Shared Homes& ownership Property 12-page special supplement

■Is buying a share right for you? ■New launches: where to search ■Insider tips

Enjoy your new flat’s outdoor space all year round Page 6 JULIET MURPHY JULIET 10 THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 11 Homes & Property | Shared ownership homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Shared ownership | Homes & Property

PROPERTY COACH CASH IS BACK: if JOIN THE BE AN EARLY you are looking QUEUE: get your BIRD: get in for a mortgage name on your early on the from your bank, council’s housing mammoth expect them to waiting list, left, regeneration check your however at Elephant spending habits. hopeless your and Castle in They may take a chances. It may How to be a winner Zone 1, left, dim view of, say, help you later to where one- £80 a month to be accepted on a and two- get your hair local shared- bedroom flats done, left. It ownership There are a lot more at Castilla in may be time to scheme SE11, the return to cash buyers than homes. latest new for lifestyle DO THE tower, go on spending LEGWORK: Ruth Bloomfield sale next right, walk month. around local explains how to stay Register areas where you at peabody are interested in ahead of the game sales.co.uk buying to see if All photographs they really are NE thing you have to know by Getty right for you about shared ownership is that when flats go on the independent financial adviser who can use it, and pay it off every month to about costs in advance, as they vary market they tend to sell tell you how much you are likely to be increase your score.” substantially. A lawyer based outside Oout in the blink of an eye, able to borrow, based on your income. London will tend to be cheaper than particularly in popular locations. This This tells you how much you are going ■ Cash is back: banks routinely exam- one based in the capital, and you can rush is due to the imbalance between to be able to spend on a share of a prop- ine six months’ worth of your bank deal with them by phone and email. the number of flats being built and the erty, and also tells you how much statements before deciding whether to huge number of potential buyers. deposit you will need. If you can borrow lend you money. Currell’s Martin Fil- ■ Do the legwork: when you find out Research by property consultant JLL £150,000, for example, you are going lery warns that there are certain red about a development have a look reveals 16,000 shared-ownership to need £7,500 for a deposit. Factor in flags — payday loans, betting shops — around the area to make sure you like homes are being built in London now legal costs and stamp duty, too. that will make you look like a bad risk. it, and practise your commute. That — but that’s enough for only a fraction Banks will also examine your spending way, if you like a property you can com- of the first-timers eager to buy. Smart Phillips, marketing manager at is coming up over the next few years head of sales and marketing at Network Currell — which sells shared-ownership cated. Councils would rather see chance of being housed is very slim, ■ Earn extra credit: you should do a habits. “If you are spending £80 a mit quickly. first-timers can help themselves by fol- Guinness Homes, suggests speaking to from them.” Homes. “If you see anything which homes for associations including the shared-ownership homes go to those but they can’t actually stop you from free credit ratings check to make sure month on getting your hair done they lowing these tips: your local council. “Most councils have looks of interest then register with the Southern Housing Group, Peabody, on their waiting list because their going on the list if you qualify.” your score is going to pass muster. “You won’t like that,” he says. “It is perhaps ■ Don’t despair: a lot of developments something called an enabling team,” ■ Keep your eyes peeled: housing asso- housing association, which will contact Hyde New Homes, Network Housing names will then come off it, reducing might have a really small bad debt on a time to live your life in cash.” launch in phases. If you miss out on a ■ Knowledge is power: finding out he says. “They will work within the ciations usually advertise the fact that you when homes go on sale.” and A2 Dominion — says being on your numbers. “They have quite strict rules ■ Get your financial ducks in a row: don’t a phone that you can easily sort out, or launch the housing association will about schemes before they go on sale planning and housing departments and they will be selling shared-ownership local council’s housing waiting list can about who they will allow on their wait- see a potential sale fall through because your score might be low because you ■ Make sure you’ve got back-up: ask keep your details and contact you so that you’re ready to pounce when they know about what is planned. You homes on the hoardings that surround ■ Play the waiting list: Martin Fillery, pay dividends in terms of upping your ing lists,” warns Fillery. “And they will you lack the right paperwork. Network don’t actually borrow,” says Ley. “You friends and family to recommend a when the next tranche is coming up, they appear is half the battle. Graham might get inside knowledge about what sites during the build, says Lisa Ley, head of new homes at estate agents priority levels when homes are allo- try to discourage you, telling you your Homes’ Lisa Ley suggests consulting an might need to apply for a credit card, conveyancing solicitor and find out giving you a second chance. 4 THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 5 Homes & Property | Shared ownership Shared ownership | Homes & Property

UTUMN is a key season in AHEAD OF THE the property market, as REGENERATION CURVE new homes come up for sale now that the holiday You need to take the pain before you Aperiod is all but over. get the gain when it comes to capitalis- Among these launches are some great ing on regeneration. In Catford that opportunities for first-time buyers keen means moving into a determinedly to climb aboard the property ladder. ungentrified quarter of south-east Advance warning of the best new London with only a grotty high street launches is crucial if you want to take and tired pubs. But all you have to do the shared-ownership route — and if is wait: the high street is set to get a the idea of being in your own home by makeover and Catford’s rough edges Christmas appeals to you, now is the are being smoothed away. That means time to act. So, where to start your price rises are pretty sure to follow. search? Whether a home in Zone 2 is First-timers could buy a share in a your priority, or you fancy living in one home at Excalibur, by L&Q, due to go of those pretty London “villages”, or on sale by the end of the year. The your strategy is to work for price Limehouse: Copenhagen Place in E14, near the river and Ropemakers Field park development is a regeneration of the growth by investing in a regeneration Above: So Resi, views towards Twickenham Stadium old Excalibur Estate which, eventually, area, your first home awaits… Near the Peckham Rye buzz: flats with up to three bedrooms at Sylvan Grove, SE15 Battersea flats and the Thames. It is a very easy walk will include 371 new homes set beside are open-plan to Twickenham’s rather impressive Ladywell Fields. with high-spec range of shops and restaurants. The compromise here is the half-hour finishing. See “We expect the homes to be hugely walk to the centre of Catford and the soresi.co.uk popular with young professionals seek- stations — though the exercise will do Don’t miss the autumn launches ing an apartment with a fantastic you good and there are local buses if specification at an accessible price,” you can’t face it. See lqpricedin.co.uk Live centrally, or in an urban village — or a lively regeneration hotspot Left: shared- says Esaiyas Mollallegn, head of mar- for more information. ownership flats keting at Thames Valley Housing. If you prefer your regeneration zones through L&Q at Also on the Thames in south-west big-bang, they don’t come a lot bigger GET CLOSE IN in Copenhagen Place, being built by Greenwich London are one- and two-bedroom or splashier than Greenwich Penin- ZONE TWO Network Homes in a great E14 setting Peninsula, near apartments at So Resi, Battersea. sula where developer Knight Dragon near the Thames and the area’s main the ecology park These go on sale this month, and young is transforming the hinterland of The Limehouse is one of east London’s park, Ropemakers Field, where you can buyers will love their contemporary O2 into a Thames-front village with most evocative locations, all cobbled play tennis or take yoga classes. Homes opment is a short bus hop from the bars courtyard garden and every flat has est to find, but this autumn some great styling, open-plan layouts and high-spec landmark architecture and hundreds streets and houseboats moored in should go on sale later this month or and restaurants of Peckham Rye, and either a private balcony or terrace. opportunities will be on the market. kitchens and bathrooms. Prices start at of shops, restaurants and cafés on the Limehouse Basin. It has also become next. Visit currell.com for more. about a mile from 140-acre Burgess Expressions of interest are being taken Later this month So Resi, Twicken- £112,500 for a 25 per cent share of a one- horizon. Later this year L&Q will expensive, even though large parts of For an equally urban experience in Park. Visit hydenewhomes.co.uk now by Currell (as before). ham, part of Thames Valley Housing, bedroom apartment, so a five per cent launch a tranche of shared-ownership it are more run-down than romantic. Zone 2, Hyde New Homes will launch A few minutes’ walk away, in Pomeroy has one- and two-bedroom flats a five- deposit is £5,625. Battersea Park pro- homes on the peninsula. The one- and For buyers willing to overlook its one-, two- and three-bedroom flats at Street SE14, Currell will start selling SET UP IN AN minute walk from Twickenham railway vides open space, transport links are two-bedroom flats are on the “east downsides and focus on evenings at the Sylvan Grove, Southwark SE15 in flats at The Iron Works, on behalf of URBAN VILLAGE station. Trains to Waterloo take just fantastic — and of course, Clapham and bank” of the site, close to Greenwich lovely Narrow Street pubs or weekends November. Between Queens Road Peck- the Clarion Housing Group, this over 20 minutes, and residents can be Battersea have a huge choice of shops, Peninsula Ecology Park, and an easy strolling by Limehouse Cut, Currell is ham and South Bermondsey stations, Boutique: all homes have a terrace or autumn. A boutique-style develop- Shared-ownership homes in affluent in the city within 37 minutes. Buyers bars, cafés and restaurants. See soresi. walk to North Greenwich station. See about to launch a handful of new homes and just off the Old Kent Road, the devel- balcony at The Iron Works in SE14 ment, homes overlook a pleasant London “villages” are perhaps the hard- will share a large rooftop garden, with co.uk for both schemes. Excalibur: shared-ownership flats by L&Q on a regenerated estate near Catford lqpricedin.co.uk for details. 8 THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 9 Homes & Property | Shared ownership Shared ownership | Homes & Property Shared ownership can be cheaper than renting, and you can choose to increase your share when you are ready. By Ruth Bloomfield Here’s how it’s done...

Great location: The Junction flats, near SAUNDERS S. Brixton transport links and green space ANIELE Ludovisi has worked his way up the standard of finishes and attention to property ladder in less detail,” Daniele adds. The couple than two years from also love living an easy walk from the Dlodging with family to centre of Brixton. The Tube and ... and how to staircase owning the majority stake in a flat in railway stations are only five minutes Brixton — his ideal location. away, making commuting a breeze. HEN Chantel Epp share of the £425,000 property. They “Brilliant flat they share in any price growth, He lives with his girlfriend, “I can get to my office in Mayfair in saw her home it was found the buying process efficient investment”: and while going through the process Veronica Castroro and was renting less than 10 minutes, not many love at first sight — so and simple. Their monthly costs, Chantel Epp and of “staircasing”, or increasing their his aunt’s spare room in Norbury, people can say that,” says Daniele. much so, she filled which include rent to Thames Valley Thomas Bean share, they learned that their budget south London, while he saved for a Close to work: He put his name down and in believes he and Veronica, 28, a Wout the application Housing, mortgage repayments and increased their buy is already paying off. deposit before he found his first Daniele Ludovisi October 2015 paid a £30,000 deposit nursery school teacher, could not There are plenty of green spaces form before her partner, Thomas service charge, come in at about stake in a flat at London home at The Junction, a and girlfriend to buy a 50 per cent share in the rent a home of similar quality for less nearby, he points out, despite this Bean, had a chance to take a look at £1,200 a month — which is certainly Apsley House, Required to have the flat revalued, they Network Homes development, quite Veronica property, worth £174,000. than that. The flat, meanwhile, has being an urban area. “Brockwell it. Fortunately, Thomas felt just as less than it would cost to rent a similar Roehampton, discovered it had risen to £500,000. by chance. Castroro love increased in full value from £349,000 Park, Kennington Park and Clapham strongly about the two-bedroom flat in the same area. above left, from Chantel, 23, head of business “I really love Brixton and we spend their shared- In December last year Daniele, 34, a to £415,000 which means he has Common are really great for seeing shared-ownership flat at Apsley 25 per cent to development at music company a lot of time there,” he explains. “One ownership home senior CGI artist, was able to been earning equity all the time. For friends or just relaxing. I feel like I House in Roehampton SW15, close to Though the couple started off owning 35 per cent. CueSongs, says: “It has already been a Saturday we came here for the an easy walk “staircase” and buy another 25 per now, however, he and Veronica are have the best of both worlds. the fringes of Richmond Park. First- a quarter share in the property, last Their home has brilliant investment as it got us on to evening and just saw the from the centre cent stake in the property. Eventually very happy at The Junction and have “If it wasn’t for shared ownership, I time buyer Chantel’s quick decision- year Thomas, 27, a security officer at risen in value by the property ladder, but if we were to construction site.” of Brixton he hopes to buy the whole place no plans to cash in. definitely wouldn’t be sitting in my making has really paid off since. Heathrow airport, received a family £75,000 in two sell we would receive equity of about Daniele contacted the builder and outright. Monthly costs, including “My background is in interior own place now, as it seems The couple moved in just over two inheritance which he decided to put years £18,000, which is reassuring.

discovered shared-ownership homes mortgage, rent and service charge, design and I am very impressed with impossible these days to buy SAUNDERS S. years ago after putting down a towards increasing their share to 35 “There’s no going back to renting would be available at The Junction. come in at about £1,300, and he the design and layout, as well as the outright.” Decisive move: Chantel Epp snapped up a Roehampton flat £10,600 deposit on their 25 per cent per cent. Because they part-own the now.” 2 THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 3 Homes & Property | Shared ownership Shared ownership | Homes & Property

GENERATION ago no What proportion of the property will young professional — let I be able to buy? alone a young Shared In principle anything up to 75 per ‘I bought 40% of a professional couple — cent. However, London prices being Awould have seen shared what they are, it is more usual for two-bedroom flat ownership as the only way to get on first timers to buy 25 per cent. the property ladder. However, vast ownership with water views and numbers of successful twenty- and Owning just a quarter of a flat doesn’t thirtysomethings today find sound that great. Why would I bother? a great commute’ themselves in the frustrating Get real. If you could afford to buy situation of being unable to buy a outright you almost certainly would. home outright. Is it right But if you can’t, then owning a 25 per Latest Halifax research shows an cent stake in a home that you can average London first-time buyer must stay in for as long as you like and do spend more than £410,000 on their what you like with, is better than starter home, and find a deposit of owning zero per cent. £100,000-plus. So shared ownership is perhaps the only option for young for you? How do I find out about shared- Londoners who don’t have family in a ownership homes for sale in my area? position to give them a six-figure leg There is a central website you can up. If you’re considering the shared- Young Londoners can buy a starter search for launches, but it is awkward ownership route, here’s our guide: share in a home as their way on to to use and doesn’t seem particularly up to date: sharetobuy.com/ Am I eligible for shared ownership? the ladder. By Ruth Bloomfield firststeps/sharedownershipproperty Yes, geographically speaking, if you Beyond that, keep your eye on live or work in a London borough. individual housing associations’ Most schemes give top priority to websites, where current and future those with a local link. launches are advertised. You can also search the main property websites, Fantastic. I work in Westminster. Does including Rightmove, as associations that mean I can buy a flat there? advertise there. But you need to be

Only if you’re extremely lucky. Some alert — they get a big response and go SAUNDERS S. boroughs have very limited sites for on and off the sites quickly. The first rung: Tom O’Connor lives at Royal Albert Wharf the kind of large developments that include shared-ownership homes, What happens when I move on? and this applies to great swathes of Your property is valued by an An exciting new address Zones 1 and 2. Also, in areas where independent expert who will take prices for one-bedroom flats top account of any improvements you THE vast expanses of the new home, says Tom, are its £600,000, even the tiniest share of might have made, plus — hopefully — Royal Docks in east London water view and proximity to one is not going to be affordable, so rising property prices. The flat will be are in the throes of a public transport. “I can get they tend to be offered for subsidised marketed at this price for six to eight multibillion-pound to my office in King’s Cross rent rather than shared ownership. Vibrant N1: linked can earn up to £90,000 but if a couple weeks, depending on which housing regeneration. First-time in less than an hour door- to Upper Street’s are buying, their combined salaries association is involved, to people on buyer Tom O’Connor, 32, to-door, and I can get into So where can I buy? shops, bars and must not top £90,000. its register. If there are no takers, you has bought in on the central London so easily to In the last year, shared-ownership eateries by new can sell it on the open market through ground floor. visit friends.” flats have come up across the capital retail arcades, Do I earn too little? your choice of estate agent. When it Tom, who works in the Right now the docks are a from Brixton to West Hampstead. But shared-ownership There’s no set minimum income sells you will get a proportion of any marketing department of a work in progress, but Tom Docklands, Canary Wharf or major flats are launching requirement to become a shared profits: if you own a quarter of the credit card company, is starting to see them regeneration zones, where at Islington owner. Usually people with a flat, you will get 25 per cent of the bought a 40 per cent share develop into a proper thousands of new homes are being Square, above, household income of between profit. In an ideal world you can then in a two-bedroom flat at neighbourhood. “Already a built and most developers are and featured £35,000 and £50,000 will be OK. use this money as a deposit to buy a Royal Albert Wharf, a café and art gallery have including substantial proportions of below home on the open market. short walk from Gallions gone in directly below my affordable homes in the mix, are a (familymosaic So how much will it cost? Reach Docklands Light flat, so I’m really excited to much more likely option. sales.co.uk) Monthly costs vary but as a rule of Is shared ownership right for me? Railway station, in October see what else comes along thumb, most one-bedroom flats tend Only if you can find a flat that you can last year, paying Notting Hill over the next few years, But I don’t live or work in those areas… to cost about £1,000 to £1,400 a see yourself staying in for the Sales £178,000 and putting and how the community Changing jobs to give yourself the best month to run, while two-bedroom medium term. So, you have to be down £80,000 deposit. develops,” he says. chance of finding a shared-ownership flats are about £1,800 to £2,200. very, very comfortable with the “In my twenties I spent a Royal Albert Wharf has home seems radical — but renting in location and must not buy something lot of time at home with my homes available now, from an area where a lot of building is going What about raising a deposit? you are going to outgrow in a couple parents so that I could save, £105,000 for 25 per cent of on will increase your chances. The If you were buying a 25 per cent of years — perhaps if cohabiting or and I also got a small loan a two-bedroom flat, or system is changing slowly, but most share of a flat with a full value of children are on the horizon. from them,” he explains. £136,250 for 25 per cent of developments still give local priority. £400,000 your share would cost Most shared owners stay in their His monthly costs now a three-bedroom flat. £100,000. A 10 per cent deposit homes for five or six years, which come in at about £1,100 a Three-bedroom triplex I’ve got a decent job. Do I earn too would be £10,000 — as opposed to gives them enough time to build up a month including rent, flats start at £151,250 for a much for affordable housing? £40,000 if you were buying on the reasonable chunk of equity so that service charge and 25 per cent share. The upper limit for people buying a open market. You also only pay they can start “staircasing”, or mortgage. Finances aside, shared-ownership flat is £90,000 per stamp duty on the proportion of the increasing their share in the best things about his O Visit nhillsales.com household. This means a singleton property you are buying. their home.

HERE are three shared-ownership CASTILLA be confirmed, but expressions of schemes about to launch. If you live or interest are being taken now. Visit work nearby, you’ll stand a stronger Just for starters lqpricedin.co.uk for more. chance of being eligible to buy. restaurants on site, along with a gym CASTILLA ISLINGTON SQUARE and a cinema — so really you never need ELEPHANT AND CASTLE SE11 ISLINGTON N1 go out. Prices have yet to be confirmed, Dreary old Elephant and Castle is in the If location, location, location is what but registrations of interest are being process of jumbo regeneration. Gone is matters to you, it doesn’t get much taken. Visit familymosaicsales.co.uk ISLINGTON QUEBEC its hideous threatening network of better than Upper Street, Islington. for more information. SQUARE QUARTER underpasses, and on their way are Early next year, housing association thousands of new homes and a great Family Mosaic will launch a selection of QUEBEC QUARTER selection of bars and restaurants. one- and two-bedroom shared- CANADA WATER SE16 Get in on the action with housing ownership flats at the glitzy Islington Billions of pounds of investment in new association Peabody, which has one- Square development, being built on a homes and facilities is transforming landscaped gardens and have private and two-bedroom flats in Castilla, a prime site once occupied by Royal Mail. Canada Water. Later this year housing balconies or terraces. A path from the new building designed by starchitect The scheme will include warehouse association L&Q will be selling a private gardens leads directly into the Richard Rogers. The homes, some with flats within existing Edwardian buildings tranche of shared-ownership flats at lovely Russia Dock Woodland, giving views of the London Eye, are due to go plus modern new homes. And if the the site, a 10-minute walk from the residents the best of both worlds — on sale next month. Pricing has yet to present bars and boutiques of Islington Zone 2 Tube station. green space on the doorstep and be confirmed but registrations of are not enough for you, there will be The flats, in contemporary low-rise endless shops, bars and restaurants a interest are being taken now. Visit 170,000sq ft of new shops and buildings, are surrounded by short distance away. Prices have yet to peabodysales.co.uk to find out more. 6 THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 7 Homes & Property | Shared ownership Shared ownership | Homes & Property Enjoy your outdoor space all year round

LAT owners in London often bemoan their lack of outside space. Precious few period conversions or older purpose- Fbuilt flats have anywhere to sit in the sunshine, and if they do, you have to pay for the privilege. But developers have cottoned on to the importance of outside space and now Right: Brighton most new flats have a balcony or bistro set from MURPHY terrace that, with a little ingenuity, can John Lewis in T

be enjoyed every day of the year. chilli red, £69 JULIE Balcony scene: Claire Harvey enjoys the stunning view PICK YOUR FURNITURE PLANTERS WITH PUNCH over the Olympic Park from her flat in Bow all year round With space at a premium a bistro set Right: Next’s You can grow your own in even the makes sense — and it’s just the thing cactus-shaped tiniest space, though you’ll have to buy ‘I’m on my balcony every day’ for a glass of rosé at sunset. Asda has a planter is only £5 smart, with planters you can hang as great range of colourful takes on the and looks great well as put on the floor. Ikea’s ALMOST every day Claire flat just over a year ago. French alfresco classic, including the against a wall Bittergurka hanging planter in white is Harvey wanders out on to She bought a 30 per cent Heritage three-piece bistro set in zingy a neat little portable herb garden for her balcony. At weekends share of the £310,000 aqua for a pocket-friendly £49. Table £8. Unhook it from wherever you’ve she breakfasts alfresco, in property, putting down a and chairs fold up for easy winter hung it and bring it indoors when you the week she tends her £23,000 deposit that she’d storage (asda.com). want to cook (ikea.com). Homebase plants, and sometimes she saved up. Her outgoings, French furniture firm Maisons du has simple wire balcony baskets at goes out simply to marvel including rent, mortgage, Monde has similar steel bistro £4.99 that hook over balustrades and at the sight of London laid service charge, council tax furniture in a rainbow of colours. And would look lovely in a row planted out below her. and all bills, come in at you can buy chairs, at £52.49, and with lavender. Homebase’s timber Claire’s one-bedroom flat about £1,050 per month. table, priced £31.49, separately so you potting bench, £34.98, would also look in a former chocolate “I was only really can mix and match (maisonsdu- great painted to match your colour factory in Bow comes with interested in flats with a bit monde.com). scheme and loaded with classic the special extra of some of outdoor space,” says When you are strapped for both terracotta pots (homebase.co.uk). fantastic views of south and Claire. “It was really space and cash, chairs you can use Next has a good range of planters east London’s best-known important to me to be able indoors as well as outside make a lot of whether your tastes are industrial, landmarks: The 02 centre, to have some plants, and sense. Italian brand Calligaris has retro, or a bit of both. For a utilitarian the River Thames, the keep the doors open and some sleek, contemporary options look there is a set of two galvanised Emirates Air Line cable car get outside. that would look great at the dining bucket planters, £45, or a concrete- and the Olympic Park. “I watched the fireworks table and on the balcony. The Skin effect planter at £55. For a bit of fun, its “I have the doors open all here on New Year’s Eve chair in sky blue polypropylene will cactus-shaped plant holder is ideal for the time if the weather is which was amazing — I go make you feel summery whatever the setting against a wall, for just £5, while a nice enough,” says Claire, out there pretty much weather and you will still love it in 10 large, stylish bucket planter on a timber 28, a speech and language every day, even if it’s just to years’ time. Individual chairs are stand gives your plants a bit of height at therapist who bought her have a look.” priced at £87.98 but can only be 42cm and costs £85 (next.co.uk). bought in groups of four. UK stockists If money is really tight and you are include Scossa (scossa.co.uk). remotely handy, then it’s pretty easy to If you really want to get an open- recycle tin cans into hanging plant Warm and bright: space vibe going, then artificial grass is pots for almost no money. Wash off below, solar bulb line having a moment — yes, really. It adds labels, buy a selection of tester pots — lights, £20; below a cheerful and comforting dash of choose rust-proof paint — bang left, Vermont LED colour and can even be vacuumed to drainage holes into the base using a lantern, £10; below look as good as new. hammer and a nail, and create away. right, La Hacienda Carpetright’s Windermere artificial Also, visit Ikea Hackers and get lots of table top electric grass is priced at £17.99 a square metre ideas for adapting cheap basics into heater, £175, all at (carpetright.co.uk). stylish plant holders (ikeahackers.net). johnlewis.com LIGHTING FOR LONGER Above: a set of NIGHTS two metal bucket Your balcony will have some form of planters, £45, overhead lighting but come the and a tall evening, you might prefer something a concrete-efect little more flattering. Fairy lights come planter on a in all shapes and sizes, colours and wooden stand, lengths, and can be wound around £55, both from railings and plants, or pinned next.co.uk overhead in geometric shapes. There are lots of solar light options but there’s also the traditional plug-in variety. Just be sure to buy the type meant to be used outdoors, as rainwater and electricity don’t mix. The classic choice is bulb-style lights and Maisons du Monde has strings of 10 for £21.59 (maisonsdumonde.com). Go a bit holiday-resort bonkers with the help of John Lewis’s pineapple LED lights line, priced £16. Or, for a lantern look without the risk of a naked flame, the Vermont LED No mower required: Carpetright’s Versatile: Calligaris’ Skin chair in sky lantern, also from John Lewis, in popular Windermere artificial grass can blue can be used indoors or out and will Watermelon Red is a good buy at just be vacuumed clean. It’s £17.99 per sq m still look good in 10 years’ time, £87.98 £10 (johnlewis.com).