Patio heater, fire pit or a bigger jumper? How to stay warm while socialising outside this winter

If you live in an area where you aren’t allowed to mix with other people indoors (or just don’t want to), here is an ethical, expert guide to keeping toasty

Indoor socialising is off. Even if it is not specifically proscribed where you live, a once innocuous cup of tea with friends now carries an unappetising tang of risk. The answer is to socialise outside – but how do you do that in a cold climate? No wonder that sales of patio heaters in the UK are rising: Homebase has nearly sold out, and sales on eBay have soared. Mensa Heating UK recently sold 750 infrared heaters in one day. But what about the environmental impact of patio heaters? In Germany, the federal government is offering subsidies to hospitality businesses wishing to buy them, even though they had been banned in some cities, while the French ecology minister has called them an “ecological aberration” and announced a ban from next year. So what is the best way to socialise outside and stay warm?

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Patio heater, fire pit or a bigger jumper? How to stay warm while socialising outside this winter

If you live in an area where you aren’t allowed to mix with other people indoors (or just don’t want to), here is an ethical, expert guide to keeping toasty

Indoor socialising is off. Even if it is not specifically proscribed where you live, a once innocuous cup of tea with friends now carries an unappetising tang of risk. The answer is to socialise outside – but how do you do that in a cold climate? No wonder that sales of patio heaters in the UK are rising: Homebase has nearly sold out, and sales on eBay have soared. Mensa Heating UK recently sold 750 infrared heaters in one day. But what about the environmental impact of patio heaters? In Germany, the federal government is offering subsidies to hospitality businesses wishing to buy them, even though they had been banned in some cities, while the French ecology minister has called them an “ecological aberration” and announced a ban from next year. So what is the best way to socialise outside and stay warm?

Continue reading...

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How to make a competitive offer as a first time buyer Nottingham Estate Agents

Are you looking to buy your first home? Nick Manson, Director of Mansons, in Jesmond, Newcastle, talks us through how best to prepare before making an offer Being a first time buyer can be hard work, stressful and nerve-racking. Chances are that you won’t necessarily know the market and it’s easy to be blind-sided by […]

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Top tips to help secure your end of tenancy deposit

The number one reason for landlord and tenant deposit disputes is cleaning. Curry’s PC World asked Lynsey Crombie aka the ‘Queen of Clean’ for her top cleaning tips that could help you secure getting that end of tenancy deposit back that no one wants to lose out on. 1. Plan A week or two before moving […]

The post Top tips to help secure your end of tenancy deposit first appeared on Helping Innovate Property (HIP) - Blog, Housing Market News and Articles.

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Covid drove us to share a home but what are council tax implications?

My partner and I have our own properties but lockdown led to us choosing to stay in one together

Q My partner and I each have a house of our own and while we originally split our time between the two, we gradually started spending a little more time at one rather than the other.

During the coronavirus lockdown we chose to stay in just one house to form a bubble and we currently spend all of our time in one house, with the other left pretty much empty other than when friends or relatives use it now and again.

We are worried about council tax. We both pay single occupancy on our own properties but due to the recent situation we are worried about being “found out” for actually having two of us in one house. If we did pay full council tax for the property we both stay in, what are the implications for the other house (including insurance etc)?
RW

A Judging by what it says in Paying the right level of council tax in England, published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in May 2019, you are right to be worried about council tax.

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Should you extend your home or sell it? Nottingham Estate Agents

You are happy in your home, but for one reason and another, it seems to be getting smaller and smaller. Perhaps your cute toddler has grown into a strapping teenager and acquired a younger brother or sister. Perhaps you have bought so many box sets of Game of Thrones that they take up half the […]

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