How that empty house next door could knock £50,000 off the value of YOUR home
Living next door to a run-down, empty house could knock more than £50,000 off the value of the average home – but there are steps you can take to protect your property's price tag.
Almost one million homes are standing empty across the UK, the majority of which have been vacant for more than six months, according to council tax data analysed by the charity Action on Empty Homes. Of these, 133,000 belonged to someone who has died.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
High Court hears company linked to Baroness Michelle Mone must pay back £121m for ‘faulty' PPE
A company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone should pay back more than £121 million for breaching a Government contract for 25 million surgical gowns during the coronavirus pandemic, the High Court has heard. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is suing PPE Medpro for allegedly breaching a deal for the gowns, with lawyers for the Government telling the court they were 'faulty' because they were not sterile. The company, a consortium led by Baroness Mone's husband, businessman Doug Barrowman, was awarded Government contracts by the former Conservative administration to supply PPE during the pandemic, after she recommended it to ministers. Both have denied wrongdoing. The Government is seeking to recover the costs of the contract, as well as the costs of transporting and storing the items, which amount to an additional £8,648,691. PPE Medpro said it 'categorically denies' breaching the contract, and its lawyers claimed the company has been 'singled out for unfair treatment'. Opening the trial on Wednesday, Paul Stanley KC, for the DHSC, said: 'This case is simply about whether 25 million surgical gowns provided by PPE Medpro were faulty. 'It is, in short, a technical case about detailed legal and industry standards that apply to sterile gowns.' Mr Stanley said in written submissions the 'initial contact with Medpro came through Baroness Mone', with discussions about the contract then going through one of the company's directors, Anthony Page. Baroness Mone remained 'active throughout' the negotiations, Mr Stanley said, with the peer stating Mr Barrowman had 'years of experience in manufacturing, procurement and management of supply chains'. But he told the court Baroness Mone's communications were 'not part of this case', which was 'simply about compliance'. He said: 'The department does not allege anything improper happened, and we are not concerned with any profits made by anybody.' In court documents from May this year, the DHSC said the gowns were delivered to the UK in 72 lots between August and October 2020, with £121,999,219.20 paid to PPE Medpro between July and August that year. The department rejected the gowns in December 2020 and told the company it would have to repay the money, but this has not happened and the gowns remain in storage, unable to be used. In written submissions for trial, Mr Stanley said 99.9999% of the gowns should have been sterile under the terms of the contract, equating to one in a million being unusable. The DHSC claims the contract also specified PPE Medpro had to sterilise the gowns using a 'validated process', attested by CE marking, which indicates a product has met certain medical standards. He said 'none of those things happened', with no validated sterilisation process being followed, and the gowns supplied with invalid CE marking. He continued that 140 gowns were later tested for sterility, with 103 failing. He said: 'Whatever was done to sterilise the gowns had not achieved its purpose, because more than one in a million of them was contaminated when delivered. 'On that basis, DHSC was entitled to reject the gowns, or is entitled to damages, which amount to the full price and storage costs.' In his written submissions, Charles Samek KC, for PPE Medpro, said the 'only plausible reason' for the gowns becoming contaminated was due to 'the transport and storage conditions or events to which the gowns were subject', after they had been delivered to the DHSC. He added the testing did not happen until several months after the gowns were rejected, and the samples selected were not 'representative of the whole population', meaning 'no proper conclusions may be drawn'. He said the DHSC's claim was 'contrived and opportunistic' and PPE Medpro had been 'made the 'fall guy' for a catalogue of failures and errors' by the department. He said: 'It has perhaps been singled out because of the high profiles of those said to be associated with PPE Medpro, and/or because it is perceived to be a supplier with financial resources behind it. 'In reality, an archetypal case of 'buyer's remorse', where DHSC simply seeks to get out of a bargain it wished it never entered into, left, as it is, with over £8 billion of purchased and unused PPE as a result of an untrammelled and uncontrolled buying spree with taxpayers' money.' He also said there was a 'delicious irony' that Baroness Mone was mentioned in the DHSC's written submissions, when she had 'zero relevance to the contractual issues in this case'. Neither Baroness Mone nor Mr Barrowman is due to give evidence in the trial, and Baroness Mone did not attend the first day of the hearing on Wednesday. A PPE Medpro spokesperson said the company 'categorically denies breaching its obligations' and will 'robustly defend' the claim. The trial before Mrs Justice Cockerill is due to last five weeks, with a judgment expected in writing at a later date.
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Spending review: Treasury minister Emma Reynolds tells Sky News she is 'not ruling out' tax rises in the autumn
A Treasury minister has refused to rule out tax rises at the budget in the autumn, amid concerns that any global economic instability could mean the government will not have enough money to fund its spending plans. Speaking to Sky's Politics Hub With Ali Fortescue, Emma Reynolds defended how the economy was being handled, but would not say if more revenue might be needed from taxation. Asked repeatedly if she was ruling out tax rises, the minister said: "I'm not ruling it in and I'm not ruling it out. "We have got £9bn of fiscal headroom [money left in the budget], which is significantly more than the Tories had when they were in power, at the end of their time in power. "We've got a growing economy, and we, as the chancellor did say in the [Commons] chamber, the budget in the autumn last year was a once-in-a-generation budget where we had to do some very tough things, and we're not going to have another budget like that in the future." "Now we know - tax rises are coming." 3:43 Fiscal rules are non-negotiable Speaking to Sky's political editor Beth Rigby, the chancellor Rachel Reeves avoided the direct question about potential tax rises, saying: "Before any money goes out the door, we will have a budget in the autumn, and we will show in the round, when the Office for Budget Responsibility update their forecast, how everything is consistent with the fiscal rules that I set out as chancellor last autumn." She added that they "made the tax changes that were necessary last year to fund the spending that I've set out today". 4:28 Ms Reeves has imposed a set of "iron-clad" fiscal rules, which restrict government borrowing in order to ensure economic stability and reduce the UK's national debt, Labour says. These rules mean the amount of money she has available to spend on the day-to-day running of public services is limited to only what the government takes in tax revenue. 'A miniscule margin' But as Paul Johnson from the non-partisan Institute for Fiscal Studies told our presenter Jayne Secker, the chancellor has left herself very little room for manoeuvre. He said: "She set the fiscal rules and she's also meeting them by the most miniscule margin imaginable.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Primark opening new type of store in Britain for first time and shoppers will be thrilled
PRIMARK is set to open a brand new type of store just in time for summer. The bargain retailer is due to bring a new model of shop to the UK high street in the coming months. A new 11,900 sq ft, two floor shop is set to open in Manchester at the Trafford Palazzo. It will be the first ever dedicated Primark Home store to open in the UK. Primark have said the shop will bring together "the best of Primark's interiors offering under one roof." It will host an expanded range of homeware and lifestyle essentials for Manchester shoppers to browse and buy. The move comes following the firms first ever dedicated Primark Home store was opened in Belfast earlier this year. The new location in Manchester will also include a dedicated travel shop to help customers get holiday-ready. Paul Baldwin, Trading Director for Home at Primark said: 'Our mission is simple: to make it easy for everyone to create a home they love, without breaking the bank. "Customer reaction to our first Primark Home store in Belfast has been really positive, and we can't wait to bring this exciting new concept to Great Britain later this summer. "Homes have become more than just places to live, they're an extension of our personalities, so whether it's soft furnishings, statement tableware, or smart storage solutions you're after, our range has something for every style and budget.' An exact date for the stores opening hasn't been given by the retailer yet but it is expected to come this summer. 'One of each please,' shoppers race to Primark for adorable cosy homewear The new store will stock all manner of high-quality essentials like cotton bedding and towels, soft furnishings, small furniture and quirky ceramics. Trafford Palazzo is already home to one Primark location with the new store adding to the retailers offering on the site. Primark stores usually stock a full range of goods from clothes, to home to holiday essentials. For the first time ever Primark will now stock just homeware in a store. The fashion retailer currently employs over 80,000 people internationally. 2 Primark is known for its budget options and huge range, offering an extensive selection of goods at a low price. The retailer boasts over 460 stores globally with the new Primark Home in Manchester boosting this number further. According to the retailer: " Primark Home combines style, comfort and value to help shoppers make a house a home." Thrilled shoppers took to social media to show their excitement for the new stores launch. One user said: "You've got some great home stuff please make this department bigger and give us trolleys." Another commented: "I need one of everything, and two cushions." A third replied: "We need this store in Kalamazoo Michigan." Why Primark is great for looking expensive on a budget By Clemmie Feildsend, Fabulous Fashion Editor AS someone who's no stranger to grabbing a last-minute outfit from Primark for a night out, it's about time that celebrities started catching on too. For as long as I've been heading out, Primark has been my go-to for those 'I have nothing to wear' moments, rushing in at the last minute to find something perfect. And I'm definitely not alone - on any Friday or Saturday night, you'll find plenty of shoppers doing the same thing, right before closing time. But no matter what, Primark always delivers. Now, Rita Ora is leading the charge, showing that you can snag a designer-worthy look without spending a fortune at high-end stores. While Rita's not rushing in last minute for a red carpet outfit, she's proving you can achieve the same high-impact style for much less. Looking stunning in her tailored suit alongside her mum Vera, Rita fit right in among the other A-listers dripping in Prada, Dior, and Victoria Beckham - if anything, she looked even better than some of the guests at The Fashion Awards. With Myleene Klass and Roxy Horner already jumping on the Primark bandwagon, I'm sure more stars will be following suit soon enough.
