30ft hole opens up on busy Manchester road

The Mancunian Way, one of the busiest roads in the Manchester City Centre, has been closed in both directions after a huge 30ft wide hole opened up on the eastbound carriageway.

The appearance of the hole was triggered by heavy rainfall today, but the erosion of a large water pipe underground is believed to have been the main contributing factor in the caving in of the surface.

The hole is around 30ft across and approximately 40ft deep.

The road has been cordoned off in both directions between the Macdonald Hotel, close to Piccadilly Station, and Fairfield Street.

Since it first appeared earlier today, the hole has been reported to have increased in size, with part of the pavement collapsing as well.

Council officers report that the road may remain closed for several days, and traffic is being diverted around the area in the meantime.

Stay in touch with Trustatrader by checking out our Trust a Trader Wordpress profile and Trust a Trader Artician profile.

Affordable zero carbon homes completed in Hampshire

Architects Ash Sakula have revealed a complete row of affordable terraced zero carbon homes in the Eco-town of Whitehill Bordon, Hampshire, due to be made available for social rent by housing association Radian.

The architects won the first prize for the Eco-terrace in 2012, in an international design competition run by East Hampshire District Council and Radian.

The houses were built including a number of techniques designed to maximise energy efficiency in order to reach the difficult goal of zero carbon emissions. These include prefabrication, highly insulated walls, roofs, windows and floors, water-saving appliances, energy-efficient lighting, locally-sourced materials, airtightness and photovoltaic panels to reduce energy requirements to a minimum.

Discussing the Eco-terrace and the wider situation with current housing standards, architect Robert Sakula said: "We have some of the most inefficient housing stock in Europe, so it's very regrettable that the government hasn't stuck to its target for all new homes to be zero energy by 2016."

Find us on social media! Check out the Trust a Trader G+, Trust a Trader Facebook & Trust a Trader Twitter profiles.

£280m offer for most expensive house in the UK

2 to 8a Rutland Gate, a 60,000 square foot, 45 bedroom mansion just off Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, is on the market and has received an offer of £280m, making it the most expensive property in the UK.

The huge house was previously owned by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, but was put on the market after his death in 2012.

It was given an asking price of £300m, double the price of the second most expensive home in the UK. The current offer of £280m is being considered, but is expected to be accepted.

The house has a large swimming pool in the basement, underground parking and several lifts to make navigating the extensive space more manageable.

It is thought that unless the new owners want the entire space for themselves, the property could be divided up into many luxury apartments, or possibly be returned to four large family homes, which was the original intention for the building.

Help Trust a Trader raise money for vulnerable elderly people by visiting the trust a trader Virgin money page as well as the trust a trader Just giving profile.

Georgian manor house moved 30 miles, brick by brick

A husband and wife who were looking to move from Wiltshire to Gloucestershire were struggling to find anywhere in their chosen area they liked as much as their current house, and so decided to move the entire house the 30 mile distance and rebuild it, brick by brick.

This would be a serious task with any house, but the home in question was an 18th century Georgian manor house with five bedrooms, four reception rooms and four bathrooms, built mainly from Cotswold stone.

After de constructing the house, finding an ideal plot and experiencing some planning complications, work began in the winter of 2009.

Unfortunately the harsh weather lead to around a third of the bricks from the original build being lost to frost damage. To make up for this, bricks were sourced from a few other demolished houses.

After a two year rebuilding process, the family finally had the perfect combination of the house they loved in an ideal picturesque country location.

Find out about Trust a Trader as a business by visiting the official Trust a Trader LinkedIn profile as well as the Trust a Trader Twitter account.

Georgian manor house moved 30 miles, brick by brick

A husband and wife who were looking to move from Wiltshire to Gloucestershire were struggling to find anywhere in their chosen area they liked as much as their current house, and so decided to move the entire house the 30 mile distance and rebuild it, brick by brick.

This would be a serious task with any house, but the home in question was an 18th century Georgian manor house with five bedrooms, four reception rooms and four bathrooms, built mainly from Cotswold stone.

After deconstructing the house, finding an ideal plot and experiencing some planning complications, work began in the winter of 2009.

Unfortunately the harsh weather lead to around a third of the bricks from the original build being lost to frost damage. To make up for this, bricks were sourced from a few other demolished houses.

After a two year rebuilding process, the family finally had the perfect combination of the house they loved in an ideal picturesque country location.

If you would like to find out a little bit more about Trust a Trader, visit our official Trust a Trader Yelp account or Trust a Trader About Me profile.

Government plans to boost house-building

Government plans have been announced to allow planning permission to be granted automatically on many English brownfield sites, as part of an initiative to boost house building.

Disused land could also be seized by the government to be used for housing, and major housing projects could be fast-tracked. In addition, red tape surrounding house extensions in London could be relaxed, removing the need for planning permission for extensions which are similar to neighbours' homes.

There would also be penalties for councils which fail to deal with planning applications in a reasonable amount of time.

Brownfield sites are areas where buildings have been built in the past, but are now derelict or demolished, leaving the land vacant.

The reforms were important because the UK had been "incapable of building enough homes", Chancellor George Osborne said.

The package of changes, named 'Fixing the Foundations' by the Treasury, is being treated as the second half of the budget.

The government's manifesto promised to "ensure that 90% of suitable brownfield sites have planning permission for housing by 2020".

Before the announcement of the new plans, George Osborne had said that "Britain has been incapable of building enough homes.

"The reforms we made to the planning system in the last Parliament have started to improve the situation: planning permissions and housing starts are at a seven-year high.

"But we need to go further and I am not prepared to stand by when people who want to get on the housing ladder can't do so."

Image: supakitmod / freedigitalphotos.net

Find out more about Trustatrader by visiting our official Trust a Trader Deviantart page and Trust a Trader Chainy Profile.

TrustATrader team settles into new offices

We're glad to report that TrustATrader.com has now settled into its smart new offices. The move went as smoothly as could be hoped for thanks to the help of a couple of companies in particular.

The TrustATrader team is now based at 5 Meadway Court, Rutherford Close, Stevenage SG1 2EF.

Don't worry if you recently used the old address - any post that may be addressed to our old office will be automatically diverted to the new address by the Post Office, so if you recently sent us something before you were aware of the new address, rest assured that it will reach us without a problem!

The TrustATrader IT systems have been unaffected by the move, so big thanks to the help of Prime Networks which got us up and running in no time, setting everything up over a weekend to keep us working smoothly.

We'd also like to thank GWB Office Furniture, which provided and installed the all important desks and chairs to keep us sitting comfortably while we help TustATrader members with any enquiries.

If you have any questions related to TrustATrader membership or the website, feel free to give us a call or email anytime. Our up-to-date contact details are always available here.

Best wishes to all our trusted trader members and users of TrustATrader.com.

Keep in touch with all Trust a Trader news by following our official Trust a Trader Twitter account and Trust a Trader Facebook account.