Property

Phil Spencer on challenges in UK property market Get pensions news and advice plus latest money alerts for FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Related articles Designer's 'favourite' tip for making a home look more expensive Mrs Hinch fans share 89p hack for removing blood from laundry Stamp Duty reliefs to consider after four million UK homes pushed into higher bracket (Image: Getty) Trending READ MORE ‘Steer away’ from certain interiors as it can ‘put buyers off’ “If you’re a corporate acquirer you may have to calculate your SDLT in three or four different ways to decide which is the best outcome and you might want to seek specialist advice.” Another … [Read more...] about Stamp Duty reliefs to consider after four million homes pushed into higher bracket

LITTLE People, Big World’s Roloff Farms has been slammed as “overpriced,” while some fans loved pumpkin season on the famous property. Matt Roloff’s Roloff Farms kicked off pumpkin season this weekend with a series of fall attractions including wagon tours, a spooky forest, pumpkin patches, train rides, photo set-ups and more. But opening weekend was met with a series of mixed reviews. One unhappy customer wrote on Yelp Saturday: “My husband worked a couple of miles away and had wanted to go for a couple of years. We finally made it up to the farm. What a huge disappointment. It cost us $101.95 for 3 adults and a 6-year-old to get in. "Not really clear what we paid for. It was a short walk around the property, not much to see. For the most part the staff was very friendly. The food was extremely over priced. As were the pumpkins. On our way home we came across a different pumpkins patch that didn't cost to walk around and was much nicer.” Another wrote on Monday: “I'm … [Read more...] about Little People, Big World’s Roloff Farms slammed as ‘overpriced’ while some fans ‘love’ pumpkin season on property

Do you want professional standard curtains, but don’t want to pay the price? Believe it or not, it’s possible to make your own with Gemma Moulton’s top tips. And no, they won’t look like the product of a haphazard DIY project. If you follow this step-by-step guide, you will be surprised at the end result. What are you waiting for, get your fabrics out! The DIY project: Making curtains The expert: Gemma Moulton is the founder of East London Cloth and one of the newest and most sought-after makers of soft furnishings in the UK today. She has just launched her first ever online course, How To Make Beautiful Curtains, with Create Academy and launches her own fabric collection The reason: Bespoke curtains can be expensive but with the right guidance it is possible to make your own. What you’ll need: Fabric, pins, chain weight, fabric scissors, clamp, tape and hooks. Your step-by-step guide to making curtains Here, Gemma reveals how to make a very … [Read more...] about Your step-by-step DIY guide to making curtains

A former Labour MP who sexually assaulted a female staffer in his Westminster office has been ordered to pay almost £450,000 in damages. Mike Hill, who resigned as MP for Hartlepool in March last year, was found by a tribunal to have preyed upon, harassed and victimised the woman over a 16-month period. The 59-year-old politician was said to have begun his “detrimental treatment” of the employee, referred to as Ms A, after she spurned his sexual advances. Mr Hill, who denied the allegations, was alleged to have sexually assaulted Ms A on several occasions, both in his parliamentary office and in the bedroom of a property. On one occasion in December 2017, he was alleged to have got into bed with the woman and rubbed his groin against her while trying to touch her breasts. He was also accused of touching her inappropriately in the Westminster office. Mr Hill was found to have subsequently victimised the claimant, by changing her employment terms and conditions before making … [Read more...] about Ex-Labour MP who groped female staffer told to pay almost £450,000 in damages

An electric bus caught fire on Sunday while it was charging at a depot, causing five other vehicles to become engulfed, as eyewitnesses described hearing an explosion "like a jet". Fire crews were called to the Metroline bus depot in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, after locals raised the alarm at around 2.30pm. Eight fire engines attended the scene - evacuating neighbouring properties and fire-proofing the remaining buses. At the height of the blaze, six Transport for London (TfL) buses - two hybrid electric and four diesel - were on fire. Footage of the incident posted on social media showed black smoke billowing from the buses before a large fireball erupted into the sky. A large plume of smoke was seen for miles around and Hertfordshire Fire Control took more than 70 calls from members of the public. Eyewitness Shaun Cunningham told the BBC he heard “an unbelievable noise that sounded like a jet” and saw a bus had “exploded into a ball of flames”. Potters Bar High … [Read more...] about Eight fire crews battle inferno at Hertfordshire bus depot

I had the misfortune last week of standing on a crowded Victoria Line train in rush hour on the hottest day of the year. Although it is one of the fastest and most convenient Tube lines in London, those able to squeeze themselves into whatever carriage corner still has space for them after work should brace for an uncomfortable ride. This is a screeching, claustrophobic sauna that will make passengers question if the destination is really worth the journey. If the final stop is a dimly lit, half-empty office, many will decide the answer is no. But there is hope for the sardine can commuter. Tomorrow morning marks the long-awaited launch of the Elizabeth Line , otherwise known as Crossrail, after decades of planning and an overrun budget. The 73-mile line, which will run from Reading in Berkshire to Shenfield in Essex via central London, promises to transform travel for around 200m people each year. From the fed-up commuter to the hopeful homeowner who has just bought … [Read more...] about Sadiq Khan has the perfect opportunity to woo people back to London

Tony Blair thought he had the answer for London’s perennial public transport funding problem. For decades before him, the Greater London Authority was dependent on an annual grant from Westminster to balance the books. As a result, long-term investment was nigh-on impossible meaning passengers on the world’s oldest Underground railway were regularly saddled with typical delays, cancellations and overrunning engineering works. Privatising the Tube was his predecessor John Major’s answer. But Blair had other ideas when he came to power in 1997. Public-private partnerships were the solution. John Prescott, transport secretary at the time, told the Commons that the PPP model would “modernise the Underground” and “guarantee value for money” – neither of these assertions would come true. More than two decades on, and more than 10 years since New Labour’s experiment imploded – funding the capital’s public transport remains a conundrum. While decisions are yet to be made, Westminster … [Read more...] about Sadiq Khan stages last-ditch battle to stop the London Underground going down the tube

John Bartlett, who has died aged 94, was the civil engineer responsible for building the Victoria line in London and for designing the British side of the Channel Tunnel. He was also the inventor, in 1964, of the Bentonite Tunnelling Machine (BTM), a device which allowed the excavation of tunnels in loose soils that would previously have been difficult and costly (or even impossible) to dig, and developments of the concept enabled a rapid increase in tunnel construction around the world. Before the BTM, tunnelling in soft soil involved the creation of a sealed box pressurised with air, from which workers would dig the tunnel, with the tunnel face needing continuous support. It was dangerous work, not only because there was a constant risk of groundwater flooding the works causing instability, but also because workers in such conditions often suffered health problems such as “the bends” and bone necrosis. It is no accident that most of the London Underground network was developed … [Read more...] about John Bartlett, Bentonite Tunnelling Machine inventor whose work included the Victoria Line and the Dartford tunnels – obituary

Dorothy Levitt had it all in 1908. Feted as Britain’s fastest woman, the 26-year-old had won motor races across Europe. She had a house in Marylebone, sporty cars, glamorous friends and the ear of sports writers and gossip columnists alike. How then did Levitt become a persona non grata, found dead in her bed by a neighbour before she had even turned 40? The story is far from clear. In her book, The Woman And The Car – in which she gave advice for female drivers, including carrying both a revolver and a hand mirror for looking behind, the first known use of a rear-view mirror – Levitt writes that she grew up in the countryside, riding to hounds, shooting and fishing. There was no country house, nor a hunting pedigree. Levitt was born Elisabeth Dorothy Levi in Islington in 1882, to Jewish parents. She spent her early years close to her paternal grandparents in Hackney, where her father worked as a tea merchant. It was he who changed their family name from Levi to Levitt, and his … [Read more...] about Speed records, police raids and gambling dens: The rise and fall of Britain’s fastest woman

A resident in a controversial Low Traffic Neighbourhood was forced to pay almost £300 to bailiffs after council officials sent a fixed penalty notice to the wrong address. Ava Zoccola, 20, from Dulwich in south London claimed that she was “antagonised by two men attempting to barge past me and into our home” - despite not knowing Southwark Council had issued a fine five months earlier. Her father, Tony Zoccola, 58, a small business owner, was handed a £65 fixed penalty notice in June 2021 for driving through the Dulwich Village northbound LTN, which he claims was by accident due to poor signage . The Telegraph revealed last week that cash cow LTN cameras in Dulwich raked in £6.6 million for the council last year alone, including £3.8 million from the one that caught Mr Zoccola. Another £500,000 in fines was issued in the first three months of 2022. The LTN was quietly rolled out in the suburb at the start of the pandemic as part of the “green transport revolution” announced … [Read more...] about LTN resident forced to pay £300 to bailiffs after council sent penalty notice to wrong address