The next time you’re walking around the Stroud Green Road area of Finsbury Park, have a look at some of the people. Particularly those have come out of some of the local restaurants.Specifically, those who have come out of either the Cats or Pappagone restaurant.

See how happy they look? That’s because these restaurants are two of Stroud Green Road’s best.

Cats is a Thai restaurant. The menu has all of the best Thai dishes; we particularly recommend the massaman beef curry as a main. But at Cats, you have to have at least one starter. Or two – for example, the packed spring rolls and the crispy squid rings.

Every dish we have ever tried here has been excellent. Fresh, spicy - and service comes with a smile. We have never had to wait very long for our food, even at peak Saturday night times.

The décor is special, unlike any other Thai restaurant we’ve visited. A tuk-tuk is by the front-window. The tables and chairs are ornately designed - all imported from Thailand. There’s a varied selection of beers, wines and of course spirits. If you can’t get to Thailand to try the food, visiting Cats is the next best thing.

If it’s Italian cuisine you’re after, we recommend Pizzeria Pappagone, further up Stroud Green Road towards Crouch End.

Lots of Italians eat (and drink) here - always a good sign. The restaurant has a bar and with its outdoor tables during the summer, it becomes a great place to hang out.

The menu is varied and you’ll find all the main Italian A-listers – pizza, pasta, risotto, fresh salads, meat, vegetarian – there’s something for everybody.

We tend to go for different pizzas and then share them, because we’re the type of people who order something, then see what other people have and think “I wish I’d ordered that instead.”

Staff are always friendly and even at the busiest times manage to serve everyone within a reasonable time.

These are two of the best restaurants we’ve found in N4 – please let us know of any others in the same area!

If you’re renting in London and you want to go somewhere where you can experience traditional English culture, you have lots of options. There’s the pub of course. There are the fish and chips restaurants, although it’s hard to find a good one. You can always head to the countryside for English culture.But have you ever considered a football match?

In the 1970s and 1980s, English football had a reputation for hooliganism. Then in the 1990s, that changed. The Government brought in all-seater stadiums, installed CCTV, the police took action on the hooligans. Money came into football from Sky television. This led to better players joining from abroad. Football became fashionable.

Now, at least in the Premier League, hooliganism has disappeared, along with the flares, perms, and other 1970s/1980s fashion mistakes.

Tickets to watch a Premier League game are always very difficult to find. You can try eBay or Gumtree or even walk around the stadium on the day of the match and find people selling tickets. However you never know if the tickets are genuine, or where you will be sitting.

So what’s the best way to go and see a London team? We reckon the best option is to follow Arsenal. Of the four London clubs (Arsenal, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham, Chelsea) currently in the Premier League, they have the biggest stadium – capacity for 60,000 people. They play in the Champions League, as well as the Premier League, FA Cup, and Carling Cup. This means there are many matches to be played, some less important than others.

Tickets for the Carling Cup are easiest to find. Arsenal use the Carling Cup to play their younger players and many supporters don’t attend because they prefer to see the best, most experienced players.

Keep an eye on their website. Also look in the Evening Standard. Sometimes Arsenal and Chelsea advertise tickets, occasionally for Champions League games but more often for the Carling Cup.

And don’t forget to learn some football songs before you go or we can rent you a one bedroom flat with a view an Arsenal fan would die for!

By now, you probably have your winter coat, you’ve found your hat and gloves and that recent blast of warm London weather is a fading memory. We’re already into December, the clocks have changed, you’re thinking about Christmas – you’re ready for winter.

You might be ready, but if you’re a landlord, can you say the same about your property?

The Government has launched Get Ready for Winter, a campaign advising the public of the many ways they can prepare.

The campaign’s website includes a section on protecting your home. Last December was the UK’s coldest since records began in 1910. The Association of British Insurers dealt with £900m of property damage claims. Over two thirds of these were for burst water pipes.

If a pipe bursts, do your tenants know what to do? Do they know where the stop-cock is?

It’s common for many tenants of residential property in London to go away for Christmas and New Year. Can you be confident your house or flat will be safe in the meantime?

Property owners are advised to check pipes are adequately lagged and the boiler is robust. Problems can occur when tenants turn on the central heating for the first time.

High flood risk is not something usually associated with residential property in London – however the Government is reminding people to check and sign up for free flood warnings via the Environment Agency website.

Other tips are for residential property landlords to check eligibility for grants and subsidies for home heating and insulation. The Government may have cut funding in some areas but it’s still worth checking with your local council or your energy supplier.

If there is no funding available, there are alternatives. The Government has some useful hints on draught proofing your residential property, which can be done “using simple products from your local DIY store.”

After all that’s been done, we recommend you insulate yourself by enjoying a nice hot glass of mulled wine…cheers!

The Government should help landlords meet the demand for residential property in London and across the UK by reforming the current tax system, says high-profile housing expert Julie Rugg.

After completing her report, commissioned by the previous Government, she concludes the current system needs to stop viewing the residential property sector as a method of private investment. Instead it should recognise the residential property sector as a business, unlocking the tax advantages that go with it.

“Government policies need to regard landlords as active business people rather than passive investors,” she said.

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) is calling on Chancellor George Osborne to issue a series of tax measures designed to boost the private rented sector. The RLA represents over 15,000 private sector residential property landlords in England and Wales and has released a statement, saying:

“With a taxation system that fails to recognise the sector as a business, there is little incentive for existing landlords to invest in new properties or for new landlords to enter the market.”

Housing charity Shelter has just released a report showing supply is failing to meet demand with up to 5 people chasing each property coming onto the rental market.The RLA cite these figures as evidence of “the difficulties being faced by many for whom the private rented sector is their best hope of finding accommodation.”

Further evidence of the heightened demand for residential property in London is found in new research, showing a 12.2% increase in rents over the past year. The average month’s rent is now a reported £1202, while average tenancy length dropped from 27 months to 22.

The RLA will now wait for the Chancellor to deliver his autumn statement, in which he is expected to announce the Government’s plans for stimulating the UK economy. Will that include measures to help landlords create more residential property supply? Watch this space…

Deciding to watch something on a screen in the 21st century can be hard work.

First, you have to negotiate an alphabet soup of abbreviations before making your choice. Do you want it HD? 3D? HDTV?

Second, what cables do you need? HDMI? DVI? USB? OMG you might think, or Oh My God for non-textspeak speakers..or should that be writers?

Visit one of London’s many independent cinemas and forget all that. You simply come in, sit down and watch the film. Like most cinemas.

So what makes independent cinemas different?

Independent cinemas are free to set their own listings, so while you can view the latest Hollywood blockbuster, you can also see the latest in cutting-edge alternative film from around the world.

Independent cinemas can take risks, showing underground films created by unknown directors, starring unknown actors, who may or may not prove to be the next “big thing.”

Independent cinemas can be interactive. It’s common for film-directors to come and answer questions from an audience who have just viewed their latest offering.

That’s just some of the positives we can think of. Why not visit one and find out some more for yourself? Ones such as:

The Screen on the Green. This cosy cinema is opposite Islington Green, 5 minutes walk from Angel tube. Settle into a comfy sofa, get your drinks from the bar..and enjoy!

The Rio Cinema. Down Kingsland Road, Hackney you’ll find the Rio, a community cinema with an emphasis on local. Local groups can use the cinema, local people sit on the Board, and membership includes discounts and information on local arts events. There is a parents and babies club, exclusively for parents of children under 1 year.

The Aubin cinema. This elegant independent is in Shoreditch, offering “velvet sofas and chairs, plumped up with Aubin and Wills cushions.” The bar serves cocktails so try not to drink too many before you watch the Aubin’s selection of “quality mainstream and art house films.”

Then there are the pop-up cinemas, such as the recent one which popped up in a derelict petrol-station in Clerkenwell. Hopefully the no-smoking law was observed or the petrol pumps were empty at the time(!) These regularly appear in the areas served by The Islington Company, so best keep your eyes, ears and Google-ready fingers ready to find them.

The next time you walk down a London street and suddenly sense a drop in temperature, stop. Is it really the wind you can hear whistling? Are you sure it’s the weather chilling your bones? Or is it something else? Something…haunting?

A 2009 survey found 40% of the British public believe in ghosts. This rises to 50% in London. Why is there a difference? Is the capital more ghostly? If so, which parts?

Let’s start in East London, home of Jack the Ripper. Responsible for at least 11 murders between 1888 and 1891, the brutal serial killer was never caught. Does this mean his ghost or those of his victims still roam the area?

In Spitalfields, close to where Jack the Ripper stalked his victims, was a mass burial site. It was dug in the mid-1300s, to cater for all those who died when the Black Death hit London. The pandemic had already swept through Europe, killing 30-60% of its inhabitants along the way. At its peak, “more than 200 corpses were buried almost day”.

Up in Hackney, Sutton House is the oldest residential property in the borough. Here, “disembodied voices emanate from empty rooms”.

Near Clerkenwell, “the ghost of a red-haired man appears” among drinkers in the Sutton Arms pub. Over in Islington, Charterhouse Square is reportedly another former mass grave; the site of up to 50,000 Black Death victims. Tales of “ghostly monks and the ghost of a nobleman” who is said to walk around with his head tucked under his arm, have been described.

So what does this mean? Are there more ghosts in London? East and North London does seem to have its fair share…

Perhaps we should just remember the words of Richard Jones, ghostwalker, author and expert on the supernatural: “In London, the dead far outweigh the living.”

There’s a buzz in the air around Old Street. A Google buzz. The internet giant has taken a lease on a 7 storey property in Old Street, to “provide a range of activities, such as speakers’ series, hackathons, training workshops and product demonstrations”.

Old Street is fast becoming the destination of choice for the UK’s hi-tech companies, leading many to dub the area “Silicon Roundabout”, a reference to Silicon Valley, California, where many of the world’s top technology companies are based.

Google already has a presence in Old Street, via the Tech Hub project. Based near Silicon Roundabout, the Tech Hub offers support to new businesses, ranging from support and advice to affordable commercial property in Old Street. Notable companies operating in the area include last.fm, bought by broadcasting giant CBS last year in a £140m deal. Around 300 companies in the technology sector are reportedly operating in the Old Street area, many of them start-ups.

Prime Minister David Cameron is already on record as saying he wants more to take up property in Old Street, to make it “one of the world’s great technology centres.” Telecom companies are busy installing superfast broadband cables to cope with the expected influx of enterprise.

Old Street has been a magnet for creative industries in recent years, and residential property in Old Street is already in high demand. Google’s move and the continued growth of Silicon Roundabout will ensure this remains the case. The building is expected to open in 2012.

The Olympics are less than a year away and for many of London’s residential property landlords, it is time to start looking at the short-term lettings opportunities this once in a (mortgage’s) lifetime event may offer.

Demand for short-term accommodation in London is expected to come from almost half a million visitors during the 2012 Olympics. Transport For London has already said it “is aiming for 100% of spectators to get to the games by public transport, or by walking or cycling”. Landlords with residential property in Central London locations, such as Kings Cross and Islington, or East London and Shoreditch and Dalston, or on Olympic-friendly transport links, such as the Jubilee Line and Docklands Light Railway can therefore expect to benefit from an “Olympic premium” on short-term rental prices.

How much of a premium? Some experts use the Wimbledon tennis championships as a yardstick, where fans typically pay 40-100% extra for a two-week stay in a conveniently located residential property. Then there are the landlords who rent to the players. Never mind the extra income - imagine being able to say to your prospective tenants, “and this is the shower, previously used by the 2012 Olympic champion”?

There will always be high demand for London’s residential property, never more so than during the Olympics. Landlords are in an ideal position to capitalise on this, but there are pitfalls to avoid. Some London boroughs require landlords to request permission to issue lettings of less than 90 days. Failure to do so risks a fine of up to £20,000. The National Association of Estate Agents is pressing for a review of this legislation but at time of writing the Government has not responded. In the meantime, landlords with residential property in London are advised to seek advice from reputable lettings agencies, such as The Islington Company!

If you’ve ever wanted to appear on the BBC show Eastenders, or wondered what it’s like to stroll around Albert Square and pick up some groceries in the market, head down to Dalston, E8 to find out.

Dalston’s Ridley Road market is the inspiration for the long-running soap-opera, famous for its portrayal of life in East End London. Ridley Road is one of London’s original markets, dating from the late 1800s. Unlike the TV version, you won’t see stallholders slip into the local pub every 10 minutes, or ask someone to “mind me stall” while they disappear either to commit a criminal act, sleep with someone’s partner, or simply to shout “woss goin on” and “leave it aht”.

Instead you’ll find them working hard to maintain Ridley Road’s reputation as one of the best markets in London to buy fresh food. Fruit and vegetables from all parts of the world can be found here, reflecting the local area’s ethnic mix.

If it’s clothes you’re after, the market has a variety of stalls selling all types of fashion; from dresses to jeans to footwear – enough to make sure you look the part if you ever decide to audition for Eastenders.

If you want somewhere to sit down, head to Fassett Square. It’s situated close to the market and has a small grassy space, with rows of neat houses overlooking it, and a metal fence surrounding it. If you’re thinking the description reminds you of somewhere, it’s because Fassett Square is the model copied by Eastenders designers when they constructed Albert Square.

Walford is the fictional borough where Eastenders is set. Like Dalston, it has its own train station – Walford East. Many visitors for next year’s Olympic Games are likely to stay in areas close to the Olympic stadium, such as Dalston. Many of them will be Eastenders fans so don’t be surprised if next June you hear people around Ridley Road market or Fassett Square asking “where is Walford East station?”

One of the best things about living in London is the 24/7 culture. Whatever time, day or night, you can usually find something going on. If you are hungry at 3am, pop down to the famous bagel shop on Brick Lane, open 24 hours a day. If you get in the mood for dancing and romancing on a Monday evening, head to the West End. If you want something alternative, head to the gay village in Vauxhall; the bars and clubs are rarely closed!

You might think to live somewhere perfectly positioned between all of the above attractions, you would have to expect some noise. Perhaps a bit of late-night drinking and shouting, or a faint throb of a nearby dancefloor, perhaps intermittent slamming of car-doors at a taxi-office. You probably wouldn’t expect to find somewhere quiet, with a village atmosphere, with local businesses and local restaurants where people greet you by name.

If you have been to Clerkenwell, you would.

Nestled in a Central London triangle of Kings Cross, Angel and Farringdon, Clerkenwell is one of those places you don’t expect to find in a city like London. Then you remember the size of a city like London is the perfect place where somewhere like Clerkenwell should have room to exist.

Running through the heart of Clerkenwell is Exmouth Market. This narrow pedestrianised street allows you to…take your time. Take a stroll down and visit of the many independent shops on the route. Then stop at one of the cafes, or bars if you want something stronger. If it’s Friday or Saturday, stock up with fresh produce from the weekly food market.

If you want a pub, visit the Three Kings. This unique, friendly and colourful pub is situated opposite the church, near Clerkenwell Green. Bear in mind Clerkenwell is a popular location among creative industries with thirsty workers, so the pub gets very busy on a Friday night. Visit during the week to really experience its relaxed character.

Did I mention Clerkenwell Green? Charles Dickens wrote about this village square in Oliver Twist, as the location where Fagin and The Artful Dodger teach Oliver all about the art of pickpocketing. There is nothing green here now but around the corner, in between Exmouth Market and Bowling Green Lane is a park where you can relax.

It’s small, it’s friendly, it’s a village in the middle of London – it’s Clerkenwell.

Article written by Steve Alphabet for TIC Blog