LETTING August 12, 2010 CEO of online lettings agent www.upad.co.uk Q.My first ever tenant is nearing the end of their first six-month fixed tenancy. Should I get them to sign a new agreement? A.It’s entirely your choice whether you sign a new Assured Shorthold Tenancy?(AST) agreement or not. If you don’t, the tenancy becomes a “statutory periodic tenancy”. This [...]
PROPERTY NEWS August 12, 2010 SOLD! THE UK’S MOST EXPENSIVE HOME A penthouse in One Hyde Park, the lavish development in Knightsbridge, has entered the record books as the most expensive residential property in Britain – and, according to some estimates, the world – having been sold for £140m. The six bedroom apartment is spread over two floors with bullet [...]
Shyamalan’s new fantasy is anything but fantastic August 12, 2010 Film THE LAST AIRBENDER Cert: PG ASTITLES go, “The Last Airbender” is more likely to induce guffaws than the awe and wonder intended. Not as many guffaws, though – for British audiences anyway – as the numerous times characters in the film refer to the mystical fraternity of, well, “benders”. To be honest, anyone who’s [...]
GOING OUT August 12, 2010 August is the quietest month for clubs and so openings are thin on the ground in the West End. Last week however saw the launch of one of the biggest new venues in London (yes, Camden is in London) with a distinctly African theme. Shaka Zulu (www.ahaka-zulu.com) is Stables Market’s new destination restaurant, nightclub and [...]
OUT THIS WEEKEND August 12, 2010 FILM FIVE EASY PIECES Starring Jack Nicholson, one of the greatest films of the Seventies, on re-release. THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES Argentine thriller that won this year’s Best Foreign Language Oscar. LE REFUGE Perverse romantic drama by auteur director Francois Ozon. DVD THE BLIND SIDE Sugar-coated social drama with Sandra Bullock on Oscar-winning form. [...]
Let the game begin August 11, 2010 THE City can seem a pretty quiet place at this time of year – for the action, you need to head to the countryside. “Glorious” August 12 being the start of the game season, keen shots will today be filling their hip flasks, pulling on wellies and heading up in their droves to the high [...]
A car with a very high iQ August 10, 2010 MOST motorists can appreciate that there’s something outrageous about one person commuting to the City in a car designed to carry at least four grown ups in it. Whichever way you look at it, it’s inefficient, even wasteful. Yet so-called City cars can be disappointing. They either don’t have any flexibility so they are just [...]
CAR TALK August 10, 2010 NISSAN’S BRAVE NEW WORLD UK order books for Nissan’s LEAF car open on 1 Sep. The LEAF – which stands for Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable, Family car – has a top speed of 87mph and a range of 100 miles and should cost £23,990. The price includes VAT at 20 per cent, as well as [...]
A Sunday service with edge August 9, 2010 WHAT’S your idea of perfect Sunday relaxation? Climbing into a barber’s chair and getting lathered up probably isn’t first on many lists, but after discovering the grooming service on offer at West London’s smartly idiosyncratic boys’ own shop Carter & Bond, it’s shot to the top of mine. Carter & Bond is like finding the [...]
Diet must be an integral part of every runner’s training regime August 9, 2010 PERSONAL COACH AT FULL POTENTIAL GOOD nutrition is vital for health and wellbeing. For runners there’s the additional significance of enhanced performance, faster recovery between sessions and the prevention of illness and injury. We should consider diet a key component of the training regime, and that means thinking about how to fuel before, during and [...]