Latest news with #LakeHouse
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Block faces falling house prices – and loses a billionaire buyer
Contestants on this year's season of reality renovation TV show, The Block, face a falling regional Victorian property market and the loss of a key potential buyer. This year, the series moved to the popular tourist town of Daylesford – known for its mineral springs, food and art culture, including the award-winning Lake House and artist David Bromley – located 90 minutes north-west of Melbourne. The show airs on Nine, owner of this masthead. Daylesford's median house price fell 6.3 per cent over the year to June, reaching $820,000, according to Domain data. The broader Hepburn Shire's median house price fell 11.3 per cent, to $687,500, in the same period. Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell said the contestants will need to make 'strategic decisions' about how they sell their homes in a cooling regional Victorian market. Loading This follows double-digit increases in house prices in 2021, she said. 'What the market did was hit into the cooling period which began in 2023, and it has escalated … we are seeing the falls accelerate and that has been consistent in 2024 and 2025,' she says. 'What we have now is the median house price in Daylesford is $820,000 … that is $100,000 lower than the record high which was mid-2022 … definitely it's cooling.
The Age
4 days ago
- Business
- The Age
The Block faces falling house prices – and loses a billionaire buyer
Contestants on this year's season of reality renovation TV show, The Block, face a falling regional Victorian property market and the loss of a key potential buyer. This year, the series moved to the popular tourist town of Daylesford – known for its mineral springs, food and art culture, including the award-winning Lake House and artist David Bromley – located 90 minutes north-west of Melbourne. The show airs on Nine, owner of this masthead. Daylesford's median house price fell 6.3 per cent over the year to June, reaching $820,000, according to Domain data. The broader Hepburn Shire's median house price fell 11.3 per cent, to $687,500, in the same period. Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell said the contestants will need to make 'strategic decisions' about how they sell their homes in a cooling regional Victorian market. Loading This follows double-digit increases in house prices in 2021, she said. 'What the market did was hit into the cooling period which began in 2023, and it has escalated … we are seeing the falls accelerate and that has been consistent in 2024 and 2025,' she says. 'What we have now is the median house price in Daylesford is $820,000 … that is $100,000 lower than the record high which was mid-2022 … definitely it's cooling.
The Guardian
12-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Father given £1,173 refund from nursery in England after ‘top-up' fees investigation
A nursery has refunded a father almost £1,200 after an investigation found he had been charged mandatory 'top-up' fees for hours of childcare that should have been free. Tiago Gomes's daughter was eligible for government-funded childcare at the Lake House day nursery and preschool in Bristol but he was told that he must pay an extra compulsory fee for 'consumables'. In England, children aged three and four can receive 30 hours of free childcare a week, while those aged between nine months and two years now qualify for 15 hours. The law says nurseries must be transparent about additional charges for consumables – such as nappies and sun cream – and they must be optional. Nurseries are not allowed to apply top-up fees. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has investigated 23 complaints about fees, and earlier this year the high court ruled in its favour in a separate case involving Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council. A spokesperson for the ombudsman said many parents were not aware of a council's duty to intervene with nurseries that were not following government rules. Gomes paid for some additional hours of childcare and was charged a total of £1,033 a month. He was told that for each government-funded hour there was a 'parent contribution charge', which paid for 'essential care products, educational programmes, expert nutrition'. The level of this charge – which was also applied to other parents' bills – was not broken down on his invoice. He complained to Bristol city council, which found that the nursery had not made clear that the charges were voluntary. Gomes asked the nursery for a refund, but none was given. He then complained to the ombudsman and was refunded the £1,173 he had paid in the additional fees. The Lake House day nursery and preschool in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, is one of more than 80 nurseries and preschools operated by Grandir UK. In a statement to the Guardian, Grandir UK said: 'We are dedicated to maintaining full transparency and are committed to ensuring our families receive high-quality care and education. We ensure that our families have a clear understanding of what is included in their funded entitlement and any additional services that may incur charges.' It did not respond to queries about whether other parents had made similar complaints or whether there had been other refunds. The ombudsman said that after Gomes's complaint the nursery had delayed providing information to a council audit. It asked the council to show that other parents were not being charged additional fees. Councillor Christine Townsend, the chair of the children and young people committee on Bristol city council, said it has received two complaints about the provider. 'We agree with the ombudsman's findings on the provider and are taking appropriate action, including a full financial audit,' she said. 'We also note the ombudsman found no fault with the council's actions. 'Affordable, high-quality childcare is essential for Bristol families, and we remain committed to supporting them.' The council is looking for details from the nursery on consumables being an optional charge, it said. Nurseries have complained that the funding for nursery hours is insufficient at a time when wage costs are increasing. A survey by the Early Education and Childcare Coalition found a third of providers have limited the number of government-funded hours on offer. One in 10 say they will close within two years because of the pressures on the sector. Lauren Fabianski from the EECC said the shortfall was frustrating to providers and parents as the funded childcare was being labelled as free but 'the government is not funding it in a way that actually makes it deliverable for free'. A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: 'High-quality, affordable childcare plays a vital role in our plan for change to get tens of thousands more children each year ready for school. 'That's why we are increasing early years funding to over £9bn next year – with a recent Coram survey showing the real difference the rollout is already making, as costs for families accessing 15 hours have more than halved. 'We are backing parents with new guidance – reflecting the law reaffirmed by a recent high court judgment – which sets out that additional charges must not be a condition for parents accessing their funded hours, saving families money.' The spokesperson for the ombudsman said: 'The high court has confirmed the ombudsman's position that providers cannot place mandatory charges on free hours.'
Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Times
My house lost half its value because of HS2 — and I need to sell
I bought Lake House in Whitmore, Staffordshire, for £1.175 million in 2009 with my ex-husband [says Steph Wilkin, 56, a topographical surveyor]. It's absolutely gorgeous — a three-bedroom equestrian property with stables, nine acres and two great big lakes. But now, according to HS2, this wonderful grade II listed property is worth only £757,500 — just over half the amount we paid for it. There is no going back on this valuation, issued in June 2024, seven months after Rishi Sunak cancelled HS2, and nowhere to appeal to. It's such a stressful situation and I don't know where to turn next. We divorced in August 2020. The financial settlement of the divorce stated that Lake House was to be sold. I would receive 62 per cent of the proceeds, when the £300,000 mortgage had been settled. My ex-husband still lives in the house and pays the interest-only mortgage under the divorce financial order.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Biden admits keeping classified Afghanistan document 'for posterity's sake' in leaked audio
Former President Joe Biden, in newly leaked audio of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur, admitted he likely kept a classified document related to Afghanistan after he left the vice presidency for "posterity's sake." Biden first said he didn't recall why he had the document when asked about it by Hur, who told him it was found in the library of his lake house. "I don't know that I knew," that he had the document, Biden answered, "but it wasn't something I would have stopped to think about." Hur noted that Bob Woodward and Jules Witcover both wrote about the document in their books about him, asking if he wanted to hang onto it because it might be the subject of reporting or "history." Biden Struggles With Words, Key Memories In Leaked Audio From Special Counsel Hur Interview "I guess I wanted to hang on to it for posterity's sake. I mean, this was my position on Afghanistan. I've been of the view from a historical standpoint that there are certain points in history, world history, where fundamental things change using technology," he said. Read On The Fox News App "So, there are a lot of things that I think are fundamentally changing how international societies function, and they relate a lot to technology." After the 80-year-old continued on that subject for a while, Hur interrupted him to get back to the topic of the document. "No, I'm sorry, that's why I wanted it," Biden answered. "It had nothing to with Afghanistan." One of the former president's lawyers then interrupted Hur to say, "For the purposes of a clean record," he wanted to avoid "getting into speculative areas," mentioning that Biden at first answered the question about the document by saying he didn't recall why he had it. At that point, Hur answered, "I think we should take a break." In other sections of the audio, Biden seems confused, asking what year his son, Beau Biden, died, and what year he left the vice presidency. House Judiciary Sues Garland For Biden Audio That Hur Says Shows Him As 'Elderly Man With A Poor Memory' The audio, related to an investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents while vice president, came out after more than a year of congressional lawmakers demanding its release amid questions about the former president's memory lapses and mental acuity. The House Judiciary Committee sued Attorney General Merrick Garland in July for the audio recordings, stressing the importance of the "verbal and nonverbal context" of Biden's answers that could be provided by the audio recordings, especially considering Hur opted against charging Biden after the interview, partly because Biden was viewed as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." The committee argued at the time that the audio recordings, not merely the transcripts of them, are "the best available evidence of how President Biden presented himself during the interview." That lawsuit was filed before Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in July after he struggled in a June debate with Trump. Biden had exerted executive privilege over the audio recordings while president. Hur, who released his report to the public in February 2024 after months of investigation, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents, and he said he would not bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office. Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other records related to national security and foreign policy that Hur said implicated "sensitive intelligence sources and methods." Fox News Digital has reached out to Biden for article source: Biden admits keeping classified Afghanistan document 'for posterity's sake' in leaked audio
