1 hour ago Neighbours' panic over homeowner's plan to build house in garden

Councillors approved the three-bedroom house after 16 objections were received, with a hedge-cutting solution proposed for parking

Society

18 h. ago Why Scottish homeowners could be fined £15,000 if they don't fit an expensive heat pump

The SNP’s net-zero ideology, failed attempts to increase the number of new-build properties and ill-considered housing regulations are causing real problems

Society

8 d. ago To halt the far right, Europe’s progressive parties must fix its housing crisis. Our research shows how | Tarik Abou

The mantra of ‘build, build, build’ misses something crucial: that few can afford these new homesHousing costs across Europe have become a growing burden for many households, both for those trying to buy and those trying to rent. Over the past decade, property prices have surged faster than incomes in many European countries. The same is true for rents, which have increased exponentially in large cities but have also increased substantially in suburban areas and smaller university towns.Given how much housing costs affect Europeans’ quality of life, it is comparatively absent from the agenda of progressive political parties. When politicians do emphasise housing, the focus is usually solely on building more houses. Former German chancellor Olaf Scholz, for example, promised to build 400,000 new homes in Germany every year – a goal his government failed to reach by some distance. At the same time, far-right parties such as the Freedom party (PVV) in the Netherlands or Chega in Portug...

Events

8 d. ago Europe’s housing crisis is fuelling the rise of the far right. Our research shows how to address it | Tarik Abou

The mantra of ‘build, build, build’ misses something crucial: that few can afford these new homesReport: European progressives must tackle housing crisis to beat far right, say researchersHousing costs across Europe have become a growing burden for many households, both for those trying to buy and those trying to rent. Over the past decade, property prices have surged faster than incomes in many European countries. The same is true for rents, which have increased exponentially in large cities but have also increased substantially in suburban areas and smaller university towns.Given how much housing costs affect Europeans’ quality of life, it is comparatively absent from the agenda of progressive political parties. When politicians do emphasise housing, the focus is usually solely on building more houses. Former German chancellor Olaf Scholz, for example, promised to build 400,000 new homes in Germany every year – a goal his government failed to reach by some distance. At the same ti...

Events

8 d. ago European progressives must tackle housing crisis to beat far right, say researchers

Centre left can win broad support by addressing soaring house prices and rents, according to data analysisCentre-left parties can build a broad new coalition of support if they tackle Europe’s deepening housing crisis, researchers have said. Conversely, ignoring it risks pushing increasingly fed-up voters into the arms of the far right.Research by the Progressive Politics Research Network (PPRNet) suggests dramatic rises in the cost of housing over recent years have eroded support for centre-left parties – once the champions of affordable housing – and fuelled anti-establishment disaffection. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Fancy a dip in the front garden, darling? Young couple in hot water with neighbours over plans to build a large swimming pool house with its own 'bar' outside front door

Thomas and Eleanor Flood became embroiled in a planning row over a proposed 38ft-long pool house at their £1.3 million seaside property in Stubbington, Hampshire.

Politics

1 week ago They’re doing to America what they did to Christianity | Bill McKibben

Trump’s wrecking-ball approach to America has a precedent: the Maga evangelical perversion of Jesus’s message of radical love to one of hate and aggressionTrumpism’s most revealing and defining moments – not its most important, nor cruelest, nor most dangerous, nor stupidest, but perhaps its most illuminating – came earlier this autumn. In the course of a few weeks, the US president started showing everyone his plans for a gilded ballroom twice the size of the White House and then began unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to build it. Then, after nationwide protests against his rule, he posted on social media an AI video of himself wearing a crown and piloting a fighter jet labeled “King Trump”, which proceeded to bomb American cities and Americans with a graphically vivid load of human poop.He has done things 10,000 times as bad – the current estimate of deaths from his cuts to USAID is 600,000 and rising, and this week a study predicted his fossil fuel policies would kill anot...

Politics

3 w. ago Grand Designs house for sale: New Forest haiku house from 2004 series on market for £2.95m

The house first appeared on Grand Designs in 2004 when Lizzie and Michael took their project to build a Japanese-style haiku house — with vineyard — to Kevin McCloud

Economics

3 w. ago Ed Sheeran 'boosts his vast property empire by snapping up two houses in a cosy seaside village to build a huge coastal home'

The singer, 34, has already developed a huge estate in Framlington that's been dubbed 'Sheeranville,' that also includes a pub, tree house, swimming pool, and a cinema with 35ft by 20ft screen.

Society

3 w. ago How Mamdani is defying immigrant expectations by embracing his identity: ‘His boldness resonates’

New York City mayor-elect refused to ‘be in the shadows’ in the face of Islamophobic attacks during his campaignAcross the country, Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants has shaken neighbourhoods, torn apart families and engendered a sense of panic among communities. But in New York, on Tuesday night, Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of New York, and an immigrant from Uganda, chose to underline his identity. “New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” he told an ecstatic crowd at Paramount theater in Brooklyn.The son of a Muslim father and a Hindu mother, he was born in Kampala, raised in Queens, and identifies as a democratic socialist. Almost every aspect of Mamdani’s identity had been an issue of contention during the election. Earlier this week, the Center for Study of Organized Hate published a report highlighting the surge in Islamophobic comments online between July and October,...

Events