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The front page of today’s Metro certainly reads for grim reading, claiming that Britain is set to face a housing crash worse than in the US.

The well respected financial forecaster Capital Economics claims that the parallels between consumers spending in the two countries are “disturbing”.

From April 6, all homeowners will be able to install micro generation equipment, like solar panels, without needing to get planning permission, as long as there is clearly no impact on others.

Currently, the energy used to heat, light and run our homes accounts for 27 per cent of all of the UK's carbon emissions - around 40 million tonnes.

After speculation of a further 0.25% cut in interest rates, the The Bank of England's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to keep interest rates on hold at 5.25%. The news comes on the back of a report by Nationwide Building Society which showed a fourth consecutive month of decline for house prices and a sharper than expected 0.5% decrease in average house prices for February.

Industry experts are expecting further rate cuts before the end of the year, with many expecting a fall to 5.0% in May 2008.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is launching a £2m advertising campaign in a bid to help homeowners worried about meeting their mortgage repayments.

Following today’s earthquake, the biggest in the UK for nearly 25 years which has shaken homes across large parts of the country, Allied Surveyors has issued a warning to homeowners of the potential damage the recent quake could have done to their home...

With the earthquake reaching 5.2 on the Richter Scale, householders near the epicentre of the quake have already noticed cracks or slight structural damage and, are being war