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Millions living in the countryside will be 'lifted out of the slow lane' to enjoy lightening-fast broadband, ministers say. £5billion of taxpayers' money is being spent on upgrading digital infrastructure under a Government drive to 'level up' internet access. 

The plan, Project Gigabit, will see as many as 2.2million homes across England get the fastest internet speeds on the market by 2025. It is targeted at rural areas where businesses and families have long suffered from poor connections. When the upgrades are complete, residents will be able to  download films in less than half a minute thanks to broadband speeds of one gigabit - 1,000 megabits - per second, far higher than the current nationwide average of 72 megabits per second.

It will boost tech firms, make it easier to do business and 'put an end to families battling for bandwidth', according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Oliver Dowden, the Digital Secretary, said: 'Project is our national mission to level up rural areas by giving them the fastest internet speeds on the market'.

Martin Beckford - Daily Mail.

Rock-bottom mortgage rates mean now is a prime time for homeowners to switch when their fixed deal ends, according to data firm Moneyfacts.

The average standard variable rate is now 4.4 pc, which is 1.9 pc higher than the average two year fixed deal. It means someone with a £200,000 24-year home loan could save £204 a month by switching.

The scaling back of the stamp duty holiday has cooled the UK's frenzied property market, according to Nationwide. Figures from the building society show house prices dropped 0.5% in July. It comes after prices leapt 13.4% in June - the steepest rise in 17 years.

Nationwide's chief economist Robert Gardner said the rush to take advantage of the full stamp duty holiday saw housing transactions reach record levels in June. As a result, prices surged - effectively outstripping any savings made from the tax break. While stamp duty is due to return to its pre-pandemic rate by October in England, Nationwide said ongoing demand for larger homes in the wake of the pandemic was likely to continue supporting house prices.

House prices are almost a third higher than at their peak before the financial crisis.

A typical home cost £177,300 in December 2007 before plunging by 20 per cent. However, the average is now around £230,700 according to Zoopla - an increase of 30 per cent. Almost £12,000of the £53,400 rise was added in the past year as families started a 'race for space' following the first coronavirus lockdown.

That has seen buyers hunt for bigger properties with gardens and home offices, with demand also turbocharged by the stamp duty holiday. Grainne Gilmore, Zoopla's head of research, said: 'Demand is moderating from record high levels earlier in the year, but remains significantly up from typical levels. There is a continued drumbeat of demand for more space.'

                  Matt Oliver, City Correspondent, Daily Mail

Demand for houses is still outstripping demand for flats. To a certain extent this trend will have been supported by the stamp duty holiday, with bigger savings on offer for larger properties - typically houses.

but underneath this, there is a continued drumbeat of demand for more space among buyers, both inside and outside. That's funnelling demand towards houses, resulting in stronger price growth for these properties.

Overall buyer demand, coupled with constrained supply, signal that price growth will continue to rise in the  coming months, peaking at around 6%, before falling back between 4%-5% by the end of 2021.

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