Holiday Homes: The property market in Lisbon is so hot right now, it’s being called ‘the California of Europe’ March 17, 2017 One of Europe’s most beautiful cities is also now one of its most vibrant and dynamic. For decades Lisbon’s development and historic architecture was neglected, but things are looking better for the city, tourism is up, unemployment down, and foreign money is bringing in new investment. One of the drivers of this surge in vitality [...]
Embracing Italy’s culinary heritage on a journey from Florence to the stunning Riviera March 17, 2017 As welcomes go, my arrival into Genoa airport will take some beating. In my experience, airport transfers usually involve a 45 minute purgatory of cabs or shuttle buses. However, there I was, driving along dream-like coastal roads with a soundtrack of classic Italian standards. An appropriately bespoke introduction, given I would spend the next week [...]
Opinion: Here’s how to negotiate a lower rent if you’re living in London and throwing half your salary down the drain March 17, 2017 In the past six years, rents in London have increased by 23 percent, while the average salary has only inched upwards. Overall, under-30s are now spending almost 60 percent of their income on rent. With many of us facing the prospect of being pushed further and further out of the capital, it’s crucial we take [...]
Property of the Week: Ingleton Street in Stockwell used to be a garage – now it’s a £750,000 party pad March 17, 2017 Thirsty punters sitting outside the Crown and Anchor on Brixton Road often stop and stare at the building opposite on Ingleton Street. Who can blame them? It looks like someone has attempted to hide an architect’s studio by covering it in doilies. “It’s a self-confessed vanity project,” says Marlon Lloyd Malcolm, director of sales at [...]
Focus On Twickenham: Families flock to TW1 for period houses, riverside walks, and a 25min commute March 17, 2017 As the Six Nations tournament comes to a close this Saturday, all eyes are on Twickenham. This leafy south west London suburb may buzz with life around match days – with the thoroughfare between Twickenham station and the stadium getting particularly boisterous – but the rest of the time, it’s the picture of modern, aspirational [...]
Money can buy you happiness – at least according to Londoners March 17, 2017 The old adage maintains that “money can’t buy you happiness” but many Brits – and Londoners in particular – disagree, according to research conducted by VoucherCodes and YouGov. A survey of 2,181 people found that Brits need to earn an average minimum of £39,942 per year to be happy, about 45 per cent more than the [...]
Build to Rent schemes are leading the way when it comes to welcoming lets with pets, but when will landlords follow suit? March 17, 2017 Dogs may be man’s best friend, but they’re also a leaseholder’s nightmare. A couple who bought a £1m penthouse in Limehouse, east London, found that out the hard way last month, when a judge found in favour of their management company who upheld a “no pets policy” banning their Yorkshire-Maltese cross from living on the [...]
New Homes: What’s on sale in London this weekend in Nine Elms, Battersea, Cricklewood, Deptford and Hampstead March 17, 2017 Embassy Gardens, Nine Elms From £705,000 Buyers came away with a bunch of flowers when they visited the floral-themed launch of the Nature Range at Embassy Gardens this week. All of the 35 studio to two bedroom apartments enjoy views across garden squares, a ravine filled with wildflowers, and a green walkway between Vauxhall and [...]
Personal Shopper review: Anyone expecting a straightforward horror film will come out with buyer’s remorse March 16, 2017 Personal Shopper puts so much effort into not being your typical supernatural horror film that it almost forgets it’s a supernatural horror film. It opens with a familiar scene, a young attractive woman (Kristen Stewart in this case) wanders around a scary old house, following the sound of dripping taps and creaky door handles. But [...]
My Country: a work in progress at the National Theatre review: a play that tries to make sense of Brexit March 16, 2017 It has been said that our membership of the EU was too complicated a subject for a referendum, and this play – born out of a nationwide listening project – also makes the theatre feel inadequate when it comes to deciphering what the hell happened on 23 June. Each actor is assigned a region – [...]