I’m mightily impressed by Barratt’s latest marketing wheeze – free beer for all people coming to view the showhouses at their Hawthorns development in Witham.
I like beer. I like it enormously. I like houses, too. So this is the kind of imaginative marketing I can really relate to.
If I was a bit closer to Witham [...]

A report this week from Mysupermarket.co.uk says that the average UK food bill has increased by 15 per cent a week since 2007, equating to almost £800 extra a year.
Strewth! That’s a lot of money just on stuff to eat, especially in the current climate of credit crunches, panic over house prices, and rising fuel [...]

Given the current fragile state of the housing market it seems some people are looking for an alternative to the traditional bricks and mortar abode.
My brother, for example, has just bought himself a narrowboat. It’s lovely: the epitome of compact and bijou and best of all, it’s mobile.
Well, mostly mobile – I got a text [...]

Boffins at Queen Mary’s, London, are wandering round in white coats trying to find out “how people can develop a long-term relationship with artificial creatures, in everyday settings”.
That’s robots to you and me – digital servants who’ll help ’round the house, befriend the lonely, and plug into the web to take care of dreary domestic [...]

If, like me, you set aside all worldly concerns, switch off your phone and dim the lights whenever Grand Designs is on, then perhaps this little quiz based on the wit and wisdom of Kevin McCloud will take your fancy.
As much as I pretend it’s the struggle of turning, say, an old war bunker into [...]

A recent survey by Halifax proclaimed the death of the great British Dining Room:
Everyone, it seems, is into kitchens now – especially kitchens that open out onto gardens. Such things sell houses.
I’m clearly way behind on this. Last Christmas, one of my best friends bought me a chalkboard emblazoned with the legend “I only have a [...]

So, Mike’s scarily believable April Fools piece about the trials and tribulations of Phil Spencer garnered a fair amount of feedback, not just on FindaProperty.com but also over on the forums of our arch-nemesis Housepricecrash.co.uk.
Mostly the joke was well-received, but one comment in particular stuck out; posted by Super Ted (possibly not his real name):
“A [...]

Phil Spencer’s Location. Location, Location is unknown. The TV presenter has been taken into police protection following violent threats from frustrated first-time buyers.
Spencer, famed for his sotto voce whispering to the camera on Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location, is believed to be in hiding – possibly in a city centre pied a terre during the [...]

My sister’s ultimate dream was realised the other week when it was revealed that a bunch of ingenious artists had set up home in a shopping centre.
Or mall rather, since these bohos were of the American variety, and were in it for the artistic experience not the cut-price shoes.
That’s right, eight creative types set up [...]

Found it very hard to concentrate when Alistair Darling was delivering his Pre-Budget Speech to the House of Commons.
There I was patiently waiting for serious policy pronouncements on the housing market, but all I could think of was: “That guy looks a bit like Stan Laurel.”
No, no, no, whispered a voice in my head - [...]