The London Underground or The Tube, as it is called, has over 260 station covering the city and proximity. The names of the stations range from absolutely normal to strange or interesting.
In the picture below you will find 75 clues that illustrate the names of the London Tube stations. It is a fun game if you’re just getting accustomed to the weary names.
Click here for the larger picture.
Source: Now. Here. This.
These facts and figures are frightening, especially as most of us endure commuting day-in day-out, year-in year-out. Either by train, bus or behind the wheel of a car… This journey has to be endured.
A study of more than 34,000 working British adults found journeys upwards of half-an-hour are damaging the nations health and productivity.
People most at risk of depression are those who have the longest commute times: more than an an hour in each direction. They were 33% more likely to suffer from depression and 12 % more likely to report work-related stress.
Results following the research showed that they have a 46% greater risk of getting less than seven hours sleep each per night, as recommended.
This is a real eye opener and something to seriously think about if you are thinking of relocating to the country and intend to commute each day.
If you’re one of those countryside folks trapped inside an apartment for living purposes only, we have an idea on how to ‘cultivate’ your farmer side. Create a garden on your balcony and start growing your favourite plants this summer.
Balcony gardening became a tre
nd a couple of years ago. It started as a hobby for some, but it was rapidly adopted by those who wanted more control over what they put on the table.
What can you grow on your balcony?
Culinary herbs like basil, chervil, chives, coriander, dill, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme.
You can also grow small vegetables – actually any kind of vegetable if you do not want to mass-product it. Some suggestions are: cherry tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, green onions, radishes, beans, carrots
What do you need to create the garden on the balcony?
Enough light, to start with. It’s not merely as precious as space, since space can be maximized by rational use.
Pots of all types and sizes. Containers and a good soil create a good basis for your garden apartment.
Don’t forget the seeds. Choose plants that grow fast enough. It can be a bit frustrating just looking at an empty pot for a couple of days, but keep in mind that the seed what planted! It takes time and water to grow.
And one more advice: make full use of your vertical space. Climb anything that can climb on the walls of the balcony.
I am 22 years of age and would love to buy my own property.
Being a first-time buyer usually means forking out rent, saving for a deposit and playing catch-up with ever-rising house prices all at the same time!
London is the ideal place to buy a house or an apartment for me. It is a great place to live in, but it can be expensive if you are a first time buyer.
Not only are properties expensive to buy (average price in the borough of Redbridge is £446,581) but I will also need at least 20% deposit + stamp duty costs + legal fees on top of that.
Based on my salary, it would be impossible to apply for a mortgage based on the average property prices in London. My own research shows that there are two solutions for purchasing a property.
– Buy a property out of London as it is a lot cheaper, therefore, affordable for me.
– ‘Help to Buy Scheme’
The scheme requires a minimum 5% deposit of the property value with the Government offering an interest-free loan of a further 20%. The remaining 75% is covered by a standard mortgage.
As an example, if you want to buy a £200,000 property under the Equity Loan scheme, you would need a minimum deposit of £10,000 and to qualify for a £150,000 mortgage. The Government then provides an equity loan of £40,000.
Another option would be to buy jointly, either with friends or family. I think this is my preferred option, so far. 🙂
From 17th Until 20th August 2017!
Free family entertainment!
Guest stars include:
The Three Degrees
The Edwin Starr Band
Ruby Turner
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
BBC Asian Networks
Bobby Sandhu, and many more!
Followed by a grand finale firework display!
The fun kicks off at 6.30pm and goes on until 10.30pm.
Venue: Central Park, High Street South, E6.
Entrance via all gates.
Are you the owner of a city apartment? The closer to the city center, the better…
However, there might be some disadvantages to your property. For example, the rooms might not be as spacious as you want them to be or you might be missing some outdoor space (a garden or a full-view balcony).
You might have a balcony to your apartment, but it is so tiny you can not actually do anything in it.
Well, redecorating is a solution to make everything look and feel better. So let’s start with the balcony and turn it from simply “small” to “small, but comfortable“, or “small, but good looking”. Or, why not, “small, but very practical“!
First step to re-creating your balcony is to empty it and assess all the space you have. 
Then, pick a purpose! What do you want it to be? A place for reading, a breakfast area for lazy weekend mornings or just a pretty place where guests can stand and admire the view?
Defining the purpose of the balcony is going to give you an idea of what type of furniture you need. A small coffee table or just chairs? Or, even better, rocking chairs! Plants can be placed in hangers and just placed on the wall. Also, shelves should be quite useful and do not use any space. And you do not think of necessarily buying the items you need. You can actually do some pieces of furniture by yourself by recycling some old things.
To personalize the space even more, light up your balcony! Pick a lighting solution that enhances the space and is practical. LED lights should be what you need, just use them creatively.
Have some courage and start the “Re-design you balcony” project now so you can make full use of it while the weather is still great. Here are some more ideas on what you can do in your balcony.
Share with us the pictures when you’re done! We can’t wait to see how it looks!
The first noted beach hut goes back to Australia as early as 1862. The bathing boxes are thought to have been constructed to protect the Victorian’s morality during a time of both male and females covering their bodies, even while on the beach. Just after this time, beach huts were seen in England, France and Italy.
Up until 2003, The Queen had a beach hut in Norfolk. The royal family had this for 70 years. The artist Tracey Emin recently sold her beach hut in Whitstable for £75,000 to Charles Saatchi.
Typically, a beach hut is a brightly coloured small wooden construction placed on/ near the beach. On the inside they are simply furnished, with a small fridge freezer and a sofa.
They are generally used to shelter from the sun or wind, or to change into and out of a swimming costume. Some beach huts have been modified with either a gas or electricity supply.
Today, depending on the location of the beach hut, it could set you back as much as £30,000, with Brighton being in “Top 10 Beach Hut Locations”. This is still cheaper than a caravan, and without the dreaded site fee’s.
If you live in a big city and just need to unwind for a day, this could be a good solution for a get-away. The biggest decision will probably be ‘What colour should I paint it?’.
As we mentioned in a previous article, you should give a closer look to the outdoor space of the property when trying to sell it.
The garden is one key point for making a good impression! Just take a look at your garden now and try to imagine how it can be better organized or designed. Some extra elements might do the trick (create a small pond or a path with paving stone) and turn your garden into the selling proposition of your property.
We found these ideas useful and very practical for landscaping the garden and getting it ready for a viewing.
However, the best advice in the article on Property Division is this one: always keep in mind the type of buyer you are targeting. Millennials will need a simple, but friendly garden – the gathering place for BBQ s and late dinners with friends. Couples with children will want the garden for the children to play and with a very ‘homely’ design. Elders see the garden as a relaxing place and will want a comfortable garden with low maintenance.
Read more on the subject and share with us your idea of landscaping the garden!
Start your own crowdfunding for a buy-to-let project with just £100?
Or did you think of using Virtual Reality for viewing a building that isn’t even built yet?
There are a lot of ways of using technology in the property market for selling and buying purposes. Most of them focus on the selling part – enhancing the experience of becoming an owner before actually buying.
Proptech is the general name for every technological service or feature used on the property market. Technology is just starting to take over our daily life, and we are going to see more and more of it in the years to come.
An analysis on PropertyReporter covers the way Proptech will find its rightful place in the estate business.
More about it in the article ‘Have we only seen the tip of the proptech iceberg?‘.
A better supplied market does not seem to be the answer for forcing rental prices to go down. At least not around London.
Latest data showed that in the second quarter of 2017 the rental offer increased by 7% in the areas around London. At the same time, the average rent per month reached £790 – going up by 2.8% in comparison with the previous quarter.
Inside London, rents dropped by 0.2%, however, with an average rent at £1,934 per month.
To get a clear view of the market, go to the Victor Michael website in the ‘Letting’ section.
