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Where can you buy a home in Britain for under £150,000?

The number of places in Britain where it is possible to buy a property for less than £150,000 has dropped by 28 per cent, according to new research. 

The areas accessible to buyers with such a budget has dropped significantly during the pandemic, Savills says.

It comes amid soaring house prices during the pandemic with house buyers reassessing their housing needs.

This four-bedroom house is in Great Yarmouth and is for sale for £150,000 via estate agents William H Brown

This four-bedroom house is in Great Yarmouth and is for sale for £150,000 via estate agents William H Brown

Using data from the Land Registry, the estate agent looked at average values in wards across Britain.

A ward is a subdivision of a local authority used for electoral purposes. There are 8,694 electoral wards in Britain, with 7,026 in England.

It found that in the year to September last year, only 10 per cent of these total wards had an average house price below £150,000. 

This is based on 873 out of a total of 8,694 wards where there were at least 10 sales in the year.  

Only five remain in the South of England, down from 17 last year. These five wards are all in Great Yarmouth, East Suffolk and Cambridgeshire’s Fenland. 

There were no qualifying areas in London, the South East or the South West.

In the North East of England, the proportion of wards where the average house price is below £150,000 has fallen below 50 per cent for the first time. However, it stands at 48 per cent, which is still the highest of any region.

The 28 per cent drop in wards with an average house price below £150,000 is based on the year to March 2020 compared to the year to September 2021.

The research looked at sales over a 12 month period as otherwise there would not have been enough transactions to get a reliable average, Savills said.

This three-bedroom semi-detached house in March - part of the Fens - is for sale for £150,000 via estate agents William H Brown

This three-bedroom semi-detached house in March – part of the Fens – is for sale for £150,000 via estate agents William H Brown

At the end of the scale, the number of wards where average values are more than £500,000 is up 38 per cent, from 889 to 1,224 compared to the 12 months to the end of March 2020.

This included a 19 per cent increase in London where the average sale price was more than £500,000 in 63 per cent of its 635 local markets.

Outside of London, the number of wards with an average sale price of more £500k increased by a much greater 48 per cent, with a 34 per cent increase in number across the South East. It means that one in three locations across the region saw the average sale price exceed this benchmark.

At the same time, the South West experienced a 146 per cent increase in the number of wards where the average house price exceeded £500,000. They accounted for more than 10 per cent of 1,013 wards in the region.

This growth was led by Devon, Somerset – including Bath – and Gloucestershire, particularly in locations favoured by those moving out of urban settings during the pandemic.

Between them, these three counties saw 47 more wards join the £500,000-plus group with strong growth in numbers across the Cotswolds, the Mendips and coastal Devon.

This three-bedroom house in East Suffolk's Lowestoft is on the market for £150,000 via estate agents William H Brown

This three-bedroom house in East Suffolk’s Lowestoft is on the market for £150,000 via estate agents William H Brown

Lucian Cook, of Savills, said: ‘While the recent burst of house price growth which was kick-started by the stamp duty holiday, continued momentum in the market has been fundamentally underpinned by low-interest rates and people’s reassessment of their housing needs.

‘In some parts of the UK, this resulted in a significant widening of house prices. Typically the areas that have seen the biggest growth reflect how more affluent households locational preferences have changed.

‘But the mini-boom in the housing market also means the range of locations accessible to a household with a more limited budget of £150,000 has shrunk substantially. 

‘This is likely to come more sharply into focus as interest rates start to creep upwards. 

‘With that in mind, the Bank of England’s future stance on mortgage regulation is key. 

The mini-boom in the housing market also means the range of locations accessible to a household with a more limited budget of £150,000 has shrunk substantially.

‘If it is relaxed this would provide more headroom for future price growth in the medium term, but it would also reduce the protection it currently affords against a future downturn.’

House prices rose by 10.4 per cent in the year to December, to an average of £254,822, according to Nationwide Building Society.

The mortgage giant said that the rise means 2021 was the strongest calendar performance since 2006.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: ‘The price of a typical UK home is now at a record high of £254,822, up £23,902 over the year – the largest rise we’ve seen in a single year in cash terms. Prices are now 16 per cent higher than before the pandemic struck in early 2020.

‘Demand has remained strong in recent months, despite the end of the stamp duty holiday at the end of September. 

‘Mortgage approvals for house purchase have continued to run above pre-pandemic levels, despite the surge in activity seen earlier in the year. 

‘Indeed, in the first 11 months of 2021 the total number of property transactions was almost 30 per cent higher than over the same period of 2019.

‘At the same time, the stock of homes on the market has remained extremely low throughout the year, which has contributed to the robust pace of price growth.’

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Daisy Lowe’s designer mother Pearl is putting her beachside bolthole up for sale for £1.8million after she transformed it during lockdown

  • Pearl Lowe is selling 1940s Shell House in order to relocate to London

Daisy Lowe‘s mother Pearl has put her beachside home on sale for £1.8million. 

Former singer Pearl Lowe, 53, purchased the Shell House on the East Sussex coast during lockdown but have now decided to sell it up in order to move to London.

The 1940s ‘beach shack’ was built by a soldier who was married to shell artist Theresa Arnott, who crafted the home with seaside-themed installations using shells from nearby Winchelsea beach.

Mrs Lowe and her husband Supergrass’s Danny Goffey, 49 transformed the property, which sleeps 12, after they purchased it in February 2021.

Prior to moving to East Sussex, the couple had lived for seven years in a Georgian manor in Frome, Somerset, the Times reported.

Daisy Lowe's designer mother Pearl has put a east Sussex beach house on the market for £1.8million after buying it in lockdown

Daisy Lowe’s designer mother Pearl has put a east Sussex beach house on the market for £1.8million after buying it in lockdown

Pearl (pictured left with daughter Daisy),53, purchased Shell House in February 2021 with her husband Daniel Goffey

Pearl (pictured left with daughter Daisy),53, purchased Shell House in February 2021 with her husband Daniel Goffey

The decor is in contrast to the designer's usual maximalist style

The decor is in contrast to the designer’s usual maximalist style

The vintage-looking Burlington bathroom complete with Bert & May patterned tiles

The vintage-looking Burlington bathroom complete with Bert & May patterned tiles

Mrs Lowe also added a deVOL Shaker-style kitchen

Mrs Lowe also added a deVOL Shaker-style kitchen 

READ MORE: Pearl Lowe admits she dropped her Primrose Hill pals in a bid to kick drug habit and says her ‘turning point’ came when her toddler almost popped a pill as she celebrates 15 years of sobriety

The Shell House has been the setting for many parties, which Mrs Lowe has furnished with luxury fittings including a deVOL Shaker-style kitchen for a ‘vintage’ look, Bert & May-patterned tiles and Burlington bathrooms.

She also added a wildflower path leading up to the cosy self-contained two-bedroom cabin, which comes iwith a log-burner and roll top bath.

But the decor contrasts with her signature pattern clashes and ‘maximalist’ tones, with the designer admitting that a beach house needed to be more ‘basic’.

In March 2022, a pool was installed on the site of a pond along with a steam room and wood-fired tub.

Pearl was visited at the pad by her large family at Christmas – when 18 snuggled into the property.

In March 2022, a pool was installed on the site of a pond along with a steam room and wood-fired tub

In March 2022, a pool was installed on the site of a pond along with a steam room and wood-fired tub

The designer described the home, just a stone's throw from the seaside, as the 'most enchanting place'

The designer described the home, just a stone’s throw from the seaside, as the ‘most enchanting place’ 

She has three children with Mr Goffey, Alfie, 27, Frankie, 24 and Betty, 18, as well as her eldest daughter Daisy, with singer Gavin Rossdale.

But the couple are now looking to move to the capital, possibly Hackney, to be closer to their growing family, after Daisy and her partner Jordan Saul had their first child, Ivy, in April.

Mrs Lowe also also rents out the property from £6.650 a week on Unique Homestays, where the home has proved divisive with guests, with some moaning about the rugs with rips in them.

Mrs Lowe described the property as a ‘most enchanting place’ and close to many ‘amazing’ vintage shops including Hawk and Dove, Merchant 57, Xanadu and AG Hendy.

She added that several ‘a-listers’ had visited the pad. 

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Chemistry Problems & Quantum Computing

The researchers compared the results of a conventional and quantum computer to minimise error calculations, which could eventually be scaled up to solve more complicated problems.

Scientists in Sweden have successfully managed to use a quantum computer to solve simple chemistry problems, as a proof-of-concept for more advanced calculations.

Currently, conventional supercomputers are used in quantum chemistry to help scientists learn more about chemical reactions, which materials can be developed and the characteristics they have.

But these conventional computers have a limit to the calculations they can handle. It is believed quantum computers will eventually be able to handle extremely complicated simulations, which could lead to new pharmaceutical discoveries or the creation of new materials.

However, these quantum machines are so sensitive that their calculations suffer from errors. Imperfect control signals, interference from the environment and unwanted interactions between quantum bits – qubits – can lead to “noise” that disrupts calculations.

The risk of errors grows as more qubits are added to a quantum computer, which complicates attempts to create more powerful machines or solve more complicated problems.

Comparing conventional and quantum results

In the new study by Chalmers University, scientists aimed to resolve this noise issue through a method called reference-state error mitigation.

This method involves finding a “reference state” by describing and solving the same problem on both a conventional and a quantum computer.

The reference state is a simpler description of a molecule that can be solved by a normal computer. By comparing the results from both computers, the scientists were able to estimate the scale of error the quantum computer had in its calculation.

The difference between the two computers’ results for the simpler reference problem was then applied to correct the quantum computer’s solution for the original, more complex problem.

This method allowed the scientists to calculate the intrinsic energy of small example molecules such as hydrogen on the university’s quantum computer.

Associate professor Martin Rahm – who led the study – believes the result is an important step forward that can be used to improve future quantum-chemical calculations.

“We see good possibilities for further development of the method to allow calculations of larger and more complex molecules, when the next generation of quantum computers are ready,” Rahm said.

Research is happening around the world to fix the problems limiting the development of more advanced quantum computers.

Earlier this month, Tyndall’s Prof Peter O’Brien told about his group’s work in addressing a key challenge in quantum technology and how quantum communications will make eavesdropping ‘impossible’.


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12 Outstanding Tech Resources To Improve Your Skills

If you want to improve your tech skills and don’t know where to start, this list introduces you to some of the resources out there.

If you’re familiar with our advice pieces, you’ll know that we regularly mention various resources you can use to upskill in tech.

We’ve steered readers towards courses from the likes of Udemy, Udacity and Coursera for learning tech concepts from machine learning to data literacy skills. And we’ve pointed out Python meet-ups run by Python Ireland among others.

But what if you’re not sure what these platforms are? Or you aren’t sure which one is the best one for you and your learning style? Maybe you like the idea of Python Ireland and you want to find other similar groups.

Here is an introduction to some of the best resources out to hone your tech skills.

Coursera

Founded by two Stanford University computer scientists, Coursera is a global online learning platform for techies of all stripes.

It has partnerships with major companies like IBM and Google, as well as with universities such as Stanford and Imperial College London.

If you need a bit of guidance, scroll to the bottom section of the Coursera homepage and you’ll find articles that provide advice on how you can achieve a career in areas such as data analytics using the site.

In terms of courses, it provides everything from short certificates to longer postgraduate degree programmes.

Codeacademy

This one is for anyone who wants to brush up on their coding skills; the clue is in the name. Codeacademy offers free short courses in a variety of languages such as Python, C++, C, C+, Bash, Go, HTML, R, SQL and Ruby.

Codeacademy is particularly useful for people who like interactive learning, as it has links to cheatsheets, projects, video and coding challenges under Resources at the bottom of its homepage.

It has a pretty active online community, too.

edX

This Coursera rival – its founders are MIT and Harvard scientists – carries thousands of courses. Like Coursera, many are university-level, with edX making use of its partnerships with the likes of Boston University, University of Cambridge and Google.

Scroll to the bottom of the homepage and you’ll find boot camp courses in topics such as fintech and cybersecurity, as well as longer courses.

Data Camp

Like Codeacademy, Data Camp is quite hands-on and has a lot of short, free courses. It’s best for people who are interested in data science and related technologies.

You can select a specific skill you want to brush up on (like data literacy, NLP, machine learning) or you can explore different career paths such as data scientist, data analyst and statistician.

If you just want to get to grips with a particular tech tool (ChatGPT, Tableau) you can do that too.

Irish meet-up groups

Going along to events run by Irish tech community groups can be a fun way to keep on top of new tech trends and meet like-minded people.

You can find lots of different events on Meetup no matter what you’re interested in. Dublin Linux Community meets monthly, as does Python Ireland and Kubernetes Dublin.

If you want something more casual, there is a coffee chat for indie hackers in Dublin in early June. And it isn’t just the in capital: there are online events and conferences, as well as things going on in Cork, Galway and Belfast.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is another one to consider if you want to do an online tech course, even though it’s not as well known as some of the other names on this list.

Its short video lessons are good for beginners and it provides lessons and learning paths for children, too.

It is a non-profit organisation and it aims to educate people all over the world for free.

LinkedIn Learning

The educational offshoot of LinkedIn has business and tech courses galore for anyone who wants to perfect certain skills.

If you already have LinkedIn, LinkedIn Learning is a good bet as you can add your certificates of completion to your profile.

It’s not free, however, but it does offer a one-month free trial.

Pluralsight

Software educational platform Pluralsight provides learning plans for teams as well as individuals. It’s quite skills focused, perhaps more so than some of the other resources that include non-tech courses on their sites.

You can pick up new skills like cloud tech, programming and test your progress using specially designed exercises.

Skillshare

Best for creative techies, Skillshare carries courses in things such as graphic design and photography – but many of these areas are arguably tech focused.

If you’re interested in things like UX and UI design or how tech tools can be used for creative purposes, you may find a short course that takes your fancy.

It’s got a lot of creatives on its books that are willing to, yes, share their skills.

Digital Skillnet

An Irish resource for all things technological, Digital Skillnet is a great site to keep in mind for future educational and upskilling opportunities.

If you prefer the familiarity of an Irish-run organisation, it has plenty of information about the types of careers you can break into.

Whether you’re an employer looking to find resources and courses for employees, or an individual looking to reskill, upskill or find a tech job, Digital Skillnet should definitely be one of your first ports of call.

Udacity

Udacity is pretty good for anyone who wants to try out a tech course as it has a lot of short and beginner courses as well as longer ones.

It also has an AI chatbot running in beta which offers to assist you when you visit its website.

You can pick from courses on topics such as programming and development, AI, data science, business intelligence and cloud computing.

Scroll to the bottom of the homepage for in-depth career-related resources.

Udemy

One for bargain hunters, Udemy constantly runs sales on its courses. It has hundreds of thousands of courses, too, so you won’t have difficulty finding something.

It’s good for beginners as many of the courses are short and delivered through video. What’s cool about Udemy is there is so much on the site that you can quite easily find courses on a certain topic from beginner right through to specialist level.


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