Homes & Gardens

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 below the national average • Over 80,000 people have bought a home through the scheme • 94% of Help to Buy completions take place outside of London • Over half of Help to Buy completions have been for...

Leading UK housebuilder Charles Church has just 11 properties remaining at its Kings Grove development in Exeter. The site boasts two to five bedroom houses and it is situated on the outskirts of the city, forming part of the Cranbrook community. Picked for its easy access to the M5 motorway, Exeter International Airport and the coast, Kings Grove has 3 bed detached properties available from £255,000 The homes have been carefully designed to complement the local environment, offering a combination of stone, brick and render and roofed in either grey slates or terracotta tiles. They are...

Most people use their shed to store garden equipment, bicycles and even expensive power tools. Yet, often, sheds are fitted with inadequate locks, or no lock at all.

Since June last year, over seventy-one victims in South Devon had their sheds broken into and property stolen. Almost half of these occurred in Teignbridge.

Fourteen sheds were broken into in Torquay and twelve across Ivybride and Kingsbridge. The areas reporting the fewest number of break-ins were Totnes, Dartmouth, Paignton and Brixham.

To reduce this type of crime, Police have teamed with South Devon...

Households in Exeter estimate that they spend more than £850 per year on heating bills, yet nearly three quarters of adults still feel cold at home according to new research from Barratt Homes.

Spending patterns on heating vary significantly across the country, the Scots are the biggest spenders paying £171 more than those in the South West.

According to research, the biggest influence on heating bills is the age of the property.

Typical new-build homeowners save on average £600 per year when it comes to heating bills. And the gap between old and new is growing – a...