The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that total gross mortgage lending declined to £10.4bn in January. This is 9% lower than December's gross lending figure of £11.4bn and a 3% fall from £10.7bn in January 2012 CML market and data analyst Caroline Purdey says: "Housing sentiment remains positive, despite ongoing economic pressures. "A worsening in the outlook for inflation presents a...

Name Ashleigh SloanAge 27Home BangorWhere do you work? Lough and Quay Estate Agents What brought you into the business? I started working in the property industry when I was 19. After a three-year break as a retail manager, I just couldn't shake my desire to work in estate agency and came back into it in 2012. What do you have sitting on your...

Get through the cold nights and ready for spring with these fun florals from Marks & Spencer, perfect for updating tired rooms and adding a fresh feel. From cushions to rugs to wall art and crockery – there’s something for every room of the house and for every style. So come on, shirk off the grey skies and showers and...

The latest University of Ulster Quarterly House Price Index for the final quarter of 2012, produced in partnership with Bank of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, has recorded an increase in the number of house sales, with signs of greater stability in prices. The overall average price of a house in the fourth quarter – October, November and December...

Housing Executive and most housing association tenants can now use a free online service to look for suitable homes that are available for exchange. Gerry Flynn, Housing Executive Director of Housing explained: ‘HomeSwapper is the UK’s largest and most successful home swap service.  It’s now free to all Housing Executive tenants and most Northern Ireland housing association tenants and is an easy...

Floods in Australia cause millions of dollars of damage every year, and this figure rises into the billions of dollars when the flooding is on the scale of a natural disaster. The damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure is devastating, and those in high flood areas often find they can no longer afford their insurance premiums. When a natural disaster like...

OFTEC, which represents the domestic oil heating and cooking industry in Northern Ireland, have issued advice to homeowners to help prevent oil theft. OFTEC’s advice follows a warning from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) highlighting the problem after a series of incidents recently. The leading trade organisation is urging householders to be vigilant following the latest incidents. Homes in Ballycastle...

At the recent UK What House Awards, Coopers Mill scooped another major award - Best Starter Home. Battling against all the major UK house builders, Coopers Mill stole the show and was said to ‘offer something extra special’.  The judges recognized the ‘high specification and attention to detail throughout’ and deemed it ‘a clear winner’ of the Gold Award.  They...

One leading mortgage provider is preparing to further strengthen and expand their brand by branching out into estate agency. Proprietor of the Andersonstown branch of The Mortgage Shop Daniel Rogers has welcomed well-known estate agent Terry Rice to his team, the two having previously worked together for 22 years during their time at Halifax Estate Agents. No stranger to the industry, Daniel...

“A stove is quite simply an enclosed heated space. The forerunner to the stove was a fire covered by an iron plate surrounded on three sides by bricks and mortar. The Hearth Act of 1662 taxed Irish people on the number of stoves, chimneys and hearths they owned so stoves were a status symbol, a sign of wealth.” The first stove...