SELL September 29, 2011 MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL LONDON ESTATE AGENCY, KAY & CO Q.I have a small patio garden at my house in central London but am considering putting up a conservatory in the space so that I can use it all year round. Will this help me when I sell? A.On the face of it this seems [...]
PROPERTY NEWS September 29, 2011 BUYING NOW CHEAPER THAN RENTING Falling house prices and increasing rental demand has made it cheaper to buy than rent in 45 of the 50 largest towns across Britain. The cost of renting is now 13 per cent higher on average than the cost of owning, according to the latest research from property website Zoopla.co.uk. [...]
Winterbottom: Highlight at the BFI London Film Festival September 29, 2011 TICKETS are selling fast for events at this year’s 55th BFI London Film Festival. With the glitzy premiere, 360, starring Rachel Weisz, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jude Law opening the fortnight on 12 October, no wonder the event is proving popular. Last year, all eyes were on the King’s Speech, which went on to pick [...]
Great for kicks, not for thrills as spooks get sentimental September 29, 2011 THE DEBT Cert: 15 Dame Helen Mirren has swapped comic Russell Brand’s antics for serious action as secret agent, Rachel Singer. An English remake of an Israeli espionage thriller, the Debt flits between the 1960s when three Mossad agents capture the Surgeon of Birkenau, one of Hitler’s henchmen, and 1997, when Singer, celebrated for the [...]
St Modwen says trading is on course September 28, 2011 UK REGENERATION specialist St Modwen Properties said yesterday it was making good progress in a tough climate, as rental income, trading profits and cashflow all stayed in line with management expectations. “We continue to make good progress in the year to date. Even in this challenging market,” said Bill Oliver, chief executive of St Modwen. “We [...]
Life in your hands: smartphone apps September 28, 2011 RIGHT, you’ve got the latest kit, the iPhone 4, iPad 2, BlackBerry Bold Touch perhaps, but your smartphone’s home screen is looking ever-so bare. Remedying this involves a trawl through app stores and user reviews without even knowing what you’re looking for. Fear not. We look beyond the social necessities of Facebook and Foursquare, and [...]
OUT OF OFFICE September 28, 2011 LONDON RESTAURANT FESTIVAL Celebrate the London Restaurant Festival this October as it sweeps through the capital once more. Highlights include the gastronomic roadtrip Gourmet Odyssey, (that is, a restaurant crawl on a Routemaster bus), which hops from course to course including restaurants such as the Michelin-starred Arbutus to Dishoom on Upper St Martin’s Lane. 3 [...]
House prices drop across 20 US cities September 27, 2011 HOUSE PRICES in almost every US city fell over the last year, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller index, out yesterday. The 4.1 per cent decline in the year to July takes prices back to levels last seen in the summer of 2003. The value of single-family homes fell in 18 of the 20 [...]
The latest in Mini’s adventure September 27, 2011 IF you’re not a Mini fan look away now. The relentless march of the Mini brand has taken a further step towards automotive world domination with the introduction of its fifth model in the mini lineup, the Mini Coupé. According to the marketing guys at Mini, a two-seater Mini is just what the world needs. [...]
CAR TALK September 27, 2011 TOYOTA’S PRIUS PLUG-IN HYBRID Toyota’s new Prius Plug-in Hybrid will cost less than £31k when it goes on sale next year. The car has an electric (EV) driving range of more than 14 miles, CO2 emissions of 49g/km (combined) and a claimed potential fuel economy of 134.5mpg. The Ultra-Low Carbon Vehicle grant scheme could possibly [...]