Homes & Gardens

What to Consider Before Adding Colour to Your Home

Choosing a new colour for your home is much more than just picking something that looks good in isolation. You need a tone that reflects your style and complements the architecture. Before you start splashing paint on the walls, there are a few factors to think about that can help you make an...

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New affordable housing on former Astor Centre site

A new affordable housing development on the site of the former Astor Community Centre is nearing completion.

The centre was closed several years ago and the land was released as part of Plymouth City Council's Get Plymouth Building programme. AJM Building Design Ltd has transformed the former community centre into a striking block of 12 one and two bed homes, one of which is a disabled...

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Saturday 6.30pm: the most dangerous time to be in your home

Blundering adults in the South West have over 6 million home accidents each year, each one causing physical injury or property damage, with Saturday at 6.30pm the most dangerous time to be at home in the region.

A study by Electrical Safety First has identified that our risky behaviours are leading to a huge number of accidents, with the most common accident in the South West...

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Road to be named after late councillor

A road on new development of 19 affordable homes on a former factory site is being named after the late Councillor Dennis Camp, who served Plymouth’s Southway ward on Plymouth City Council from 1990 to his death in 2006 and was also Lord Mayor of Plymouth in 2000/01.

Alison Seabeck MP and Councillor Chris Penberthy, Cabinet Member for Cooperatives, Housing and Community Safety for...

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Renting ‘lifers’ £600,000 worse off

New research identifies emerging social tribes –‘first time flyers’, ‘first time triers’ and ‘renting lifers’

Families in the South West who are never able to get on the property ladder will be more than £603,800 worse off over their lifetime than those who can buy a home in their twenties, new research from Shelter shows.

The unique study by the housing charity paints a...

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Popular garden waste scheme restarts

Plymouth’s popular garden waste collection is starting up again from 30 March.

This year the scheme will be extended by a month until the end of November so that people can sweep up autumn leaves and put their garden to bed for the winter.

The collection operates every fortnight – the same week that people’s recycling is collected.

The service starts just ahead of the...

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Householders in SW save millions by switching electricity supplier

Around £10.2 million was saved by 145,000 households in the South West in the last six months, simply by changing electricity supplier.

The figures, released as part of the ‘Power to Switch’ campaign, show that within the South West:

28,000 households in Bristol saved around £2 million 20,000 households in Gloucester saved around £1.4 million 17,000 households in Bournemouth...

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Gardeners beware: The slugs are coming!

Gardeners should start preparing early for their great slug and snail hunt this year as winter temperatures have provided the perfect conditions for their arch enemies.

According to Wyevale Garden Centres – the UK’s largest garden centre group - last year, gardeners spent £11.6 million in their battle to protect their botanical spaces, battling over 30 species of slugs including a...

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Your property prices are rising

The South West property market has seen the pace of price rises start to accelerate again due to the demand supply imbalance, according to the latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey.

While nationally Northern Ireland and Scotland continue to outperform the rest of the UK, there were upward shifts in price growth across the South West and the South East, while London saw its sixth...

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Scheme helps 9,000 people buy a new home in the South West

Help to Buy, the government’s flagship housing scheme, has helped 88,420 people buy a new home (9,045 in the South West) since it was created, new figures have revealed today.

Since the launch of the Help to Buy equity loan and mortgage guarantee schemes:

• 80% of scheme completions have been made by first-time buyers • the average house price has been £185,000, significantly...

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£25m Plymouth investment helps British Gas meet new energy efficiency target four months early

A £25 million scheme delivered by British Gas across Plymouth to make homes warmer and to lower the cost of energy bills, has helped the company meet its Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) four months early.

The three year investment from British Gas to carry out energy efficiency measures across the city, is helping social housing tenants obtain heavily discounted solid wall insulation...

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