It is also the time of year when the Environment Agency urges people to check their oil tanks to protect the environment and reduce the risk of potentially large financial losses.
Leaked oil can end up in drains, many of which lead directly to rivers, streams, lakes and even garden ponds, having the same effect as pouring it directly into the watercourse.
An Exeter man has been sentenced at Plymouth magistrates after illegally subletting his Local authority council flat when he was living somewhere else.
David Mukanirwa, 31, of Darwin Court was prosecuted under S1(2) of the prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 for subletting his Exeter flat on two occasions whilst he lived in Swindon after advertising it for rent on Gumtree....
Detectives investigating the unexplained death of a 38-year-old man in Plymouth are appealing for information.
Police were called at 9.15am on Friday 29 May 2015 by a member of the public who was concerned for the welfare of a man at a property in Normandy Way, St Budeaux.
Officers attended the address where they located the man’s body. He has been identified as Robert...
As the days start to get warmer, but the nights can still be cold, Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service remind you to make sure your chimneys are safe and secure as possible, especially when lighting up fires that haven't been used for a while.
Be extra careful if your home is a thatched property as 80% of thatched properties in the UK are within Devon & Somerset....
The number of properties coming onto the market continued to drop, pushing prices rapidly upwards in the South West, according to the latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey.
In most parts of the country, the supply versus demand imbalance led to a rise in house prices in March and in the South West 36% more chartered surveyors reported a rise in house prices in March (up from 31% in...
An extra £100,000 is now being spent on improving facilities in disabled people’s homes in Plymouth.
Plymouth City Council’s Investment Board agreed the extra funding over and above the £800,000 that the authority was already committing to spend in 2014/15.
The move means an additional 30 homes in the city are having a number of improvements including grab rails, stairlifts,...
As more powers shift from Whitehall to town halls, the South West Housing Initiative (SWHI) is rallying businesses to call for politicians to shape UK devolution in a way which will solve the region’s housing crisis. This crisis is having a detrimental impact on businesses.
SWHI, a partnership of housing professionals committed to combating the region’s housing crisis, said that...
The Service is issuing advice to the owners of thatched properties following a fire which destroyed a thatched cottage in Ide, near Exeter, on Friday (23 January).
Twelve fire engines were at the incident in Little John’s Cross and fire crews have re-visited throughout the weekend to dampen down hotspots.
Firefighters covered neighbouring thatched properties with foam to...
New research reveals that that one in six people in Britain have kept secrets from their loved ones by hiding or lying about rent or mortgage troubles.
Research from Shelter and YouGov paints a picture of a nation of ‘secret strugglers’ who are keeping housing worries from their partners and families. People reported secretly taking out loans, selling items such as jewellery, and even...
Construction workloads increased in the South West in the final quarter of 2014, albeit at a slightly slower rate, and private housing saw the strongest growth despite the shortage of bricklayers reaching a record high.
Over a third (36% net balance) reported that workloads in the construction sector had grown in the region in Q4 2014 with 57% more respondents saying that the private...
