There are a number of large property auctions taking place this week starting off in the North East this evening.  If you haven't looked already, check out our database for auction property under the hammer this week in London, Merseyside, North East and the West Midlands, as well as smaller auctions throughout the rest of the UK. Any unsold lots from these auctions will be displayed in our database as soon as the auctioneers have released the results.

Property for auction in the South West, namely Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Devon and Cornwall, is being uploaded into our database from today

From 15th - 19th June 2011, visit BBC Gardeners' World Live at Birmingham's NEC, to see live demonstrations from all your favourite gardening experts including Monty Don and Alan Titchmarsh in the Gardeners' World Magazine Theatre.

Learn all about the UK countryside and the wildlife that inhabits it, and pick up top tips on the best British destinations to visit this summer. Plus, see the Countryfile TV presenters live on stage!

Be inspired by stunning Show Gardens from established, new, and young garden designers. It's the best place to find ideas from urban get-aways to exotic planting

There are a number of design fairs this month, so a quick reminder of one starting today in London...

May 11-14; Olympia Grand Hall (0844 412 4623; spiritofsummer.co.uk) Born to shop? You’ll love this annual fair with more than 300 “boutique” stalls selling posh stuff that isn’t on the high street, including home and garden goods, travel accessories, fashion, jewellery and more.

Enjoy food and drinks tastings, demonstrations and workshops. Tickets in advance, £15; older children £7. On the door, £16.50 and £8.  

There are a few properies in our Hot Picks that are still available from last week's auctions - namely in Spalding, Aberdeen and Coatbridge.  The Brixton flats are currently still available however have had lots of interest since last week, so if you're interested you had better move quickly!

The three bedroom house in West Midlands is going to auction next Thursday, so if you're interested in finding out more about it, give us a ring or contact us through our enquiry form.

More properties are being uploaded this week, and a few auctions are also taking place.  Keep checking back as new

The average cost of a home dropped 1.4% during the month to stand at £160,395, the lowest level since July 2009, according to the latest Halifax house price index.

The latest slide led to property values being 3.7% lower during the three months to the end of April than during the same three months of the previous year - the biggest annual decline since October 2009.

Halifax blamed the slide on weak consumer confidence in the face of economic uncertainty, which it said was constraining demand, putting downward pressure on prices.

Property values are now just 4% above the low they hit

The latest Land Registry figures provided a flurry of headlines and plenty for the house buyer or house seller to consider.

The headline-grabbing figure was a 2.3 per cent drop in the past year of property values throughout England and Wales – only London seeing a slight increase.

The North East saw the greatest annual price fall (-9.3 per cent) but the North West saw a slight month on month rise of 0.8 per cent.

Second biggest annual drop in house prices was Wales, down 7.2 per cent to give an average house price of £115,998. Walesonline reported upbeat comments from estate agents who

The Bank of England has voted to hold interest rates at 0.5% against a backdrop of weak UK growth figures and a surprise dip in inflation.

Many had expected this to be the month when rates finally began to rise, but data released last month showed GDP had increased by just 0.5% in the first quarter of 2011, far lower than the near 1% figure many had been hoping for.

Such underwhelming growth was only enough to counter the shock 0.5% decline witnessed in the previous quarter, and raised questions about whether the economy could handle the impact of a rate hike at this point.

Today's

House prices remained unchanged during April as growing demand and rising sales helped to provide some support for the market, research by property intelligence group, Hometrack, has indicated.

The stabilisation followed eight consecutive months of price falls, which have left the average home in England and Wales costing £153,100; although Hometrack warned that it expects prices to come under further pressure during the second half of the year as consumer confidence weakens.

The number of people looking to buy a home has increased by 22% during the first four months of the year, while

A quick reminder that after the long weekend, a number of property auctions are taking place across the UK over the next fortnight.  If you're searching for property to buy in Lancashire, London, Leeds, Scotland and the Home Counties, then use our search facility as soon as possible as these property auctions are taking place this week.  Next week's auctions focus on East England, East Midlands and London (again).

Remember that auctions take place throughout the year so keep checking back as we're uploading new properties into our UK Auction List database on a weekly, sometimes daily

Another price increase coming into effect today is further bad news of families who heavily rely on landlines for both calls and broadband.

BT customers will see their home phone bills rise again as line rental charges creep up for the third time in 12 months.

As well as the recent 9% increases on BT call rates, customers have also been subject to stealth hikes on the cost of line rental.

Last year, BT line rental cost £11.54 a month. However, this has risen by nearly £2 over the course of one year, taking the cost of a landline up to £13.90 per month from today.

Furthermore, there