Nigella Lawson voted dream flatmate

Television chef Nigella Lawson has been chosen as the ideal flatmate in a poll by Oxfordshire letting agent, Finders Keepers. In a survey of the county’s most famous current and historic residents, she won 25.1% of the vote. Albert Einstein came second (11.8%) and Winston Churchill third (10.4%). “Nigella clearly strikes a chord with people, particularly with women. She is glamorous, witty and good company,“ said Dan Channer, Commercial Director of Finders Keepers. “A good flatmate transforms a home.”

Architect in the House
The matchmaking scheme run by Shelter and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is being run for the 16th time this year, pairing homeowners with a local RIBA/RIAS/RSUA chartered architect who has donated an hour of their time for a consultation. In exchange, the homeowner can make a suggested donation of £40 to Shelter. Architect in the House has raised over £1.5 million for Shelter. Register for Architect in the House until 11 July.

The Housing Hub launched to promote wider access to home ownership
The Building Societies Association has launched a new housing initiative called The Housing Hub in a bid to encourage lenders and housing associations to co-operate more closely to raise awareness of alternative home ownership models. The purpose of the Hub is to “promote dialogue and the exchange of information between housing associations and lenders willing to lend on such properties”.

Moving house
The average Brit will move house eight times over their lifetime and end up 63 miles from their birthplace, a study from Bosch Power Tools suggests. Work relocation, upsizing and wanting to get away from their birthplace were among the top reasons for moving. The study also revealed that before moving home, 54 per cent of Brits have made improvements to try and increase the value and the chances of selling, with redecorating, tidying up the garden and changing the kitchen the most popular ways of sprucing up their old home – 72 per cent of people think the alterations helped to sell their home.

Average residential rents fall
Average residential rents fell by 4.3% around the UK last month according to new figures from estate agent haart. Their data showed that typical residential rents (including London) stood at £919 a month for May, down 4.3% on April.

Useful web sites for more information

• Independent Property Search Engine
• Independent House & Home section

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