Homes & Gardens

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act has now come into force across the UK and Devon’s tenants might be feeling positive. After all, it’s now easier for them to sue a landlord who fails to keep their home in a habitable condition.

This is an important piece of legislation; it functions as an update to the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1985. The new Act improves on the wording in the original 1985 legislation, specifically that landlords were previously obliged to ensure only that their properties are kept in good repair. The update sets out that landlords must not only keep...

The capital city of Germany, Berlin, is known to have the lowest prices when it comes to renting costs. However, in recent years, there has been a steady increase in the prices of rooms for rent in Berlin . In fact, 2018 was its highest ever which was recorded at EUR 11.40 per square meter of property compared to a decade earlier which was at 5.60.

Although, there have been reports saying that in spite of the increase in its prices, Berlin is still the cheapest, not only in Germany itself but also in Europe. This is the reason why many of those who are looking for a room to rent...

New research from local housebuilder Barratt Homes shows that the government’s Help to Buy scheme can knock more than three years off the time it takes to get on the property ladder.

Barratt, which is building new homes at developments across Exeter, surveyed around 1,600 of its customers who had used Help to Buy to get their views on the scheme. More than half of the respondents (55 per cent) said it would have taken them three or more years to buy a house if they hadn’t used Help to Buy, while more than 33 per cent said that without using the scheme it would have taken them...

When the Right to Buy (RtB) scheme was first introduced in 1980, then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher praised the programme as a way for the UK to create a "property-owning democracy". In the nearly 40 years since, the scheme has proved to be anything but. Rather, it has become a huge drain on taxpayers.

Mounting data shows that RtB has created a wealth transfer scheme whereby some council renters have purchased their homes at a great discount only to turn around and resell them for excessive profit. As evidence mounts in favour of ending the programme in England, there is a very...