Snooping around – in pictures

In town: London. This is a four-storey apartment in the Italianate tower of an old pumping station on East India Dock, a stroll from Canary Wharf. For £585,000 you get three bedrooms and three receptions. It’s just a shame the Docklands Light Railway and a road cross a bridge near the upper rear windows.
Knight Frank, 020 7512 9966 Photograph: Knight Frank

In the country: Hampshire. Micheldever, near Winchester, is the setting for this cottage. It’s larger than it looks with a beamed kitchen, two receptions and three bedrooms, as well as a downstairs bathroom. It’s also an easy commute to London thanks to the village station. Yours for £320,000.
Knight Frank, 01962 850333 Photograph: Knight Frank

Wreck of the week: Essex. This is an unconverted detached stable with planning permission – set aside about £250,000 to make it habitable, not forgetting the £595,000 initial outlay. It’s in the village of Abridge, near Romford, but there's a tube into London from nearby Theydon Bois. Your neighbours are very close, overlooking your plot.
John D Wood, 01245 344222
Photograph: John D Wood

Dream home: Peeblesshire. Ninewells is a large, modern house with four bedrooms and three receptions in the main part of the property, and a further three rooms in an annexe. But the real dream element is the eight acre garden, mainly comprising woodland with little paths, a pond and secluded areas to rest and contemplate. The agent says more could be done with it, cultivation-wise, but the idea of somewhere you can escape the madding crowd just 22 miles from Edinburgh in Dolphinton sounds too good to mess with. Guide price: £650,000.
CKD Galbraith, 01721 722787
Photograph: CKD Galbraith

Overseas home: New Zealand. Feel like the summer has slipped away without ever truely arriving? You might want to head south of the equator and try out the antipodean summer instead. Make the most of any sunshine with this huge waterfront retreat, comprising 5,000 square metres of land and a five-bed house at Scotts Landing with stunning views over the Mahurangi Peninsula on North Island. Yours for £1.3m.
Savills, 020 7016 3740
Photograph: Savills