Paper round: Stamp duty soars

Stamp duty soars

The stamp duty bill of the average homebuyer has risen by more than 60% during the past five years to nearly £2,000, reported the Daily Telegraph on Saturday. The Halifax bank said buyers in south Buckinghamshire paid the most stamp duty last year, with an average bill of £21,241.

The Heathrow clearances: village to be bulldozed for new runway

The Independent paid a visit to the village of Sipson, which will have to give way to a third runway at Heathrow if the scheme is given the go-ahead. BAA is reported to have persuaded locals to accep prices for their homes that correspond to 2002 rates.

Macquarie mulls £1.5bn bid for Land Sec Trillium

Australian bank Macquarie is considering a £1.5bn bid to buy Land Securities Trillium, the Independent on Sunday reports. The bank is understood to have established a team to assess the viability of a bid.

BA criticises ‘flaws’ in Terminal 5 as construction lags

Less than a month before the official opening by the Queen, the new terminal is still not finished, reported the Observer. Delays in carrying out vital mechanical and electrical work have forced the airports operator to apply to the Civil Aviation Authority to suspend Heathrow’s normal service quality obligations for several months.

Arriving soon at Stonehenge: 480 trucks a day from Tesco’s ‘megashed’

Tesco is planning to open a warehouse of more than 85,000 sq metres (21 acres) on a Greenfield site just outside Andover, Hampshire, reported the Guardian on Saturday. The paper said it would be bigger than Heathrow’s terminal 5 and the height of four double-decker buses, each stacked on top of the other.

Nuclear plant chiefs face jail if they fail to keep clean-up records

Last week’s consultation paper on funds for new nuclear power stations includes a well-hidden clause stating that station chiefs risk prosecution if they breach the programme regulations, the Independent on Sunday reports.

Church of England plans to sell off its palaces

Historic homes that have belonged to the Church of England for centuries could be sold to raise money for cash-strapped parishes, reported the Daily Telegraph on Sunday. It said a confidential internal review is examining whether the diocesan bishops’ houses should be kept. They are worth around £120m and cost up to £9m each to maintain.

Hollywood sold on Monopoly movie

The board game Monopoly is being turned into a feature-length Hollywood film, said the Daily Telegraph on Saturday. Sir Ridley Scott is developing the film, which is expected to centre around property deals.

You think you’ve got a bargain but you could have overpaid

The Independent on Sunday warned readers about inflated house prices and urged them to be cautious of landlords and estate agents who use changeable market conditions in their favour.

Home search sites have a new kid on the block

The Independent on Sunday has interviewed Daniel Lee, founder of the newest home-search website, Globrix.com.

Britain’s year zero

Ahead of this week’s government pledge to make all British homes zero carbon by 2016, the Independent on Sunday investigates the UK’s commitment to energy-efficient non-domestic buildings.

Mr Anti-Gravity

The Mail on Sunday published an interview with Arup structural engineer Cecil Balmond, who is building the Chinese Central Television Centre in Beijing. He has astonished the world with this structure, but the building that means most to him is the hotel that saved his family from the tsunami while on holiday in 2004.