modern living

It's a sensible question – while in theory, lenders have to take steps to ensure you can afford to keep up the monthly repayments (as much for their own sake as yours), buyers can still end up saddled with a mortgage they can't afford. There are a number of mortgage calculators online, such as the one provided by SPF, which give a good general idea of how much a mortgage will cost per month, taking...

While Portugal’s national housing market has seen only tentative improvement in recent years, prime Algarve property has shown a marked upturn. In Quinta do Lago, for example, the very best properties have exceeded their pre-crisis peak. The rise comes as many wealthy individuals find themselves fully invested in first-tier cities, where prices are at a high plateau, and are now looking at...

You might think of the City of London as a square mile of iconic towers and slick office blocks. Which of course it is. But there's a lot more to this tiny city – one of only two London districts with city status – than banking, trade and financial services. Settled by the Romans in the 1st century AD, the City was heavily populated right up until the 18th century. Today, there are only around...