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Norfolk Living Guide

Latest

Everything we have published, newest first. New town and village guides, price and data updates, and Norfolk stories as they go live.

  1. · Practical Guides

    Renting around UEA: student lets, HMO rules and what the Norwich postgrad market actually costs

    A practical guide to renting around the University of East Anglia in Norwich: UEA 2026-27 campus prices, NR4 private asking rents, HMO licensing rules and the September 2026 Norwich consultation, Ground 4A under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, and the deposit and council tax checks worth knowing before you sign.

    By James Ward

  2. · Practical Guides

    Downsizing to Norfolk: stamp duty, equity release and where it actually works

    The practical version: SDLT replacement-of-main-residence rules, the honest Equity Release Council trade-off, July 2026 UK HPI prices by district, five Norfolk towns where downsizing actually works and what the removal and GP registration side looks like.

    By Sarah Ellis

  3. · Practical Guides

    Buy-to-let in Norfolk: yields, mortgage rules and what landlords actually pay in 2026

    Norwich tops Norfolk BTL yields at around 6%; the commuter districts sit below 4%. Section 24 is fully in. Great Yarmouth switched on selective licensing in April 2026.

    By Tom Fletcher

  4. · Practical Guides

    Norfolk faith schools admissions: how Catholic and Church of England places are decided

    Catholic and Church of England schools in Norfolk set their own admissions criteria. What a Supplementary Information Form is for, how the two systems differ, and the deadlines parents miss.

    By Helen Marsh

  5. · Practical Guides

    Cost of buying a house in Norfolk: stamp duty, legal, searches and the fees that follow

    Stamp duty, legal fees, Norfolk council searches, surveys for flint and thatch, mortgage fees and three worked totals from £200k to £450k.

    By James Ward

  6. · Practical Guides

    Winter on the Norfolk coast: what shuts, what stays open, what to check before you go

    Lifeguards finish in mid-September; Blakeney seal trips run through the pupping season; the Bittern Line stays hourly on Sundays. An honest guide to the Norfolk coast from October to March.

    By Sarah Ellis

  7. · Practical Guides

    Buying a Norfolk home at auction: how it works and where the lots come from

    UK property auctions sold a record 28,975 lots in 2025. A share of that volume is Norfolk property. The honest guide to the traditional method, the modern method, and the deposit rules that bind on the fall of the hammer.

    By Tom Fletcher

  8. · Practical Guides

    Secondary school admissions in Norfolk for September 2027

    Deadlines, how Norfolk ranks applications, which schools fight for places, and what appeal panels actually consider.

    By Helen Marsh

  9. · Practical Guides

    Help to Buy has closed: what replaced it in Norfolk

    Help to Buy ended in 2022. Here is what first-time buyers in Norfolk can use now: First Homes, Shared Ownership, the Lifetime ISA, Freedom to Buy.

    By James Ward

  10. · Practical Guides

    Can you live on a boat on the Norfolk Broads? A guide to residential moorings

    On the whole 125 miles of navigable water, there are around ten authorised residential moorings. What the Broads Authority allows, where the plots are, and the council-tax and finance rules.

    By Sarah Ellis

  11. · Practical Guides

    Secondary schools in Norfolk: every state secondary by area, with Ofsted and sixth form

    The 53 state-funded secondary schools in Norfolk, grouped by area, with age range, sixth form, pupil numbers and the latest Ofsted outcome. Admission dates, in-year moves and transport rules.

    By Helen Marsh

  12. · Practical Guides

    Norfolk and Norwich house price forecasts for 2027

    The published UK forecasts for 2027 cluster between 2% and 3% growth. None of them is a Norfolk figure. Here is what Savills, Knight Frank, JLL, Hamptons, Nationwide and the OBR have said, set against the UK House Price Index record for Norfolk and Norwich.

    By Tom Fletcher

  13. · New Homes

    New-build homes around Norwich: developments, prices and schools

    A tour of the Norwich-fringe new-build sites selling in autumn 2026: Rackheath, Sprowston, Old Catton, Cringleford, Hethersett, Easton, Wymondham, Taverham and Drayton. Developers, from-prices, schools, buses, council tax and what to check.

    By Tom Fletcher

  14. · Best Of

    Best villages in Norfolk to live in 2026

    A county-wide shortlist of Norfolk villages with a shop, pub, primary, GP in reach and a way out by bus or train. Prices to June 2026, Band D 2026-27, and the drawback for each.

    By Tom Fletcher

  15. · Practical Guides

    Norfolk towns and villages: postcodes, post towns and councils

    A single reference table of the 46 Norfolk places we cover, with each one's postcode district, Royal Mail post town, district council, county, distance from Norwich and 2021 Census population.

    By Tom Fletcher

  16. · Best Of

    Best prep schools in Norfolk: fees, inspections and what’s closed (2026)

    Norfolk's six open independent prep schools, their 2026 to 27 fees, their most recent ISI inspections, and the three that have closed since 2019.

    By Helen Marsh

  17. · Practical Guides

    Heating oil suppliers and your rights: the CMA’s September 2026 letter

    On 10 September 2026 the CMA warned heating oil suppliers that their contract terms must be fair. At the 2021 Census 17.3% of Norfolk households heated with oil alone.

    By James Ward

  18. · Practical Guides

    The national landlord register and rent disputes: what changes in Norfolk

    A national landlord register opens on 15 December 2026, starting in the West Midlands, and every letting landlord must register by 14 November 2027. Norfolk's start date is not yet known.

    By Tom Fletcher

  19. · Practical Guides

    Norfolk towns and villages: the 46 places we cover

    The 46 Norfolk places we cover, grouped as the city, large towns, market towns, Norwich suburbs and villages, with 2021 Census populations and a link to each guide.

    By James Ward

  20. · Practical Guides

    The £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme: what it means for Norfolk

    The first £9.58 billion went to 33 strategic partners on 25 August 2026, and no Norfolk council was among them. Money can still reach the county through housing associations, bidding and Right to Buy.

    By Tom Fletcher

  21. · Practical Guides

    Norwich population: what the ONS figures count

    Norwich had 145,676 residents at mid-2025 in the city council area. Count the suburbs joined to it and the 2021 Census found 200,770. Which figure to use depends on the comparison.

    By James Ward

  22. · New Homes

    Besthorpe and Attleborough: the 110-home plan and the 2023 floods

    Ashberry Strategic Land is preparing an application for up to 110 homes at Besthorpe, beside streets that flooded in Storm Babet in 2023. Breckland's register showed no application yet.

    By Tom Fletcher

  23. · Traditional Buildings

    Norfolk heritage builders and specialists

    Norfolk firms that repair and build in thatch, lime, flint, clay lump, carrstone, timber and iron. Every phone number and email was checked in August 2026.

    By Tom Fletcher

  24. · Traditional Buildings

    Buying and owning a period or non-standard home in Norfolk

    Before offering on an old Norfolk house, find out whether it is listed, whether it is in a conservation area and what its walls and roof are made of. This page covers the law and the money.

    By Tom Fletcher

  25. · Traditional Buildings

    Why old Norfolk walls need lime, not cement

    Solid walls in older Norfolk houses stay sound by letting rain soak in and dry out. Lime mortar, lime render and limewash allow that; cement render and cement pointing do not.

    By Helen Marsh

  26. · Traditional Buildings

    Norfolk reed and the thatched roof

    Norfolk reed is the trade name for water-reed thatch, not a guide to where it grew. Historic England puts imported reed at 97% of all reed now used in thatching.

    By Helen Marsh

  27. · Traditional Buildings

    Carrstone: west Norfolk’s gingerbread stone

    Carrstone is a rust-brown sandstone found in Norfolk walls only along the western edge of the county, from Hunstanton south to the Fen edge. On a carrstone house, check the mortar.

    By Helen Marsh

  28. · Traditional Buildings

    Flint: the stone Norfolk built with

    Most of Norfolk's older walls are flint because the county has almost no building stone of its own. On a flint house the part that needs looking after is the mortar, which has to be lime.

    By Helen Marsh

  29. · Traditional Buildings

    Clay lump: Norfolk’s earth-built walls

    Many older rendered cottages in south Norfolk villages are built of unfired clay blocks. A clay-lump wall lasts as long as it can dry out, so find out what the walls are before you buy.

    By Helen Marsh

  30. · Traditional Buildings

    Traditional Norfolk buildings: what the county is made of

    Norfolk's older buildings are made of what was in the ground or growing nearby: flint, carrstone, clay lump and reed. Their solid walls stay sound only if they can dry out through lime.

    By Helen Marsh

  31. · Practical Guides

    Cost of selling a house in Norfolk: agent, solicitor, EPC and removals

    Selling an average-priced Norfolk house costs about £5,400 once the agent, solicitor, EPC and removals are paid. The agent's commission is roughly 70% of that.

    By James Ward

  32. · Practical Guides

    Norfolk towns by population: the 25 largest

    Norwich is the only place in Norfolk with more than 100,000 people. Five more towns have over 20,000, and by 25th place on the list the count is down to about 5,000.

    By Tom Fletcher

  33. · New Homes

    Rackheath Garden Village: what is built and what is planned

    Two things share the name. New estates are already built on the edge of the village; Taylor Wimpey's plan for up to 3,850 homes to the north has outline permission and no homes yet.

    By Tom Fletcher

  34. · Practical Guides

    Norfolk house prices in the first half of 2026

    Norfolk prices hardly moved in the first half of 2026: £269,700 in January and £271,712 in June. The annual rate reached 3.6% only because spring 2025 was weak.

    By James Ward

  35. · Practical Guides

    Leasehold reforms announced on 15 July 2026: what they mean in Norfolk

    The 15 July 2026 announcement changes what landlords must tell leaseholders and who pays legal costs in a dispute. It does not cut service charges, ground rents or lease extension prices.

    By James Ward

  36. · Practical Guides

    Moving to Norwich: five suburbs compared

    Buyers who want a house with a garden near Norwich usually choose between Sprowston, Hellesdon, Costessey, Thorpe St Andrew and Cringleford. Medians run from £260,000 to £369,995.

    By Tom Fletcher

  37. · Practical Guides

    Buying your first home in Norwich: deposit, stamp duty and monthly costs

    The average first-time buyer in Norwich paid £202,230 in July 2026, with no stamp duty to pay. The harder part is the mortgage, which needs a household income of about £40,500.

    By James Ward

  38. · Practical Guides

    Great Yarmouth on the UK Town of Culture 2028 shortlist

    Great Yarmouth is one of 15 towns shortlisted to be the first UK Town of Culture. Its case rests on 2028 itself, when four of its landmarks reach a centenary, an anniversary or a reopening.

    By Sarah Ellis

  39. · Practical Guides

    Hosepipe ban in Norfolk: what is banned, the exemptions and the fine

    Anglian Water's hosepipe ban has covered most of Norfolk since 11 July 2026. Great Yarmouth and Gorleston are under Essex & Suffolk Water's own ban, which started on 3 August.

    By Tom Fletcher

  40. · Practical Guides

    Norfolk schools: state, state boarding and independent compared

    There are no grammar schools in Norfolk. A state day place is free, boarding at Wymondham College costs £16,950 a year and full boarding at Gresham's £52,680.

    By Helen Marsh

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