housing

Digging into new ground in Christow

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:17am

A unique development that will provide 18 affordable highly energy efficient homes in Dartmoor National Park, is about to start on-site.

The £3.6million project in Christow is being led by the Christow Community Land Trust (CCLT) and supported by Teign Housing, which has invested £574k and will manage the properties once built.

Most of the properties will be built to full PassivHaus standards, which is one of the highest standards of environmental building. Almost no heating is required and it is believed that the total energy bills for these properties will be just £100 a...

SW house price growth of 24% predicted over next five years

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:00am

The UK housing marketing is entering a new phase. It has been through a boom, a bust and a recovery cycle, and as we head into 2015 and a year that will see the formation of a new Government, we are now entering a more stable, yet still challenging era.

That’s according to leading property consultancy JLL’s new Residential Market Review, published this month which predicts that South West house prices will rise by 4% in 2015 and 24% over the next five years. This rate of increase is second only to London and the South East and faster than the UK average.

The new report The...

South West housing market reaches breaking point

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Wed, 10/22/2014 - 11:38am

High housing costs and low wages are pushing many areas of the South West out of reach for local people according to a new report from the National Housing Federation. South West Broken Market, Broken Dreams warns that while the average house price in the region is now close to £230,000, earnings in the region are among the lowest in England, making house prices on average nearly ten times annual incomes. In rural and coastal areas, the situation is even worse. With beauty spots commanding premium house prices and attracting wealthy second home owners, spiralling prices are forcing young...

Revenge eviction fears in South West

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Wed, 10/15/2014 - 12:51am

One in 11 renters in the South West have suffered health problems in the last year because rogue landlords failed to deal with poor conditions in their properties, newly released research shows.

The YouGov survey of more than 4,500 private renters across the country, commissioned by Shelter and British Gas, revealed that poor conditions were commonplace for renters. More than two fifths of renters said they had lived in a property with mould (44%) and damp (41%) in the past year, which can cause health conditions such as asthma and eczema. Nearly three tenths (29%) had a leaking...

EDDC consults tenants on funding cuts for vulnerable and elderly

Teams from the Housing Service at East Devon District Council have launched a month-long series of consultation sessions in which they will ask tenants to comment on options aimed at minimising the impact that cuts in Devon County Council (DCC) funding next year will have on over 1,300 elderly and vulnerable tenants.

The options on the table include retaining as many services as possible and either reducing the level of service or charging where previously it was free. The aim is that these tenants will still be able to live independently at home.

Twenty-one sessions will...

Steam evaporates from SW housing market

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Thu, 10/09/2014 - 11:01am

Greater caution appears to be being exercised across the South West housing market as price expectations hit the lowest level since April 2013, according to the latest RICS Residential Market Survey.

Although price momentum remains positive, and has been positive over the last three months – with 47 percent more respondents seeing a rise in prices, a more modest figure of 9% more chartered surveyors are predicting a rise in prices over the coming three months. In the South West, new buyer demand slipped for the third consecutive month.

Meanwhile, stock coming onto the...

Work starts on Exmouth sea wall

Authored by Mandy Pearse
Posted: Sat, 09/27/2014 - 10:31am

An 80 tonne crane has taken up residence on Exmouth Pierhead as nearly £1 million of work starts to replace the sea wall.

This is the final element of infrastructure work in the redevelopment of Exmouth Quay.

The wall replacement is a necessary first step before construction work starts in earnest early next year on a five storey development of 14 waterside apartments.

Eagle One Homes has commissioned Devon firm, Teignmouth Maritime Services, to undertake the piling work. Over the next six weeks nearly 400 tonnes of new steel piling will be lifted into place to...

Mould a health risk to asthma sufferers

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Mon, 09/01/2014 - 11:18am

Damp and mould in homes could pose a significant health risk to people with asthma according to a new study by Exeter academics.

By critically reviewing the findings from 17 studies in eight different countries, the research published the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology found that the presence of several types of mould can lead to breathing problems in asthma sufferers, as well as increasing the likelihood of developing the condition.

The research has been conducted by a team at the University of Exeter Medical School and is the first time all of the information...

Housing survey offers chance to win iPad

Exeter City Council is working with the University of Exeter to look at housing for the future in the city.

Cllr Rob Hannaford, Lead Councillor for Housing and Customer Access, said: “We’re really keen to hear from people who are not currently registered for social housing. We already know quite a lot about housing need in Exeter because there are over 4,000 households registered on Devon Home Choice, now we want to hear from those not on the list.”

The Council is keen to hear about the housing circumstances of as many people as possible to ensure a fair cross-section of...

New homes offer reduced heating bills

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Thu, 08/14/2014 - 11:00am

Construction of 20 new homes at three sites in Exeter is now well underway.

The accommodation at Bennett Square (Mincinglake) and Brookway (Whipton) is expected to be completed in spring 2015. Newport Road (Countess Wear) expected to be finished by summer 2015.

The new homes will be let to families in housing need. Three of the new houses will be built to full wheelchair accessible standards.

All of the homes are being built to the Passivhaus standard, meaning they will be cheaper to heat than a standard home and provide stable internal temperatures all year round...

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