Fresh veg hard to come by? Grow microgreens | Alys Fowler

Check your garden, path edges – even the back of your kitchen cupboard. Then get sprouting

The hungry gap is traditionally that moment when winter stores are dwindling and spring greens are not quite ready: just about now. Of course, when there’s a virus around as hazardous as Covid-19, it takes on a whole new meaning.

You probably have a larder full of pasta and tins by now, and perhaps a freezer full of peas; but fresh greens may be harder to come by. Growing super-quick windowsill greens will allow you to sprinkle nutrients and vitamins over dishes, adding flavour and boosting your immunity. Curried baked beans served with a delicate heap of fresh coriander and kale seedlings is a mighty lot more tasty (and healthful) than without.

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Are mortgage payment holidays really a good idea? | Patrick Collinson

Most banks will offer a break during the coronavirus crisis, but it doesn’t suit everyone

About 1 million mortgage holders have applied for a payment holiday in the past fortnight, according to industry sources. Should you do so, too?

1. It’s not free money. But it’s very cheap. Let’s be clear that you still have to pay for your holiday, the banks are not just writing off the money. They add whatever you didn’t pay to your total mortgage, and when the three months is up your repayments go up. But with interest rates so low, it makes surprisingly little difference. For example, using Moneyed.co.uk’s mortgage calculator, a £200,000 mortgage taken out in May 2018 at a 2.5% rate costs £897 a month. If you take the three-month holiday, afterwards the cost will rise to £910 a month. “If the choice is between really struggling or taking the mortgage holiday, then the additional cost further down the line is actually quite small beer,” says broker Ray Boulger of John Charcol.

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How the Covid-19 crisis locked Airbnb out of its own homes

The short-let platform’s business model has been exposed. Bookings have fallen off a cliff but Airbnb simply can’t change tack

“You would not have an empire without us,” an Airbnb host shouts down the lens in a video addressing the company’s billionaire co-founder and chief executive Brian Chesky. “It’s our homes on your platform. It’s our face on millions of listings. It’s our soul that brings the magic … It’s our place that makes you money.”

lol airbnb landlords are losing their minds because people canceled their trips due to the uh. global pandemic pic.twitter.com/2DeNluRuie

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April is the start of the tax year. How will the changes affect me?

From inheritance tax to junior Isas, the UK government is making adjustments

Traditionally, the beginning of a new tax year brings changes to taxes, benefits and the cost of some essentials – and despite the extraordinary conditions we are currently living in, this year is no different.

From 6 April we will see changes to junior Isas, national insurance and inheritance tax (IHT), among many adjustments that will affect the pounds in your pocket. There were also a number of price changes that came into effect on Wednesday 1 April, dubbed by some as “national price hike day”.

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How to make your home burglar-proof on a budget Nottingham Estate Agents

It’s everyone’s worst nightmare – you enter your home to discover someone has broken in and stolen your most treasured possessions. It’s a horrible feeling that no one should have to go through. It is also important to remember that there is no guarantee in stopping a burglar and therefore having insurance is critical. Burglars […]

The post How to make your home burglar-proof on a budget appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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This is the house where Jamie Oliver filmed The Naked Chef

Check out the pukka pad.

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From mouldy showers to junk drawers: how to clean the 10 things annoying you most

Over the past week you may have noticed dust and dirt that you never clocked before. Here’s an expert guide to getting your home sparkling clean

You have never spent so much time at home, and once you have exhausted Netflix, your eyes may alight on all the filth you’ve never noticed before. Have you ever dusted your ceiling? Of course you haven’t. But now is the time to do it, because you don’t have anything better to do. Here are all the other jobs you were previously too busy to worry about, but which will provide a sense of achievement – or at least a little exercise.

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