Gordon Ramsay has reportedly moved into an £11.5m ($18.8m) home in LA.

The TV chef, who was rumoured to be permanently relocating to the States, is said to be paying £100,000 ($164,000) a month to rent the mansion in Bel Air.

Ramsay is apparently in negotiations to buy the Mediterranean-style house, which features 12 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a summerhouse and and "jaw-dropping views" over the ocean.

According to the News of the World, he has applied for visas for his family and consulted close friend David Beckham about suitable schools for his four children.

A source said: "His new

Have you checked out this month's Hot Picks?  http://www.ukauctionlist.com/hotpicks

We have a three bedroom house in Teesside, a unique four bedroom bungalow in Durham, and a three bedroom with great potential in Wigan, all in auction next week.  

Also, the office in Aberdeen is going back into auction at the reduced guide price of £105,000 - a drop of over £15,000!

If you're interested in any of them, then please give us a shout.

It was reported today that property worth hundreds of millions of pounds changed hands in the run up to yesterday's stamp duty rise.

Estate agents reported an 'incredibly busy' March as buyers tried to bear the 1% increase in duty to 5% on properties worth more than a £1million. Savills reported striking deals worth £90million on Tuesday as the midnight deadline approached.

And if you were struggling to find a white van man in London this week, that is no surprise as removal companies in the capital were also fully booked, with some sellers even giving away furniture to make it easier

Reports in the news today advise that house prices edged 0.1% higher during March, helping improve the quarterly rate of decline in Britain's faltering property market.

The slight improvement last month came after prices dropped 0.9% in February and eased the quarterly fall to 0.6% between January and March, Halifax have said.

The average UK house price stood at £162,912 in March, but this was 2.9% lower than a year earlier as values continued to fall by at their fastest annual pace since October 2009.

The three-month measure, which is generally seen as a smoother indicator of trends

Hi everyone, if you haven't done so already, check out our Hot Picks area, where we have two NEW properties of the month, plus a couple other properties with REDUCED prices!

You can either view them by clicking on the property in our Hot Picks box or to see all the Hot Picks on one page, visit http://www.ukauctionlist.com/hotpicks

If you're not a member and one of them grabs your interest, please give us a ring or email me (Lottie) at http://[email protected]

Just a quick note to wish all you mothers out there a fantastic day and hope that you get spoilt rotten!

I was walking past Heal’s this morning, and according to their window display it would seem that the on-trend interiors colours for spring 2011 are teal, turquoise and aquamarine. To see a photograph of Heal’s nicely judged window click here.

This colour trend would appear to be borne out by the forecast published by Global Colour Research, for a snapshot of this season’s colours click here. They are usually on-the-money for seasonal colour trends, so for your regular updates follow them on Twitter @MixPublications

Whilst I remember, here’s another date for your design diary, running

Ray Boulger is widely renowned as the guru of the mortgage industry and expert on the housing market. Ray is constantly called upon by the media to provide informed comment on all areas of the market, and is a regular on the BBC, Sky and ITV.

Last year, Ray was voted guru of the year at the Headlinemoney awards by all of the nation’s money and property journalists, and as the mortgage expert for our partner, John Charcol, we thought we'd share his views with you.

From this month, we relay Is This Week's European Court of Justice Ruling the Thin End of the Wedge?  So make yourself a cup

Recent figures show that the number of people remortgaging rose to a 19-month high during February as homeowners braced themselves for interest rate rises.

A total of 27,144 people switching to a new deal had their loan approved during the month, the highest level since July 2009, according to the British Bankers' Association.

The group said homeowners appeared to be keen to take advantage of the competitive deals that were currently available, after recent high inflation figures have stoked expectations that the Bank of England may raise interest rates sooner than previously thought.

Ashton Kutcher has been married to Demi Moore since 2005 but is only now cutting his final tie with single life - putting his bachelor pad on the market. The A-list actor bought the Hollywood home in 2004 for £670,000 and has listed it for £1.7 million.

The Sunset Strip house was a renovation challenge for the No Strings Attached star and his father Larry. As well as the compulsory home cinema, it has four bedrooms, a cascading set of pools and a two-storey wine tower for 210 bottles.  

Read more home gossip at http://es.homesandproperty.co.uk/