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.
Fast new commuter routes are changing London's property map
Regeneration throughout London continues to change the property map, with the orbital train network and recent Tube line extensions creating faster commuter routes with good-value homes, including Deptford, Bromley and Woolwich.
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.
Canterbury spotlight
The compact city of Canterbury sits 60 miles south-east of London in Kent. In recent years its property market has been boosted by a high-speed rail service into St Pancras, which cuts the journey time to the capital to less than an hour.
Chelsea Flower Show preview 2013
This year the RHS Chelsea Flower Show promises to be suitably fabulous as it celebrates its centenary year with stunning gardens, including the Forget-me-Not Garden by B&Q and Prince Harry's charity.
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: Stoke Newington, N16
This modern home of almost 1,000sq ft is close to Stoke Newington's high street. A 27ft reception room and two large bedrooms give the flat a spacious feel.
Out of town: Tetbury, Gloucestershire
The beauty spot of Leighterton, with its poppy fields, ivy-covered churches and popular local gastro pub, is home to this four-bedroom house with stone-walled gardens.
Life-changer: Dolwyddelan, Conwy
Have a station all to yourself by buying the Old Station Master's house at Roman Bridge, where trains will stop at your door on request. You also get three bedrooms and 10 acres of grounds.
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.-
Buy of the week: Stoke Newington, N16
This modern home of almost 1,000sq ft is close to Stoke Newington's high street. A 27ft reception room and two large bedrooms give the flat a spacious feel. -
Out of town: Tetbury, Gloucestershire
The beauty spot of Leighterton, with its poppy fields, ivy-covered churches and popular local gastro pub, is home to this four-bedroom house with stone-walled gardens. -
Life-changer: Dolwyddelan, Conwy
Have a station all to yourself by buying the Old Station Master's house at Roman Bridge, where trains will stop at your door on request. You also get three bedrooms and 10 acres of grounds.
Property search
Twelve easy ways to make extra cash
By Lucy Tobin
Rise above the doom and gloom of our economy and find ways to earn extra money - here are 12 top dosh tips to start off with:1. Hire yourself out for a fiver: The site fivesquids.co.uk includes users offering to do anything, from writing a song to calling in sick on others’ behalf - all for a fiver.
2. Put your home on eBay: Not literally - just all that rubbish you don’t really need. I recently sold a cardboard box on eBay for £4. People will buy anything.
3. Get paid to fill in surveys: earnings range from pennies to as much as £100 for long polls. Sign up at valuedopinions.co.uk, YouGov.com, globaltestmarket.com or Panelbase.net.
4. Join focus groups: these usually pay between £30 and £50. Check out focus4people.com, indiefield.net, sarosresearch.com and www.claret-uk.com.
5. Start using a cashback card: If you’ve avoided credit card debt, sign up to a card from the likes of American Express or Capital One, which pay back up to five per cent of earnings.
6. Sell your photos: Have some nice shots lying around on your camera’s memory card? Upload your digital pictures to photo banks like istockphoto or Photobox and you’ll earn royalties for each one sold.
7. Claim back any money you’re due from the banks:
* Have you been a victim of missold Payment Protection Insurance or another financial product? Contact them to demand redress.
* Check whether you’ve forgotten about funds lying around in old bank accounts, premium bonds or investments pots. Visit mylostaccount.org.uk, a joint venture between the British Bankers’ Association, the Building Societies Association and National Savings & Investments, and it will track down any missing money in any of 43 banks, 52 building societies or NS&I.
* Do the same for pensions: the Government offers a free pension-hunting service at thepensionservice.gov.uk. And for old unit trusts, visit investmentuk.org.
8. Sign up for some paid work projects: student-focused studentgems.com and, more general PeoplePerHour.com and Freelancer.com, together have thousands of projects listed. It’s free to join the site, then bid on work, although a fee is taken out of your total pay for each job.
9. Ask for a pay rise: If you don’t ask...
10. Rent out stuff in your house: free sites like rentnotbuy.com match up owners of unneeded items ranging from violins and shredders to dog crates, step ladders and sewing machines, with those who want to hire them.
11. Complain: Have a problem with your phone bills, bank account, or another service? Make your misery known 0 then demand compensation for your time. Many companies will pay compensation to those who have had to call their lines for complaints.
12. Rent out your driveway: with the help of a site like parkatmyhouse.com. Some users report earning hundreds of pounds a year - and it may boost your home’s security if it looks occupied too.
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.
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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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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.
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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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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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New homes awards 2013: the winners
This year's London Evening Standard New Homes Awards praised thoughtful design and spacious interiors at a range of developments, from city-centre family homes to clever conversions and regeneration projects.
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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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Diary of an estate agent
A Sydenham estate agent is left waiting by clients and looks on the bright side when he spots a huge hole in the road outside the office.
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