New homes in London's Zone 1 on a Zone 2 budget
Our exclusive research shows a "price wall" formed by the Northern line, with property values to the east less than half those in the west. We reveal the emerging lower-value districts in Zone 1 for buyers on a Zone 2 budget.
Embassy exodus returns acres of central London to its residents
As the embassies exit Mayfair and Marylebone, their former bases will free up stunning family homes. While the move of many embassies to Nine Elms at Vauxhall is creating a new residential quarter including thousands of new apartments.
Oxford spotlight
The small city of Oxford is famous for its university and honeyed stone architecture, but its huge range of property - from affordable new homes to luxurious Victorian houses - and one hour commute to London, are big attractions to home buyers.
Brighton spotlight
The East Sussex city of Brighton and Hove offers its residents the best of both worlds: a relaxed life at one end of the line within an hour's commute of London, and a good mix of Regency terrace houses, seafront apartments and family homes.
Clerkenwell Design Week 2013
Discover one of London's most creative neighbourhoods at this year's Clerkenwell Design Week. This three-day event showcases the hottest trends in design, architecture and cutting-edge furniture.
Find a rated tradesman
Want to add value to your property, make your house a home, or sell your place fast? With 1,000s of tradesmen nationwide, rated and recommended by previous customers, this is the smart way to find a reputable tradesman.
Buy of the week: Putney Hill, SW15
This glossy new apartment just off Putney Hill has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a bright open-plan reception space with floor-to-ceiling windows and spectacular skyline views.
Out of town: Wigginton, Oxfordshire
This three-bedroom Grade II-listed thatch in the pretty village of Wigginton, near Banbury, is a tempting package of beams, wood burners and cottage gardens.
Life-changer: Tiverton, Devon
A five-bedroom house set in a valley at Cheriton Fitzpaine, Tiverton, surrounded by farmland and sweeping gardens, with B&B potential and a garage block ripe for conversion.
East Grinstead spotlight
East Grinstead in West Sussex is 30 miles south of the capital in the High Weald. The town's exclusive gated estates attract celebrity home buyers such as Tom Cruise, while London families are drawn to the area's good mix of period homes and modern flats.-
Buy of the week: Putney Hill, SW15
This glossy new apartment just off Putney Hill has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a bright open-plan reception space with floor-to-ceiling windows and spectacular skyline views. -
Out of town: Wigginton, Oxfordshire
This three-bedroom Grade II-listed thatch in the pretty village of Wigginton, near Banbury, is a tempting package of beams, wood burners and cottage gardens. -
Life-changer: Tiverton, Devon
A five-bedroom house set in a valley at Cheriton Fitzpaine, Tiverton, surrounded by farmland and sweeping gardens, with B&B potential and a garage block ripe for conversion.
Property search
Cut your energy bills with a Green Deal loan
The very latest energy- and money-saving scheme, the Green Deal, is a new type of homeowner loan which could enable you to reduce your bills by making improvements to your home with no costs up front. By Barbara Chandler
Biotecture wall systems - green façades for buildings and living walls - will be on display at Ecobuild at London ExCel from 5-7 March
All will be revealed at the EcoBuild event at ExCeL from 5-7 March. There you can find everything you need to know about energy saving. Finance and energy experts, and tradespeople, will be installed in a series of pods on a Green Deal terrace, backed up by a full programme of seminars and discussions.
Under the new scheme (see diagram below), a local Green Deal assessor reports on your home, and a Green Deal provider lends you your up-front costs for any necessary energy-saving home improvements. Over a set period — say 15-20 years — you pay the loan back through your electricity bill. Your combined regular repayments and reduced bills should be less than your previous energy bill.
Green Deal so-called “active measures” to save energy (with latest technology on show at Ecobuild) include new types of high-efficiency condensing boilers, and there’s a whole section at Ecobuild featuring the latest types of solar panels to produce your own energy. The Evolution of Light, a dramatic audio visual installation in three domes, shows how to balance lighting needs against energy consumption, with ideas for lighting controls in the future, which include your smart phone.
“Passive measures” are also on show, including old and new types of loft insulation, internal and external wall insulation, draught-proofing, and super energy-efficient windows. In all cases, experts will help you work out how quickly you will see a return on your investment.
Energy saving pundits speaking at Ecobuild include Gregory Barker MP (minister of state, department of energy & climate change), Jonathan Dimbleby (broadcaster), and Edward Davey MP (secretary of state for energy and climate change).
* To learn more about the Green Deal: (see below) and to find an “approved assessor”, visit www.gov.uk/greendeal or call 0300 123 1234.
** Ecobuild is at ExCeL: 5-7 March; One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock, E16; entry free but to avoid queues register in advance at ecobuild.co.uk/register.
More articles
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New homes in London's Zone 1 on a Zone 2 budget
Our exclusive research shows a "price wall" formed by the Northern line, with property values to the east less than half those in the west. We reveal the emerging lower-value districts in Zone 1 for buyers on a Zone 2 budget.
-
London's top property growth areas
Wise homebuyers can get ahead of the curve by buying in London's potential growth areas, thanks to new transport links, regeneration projects and the arrival of iconic new buildings such as the Shard.
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New Homes Awards 2013: the winners
This year's London Evening Standard New Homes Awards, hosted by comedian Vic Reeves and England rugby captain Chris Robshaw, praised thoughtful design and spacious interiors at a range of new homes developments.
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Clerkenwell Design Week 2013
Discover one of London's most creative neighbourhoods at this year's Clerkenwell Design Week. This three-day event showcases the hottest trends in design, architecture and cutting-edge furniture.
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Homes gossip
Keira Knightley and James Righton have bought a new marital home in Spitalfields; Reese Witherspoon's adds to her LA property portfolio; and Elton John's personal trainer sells up.
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Post-Olympic regeneration: Bethnal Green, Bow and Stepney
East London is still enjoying the benefits of post-Olympics with a regeneration boom that involves new affordable developments in areas such as Bethnal Green, Bow and Stepney.
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New Homes Awards 2013: the winners
This year's London Evening Standard New Homes Awards, hosted by comedian Vic Reeves and England rugby captain Chris Robshaw, praised thoughtful design and spacious interiors at a range of new homes developments.
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London's latest new homes update
Take your pick from London's newest properties, including 800 new homes in a former Bermondsey biscuit factory; family houses in Muswell near near the top-performing Fortismere School; and hundreds of new flats on the leafy slopes of Shooters Hill.
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Property search: budget under £500,000
This week, we uncover 1,000sq ft two-bedroom apartment in Stoke Newington, a four-bedroom stone house in the Cotswolds and an Old Station Master's house in the heart of Snowdonia National Park that comes with its own railway station.
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First Olympic village homes up for rent
Relaunched as East Village this week, the Stratford athletes' quarters is set to become home to thousands of London's renters in streets named with the Olympics in mind — from Prize Walk and Cheering Lane to Medals Way and Celebration Avenue.
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