Property News from Times Online en-uk Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:37:29 GMT Copyright 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd. custserv@timesonline.co.uk http://www.timesonline.co.uk Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:45:02 GMT Newspapers 144 21 http://www.timesonline.co.uk http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,116979,00.gif Francesca Steele Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:46 GMT 2009-07-02T04:28:06Z Discovering and restoring a Tuscan castle is a dream of almost every Briton who takes a flight to Pisa and spends a fortnight in an agriturismo apartment, eating pasta, chilling by the pool and visiting the museums of Siena. Most dismiss the idea on the flight home. But the dream does not quite die, which is why millions of people watched the episodes of Channel 4’s Grand Designs that charted the renovation of the 1,000-year-old Castello di Brancialino in Arezzo, on the eastern, more mountainous, side of Tuscany. Anne Ashworth Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:32 GMT 2009-07-03T10:35:44Z This was not how it was supposed to be. The performance of the housing market in 2009 seemed destined to be so catastrophic that a few commentators, such as Halifax, shrank away from making forecasts for the extent of the fall. Their silence increased the trepidation felt by homeowners who, naturally, began to fear the worst, while would-be buyers began to daydream about bargain properties. Susan Emmett Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:20 GMT 2009-07-02T04:50:17Z How it rates Natalie Haynes Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:19 GMT 2009-07-02T03:13:29Z First-time buyers are a rare breed, and in London, rarer still. Dips in house prices haven’t come close to making even tiny flats affordable for most twenty and thirtysomethings who don’t have massive financial backing from parents or the kind of job that means you can endanger a multinational banking corporation before lunch. And yet, we’re the same as previous generations: we want homes of our own, enough space for ourselves and our stuff, and an address that the local pizza place isn’t afraid to deliver to. Anne Ashworth Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:19 GMT 2009-07-02T02:28:09Z House prices are stabilising, according to the latest key surveys. If this trend continues, it is possible that the collapse forecast for this year may not come to pass. But while property commentators express some relief, they remain cautious about proclaiming that the recovery has arrived. We rate the tone of the surveys from (doomladen) to (happy days are here again). Marcus Binney Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:16 GMT 2009-07-02T03:20:52Z The description does not appear in any medieval document as a name, or part of the name, of a house. In some cases, the name was added only in the mid-19th century when properties suddenly required a a postal address. Mark Loveday Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:15 GMT 2009-07-02T04:33:13Z Q My next-door neighbour has had a “For Sale” sign up for more than a year. I hate the things. Two weeks ago another board from a different agent also appeared. There are already far too many in my street and it really blights the area. My neighbour is obviously desperate to sell and says that the agents insist on having a board up. Can I do anything about the proliferation of signs? Judith Heywood Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:10 GMT 2009-07-03T11:02:32Z Can the property market really be all slumped out? Unexpected indications that the worst of the price falls may be over include reports of newly emboldened buyers bidding it up in the auction room. This is not merely bottom-of-the-barrel bargain hunting. Six months ago, auctions were the preserve of steely investors with privileged access to cash and a taste for unprepossessing but rentable repossessions. But now auctioneers report that fewer distressed sales are ending up in catalogues and bidders include a healthier range of potential buyers — not only property companies and buy-to-let investors, but also owner-occupiers, even including those elusive first-time buyers. Paula Hawkins Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:06 GMT 2009-07-02T03:19:05Z The hordes are bearing down on SW19. Thousands of tennis-mad spectators may be obsessed by the delicious prospect of an Andy Murray triumph this weekend, but as they tramp their way to the All England Club, there is a chance some may have been distracted momentarily by another local delight: the large Victorian and Edwardian terraces and plentiful green spaces that make this one of London’s most desirable locations. Home Staff Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:49 GMT 2009-06-30T08:59:59Z Sir Cliff Richard has been ordered to demolish his £30,000 conservatory after planners said it was too big and was put up without planning permission. Jill Sherman, Whitehall Editor Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT 2009-07-01T08:02:30Z Seven Whitehall departments were in a standoff with the Treasury over how a £1.57 billion social housing programme announced by Gordon Brown will be funded. Anna Mikhailova Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:56 GMT 2009-06-27T06:40:13Z Fancy owning not one luxury London pad, but 24? One of the capital’s most prestigious buy-to-let portfolios is being sold off after its owner ran “a couple of hundred thousand pounds” behind on his loan repayments. Greg Gordon Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:56 GMT 2009-06-26T07:28:16Z In the past 18 months, students’ parents have been hit by the triple whammy of a complex lending picture, bureaucratic red tape and a depressed property market. Lucy Denyer Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:49 GMT 2009-06-26T01:11:51Z ANGEL OF DUBLIN Anna Mikhailova Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:47 GMT 2009-06-26T03:36:35Z During a career spanning two decades, he has taken pictures of everyone from the Queen and Tony Blair to nudes covered in fried eggs and wrapped in clingfilm — but when it comes to interior design, Rankin appears to have a rather more conservative side. Neil Wormald Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:44 GMT 2009-06-26T07:11:11Z A further salad crop to those Rachel suggests (see links left) is claytonia (miner’s lettuce or winter purslane), which you can sow until late summer to provide mild-tasting leaves into winter. In a sheltered, sunny (or lightly shaded) spot with a well-drained soil, scatter seeds in ¼ in-deep drills. When the seedlings are large enough to handle, thin to 4in-6in apart. Anna Mikhailova Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:31 GMT 2009-06-26T12:54:32Z What it is: Lower Knowle Farm is a dilapidated 17th-century farmhouse in Bristol, on the borders of Bedminster and Lower Knowle, south of the city centre. The 4,000 sq ft house retains period features such as panelled walls, period fireplaces and flagstone floors. Set in just under an acre, it has four reception rooms, a study, six bedrooms and one bathroom. It is being sold by Bristol city council through an informal tender; bids will be accepted until August 7. Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:24 GMT 2009-06-26T07:28:32Z Lyndsey-Anne Borrowman, 26, a trainee teacher, bought her one-bedroom flat in Gorgie, Edinburgh, in 2006, thanks to the help of her parents. Her father is a property expert at a legal firm, and Borrowman says she could never have got on the property ladder without their help. Now, having used the flat for three years, she is selling up before she gets married. Katrina Burroughs Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:22 GMT 2009-06-26T07:01:12Z Our infatuation with wall coverings with big, bold patterns is turning out to be more than a brief fling. It looks set to continue at least until the property-market ice caps melt. Caroline Donald Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:20 GMT 2009-06-26T07:04:40Z Village green