Social housing has come to Britain's rescue before, and it can do again | Sonia Sodha

We need to forget about ‘affordability’ and focus on providing good quality homes to as many people as possible

Lockdown taught me that spending far more time than usual between the same four walls changes your relationship with where you live. It might have felt like an oppressive prison, maybe it inspired cosy nesting, perhaps it was constant bedlam. Good, bad or ugly – or all of the above – many of us will have experienced intensified feelings about home.

But none of this has yet been reflected in the way we as a society talk about homes. The political and media debate is still focused on prices, deposits and affordability. We remain locked into a paradoxical conversation: on the one hand, rising house prices are treated as a glimmer of hope in an economy collapsed by a global pandemic; on the other, they take homeownership further out of reach for a generation of young people whose opportunities are being crushed by Covid-19.

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What you need to know about living in a conservation area Nottingham Estate Agents

The term ‘conservation area’ is well known but how are these protected property patches different and how do they affect homeowners? OnTheMarket has this guide. What does it mean to be in a conservation area? Conservation areas “exist to manage and protect the special architectural and historic interest of a place – in other words […]

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Star property over £500,000 Nottingham Estate Agents

You’ll struggle to find another five-bedroom period farmhouse this stunning for such a reasonable asking price. Grade II-listed Manor Farm dates back to the 17th Century and is a detached stone under thatch farmhouse with two bathrooms and a double garage, set back from the High Street in Lavendon village in Buckinghamshire not far from […]

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What is my landlord responsible for in my rented property? Nottingham Estate Agents

Landlords have certain responsibilities to their tenants by law, just as tenants have to fulfil their side of the bargain. If you are renting a property, it is important to know what your landlord must do and what your responsibilities are. The rules are there to protect both parties and ensure a mutually beneficial arrangement. […]

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‘We’re like athletes’: the secret lives of giant-vegetable growers

From onions as big as babies to pumpkins that weigh more than a car, it has been a record-breaking year for oversize veg. But what motivates someone to grow an 8-metre beetroot – and is skulduggery involved?

The pumpkins are as big as Cinderella’s carriage, and so heavy that a tractor is required to hoist them out of the earth. Immense, pockmarked marrows bulge from the ground like something from a phantasmagoric nightmare. Cucumbers soar to the height of a four-year-old. Onions bloat to the size of a head. You can have your giant vegetables in any size, as long as it is large, extra-large or extra-extra-large.

For Britain’s giant-vegetable growers, 2020 has been a vintage year. Three world records were set on this year’s Grow Show tour in September: the world’s heaviest red cabbage (31.6kg), the world’s longest salsify (5.6 metres) and the world’s longest beetroot (8.6 metres). This month, Ian and Stuart Paton, 59-year-old twins from Lymington in Hampshire, grew the UK’s heaviest-ever pumpkin, which weighed in at a monstrous 1,176.5kg.

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‘We’re like athletes’: the secret lives of giant-vegetable growers

From onions as big as babies to pumpkins that weigh more than a car, it has been a record-breaking year for oversize veg. But what motivates someone to grow an 8-metre beetroot – and is skulduggery involved?

The pumpkins are as big as Cinderella’s carriage, and so heavy that a tractor is required to hoist them out of the earth. Immense, pockmarked marrows bulge from the ground like something from a phantasmagoric nightmare. Cucumbers soar to the height of a four-year-old. Onions bloat to the size of a head. You can have your giant vegetables in any size, as long as it is large, extra-large or extra-extra-large.

For Britain’s giant-vegetable growers, 2020 has been a vintage year. Three world records were set on this year’s Grow Show tour in September: the world’s heaviest red cabbage (31.6kg), the world’s longest salsify (5.6 metres) and the world’s longest beetroot (8.6 metres). This month, Ian and Stuart Paton, 59-year-old twins from Lymington in Hampshire, grew the UK’s heaviest-ever pumpkin, which weighed in at a monstrous 1,176.5kg.

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Residents asked to leave London blocks over safety concerns

Nearly 900 people, mostly students, told to move from Paragon site in Brentford

Almost 900 people living in a six-block development in London are being moved out immediately because of serious safety concerns relating to the construction of the buildings.

The residents, the majority of whom are students, were told at 11am on Monday that they would have to leave their homes on the Paragon site in Brentford, west London, which is owned by the housing association Notting Hill Genesis.

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