A mortgage broker can save you a lot of the time and stress involved in getting a mortgage. Here, independent mortgage broker John Charcol explains the value of a good broker. What is a mortgage broker? A mortgage broker, or adviser, is someone who holds their CeMAP and is therefore qualified to give financial advice […]
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Talsarnau, Gwynedd: His siblings have dispersed but this young robin remains, and is taking a keen interest in my compost heap
The young robin, speckled brown and bright of eye, perched on the fence by the compost heap. When I lifted a forkful, exposing a writhing knot of thin red worms, in a whirr of wings he darted down and with crammed beak retreated to his vantage point, dropping his dinner to foot level and pinioning it there with a long, elegant leg. He finished his repast, hopped a little closer, gave a quick wing-flutter, and peered intently down again, as though to direct my attention back to his source of food.
From a suitable distance and through a glass trained on the deep nest low down in a holly brake, I’ve been watching and whistling to this endearing little scrap of life – “pretty of note, colour and carriage”, as John Bunyan described the robin – since he and his four siblings chipped their way out of the egg a month ago. There followed a few days of brooding by the hen, with the cock flying daylong to and fro with a beak full of green caterpillars, which he’d give to his mate to feed the fledglings.
Continue reading...Talsarnau, Gwynedd: His siblings have dispersed but this young robin remains, and is taking a keen interest in my compost heap
The young robin, speckled brown and bright of eye, perched on the fence by the compost heap. When I lifted a forkful, exposing a writhing knot of thin red worms, in a whirr of wings he darted down and with crammed beak retreated to his vantage point, dropping his dinner to foot level and pinioning it there with a long, elegant leg. He finished his repast, hopped a little closer, gave a quick wing-flutter, and peered intently down again, as though to direct my attention back to his source of food.
From a suitable distance and through a glass trained on the deep nest low down in a holly brake, I’ve been watching and whistling to this endearing little scrap of life – “pretty of note, colour and carriage”, as John Bunyan described the robin – since he and his four siblings chipped their way out of the egg a month ago. There followed a few days of brooding by the hen, with the cock flying daylong to and fro with a beak full of green caterpillars, which he’d give to his mate to feed the fledglings.
Continue reading...Susan Roaf raises concerns about building in high-risk flood zones, Dr Leslie Jones addresses the lack of housing for rent, Kerry Thompson fears accessibility is being overlooked, while Catherine Dornan makes a case for truly affordable housing
At least slums are cheap to live in, and dry (England’s planning changes will create ‘generation of slums’, 5 August). Developers must now be licking their lips over Robert Jenrick’s planning shake-up as the gloves come off for new developments on flood plains.
As the Guardian has pointed out (Building new homes on land prone to flooding ‘making damage worse’, 25 February), between 2013 and 2018 over 84,000 homes were built in high-risk flood zones, one in 10 of all new homes in England. This green-light planning system will accelerate those figures.
Continue reading...Survey reveals 1.6% monthly rise in July, raising average property value to £241,600
House prices in Britain leaped to a new high in July, in a “surprising spike” after the market was put on pause earlier this year, according to Halifax.
The bank said property values jumped by 1.6%, or £3,770, month-on-month on average in July, and across the UK the average property value was £241,604 in July, up from £237,834 in June.
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