Features

Buying green is good for you, and it’s not just about what you eat. That’s the message from teacher Kelly Preston as she moves into her new apartment with the official seal of approval from Greenpeace.

Trephina Douglas from Australia’s Northern Territory had little chance of buying a home outright. But then she and her partner heard about the Northern Territory Government’s shared equity scheme.

Feeling safe and secure was top priority for Debbie Curtis as she prepared for the big leap to living on her own for the first time. She and her parents had to be certain she would get all the support she needed.

In the heart of Liverpool the tension is mounting. The city may be steering its multi-billion pound Capital of Culture award towards 2008, but in one corner of L1 a more pressing issue is on Jeanette Rice’s mind. She wants to know if her new house will be built in time for the giant Christmas tree she wants to put up that year.

Whether the chip pan’s on fire, there’s a road traffic collision or a hay barn is ablaze, we expect our firefighters to be there. But in Dartmoor National Park, people are realising that unless housing affordability is tackled, they may not be able to rely on that service being there all the time.

Ebrahim Nadat’s new home in east London has something of a familiar ring to it. He works in the motor industry, and his family’s apartment is built on the site of a disused car showroom.

As a paediatric nurse in Cambridge, Hannah Joseph knows all about the pressures of getting on to the property ladder. In an area where average house prices are eight times the average wage, picking up the keys to her new two-bedroom apartment in Greater Cambourne was a big deal.

Joan Denyer breaks off from her cake making to reflect on more than a decade of living in her shared ownership bungalow. “I’m very glad that I am here, now I’m on my own,” she says. “I have special friends and company. People respect each other’s privacy but you can mix and mingle as you want.”