House price growth edged up in July, according to the latest survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. The research shows that 12.6% more surveyors reported prices rises rather than price falls in July, a figure up from the 10.4% it reported for June. Regionally, the survey finds house prices increasing most rapidly in Northern Ireland, and London with very strong growth in both regions. In Scotland, however, surveyors report growth halving, and in England only subdued growth was achieved last month. Only three regions ? East Anglia, Wales and the East Midlands ? record slight price falls compared to five last month, with prices stabilising in the South West, while growth in the South East has picked up slightly, surveyors reported. 'Potential buyers are clearly responding to higher interest rates, although demand is proving more resilient than in the previous rate tightening phase in 2003/4, due to strong underlying conditions in the economy,' says the report. 'The combination of softening demand and supply is causing market conditions to loosen further,' it continues. 'Nevertheless, market conditions are still firm.'
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Uniquely unique? The Yorkshire grain silos transformed into a home that's a symphony in glass, steel and curvesAmid the beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire, on the edge of the Castle Howard Estate, The Silos is a property for which the word 'house' simply doesn't cut it. And that's not the only way in which it's made us throw out the dictionary.
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Polluting water executives now face up to two years in prison, but will the new laws make much of a difference?The Government has announced that water company executives caught covering up illegal sewage spills could now be imprisoned for two years, under new laws — but many still have their doubts.
