Clerkenwell: the home of loft living
Clerkenwell has become so achingly cool that the affluent young entrepreneurs who work in its creative businesses are desperate to live there, too.
The best new homes 2012
Here we showcase this year's winners of our London Evening Standard New Homes Awards - the capital's property Oscars.
Spotlight on Camden Town
The shops and markets clustered around the high street and canal make Camden one of the most colourful of London's neighbourhoods. The area's period homes and loft-style apartments attract a mix of homebuyers.
Move to St Albans and you get two cities for the price of one
Moving out of the capital doesn’t have to mean a longer commute or even a change of job.
My design London: Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Hurley reveals her latest design project; discusses friend Damien Hirst's artwork, as well as her favourite restaurants and design shops in London.
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: high church
This former masonic chapel in Chiswick has been converted into a three-bedroom home (£1.175 million) with a 30-foot open-plan, double-height reception room. The kitchen is a black glossy affair, there’s a study, a cinema room and a decked roof terrace.
Swap of the week: Blackboys, East Sussex
Honeys Green farmhouse is a Grade II-listed pile that sits in a couple of acres and offers versatile living with an annexe and outdoor heated pool. Inside has character galore among four bedrooms and an attic room with pretty views.
Life-changer: South Petherton, Somerset
Willowbrook is a five-bedroom beauty (£1.15 million) with a 52-foot reception room and garages that could become a holiday apartment. Make a B&B business there and your guests could use the indoor pool and gym complex or roam your two-acre garden.
Spotlight on Tunbridge Wells
It may have temporarily lost its iron-rich spring but Tunbridge Wells has buckets of charm to make up for it.-
Buy of the week: high church
This former masonic chapel in Chiswick has been converted into a three-bedroom home (£1.175 million) with a 30-foot open-plan, double-height reception room. The kitchen is a black glossy affair, there’s a study, a cinema room and a decked roof terrace. -
Swap of the week: Blackboys, East Sussex
Honeys Green farmhouse is a Grade II-listed pile that sits in a couple of acres and offers versatile living with an annexe and outdoor heated pool. Inside has character galore among four bedrooms and an attic room with pretty views. -
Life-changer: South Petherton, Somerset
Willowbrook is a five-bedroom beauty (£1.15 million) with a 52-foot reception room and garages that could become a holiday apartment. Make a B&B business there and your guests could use the indoor pool and gym complex or roam your two-acre garden.
Property search
Home insurance savings
By Alex Sheridan
Fancy getting paid up to £100 simply for taking out home insurance - and possibly even more than the cost of some premiums?Many home insurance offers fail to live up to their hype but buying through a cashback website such as Topcashback.co.uk or Quidco.com, can give genuine extra savings, even on policies that you have already confirmed as offering good value.
For some lucky policyholders, such commission rebates have worked out more than the cost of their annual premiums - with £67 the record overall profit, according to consumer website Moneysavingexpert.com.
Household-name insurers that Topcashback currently offers rebates for include MoreThan (£70, in addition to the insurer’s offer of “free” contents cover); Aviva ( also £70); and Lloyds TSB (up to £75).
However, cashbacks are not available on all insurers and there is no guarantee that these incentives will actually pay out. Also, even with a very generous cashback, an insurer may not be competitive.
Some buyers of building insurance pay too much because they take out cover based on the market - rather than the rebuild-value of their home. The Association of British Insurers has a free online calculator for estimating rebuilding costs at abi.bcis.co.uk. Having an approved burglar alarm, window locks and membership to a Neighbourhood Watch scheme can all give discounts on cover.
Online comparison services will trawl more than a hundred policies to find good deals in minutes. According to Moneysavingexpert.com, the speediest and broadest results are found by Confused.com, Comparethemarket.com and Moneysupermarket.com but also check Direct Line and Norwich Union (now called Aviva).
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London’s epidemic of discounting
A combination of greedy sellers, nervous buyers and unscrupulous estate agents who promise sky-high prices in order to tempt clients, is being blamed for an epidemic of discounting in the London property market, where a third of all homes for sale have had their original asking price slashed.
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Only 639 new homes are for sale in Greater London
The scarcity of land is changing the face of London as offices become homes and commercial centres go residential.
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Homes gossip
Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have reduced the price of their magnificent Malibu beach house; and electro-pop pioneer Gary Numan has put his "all pink" cottage, which enjoys acres of woodland in east Sussex, on the market.
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New Homes Awards 2012: the winners
From classy commuter mansions to city-centre apartments at NEO Bankside and first-time buys to penthouses, this year’s best new homes were awarded for innovative design, eco living and impressive architecture.
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New homes bloom in Chelsea
New townhouses and flats will divert the crowds from Chelsea's annual flower show this year, with the property market in SW3 something of a hardy perennial itself, growing stronger with each year.
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Secret money-saving tips
Times are tight but frugal life doesn’t have to be boring. Follow these secret money-savers - from discounts at Starbucks and the cinema, to free kids meals at restaurants.
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Homes that slash your heating bills by 90 per cent
The UK’s first “greenhauses” - highly efficient German-designed homes said to slash utility bills by 90 per cent, have been unveiled in west London.
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The best new homes 2012
Here we showcase this year's winners of our London Evening Standard New Homes Awards - the capital's property Oscars.
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Property insider: Islington
Well-connected Islington is a hotspot for City workers and young professionals who are seeking more space than a Square Mile crash pad without a long commute. We take a property tour of N1 and its surrounding neighbourhoods.
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New Homes Awards 2012: the winners
From classy commuter mansions to city-centre apartments at NEO Bankside and first-time buys to penthouses, this year’s best new homes were awarded for innovative design, eco living and impressive architecture.
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