WILL 2026 BE YOUR CUE TO MOVE TO A SMALLER HOME? ALEXANDRA GOSS SPEAKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE TAKEN THE PLUNGE, SHIFTING FROM COUNTRY TO CITY, TOWNHOUSE TO APARTMENT

FEW EXPERIENCES STRESS-TEST RESILIENCE MORE THOROUGHLY THAN A PROPERTY RENOVATION. BUT WITH THE RIGHT HELP AND A BIT OF PLANNING, IT COULD MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SALE OR A PROPERTY LOSING VALUE, FINDS ARABELLA YOUENS

Your indispensable guide to the capital

COUNTRY LIFE

Anwnn, Brockloch Forest, Carsphairn, Castle Douglas, Scotland. A timber-framed cottage in open countryside near a village. It was built around ten years ago and has a staircase made from former church

I’ve never had much luck with metals. In 1981, around a year after the last structural gold bull market peaked, I was given a small krugerrand. Aged seven, having noted that it was not made of chocola