News Archive - May 2007 - Buildstore

Building employers in England are being encouraged to increase their intake of construction apprentices as firms are missing out on talented workers d...

As many as one in five homes and businesses are threatening the nation's rivers and lakes due to pollution, as their drains are illegally connected t...

Mortgage lenders are continuing to have to tailor their lending packages to meet the individual needs of customers because everyone's circumstances a...

Renovating an older property is preferable to buying a new build due to simple and practical reasons, according to experts from the British Property F...

The ultimate eco house is being erected inside the Eden Project this spring in the hope that it will inspire people to take on the task of preventing...

Over half a million homes in the UK are damaged each year by calamitous neighbours, according to a new report, with £172 being the average cost o...

If you can't afford to buy a property then you should not resort to desperate measures but should hold out to a time when the property market is less...

Parents are the new bank with many hard-up first-time buyers relying on their mums and dads for hand-outs to get onto the property ladder, according t...

Young people in the UK are increasingly looking to their parents to provide advice and help when it comes to getting their foot onto the property ladd...

With all this talk of Home Information Packs (Hips) and their gradual phased-in delays, it seems Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) have been forg...

Mortgage lenders are getting increasingly creative about how they lend to first-time buyers, according to one expert. Many innovative mortgages have ...

Noise pollution is a big problem in the UK and a new report shows that eight out of ten noisy neighbour disturbances are going unreported to the polic...

Many Brits are risking a home improvement-based insurance claim in the pursuit of increasing the value of their property, according to a new report. ...

The argument for Home Information Packs (Hips) continues today with pro-Hips campaigners comparing the packs to MOT tests. David Collett, the chairm...

The delay in the introduction of Home Information Packs (Hips) will only serve to heighten greater clarity for the eventual implementation, according ...

One in five home owners is considering converting unused rooms in their homes into extra living space, according to a new report. According to AA Ins...

Over one million holiday makers return home to disaster every year, according to a new report. Halifax Home Insurance has found that quarter of a mil...

The property market in the West Midlands is very friendly to first-time buyers when compared to other locations in England, according to experts. Stu...

Kirstie Allsopp, the TV property expert who presents Location, Location, Location, says that Home Information Packs (Hips) should be scrapped altogeth...

The new phased introduction of Home Information Packs (Hips) is not really going to have a dramatic affect on the housing market, according to experts...

The new planning White Paper must ensure that there is more land available for people to self-build their own new homes, according to one expert. St...

There has been a recent surge in house prices in Dundee but this is not due to more buyers, but down to properties in the city "catching up"...

New planning laws in the UK unveiled in a government White Paper have made it easier for home owners to add extensions and loft conversions to their h...

The new planning laws make it easier for home owners to get permission to build extensions and loft conversions but will probably not have much of an...

Professionally installed security systems may offer more "peace of mind and protection" than DIY systems, according to one home improvement ...

The government is going to delay the introduction of Home Information Packs (Hips) and they will not be compulsory from June 1st anymore. Ruth Kelly,...

You are probably well aware of the need for homes to become greener, but if you are stuck for ideas as to how to do this then read the following tips ...

First time buyers really will benefit from the introduction of Home Information Packs (Hips), according to experts from the Association of Home Inform...

One electricity supplier has now conceded that fuel poverty is a big problem in the UK and it has allowed poor families to trial microgenerators in o...

Ruth Kelly, the communities secretary, is to outline new planning rules which will aim to cut costs for homeowners and tackle climate change. She is...

The shake-up to planning laws could spell disaster for local community groups who disapprove of the construction of large buildings in their area. Ne...

Walls covered in ivy can knock thousands of pounds off the value of your property, according to a new survey. Website uktvgardens.co.uk has found tha...

Investment in Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits) has been disappointingly slow since their introduction in January, according to experts. Reita, w...

Manchester is the UK's second city for commercial property with an extremely busy market which, though not competing with London, has very strong pot...

There's some good news for people trying to sell up in Birmingham as the city council has announced search fees for local land charges are soon to be...

Southampton is a hot new property destination which offers a "diverse and fast-moving" market, catering to all types of people who want to s...

New government figures show that house building in England now stands at its highest level since 1989 and some 168,000 homes have been built in 2006 a...

More home owners than ever before are using their mortgage to make vital home improvements despite this meaning remortgaging their property, according...

If you are considering buying a plot of green belt land then be warned that you might be required to get planning permission before starting your sel...

The government is being urged to double its efforts in increasing the affordability of housing in rural communities. The Campaign to Protect Rural En...

Due to a surfeit of demand for too few affordable properties in the UK, there has been an increase in the amount of flats, maisonettes and terraced pr...

Regeneration is the direction in which much of the property industry is moving and making use of disused buildings and brownfield land is very much a...

The likelihood of Britons to receive green home improvement grants from the government is very slim and only the very keen are likely to succeed in th...

More vulnerable homes in the UK will be made more resilient to the threat of flooding after the government announced a new £500,000 funding packa...

The average cost of moving home in the UK is now £16,000 and over a lifetime, some two years of people's salaries is eaten up by the moving proc...

Yesterday the Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown called for 200,000 new zero-carbon homes to be built and experts are welcoming this news. The Ho...

Since there is a brooding wooden fence shortage in the UK, it may be wise to look into alternative types of fencing which could surround your boundari...

Self-build is becoming an increasingly popular property solution as housing prices seem to rise every month. The main thing to think about when decid...

Green housing targets set by the government are the biggest change ever made to the construction industry, according to one expert. Gavin Hodgson fro...

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has vowed to build five new eco-towns with a combined total of 100,000 carbon-free homes if he becomes Prime ...

Some good news regarding the imminent arrival of Home Information Packs (Hips) is that they will save time and money which has been wasted in the past...

It is time to give your home its traditional spring spruce-up and here are some top tips for an eco-friendly clean-up at your home. Using natural cle...

The government must show more joined-up thinking on green issues because at the moment there are discrepancies between funding, regulation and educati...

There should be no limits on how many microgeneration grants are given out to progressive home owners, according to campaigners from the Solar Trade A...

Stoke-on-Trent is proving to be a most popular destination for family living, according to property experts in the area. Andrew Johnson works at Hulm...

Before applying for a microgeneration grant you now have to get planning permission in what has been named as a streamlining move by experts. The Cen...

The Bank of England has raised the interest rate to 5.5 per cent today which is an increase of 0.25 per cent. "This rate change was a certainty ...

When some homeowners decide to go green and install energy efficient home improvements, they sometimes consult architects for expert advice. Jestico...

Planning permission has been granted in Gateshead for the country's first ever building of flat-pack homes but experts say this is no solution to the...

The British nation has apparently fallen out of love with DIY and are so worried about doing a botch job that they would rather get someone else in to...

The new Sustainable Communities bill is likely to provide a boost for the small-scale, individual property developer, according to experts. Local cou...

If you have made the decision to have asbestos removed from your home renovation project, then make sure you don't use cowboy removers. People shoul...

As Prime Minister Tony Blair gets ready to hand the baton on to Gordon Brown, it seems views are mixed on his legacy for the UK's countryside. Neil ...

The price people pay for rent has increased by over eight per cent over the last quarter showing that self-building your own property may be a more fe...

When dealing with a home renovation you may come across or be concerned about asbestos. Although the majority of UK homes contain asbestos there is o...

Land with implementable planning permission is the biggest obstacle to the government in its pursuit of providing 200,000 sustainable new builds every...

Though the government wants us all to get involved in green home improvements, one expert says that carbon offsetting is actually more effective. Cli...

If you did some DIY over the long weekend then beware because a 60 per cent surge in home insurance claims for bodged jobs is expected by one company....

Interest rate decision could spark remortgaging frenzy An anticipated interest rate rise next week could force millions of UK homeowners to remortgag...

Homeowners are becoming increasingly conscious about what they can do to help protect the environment - but often even the simplest of changes may hav...

A new franchise has been launched by roofing contractor Colin Richards to meet huge demand for flat roof buildings and renovations. Roof Master was e...

Lifestyle Interiors, a designer used by Miller Homes to furnish its show homes, has offered several top tips on how homeowners can keep their property...

If you are planning to move to another property during the second half of this year then be warned, it may hurt the pocket. A new poll from Woolwich ...

Bank holiday bodging is one experience that DIY enthusiasts should be avoiding this weekend especially in the Midlands where more bodged home improvem...

Young people in the UK are beset by many financial woes but are still rushing into home buying, according to a new report. Under 25s anticipate that ...

One place many keen self-builders and home seekers are looking is Birmingham although experts warn that the suburbs are better for affordable homes t...

The UK's wind energy is largely untapped and only 0.5 per cent of the country's energy requirements are met by harnessing wind energy. However fitt...

The only hope for people with average salaries is that a massive crash happens in the property market, according to housing experts. Housing is curre...

When building your own property in the countryside it is very important to be sensitive to the needs of the already existing rural community, accordin...

The government has been trying to help out key workers with HomeBuy schemes and they have been so successful they have become oversubscribed, accordin...

The UK is being plunged into a fencing crisis as DIY shops report a soaring demand for garden fencing which is not being matched by supply. Tradition...

With another bank holiday weekend coming up you might be keen to start getting to grips with home improvements and some DIY. If so, then make sure yo...

More money from the public purse will be needed to enable brownfield sites to be developed into land suitable and attractive for home seekers and self...

Brownfield land is getting increasingly difficult to clean up so the Town and County Planning Association says that greenfield land should also be use...