Country diary: these lacewings are welcome guests at my crafty bug hotel

Langstone, Hampshire: This species will overwinter here and stock the garden with voracious ‘aphid lions’

Once the sun has set, there’s a chill in the air, but it’s still mild enough to leave my bedroom windows wide open at night. As soon as I switch on the lights, the glow acts as an irresistible invitation to every passing crane fly, moth, mosquito and midge, though they aren’t the only winged insects to be lured towards the light source – a phenomenon known as positive phototaxis.

It’s the slight iridescence of its translucent, reticulated wings that first draws my eye to the creature clinging to my ceiling lampshade. Climbing up on my bed for a closer look, I discover it’s a common green lacewing (Chrysoperla carnea). Just 1.5cm in length, it has a slender, pale pistachio-green body, long thread-like antennae and oversized eyes the colour of burnished copper.

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Deposit return: A guide for tenants and landlords Nottingham Estate Agents

Many a tenancy has ended in tears because of a lack of clarity about the all-important deposit, which can run to thousands of pounds. The introduction of Government-backed deposit protection schemes in 2007 was supposed to reduce the scope for such misunderstandings and, to an extent, has achieved that by introducing greater clarity into the […]

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Inside two iconic sea forts that are now luxury hotels

You need a boat or helicopter to reach them.

The post Inside two iconic sea forts that are now luxury hotels first appeared on Property blog.

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UK house prices rise at fastest rate since 2016, says Nationwide

Buyers take advantage of benign market despite Covid-19 pandemic

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House prices rose in September at the fastest annual rate since the aftermath of the Brexit vote in 2016, according to the UK’s biggest building society, as buyers continued to take advantage of a benign market despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The average UK house price rose by 5% in September compared with the same month last year, to £226,129 – a record high, Nationwide reported.

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UK housesharers seek gardens and living rooms in Covid crisis

Spareroom also says more people are looking for kindness and empathy in flatmates

Gardens, living rooms and kindness have risen up the list of housesharers’ key requirements following months of lockdown and enforced time spent fellow tenants.

The housesharing website Spareroom said it had seen changes in what those advertising for rooms were looking for, with demand for gardens, patios and balconies almost doubling over the summer.

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