” I begin.

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Tim Dowling: who has been bothering the garden centre fish? Not us

There’s a wall of CCTV stills of men. The youngest one looks at me, eyes wide. ‘What the hell did they do?’

It’s haircut day, that quarterly standing appointment when the hairdressing twins Kelly and Hayley come to our kitchen to do my wife’s highlights, and as many additional haircuts as there are heads. My wife still has a long morning ahead of sitting around in a foil helmet talking to Kelly and Hayley about coronavirus, but my hair is already cut and I’ve got places to be.

“When I successfully replaced that rotten trellis last week,” I begin.

Continue reading...

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

The Money Advice Service looks at whether buying a home costs less than renting.

The post Is it cheaper to rent or buy a home? appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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Let’s move to Rotterdam: Eurovision’s new home

The city is cool, with a vast music and design scene, and an under-the-radar swagger

What’s going for it? Yes, Rotterdam. Were you expecting somewhere hot? Perhaps more glam, more city break, less drizzly. Some kool neighbourhood in Lisbon or Helsinki.

Hear me out. I’m being practical. You might dream of relocating somewhere more superficially romantic, but Rotterdam is affordable (for northern Europe), prosperous, progressive and fantastically well-connected. The Dutch speak English better than me. The Netherlands consistently scores high in happiness and progressiveness indices. Rotterdam is big, alive, city-ish, but the big skies of the vast harbour and copious parks make it breathable. And for those still in mourning, Rotterdam is gloriously EUropean. It’s even hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in May. It feels possible to move to Rotterdam, have a nice life and not lose touch with family and friends, while not being a slave to low-budget airlines. It’s also cool, with a vast music and design scene, and an under-the-radar swagger. And don’t get me going about the bitterballen.

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Let’s move to Rotterdam: Eurovision’s new home

The city is cool, with a vast music and design scene, and an under-the-radar swagger

What’s going for it? Yes, Rotterdam. Were you expecting somewhere hot? Perhaps more glam, more city break, less drizzly. Some kool neighbourhood in Lisbon or Helsinki.

Hear me out. I’m being practical. You might dream of relocating somewhere more superficially romantic, but Rotterdam is affordable (for northern Europe), prosperous, progressive and fantastically well-connected. The Dutch speak English better than me. The Netherlands consistently scores high in happiness and progressiveness indices. Rotterdam is big, alive, city-ish, but the big skies of the vast harbour and copious parks make it breathable. And for those still in mourning, Rotterdam is gloriously EUropean. It’s even hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in May. It feels possible to move to Rotterdam, have a nice life and not lose touch with family and friends, while not being a slave to low-budget airlines. It’s also cool, with a vast music and design scene, and an under-the-radar swagger. And don’t get me going about the bitterballen.

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Explore hidden hideouts and rural retreats

Want to escape to the country?

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UK house price recovery at mercy of coronavirus, warns Halifax

Bank says Brexit worries are no longer holding back sales but outbreak’s economic impact may filter into property market

House prices hit a fresh peak in February, according to Halifax, but the bank issued a warning about the potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the property market later in the year.

The UK’s biggest mortgage lender said prices rose by 0.3% in February to a new record of £240,677. The quarterly rate of house price inflation also rose to 2.9%.

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