RENTING April 22, 2010 JAMES DAVIS CEO OF ONLINE LETTINGS AGENT UPAD.co.uk Q. Is it better to let a flat furnished or unfurnished? If I let unfurnished, does the tenant have extra rights? A. Since 1988 there has been no legal difference between the two but there are financial implications: you aren’t liable for council tax on an unfurnished [...]
A labour of love with rich rewards April 22, 2010 THE idea of buying a romantic, unmodernised property can be immensely appealing, offering both historical charm and the chance to do a place up with your own stamp on it. There’s also the promise of earning yourself a tidy profit when it comes to selling down the road. Simon Barnes, a property consultant, says: “Renovating [...]
Inside the tortured mind of a murderer April 21, 2010 BLUEEYEDBOY BY JOANNE HARRIS Doubleday, £18.99 THE colour of murder is blue, he thinks. Ice-blue, smokescreen blue, frostbite, post-mortem, body-bag blue. It is also his colour in so many ways, running through his circuitry like an electrical charge, screaming blue murder all the way.” So begins this chilling, elegant thriller about a blue-eyed boy that [...]
‘Tis the season for green shoots April 21, 2010 AS WELL as stranding tens of thousands of Brits around the world this week, the volcanic ash crisis had the supermarkets sweating over the possibility of serious fruit and veg shortages. Ironically, the mini-crisis came just as the season gets underway for the one vegetable where we can justifiably claim that home-grown beats all-comers –?the [...]
Find a holiday idyll with no flying required April 20, 2010 IT’S finally started: deluges of volcano-friendly holidays. Yesterday our inboxes were indundated with ways to get round the awful ash cloud. Certainly, if your far-flung trip has been postponed, holidaying in Britain need not be a trial. The UK?is packed with idyllic places to stay, from the cosy and rustic and the majestic and palatial, [...]
Volcanic ash is a chance to practice Zen April 20, 2010 DR JO PERKINS PSYCHOLOGIST AT ORBIT CONSULTING COPING with this kind of frustration does depend on the personal situation. But broadly, be very careful not to get caught up in the hype and general mood. Yes, it is very stressful. But sit down and get a pen and paper and get things in perspective – [...]
OUT OF OFFICE April 20, 2010 THE REAL THING BY STOPPARD Toby Stephens, Fenella Woolgar and Hattie Morahan are starring in Tom Stoppard’s razor sharp comedy, which opens tonight at the Old Vic. Full of Stoppard’s usual verbal pyrotechnics, the play examines the complex nature of love, creativity and reality. It tells the story of Henry, a successful playwright who finds [...]
Beauty and the Beast April 20, 2010 IN TODAY’S list of the “world’s most popular goals” by goal-setting website 43 things, 19,131 people said that their goal was to “go on a road trip with no predetermined destination”. The pure pleasure of driving minus a defined objective came in first, before losing weight, falling in love and ceasing to procrastinate. It’s imperfect [...]
Smell delicious this summer with a sensual new perfume April 19, 2010 PERFUME houses have leapt upon the new season like never before, releasing dozens of spring/summer scents for 2010. To help guide your choices next time you’re in Duty Free (assuming the ash cloud clears), we spoke to the poetic-voiced James Craven, perfume consultant and archivist of London’s top perfumery, Les Senteurs. “This spring/summer is all [...]
The key to the marathon is chunking April 19, 2010 JEREMY ADAMS SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST WITH just a few days before the London Marathon, the mental states of the people who are running it will be varied. Some will be excited, some scared, some are confused and not sure what to expect, and others just feel underprepared. The bad news is that it is going to [...]