Homes & Gardens

Finding an electrician you can rely on has never been the simplest job on a homeowner's list. Search online and you are met with dozens of listings, a great many five star reviews of uncertain origin, and very little clarity about who is actually qualified to work on your home. For households across Exeter, that search has just become easier. Assured Electricians has extended its service across the city and the surrounding villages, bringing a team of fully qualified, locally based electricians to properties from St Leonards to Pinhoe.

Most older people want to stay in the home they know rather than move somewhere new, and families across Devon are working out hands-on ways to make that happen for longer. For many older residents across Exeter and the wider county, staying near neighbours and routines built up over decades matters as much as any medical consideration.

What that looks like varies from one household to the next, depending on the relative's health, the layout of their home and how much support family members can offer. A few patterns keep showing up across Devon families managing this well, from...

Devon has more holiday lets than almost any other county in England. From Exmouth seafront apartments to cob cottages on the edge of Dartmoor, thousands of properties within an hour of Exeter earn their keep by standing empty for part of the year.

That rhythm of occupied one week, quiet the next, works beautifully for owners. It also happens to suit one of Britain's most expensive household pests.

Clothes moths and carpet moths have risen sharply across the UK over the past decade, and part-time properties are among their favourite targets. Holiday lets, second homes,...

There is a big difference between a property that needs renovating and one that simply feels tired.

Faded walls, dated fittings, cluttered rooms and years of small knocks can gradually make a perfectly functional home look as though it needs far more work than it actually does. Before you start imagining walls coming down and kitchens being ripped out, it is worth seeing what can be achieved with smaller changes.

A few focused improvements can make a property feel cleaner, brighter and more considered, without months of disruption.

Step 1: Work Out What Is...