Top tips to spruce up your home for spring

Homeowners wishing to spruce up their properties this spring can look to these top tips from home improvement experts to give homes a refresh in time for the new season. From improving natural light levels and energy efficiency, to transforming... View Article

Budget 2021 – Expert comment from Graven Hill

Karen Curtin, managing director at self and custom build development site, Graven Hill, said: “The recent extension will see millions of people breathing a sigh of relief. Rather than destabilising the housing market and leaving some buyers with an unbudgeted... View Article

Budget 2021: a boost for construction?

An extension to the furlough scheme, a £10m MMC taskforce, a new ‘Infrastructure Bank’ totalling £12bn in capital, £15bn to be spent on the transition to net zero by 2050, an extension on the stamp duty holiday, and the introduction... View Article

Custom-build homes get a shot in the arm

SME developers of custom-built homes on multi-plots can now apply for exemption of the community infrastructure levy thanks to new planning guidance released this week. It also allows custom builders to cover a wider spectrum of projects, including customised housing... View Article

Silence is golden

Environmental noise is a part of everyday life; from road traffic noise, to construction work on your doorstep, we experience different sound levels all day, every day. It’s only in recent years that the severity of the impact of continuous... View Article

The warm glow of lower bills

Rises in gas and electricity prices mean that specifying more energy efficient and renewable heating options such as biomass is even more important, as Ian Sams from Specflue explains Renewable energy means energy produced from sources that are constantly replenished.... View Article

Off-grid sewerage

Rebecca Taylor from HD Services gives her insights into getting groundwork specifications right for your build, and explains the options available when no mains sewerage connection is possible Building your own home can be one of the most rewarding things... View Article

Interior Inspiration: Home Offices

With the arrival of Covid, hundreds of thousands of homeowners took to their studies (or sofas) to work from home. As householders continue to combine home-working with being in the office to an unprecedented degree, we round up some of... View Article

Rooflights – historic solutions

You might think rooflights are a modern invention, but as Peter Daniel of The Rooflight Company explains, they have a long history which ties into humanity’s perennial desire to bring light into buildings Natural light has been worshipped since time... View Article

Ask the Expert: The light fantastic

Marketa Rypacek of Industville looks at which of the many types of decorative lighting are best for your project, gives insights into how to go low energy without compromising light levels, and explains why lighting is like jewellery HOW CAN... View Article

Space to relax

Megan Baker of My Fitted Bedroom says that getting organisation and storage right are top of the agenda for bedrooms in 2021 The events of 2020 have seen a surge in people organising their homes – re-evaluating what they really... View Article

Getting brickwork right

Sean Wilkins of the Brick Development Association gives specification, design and workmanship tips that will ensure that your brickwork is successful Despite being used for thousands of years with evidence of their use in the UK dating back to the... View Article

Long distance champions

How virtual project management was the answer for long-distance clients to turn a Victorian vicarage into a modern masterpiece TEXT JAYNE DOWLE IMAGES MATTHEW CATTELL When the major renovation of Melinda and Chris Swann’s Victorian vicarage near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire... View Article

European promotion for VitrA’s Margaret Talbot

Margaret Talbot, marketing manager for VitrA bathrooms in the UK, has been promoted to Regional Marketing Manager – Europe. Margaret joined the Oxfordshire based bathroom company, which is part of Turkey’s largest industrial groups, the Eczacıbaşı Group, in 2016.  Following... View Article