The date is October 15, 1954. Thirteen-year-old Elizabeth, who lives in the Toronto suburb of Weston, is a typical grade 8 girl. She has a secret crush on a boy in her class and she thinks Elvis Presley is "dreamy." Elizabeth also has a part-time job babysitting an adorable little grade 2 girl named Suzie, and Suzie’s not-so-adorable grade 6 brother, David. Elizabeth’s job is to walk Suzie and David home after school and then stay at their house with them until their mother gets home from work. David resents Elizabeth because he thinks he is too old for a babysitter, and he goes out of his way to make life miserable for her. On this particular evening, however, Elizabeth has more than a badly behaved boy to contend with. It is on this October night that Hurricane Hazel roars down on Toronto, bringing torrential rains that cause extensive flooding. David and Suzie’s house is on Raymore Drive, a street that will be practically wiped out by the floodwaters. David and Suzie’s parents are unable to reach the house, which means the children’s safety on this most deadly of nights is Elizabeth’s responsibility. She finds herself increasingly isolated. They are surrounded by rising water. The electricity goes out. The phone goes dead. Still, Elizabeth is sure they will be safe as long as they remain in the house. But are Elizabeth and the children really as "safe as houses"? Before this terrifying night is over, Elizabeth and David will have to learn to communicate and cooperate if they are to save their own lives and Suzie’s. Their survival in the midst of one of Canada’s worst disasters will depend upon their resourcefulness, maturity and courage.

If you're interested in property investment but have always been too wary to take the plunge, this is the book for you. Learn tried-and-tested methods for property investment to help you grow your wealth from someone who started at the bottom and worked their way up.Explore creative ways of investing in property; discover how property can be a short-term investment as well as a long-term commitment; and learn how to make a living from the property industry. This book covers:Buy-to-letHMOsDeal sourcingCommercial-to-residential conversionsSteven provides a no-nonsense guide to getting started in the sector, even with very little capital. In this candid book, he reveals how he's developed his £5 million property portfolio, sharing his successes and failures to accelerate your growth as a property investor.Take control of your future. The time is now for property investment.

There can be few everyday financial issues more important than the price of houses. Whether we own one and worry about its value or aspire to own one and are frustrated by their high prices, nobody can avoid the issue. In the UK, while prices have fluctuated during our lifetimes, overall they have risen steadily and sometimes spectacularly. The accepted wisdom is that houses are a safe and excellent investment for the long term. But are they really as good an investment as we believe? Might the future be different from the past? Are houses really so safe? This book looks at house prices over the long term in several countries -- including the UK, the US, France, Holland, Norway, Germany and Australia -- to find out what has happened to house prices and why. The author illustrates his findings with authoritative data on trends and provides intriguing details including a century-long index of UK house prices, an analysis of the value of the White House and a fascinating four-hundred-year story of houses in Amsterdam. - To what extent are we right to view our houses as an investment as well as a home? - If prices can rise for decades and then fall for more than a whole generation, then what does the future hold? - If prices rise further, will houses become unaffordable for many young people? How will that affect our society? - If they crash, will that endanger our banks once more? - Are politicians, policymakers and regulators prepared for the true range of possibilities? Anybody who owns a house, wants to own a house or follows the prices and economics of housing will find this book an accessible, fascinating and door-opening read. Neil Monnery studied at Oxford and Harvard Business School. He worked for many years at The Boston Consulting Group as a Director and Senior Vice President and is now active in business, investing and research.

Inheritance tax, once almost exclusively a tax on the wealthy, is now affecting more and more people in the UK as a result of the exponential rise in property prices. Home-owning families are becoming increasingly concerned about the implications of the tax - in particular when it comes to passing on their property to other family members. Practically written, this book provides guidance and strategies for homeowners to enable them to understand how the tax might affect them and what they can do to minimise liability and reduce stress. It covers a range of issues including: understanding tax loopholes and what they really mean; giving away property while still alive; strategies for married couples, civil marriage partnerships, and joint ownership; trusts and other options and choices.

As the tragedy of the Grenfell tower fire has slowly revealed a shadowy background of outsourcing, private finance initiatives and a council turning a blind eye to health and safety concerns, many questions need answers. Stuart Hodkinson has those answers. He has worked for the last decade with residents groups in council regeneration projects across London. As residents have been shifted out of 60s and 70s social housing to make way for higher rent paying newcomers, they have been promised a higher quality of housing. Councils have passed the responsibility for this housing to private consortia who amazingly have been allowed to self-regulate on quality and safety. Residents have been ignored for years on this and only now are we hearing the truth. Stuart will weave together his research on PFIs, regulation and resident action to tell the whole story of how Grenfell happened and how this could easily have happened in multiple locations across the country.

When Allen Pasztory discovered he was likely to die before his time, he realized that what he could pass down to the people he loved was stories. Stories of and for his families--the family he was born to and the family he stumbled upon and fiercely embraced. This lyrical book of a man confronting challenges -- deafness and serious illness -- offers a quiet, warm story of two men struggling to build a famiy in a world which does not acknowledge their right to parenthood.