‘Criminals stole my flat and identity to run a brothel’
Organised gangs are scamming the owners of rental properties in London so they can more easily engage in activities such as fraud and prostitution
Terrific investigation by @manumidolo.bsky.social.
How gangs are renting out properties before stealing landlords' identities, using the homes as brothels and then using weak tenancy laws (and lax policing) to prove impossible to evict - often for years.
www.thetimes.com/article/513a...
19.10.2025 07:50
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Country house prices plummet as property market slows down
Rural areas are a happy hunting ground for bargain-hunting buyers. Plus, search to see how far prices have fallen where you live
Stamp duty rises for second-home buyers, a doubling of council tax for existing second-home owners, a hike in mortgage rates and a dramatic reversal of the Covid-era work-from-home ethos have created an unprecedented slowdown in rural areas.
www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
16.10.2025 12:25
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‘Portakabin villages’ plan to solve emergency housing crisis
The prefab manufacturer will build homes for the first time in a deal with 11 councils — and is open to providing accommodation for asylum seekers too
Exclusive: Portakabin is to strike deals with several British urban councils to build emergency prefab housing - its first ever homes - amid a sharp rise in homelessness. It has also offered its services to the Home Office for asylum-seeker housing.
www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
14.10.2025 11:26
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Millennial investors lead surge in buy-to-let property market
Younger generations now dominate property investment: those born between 1981 and 1996 will account for half of new buy-to-let companies this year
Millennial investors will account for half of the new buy-to-let limited companies to be set up this year — the first time this generation has ever reached this threshold — as older landlords cool on property investment.
www.thetimes.com/article/c005...
13.10.2025 06:57
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Toilet roll tycoon’s green-belt mansion plan thrown out
The Hussain family, who made their fortune from Accrol Papers, wanted to create a neo-classical family pile in Lancashire
He made his fortune from a toilet roll empire, but multimillionaire Majid Hussain’s attempts to build his own castle unravelled when plans for a mock-Georgian mansion in the middle of the green belt were defeated in court.
www.thetimes.com/article/c88a...
13.10.2025 06:45
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Should England and Wales adopt Scottish system to speed up homebuying?
Scotland’s structure leads to much quicker completions on average, so it’s no wonder Keir Starmer’s government is looking north of the border
This week the government announced significant changes to the way people in England and Wales will buy and sell homes, shifting the system towards Scotland.
Will this be a silver bullet for our housing market or bring about its own problems?
www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
09.10.2025 14:18
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First-time buyers going straight to ‘forever home’ says Barclays
Semi-detached properties made up a third of first-time buyer purchases in August while flats declined in popularity
First-time buyers are knocking a rung off the housing ladder and going straight for their “forever home”, according to Barclays data.
The buyers now can't buy until they are older (average age 34), so they frequently have families and need bigger homes.
www.thetimes.com/business-mon...
16.09.2025 17:28
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Landlords selling up before renters’ rights bill reforms bite
Labour’s plans will cause rents to rise, property experts have warned
Landlords are selling off more properties while an ever-diminishing number invest in the sector amid suggestions of tax rises in the autumn budget. Data shows property investors’ appetite has waned after years of costs imposed by consecutive governments.
www.thetimes.com/business-mon...
16.09.2025 17:24
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The property revolution is here: could slow conveyancing finally be over?
A charter is promising to slash house transactions to 28 days. We look at whether its bold claims could overhaul an industry in crisis
A coalition of powerful firms - including our biggest banks, legal firms and brokerages - have signed a striking pledge to reduce the process of buying or selling a property to 28 days.
Is this property revolution for the masses - or pie-in-the-sky?
www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
11.09.2025 13:27
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Why London’s rich are renting, not buying — at £325,000 a month
Stamp duty and non-dom tax changes mean the wealthy are ditching buying for high-end rentals — and reshaping the luxury property market
Research carried out for The Times shows that, while few high-end homes are selling, the market in ultra-high-end rentals has more than doubled in size in the space of a year as multimillionaires make London a temporary base instead of a permanent home.
www.thetimes.com/article/d83b...
22.08.2025 12:10
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Cotswolds crimewave: the dark side of a chocolate-box village
Kingham has seen a surge in burglaries this summer, as intruders seek high-performance cars and a gang stalks the streets. Residents fear for their safety
The Cotswolds has made headlines as a magnet for A-list celebrities, royalty and tourists. But thieves are staging a wave of break-ins, hunting high performance cars. Residents say police seem powerless to stop them.
www.thetimes.com/article/7af2...
10.08.2025 10:00
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‘I wish I had never bought my Help to Buy flat — it’s lost £40k’
The scheme was meant to be a leg up onto the property ladder, but more than a third of those who used it to buy a flat could be worse off than when they started
Terrific illustration of the failings of the Help to Buy scheme by @georgenixon97.bsky.social
It was meant to be a leg up onto the property ladder, but more than a third of those who used it to buy a flat could now be worse off than when they started.
www.thetimes.com/article/f3c3...
03.08.2025 07:30
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What's that you say? You want to read about how Britain's Grand Designs self-build dream died in a section illustrated by sad-looking Lego men? Of course you do @thetimes.com
01.08.2025 09:30
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How a wealth tax on £2m-plus houses could hit 150,000 homeowners
As Rachel Reeves tries to resist backbench pressure for new taxes on the rich, we crunch the numbers on a potential levy that would sting owners of pricey houses
Almost 150,000 homeowners would have to pay billions of pounds more tax if the government bows to pressure from backbenchers and introduces a wealth tax on homes worth £2 million or more, an analysis for @thetimes.com has shown.
www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
21.07.2025 11:17
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What a great splash in today’s @thetimes.com by @davidbyers26.bsky.social celebrating the importance of SAVE’s work safeguarding historic buildings - from castles to cotton mills, dept stores to stations - for future generations ♻️
#SAVEcampaigns #SAVE50 #reuse 🏫
www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
13.07.2025 11:13
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The fight to save Britain’s estates — and Europe’s coldest house
As soaring costs and inheritance tax threaten 1,257 historic buildings, the owners of Cluny Castle and Kemerton Court share the difficulties they face
An analysis for The Sunday Times by the charity Save Britain’s Heritage has revealed that 1,257 historic buildings of all types — a record — are now on its carefully curated “at risk” register, with 50 new ones added this week alone.
www.thetimes.com/article/c945...
13.07.2025 09:02
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Heatwaves are hell in my new-build flat
Highly insulated modern apartments save their owners a fortune in energy bills but when the temperature rises, the downside becomes clear. Here’s how to cope
This is a v funny piece by colleague @melyorktt.bsky.social, but there is a serious point behind it - a huge number of newbuilds simply aren't built for our changing climate and, pretty soon, may be unlivable.
www.thetimes.com/article/49fb...
29.06.2025 10:03
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The coastal owners stranded with unsellable homes
Stamp duty and council tax changes have sent demand for holiday homes off a cliff — also trapping downsizers or movers desperate to sell
Demand for homes in coastal areas has fallen off a cliff in recent months thanks to steep tax changes for second home-owners — but it has also trapped downsizers or movers who live there and are desperate to sell. We tell their story.
www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
18.06.2025 12:19
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Are Labour’s VAT changes sparking a mass sale of private schools?
We talk to staff at Padworth College in Berkshire, a fee-paying school which is closing and already on the market. Many more could follow suit, its director says
Padworth College, established in 1963, is one of 20 private schools closing this year. Its owner cites Labour's decision to impose 20% VAT from last January as the final straw, as pupil numbers sank. So what lies ahead for Britain's small private schools?
www.thetimes.com/article/e100...
01.06.2025 07:03
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