The House Thread

[Boydy]

Back on the topic of gas, it seems we're getting shafted in NI as usual:

1729597501513113732

[Lofty]

Is the general expectation the base rate will go down on 1st February based on the news about mortgage rates going down? We agreed to move onto a new deal from 1st March when rates were looking dicey but have the ability to renegotiate before that comes into play in the meantime.

[niko_cee]

Are rates expected to go down that soon? I saw some outside suggestion of April, but though consensus was still later in the year if at all. Sounds like the mortgage market is becoming more competitive though.

[Ben]

I wouldn't think so. They've been crying cautiousness, which isn't a bad thing if they hadn't spent the last 12 years not doing anything about it.

[Don]

Coming to the end of my tenancy with my tenants for our 12 month contract which was agreed with an Estate Agent.

Both the tennant and I were happy with renewing for a further 12 months but wanted to save on fees we both pay to the cunts so thought we'd just deal with each other direct.

The tenancy agreement didn't seem to contain any relevant clauses but theyve whipped out a signed "terms of business" agreement which states:

The Landlord may terminate the Agent’s Service by providing the Agent with not less than 1 month’s written notice but termination will only take effect upon any Tenant or Occupant vacating the Property following expiry and/or earlier termination or surrender of the Tenancy. The Agent will be entitled to Fees at the agreed rate from the Landlord in respect of any Tenant or Occupant introduced by them for however long that same Tenant or Occupant remains in the Property whether or not the Agent negotiates the subsequent extensions of the initial term. The Landlord will only be entitled to withdraw from the Agent’s services with the Tenant in situ when the Tenancy is a statutory periodic, in which event the Landlord shall pay the Agent a Withdrawal Fee equivalent to 2 months’ rent at the then current rate together with VAT thereon. Any such notice of termination served by the Landlord is without prejudice to any claim for a breach of contract that either party might have against the other.

So they've seemingly got us by the balls. I get they may want compensation for finding the tenant but if that's the case why not front-load the charge and be open about it? Filthy cunts.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Pretty standard clause with any form of third party agency, in my experience.

[Waffdon]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86777493#/?channel=RES_BUY

I get it’s probably a rot and damp fest but that seems ridiculously cheap. Surely some handy man could easily do that up and sell it for 3x the price. Errol isn’t exactly a shithole either

[Ben]

No warranty, no testing. It's a massive gamble. You're not wrong that it could be doable and be flipped for half a mil, but it could also be just as easily condemned by a structural engineer.

[Don]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckkvkv32e1ro

Child grooming gangs and country lines ain't shit compared to these management companies. I had a brief taste of it in MK where I saw the inner workings. That was a new-build flat and I saw how it developed in the first few years but that was at least pre-cozzie livs and at MK rates.

How these Londoners are swallowing it all up and not yet revolting en masse fascinates me. People just perceive housing costs as some sort of non-negotiable in this country, feeling powerless to influence them, akin to being robbed at knifepoint. As with all white-collar crime, the criminals are protected by the balls-deep bureaucracy.

On a housing crisis related note, this came up on X just now too:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145778303#/&channel=RES_BUY

:happycry:

[niko_cee]

That house is absolutely massive and it's in Canonbury, to be fair.

[Spikey M]

Alternatively you could buy this (https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144656861) in my endz and jump on the train for an hour.

Taz is absolutely correct. Houses have become investments, rather than homes and it's terrible for everyone that isn't a millionaire.

[niko_cee]

I'm quite glad I'm entirely out of the service charge game. Must be such a racket considering how utterly useless they are whenever you try to get something super basic done. Think it took FirstPort about 4 years to stop sending me bills after I had escaped their clutches.

[Spikey M]

When we had the flat, I had an absolute war wit the management company over the Building Insurance. Their "preferred provider" wanted £600 a year for each flat, despite like for like Insurance being available for less than £300. Robbing bastards. It's an absolute grift.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Mine has gone up from £75 to £111 as of 1 April this year. Why? Absolutely no idea, apparently you can just multiply anything by 1.4 and that's life. Of course it also works that way for salaries, oh wait, no it doesn't.

[Jimmy Floyd]

How these Londoners are swallowing it all up and not yet revolting en masse fascinates me.

Because the alternative is going to live in a cheap part of the country and that's a fate worse than death. Plus, you know, they're Londoners, it's home.

[Waffdon]

I honestly expected worse. The little bed sits for 300k+ is much worse value. The house is a lot bigger than the front image that’s being posted looks

[Ben]

It's still pretty wild though. My house is a similar size and makeup (minus one bathroom) and it cost less than 10% of that last year. It's been well established in this thread that the North is shit, but is it that much shitter?

[Waffdon]

North England, yes.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's still pretty wild though. My house is a similar size and makeup (minus one bathroom) and it cost less than 10% of that last year. It's been well established in this thread that the North is shit, but is it that much shitter?

It's not that it's shit per se, it's that every multinational employer, every high paying job, every wealthy foreign investment, every multi-millionaire property speculation, every public and cultural institution are in London and none of them are where you are. Every possible force that could go into inflating the housing market is in effect and only a fraction of these forces have the same effect on people's salaries. That's why in Blyth, for example, people earn far less than they do in Islington, but home ownership rates are 60% whereas in Islington they are 30%.

[Spikey M]

I'd rather live in Northern England than in London. Maybe not Middlesbrough, mind.

[Manc]

I've never understood the whole lol at the north vibe. As with everywhere there are great bits and shit bits.

[Shindig]

Aye, and it's largely well connected with public transport.

[niko_cee]

It's still pretty wild though. My house is a similar size and makeup (minus one bathroom) and it cost less than 10% of that last year. It's been well established in this thread that the North is shit, but is it that much shitter?

You have a 340m2 house?

[Lewis]

The only issue with that three million pound house is that its council tax will be a relative pittance compared to some poor bastard getting rinsed on a shared-ownership round the corner. You could go a long way to rectifying a lot of this unfairness with proper council taxing/land value taxation. Let's see who really wants a three million pound semi-detached when they would be better off levelling that entire street and building nice mansion blocks.

[Ben]

You have a 340m2 house?

Didn't see that. :D

As you were. Bargain for £3.5m that.

[Baz]

If this pub (https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144473537#/?channel=COM_BUY) wasn’t renowned for flooding I’d be seriously considering buying it to live in. What a bargain for something so big, and in great spot seconds away from the East Lancs (and right near the M6) with a car park, [tiny] outdoor area and it literally backs on to a lovely bit of greenery called Carr mill dam.

[Mike]

Could walk to mine too!

[Dark Soldier]

Viewing property tomorrow. Sent images of it to me mam. Turns out me stepdad, who is a labourer, built the fucking property. Well, converted it into the flats I'm viewing. Worked with the landlord for 15+ years. So a nice name drop is gonna go well I think.

[phonics]

I'm filling out my mortgage application tonight :cool:

[phonics]

What was that website that showed you markup/down history on places?

[SvN]

The area I live in has become a right shithole in the last 12 months, mostly because of 2/3 families that have moved into the council houses across the river. We've had the police at our house asking for CCTV footage/witness statements 5 times in the last few months. A local dad walking his 7 year old to school got beat up by one of them for telling him to slow down when he was racing past the nearby school at 8:30am.

Unfortunately, childcare costs mean we can only really afford a sideways step at the moment, so moving is out of the question. Still doesn't stop me looking at RightMove and dreaming.

[Luke Emia]

What was that website that showed you markup/down history on places?

Rightmove and Zoopla will both show you previous sale prices(as long as they have taken place in the past 20 years or so) and then give you a current valuation based on market conditions but that part isn't perfect.

[SvN]

There's also this Chrome extension (https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/property-tracker/abgkpdjomdmemeefdefalbeogkmlmand?hl=en-GB&pli=1) that shows the history of the listing price.

[phonics]

There's also this Chrome extension (https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/property-tracker/abgkpdjomdmemeefdefalbeogkmlmand?hl=en-GB&pli=1) that shows the history of the listing price.

That's what I was looking for. With my refreshes I'm seeing them listed at different prices across Zoopla/RightMove as well as going up and down so I'd like to track it.

[Dark Soldier]

New flat paid, contract signed, move in Sunday. Good area too. Can't wait.

[Don]

Man said good area like he's emigrating. "Non-shit"/"White" is what you mean.

[Spikey M]

The chip you have on your shoulder is getting out of hand lad.

[Dark Soldier]

Man said good area like he's emigrating. "Non-shit"/"White" is what you mean.

I meant good transport links you fucking off-gammon

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145298237#/?channel=RES_BUY

Just found my Dad's place for sale. The Ukrainian has been busy, barely recognise it.

[Waffdon]

That explains a lot

[Spikey M]

The blow jobs that must have earned him. :drool:

What a man. RIP.

[Shindig]

Those wooden support beams in one of the bedrooms are ... an interesting look.

[niko_cee]

Puts Ed Two Kitchens Milliband to shame.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Those wooden support beams in one of the bedrooms are ... an interesting look.

The support beams are on the top floor which is a studio flat. Was originally built for my Brother.

House was one floor when my Dad bought it back in the day.

[Manc]

That explains a lot

No wonder he doesn't work for a living.

[niko_cee]

Considering sticking a bid in for this (https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146263277#/?channel=RES_BUY), could build my own long room and watch Jimmy ply his trade if he's allowed across county lines.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Only half a mill for that? Fill your boots.

[phonics]

Currently looking at flats in the Harbour. The dream one is this place but it's about 50-70k above what I can afford.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146782181#/?channel=RES_BUY

The drop off from that at 315 to the ones I'm looking at for 220-240 are massive. When I write that sentence, the drop off is probably about 100k in quality so makes sense...

[Waffdon]

315k for a flat. Fuck me. I’m thankful for being Scottish

[wullie]

I like an exposed beam but I don't think I could be doing with that one that cuts the main room in half.

[phonics]

It is a little much but as you say, exposed wood :drool:

[Shindig]

I'd bump into that at every opportunity.

[niko_cee]

Got sent a house today by an agent before it went up on rightmove that looked good, perhaps a little too good. It has since gone up as an entirely different, much shitter house on the same road. :moop:

Baffling as it was a full marketing thing on some weird agent platform called Street.co.uk, so they must have had this other house for sale at some point although there is no record of it having sold within the last 20 years.

[Raoul Duke]

Classic bait-and-switch. Lure you in with something fake, get you to sign-up/agree terms with them then send you the dregs they actually have

[niko_cee]

I was actually going to see something else with them, but this seems fairly high level incompetence even from an estate agent*. Here's a surprisingly not ridiculously over priced recently renovated house for X, oh no, sorry, what I meant to send you was the one over the road that we actually have on the market that hasn't been touched in the 30 years since it was built and is about 50% smaller, also for X. :/

There was some story about that other one having been withdrawn from the market despite offers over X having been received, although I never saw it come on and I watch it keenly. :happycry:

I'd almost reconciled myself to the misery of the suburbs and everything. Back to the grand design by the cricket pitch.

*That said, the other day another one forwarded me an email chain in error, they were trying to send me some information that they had already sent me and I'd asked for something else mentioned that wasn't included, so now I know that some retired IT bod is also interested in the cricket pitch. Alas. Had a foreign sounding name though so hopefully the bid openers at the council are all massive racists.

[niko_cee]

For reference this is what was promised:

https://street.co.uk/platform/properties/9a55e9d0-9f53-4558-828e-18c6d0ac5215?type=sales

And this is what materialised:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146979386#/?channel=RES_BUY

It's missing a floor.

[Waffdon]

TTH rolling in the money. Love to see it.

[niko_cee]

Hardly. I was expecting to sell my house in Guernsey and live like a king over here, but it's just endless dystopian suburbia for about the same money. Large developer built areas are just dreadful.

[Waffdon]

Move up to Auchterarder and live like a king

[niko_cee]

There was probably a better chance of me persuading my wife to move to Australia, as had been my original plan.

[Waffdon]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145717640#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145901372#/?channel=RES_BUY

Should be in your budget

[niko_cee]

There's actually a house down here I think I've posted on here before which I refer to as the footballers' wives house which is a bit like that second one. I think it's pretty much at the end of the Gatwick runway though and in the middle of buttfuck nowhere which is a bit of a turn off.

My uncle lives in Perth, think he has quite a nice house.

No thanks.

[Waffdon]

Perth itself is a bit of a shitehole these days but Perthshire is absolutely lovely. Doubt I’ll move back to scary Dundee now.

[Lofty]

You could always move to sunny west lancashire.

[niko_cee]

I'd forgotten how depressing house hunting can get.

Doubly so here, where everything was built in the 90s*, has been inhabited by the same boomer fucks for 30 years and is part of a suburban close boarded fence hellscape, where your pitiful garden is overlooked by at least 5 other houses.

Kill me now.

*Or, if older, has been inhabited by same said fucks for even longer.

[Lewis]

Have they also not been decorated for twenty years because the houses have earned more than them since?

[niko_cee]

Mostly, and they all seem to think they're in 'move in condition' when in reality they need gutting and tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds spent. :cry:

[Ben]

Yeah these boomer cunts who bought these big houses 30 years ago are a nightmare for never decorating it since. We ended up paying £30k more for a house last year versus a very similar one up the road because it didn’t need the antique kitchen and bathroom punting into a skip immediately.

[Manc]

House hunting really is the pits.

[Lofty]

We moved in to ours 5 years ago with the plan of renovating the kitchen I reckon was installed in the 90s but here we are still going strong with it. The main issue being rather than just a nice overhaul the wife is on about knocking down a wall and putting a new roof with skylight on which significantly increases costs beyond a simple interest free deal.

[niko_cee]

£1.2m for what looks like a bunch of council houses taped together
(https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145174451#/?channel=RES_BUY)
And that's in a SHIT area.

[Boydy]

The boomer houses that need gutting and re-doing inside never seem to be that much cheaper either.

[Waffdon]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147166856#/?channel=RES_BUY
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147159002#/?channel=RES_BUY
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143151191#/?channel=RES_BUY
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147127172#/?channel=RES_BUY

Easy.

There’s a lot of horrible looking homes in West Sussex for a pretty penny

[Mike]

The last one there had one of the things that bugged me when house hunting. Listing a downstairs room as a bedroom on the floor plan and calling it a 4 bed. It’s a 3 bed, as there are three bedrooms upstairs.

[Waffdon]

It does have an en suite to be fair

[niko_cee]

Those places are all over budget and absolutely fucking miles away from here. Worthing must be about 30 miles away, my search radius is like 3, and not even that really, which is the main problem, admittedly. That said, even unlimited money wouldn't actually buy you a decent house within with Horsham ringroad. I'm just holding out for some mid-tier CA execs to get culled by SEGA or something as that's my only hope of not having to build my own house.

And that Worthing house isn't even in Worthing for fuck's sake.

[Luke Emia]

What’s the obsession with Horsham?

I have to go quite often for work and it really is soulless. TTH Meet though next time I’m there.

[niko_cee]

That's where I live. I'm not obsessed with it, it's just where I have to find a bastard house, and it seems to be some bizarre enclave of stupidly expensive crap houses, which I thought was a life I'd left behind. At least it made sense on a tiny island with a mad amount of rich people and a very finite amount of land.

Hit me up though. Bit harsh on the soulless front, it's medium soul, probably.

[Waffdon]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147106451#/?channel=RES_BUY

Majestic

[niko_cee]

Tiny garden, supposed to go and look at it on Saturday but am going to tell the agent it'd be a waste of my time, but yes, all hands on deck, if anyone has a relative they want to off in the region I'm all ears.

This (https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/136776887#/?channel=RES_BUY) was the house I wanted to buy but it went under offer before my house did. Hopefully it falls through.

[Shindig]

The last one there had one of the things that bugged me when house hunting. Listing a downstairs room as a bedroom on the floor plan and calling it a 4 bed. It’s a 3 bed, as there are three bedrooms upstairs.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146765558#/?channel=RES_BUY

On that note, this counts as a four bed. You can see which one doesn't quite line up.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Get across the border to Reigate. Sunlit fucking uplands.

[Ben]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147106451#/?channel=RES_BUY

Majestic

That’s not far off my house (from the outside) and mine was less than a third of the price. The mortgage will be sickening.

[niko_cee]

No, but I can't say that it isn't galling that prime stockbroker belt places seem to be more affordable.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's because the market's full of people who don't want to move out of Horsham. Classic scenario in the joker belt, i.e. the ring of the first towns outside London that are not culturally aligned to London. Would guess it's Horsham that side, unless you count Crawley as a place, which I don't.

[Waffdon]

That’s not far off my house (from the outside) and mine was less than a third of the price. The mortgage will be sickening.

Okay maybe Scotland isn’t that cheap. Omw to boro

[Luke Emia]

I always had in my head Jimmy was from Horsham. Not sure why?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Probably confused it with Hersham, which I'm also not from but it's in the name of my nearest non league football team.

[niko_cee]

Another small gripe, or maybe tip, on the house hunting front, dog owners, your houses stink, you should do something about that. You won't know as you'll be immune to it, but believe me, they do.

[Baz]

:huhu:

[Spikey M]

Your mums stink.

[phonics]

At cope levels now trying to convince myself that when they say 'Accepting offers over 250k' they actually mean 'Yeah 210k will be fine'

[niko_cee]

Yeah, 'offers over' can get fucked. Keep that shit in Scotland.

[Yevrah]

On a fixed rate mortgage, expires end of September. When should I be renewing? Interest rates are coming down at some point between then and now right?

[Waffdon]

Yeah, 'offers over' can get fucked. Keep that shit in Scotland.

It’s currently doing my absolute tits in

[Boydy]

On a fixed rate mortgage, expires end of September. When should I be renewing? Interest rates are coming down at some point between then and now right?
They should be, yeah. I'd hold out as long as possible. With the news that we were out of recession the other day, I read some stuff suggesting we might have to wait a little longer for rates cuts.

[Yevrah]

Cheers Boyd.

I remember two years ago when rates started to go crazy and every Man and his dog said "two years, you'll be fine". I fucking knew I wouldn't be. They're almost as bad as the days of the Kami-Kwasi budget.

[Boydy]

I wouldn't take my word for it, Luke Emia is the man you want to hear from.

But it seems likely there'll be at least one rate cut between now and September which should hopefully mean 5 year fixes would drop a bit with the signal that cuts are starting to happen. I think they had been expected for a while by the markets to start this month but then a bunch of banks were raising their mortgage rates again in the past few weeks as it became less and less likely.

I still don't know I managed to luck out with renewing mine last year around March time. I seemed to catch the post-Truss dip before they went back up again. Mine only went up about £80 a month or so.

[Luke Emia]

Cheers Boyd.

I remember two years ago when rates started to go crazy and every Man and his dog said "two years, you'll be fine". I fucking knew I wouldn't be. They're almost as bad as the days of the Kami-Kwasi budget.

If you are prepared for a bit of a gamble. Hanley Building Society have a 5% discounted rate(will change as and when they change their variable rate which generally will be when the Bank of England change the base rate) that's about as cheap as any fixed rates out their at the minute and will go down if the base rate falls.

On fixed rates if you've got less than 80% loan to value something beginning with a 4 should be achievable say 4.7/4.8%. I'd say look now and secure a rate and then if rates fall between now and September you can always take a new rate. At least you know that what you have now is as bad as it can get.

[Luke Emia]

I wouldn't take my word for it, Luke Emia is the man you want to hear from.

But it seems likely there'll be at least one rate cut between now and September which should hopefully mean 5 year fixes would drop a bit with the signal that cuts are starting to happen. I think they had been expected for a while by the markets to start this month but then a bunch of banks were raising their mortgage rates again in the past few weeks as it became less and less likely.

I still don't know I managed to luck out with renewing mine last year around March time. I seemed to catch the post-Truss dip before they went back up again. Mine only went up about £80 a month or so.

5 year rates are still cheaper than 2 years at the minute which is a bit of an anomaly. But, as I have said to my customers banks will happily lock you in for 5 years at 5% if they are confident rates will fall at some point in the short term.

[Boydy]

If you are prepared for a bit of a gamble. Hanley Building Society have a 5% discounted rate(will change as and when they change their variable rate which generally will be when the Bank of England change the base rate) that's about as cheap as any fixed rates out their at the minute and will go down if the base rate falls.

On fixed rates if you've got less than 80% loan to value something beginning with a 4 should be achievable say 4.7/4.8%. I'd say look now and secure a rate and then if rates fall between now and September you can always take a new rate. At least you know that what you have now is as bad as it can get.

There you go, Yev, don't listen to me. I didn't realise you could sort something now and then get a better deal in September if there's one available.

[Boydy]

5 year rates are still cheaper than 2 years at the minute which is a bit of an anomaly. But, as I have said to my customers banks will happily lock you in for 5 years at 5% if they are confident rates will fall at some point in the short term.
I was assuming a cut in the next few months would signal the start of rates coming down but they would probably do so slowly. So the longer term 5 year fixes might price in more cuts over the coming years but banks wouldn't be expecting rates to fall that much within 2 years so we'd maybe see 5 year fixes staying lower than 2 year fixes?

[Yevrah]

If you are prepared for a bit of a gamble. Hanley Building Society have a 5% discounted rate(will change as and when they change their variable rate which generally will be when the Bank of England change the base rate) that's about as cheap as any fixed rates out their at the minute and will go down if the base rate falls.

On fixed rates if you've got less than 80% loan to value something beginning with a 4 should be achievable say 4.7/4.8%. I'd say look now and secure a rate and then if rates fall between now and September you can always take a new rate. At least you know that what you have now is as bad as it can get.

Cheers Luke, I'll get on it. :thbgrin:

[Luke Emia]

Cheers Luke, I'll get on it. :thbgrin:

Just check with your current lender if they lock you in if you take a new deal with them. Depends on the lender if as some will say if you take a new deal with them you can change it before your current deal is up if they have a better deal. But, won’t let you move away from them.

[phonics]

Dream viewing this week. Gonna be hard not to mark out and offer on the spot

2 bed flat with newly fitted ensuite, brand new kitchen and this terrace for <200k

https://i.imgur.com/L5uEEeZ.png
https://i.imgur.com/s7AWb5C.png

[niko_cee]

Is this in Worcester? The place where everything vaguely near the river ends up underwater? Are you sure about this?

[phonics]

Thankfully that's a canal not the river.

[Shindig]

I've been ruling apartments out of my search but I'd imagine 200k means you're not hearing the sods above/below/to the side of you.

[phonics]

It's an extra 50 thousand pounds to avoid that issue or cut the space in half. My current place has an fire alarm that beeps every 30 seconds if the flat isn't at 27 degrees. I can survive it.

[Shindig]

Fair dues. Looks like a nice enough deal with the kitchen and bathroom. I'd love to just walk into a place within budget with no extra work to do.

[SvN]

Aren't you at risk of getting absolutely bummed by service charges with flats? It's what put me off.

[phonics]

Aren't you at risk of getting absolutely bummed by service charges with flats? It's what put me off.

It's an absolute ripoff, I'm looking at about 110 quid a month but I refuse to buy a place managed my certain people and this one is a good one. Mortgage + Service charge would work out at about 250-400 quid less than my current rent.

[Luke Emia]

Yeah check the lease out Phonics before you offer and don’t listen to what the estate agents say they never have a fucking clue.

Check that the ground rent doesn’t have an escalation charge as lenders won’t generally allow that and it normally also can’t be more than 1% of the value of the property.

Then with the service charge find out how much it is and again what if any escalation charges there are as lenders aren’t as fussed by the service charge but I’ve seen some horrendous ones down the years.

[Lewis]

I got lucky with my service charge. We own the freehold, so we pay for building insurance and to keep the lights on in the hallways, and then if anything else crops up, like when our roof needed new insulation, it gets split seven ways. The flats out there rinsing two per cent of the value every year are a joke.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I wouldn't mind my service charge if they actually did any service. As it is, I'm out there pulling out the weeds in the communal parking with my bare hands.

[niko_cee]

Had an offer accepted on a wreck so am about to blight the next few years of my life on some sort of Grand Designs style folly.

Hopefully I don't end up like this mook (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grand-designs-chesil-cliff-sale-saddest-home-b2539029.html).

Pretty sure the main clue that that was going to be a disaster was that the architect wore a bow tie and appeared to see himself as some sort of David Hockney-esque character, so I'll try to avoid using one of those.

[phonics]

Glad you closed on your place. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

https://i.imgur.com/JLukq3I.png

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It's got character.

[wullie]

I heard Purple Bricks are a bit shit, but to not even COOK PASS BABTRIDGE the front is lazy.

[Yevrah]

Does the asking price reflect the fact that you will forever be associated with kiddy fiddling by moving in there? I'm not sure what sort of price reduction I'd need to accept that.

[phonics]

125 grand for that part of Swansea, apparently you're getting no reduction at all.

[Ben]

I heard Purple Bricks are a bit shit, but to not even COOK PASS BABTRIDGE the front is lazy.

Purple Bricks are very shit. We had to deal with them when buying our house last year.

[Yevrah]

125 grand for that part of Swansea, apparently you're getting no reduction at all.

Yeah, that seems a terrible deal then. Maybe would appeal to a paedo who's been outed in another area and is hoping people will see a different person move in and know their local pederast is gone, allowing him to operate unimpeded again, but that seems like a narrow market to be pitching to.

[Baz]

I like the nonces wall, but looks like it could be about 2 foot longer.

[Shindig]

With the housing crisis, we really should think twice before demolishing serial killers' homes.

[Mike]

I like the nonces wall, but looks like it could be about 2 foot longer.

Nah, they’ve been smart and kept access to the back through that gate. As someone whose house has no access to the back due to an extension, I’d love that little gate.

[Baz]

Nah, they’ve been smart and kept access to the back through that gate. As someone whose house has no access to the back due to an extension, I’d love that little gate.

I meant the front garden wall.

[phonics]

I'm going to go mad.

I saw a property I was happy with but was waiting to view a property from the same estate agents before making a final decision. This took them 2 weeks to arrange. Upon seeing it I decided I would rather go with the original property to which they say 'Sorry, someone made an offer on that yesterday and it's been accepted'. I asked why they didn't inform me and they said 'Sorry we forgot'.

So onto the next one. A duplex/mezzanine 2 bed flat that looked great because I could turn the mezzanine area into an office with a foldout bed and just use the 2nd bedroom as the master.

I go view it today. There is no 2nd bedroom, there is a 1x2.5m cupboard that has a large window looking directly into the lobby of the apartment complex. I go back and check the listing afterwards and they've taken a picture of the mezzanine bedroom area from 2 different angles with 2 different beds in it.

At this point I'm getting desperate, so I start compromising and look at this place:

https://i.imgur.com/PRY1JXW.jpeg

The entire ceiling might require me to spend far too much of my time ducking but fine. I need somewhere to live and it is cheaper than where I was looking previously.

Then I check the small print: The service charge and ground rent are approximately £5000 annually.

There's not even lifts or anything, it's a two story flat. My only assumption is that this communal area is maintained by a direct descendant of an ancient samurai trained in the art of Bonzai.

https://media.rightmove.co.uk/12k/11874/86790954/11874_WOR220156_IMG_11_0000.jpeg

[niko_cee]

The house I'm looking to buy and knock down/rebuild has a strip of 'possessory title' running right through the fucking middle of it, which was registered in 2019. I think the vendors or their heirs have owned the place since the 50s.

As far as I can tell, without having yet seen the full report there was some sort of ad hoc road there in the 50s which has obviously disappeared over time.

No one knows who owned this strip of land but apparently there are restrictive covenants attached to it, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to find out what they are.

Everything in this country is so fucked.

[Baz]

Had a letter from Nationwide to say my mortgage deal is ending on 30/6/24. Current rate is 2.09% and it will automatically go onto a 7.99% rate :cab: Surely there's better options?

[Boydy]

They'll put you onto the standard variable rate which is always way higher once your fixed term ends. Look for a new fixed term one with them or some other provider. Have a search online on comparison sites but it's also worth seeing a mortgage broker as they may have deals that only they can access.

A new fixed term will be lower than 7.99% but won't be anywhere near as low 2.09% these days. You're probably looking at 4-5% depending on LTV etc.

[SvN]

How are you not better prepared than this, with your deal ending in 2 weeks?

[Boydy]

How are you not better prepared than this, with your deal ending in 2 weeks?

Also this. Like, come on Baz.

[Magic]

The best you can hope for there is a fixed rate with your current provider rather than moving as you've such little time left. That shouldn't be too bad though as they're all shite.

[Baz]

How are you not better prepared than this, with your deal ending in 2 weeks?Honestly? Because it’s so little (£327 a month) it could up to 10% and it’d be fine.

I think I’ll focus on trimming years off it to up the monthly payments as much as possible.

[Baz]

A new fixed term will be lower than 7.99% but won't be anywhere near as low 2.09% these days. You're probably looking at 4-5% depending on LTV etc.

5 year fixed at 4.58% or 10 year fixed at 4.9%?

[Magic]

Fuck that, is there no 2 year options?

[Baz]

Fuck that, is there no 2 year options?Well yeah but that means doing this again sooner rather than later.

10 year fixed, reduced from 18 to 15 years, £461.74 a month. Back to forgetting I even pay to live here.

[Magic]

What's the early termination penalty?

[Waffdon]

Baz :cool:

[Luke Emia]

Well yeah but that means doing this again sooner rather than later.

10 year fixed, reduced from 18 to 15 years, £461.74 a month. Back to forgetting I even pay to live here.

Ok I will chuck this out there because I see this kind of thing all the time. 10 years is a long time what happens if something changes in that 10 year period and you need to move? Then you end up paying an early repayment charge. Plus I will say they are offering you 10 years at 4.9% based on the fact they will expect rates to be lower than that on average for the next 10 years.

On the other side of it doesn't sound like your mortgage is that big so the charges wouldn't be that high even if it was 5/6/7% to come out of it.

[Baz]

Fair enough, I appreciate your input. :thbup: Gone for 5 years instead, and knocked 3 years off the time. Easy.

[Manc]

£327. Do you live in a bath tub?

[Baz]

3 bed semi.

In St Helens.

[Manc]

I'm paying £850 atm which is comfortable. Another three years left on my fixed deal. Have to presume that'll go well north of £1k when it comes to renewing. :sick:

[Waffdon]

Of course interest rates remain unchanged.

[Luke Emia]

Of course interest rates remain unchanged.

Never going to change them during an election cycle and even so unless you are on tracker there is no benefit. Also looking at the underlying data I’m still yet to be convinced we will see the amount of rate cuts that are expected, the headline figure is 2% but that’s mostly due to the fact that energy costs have fallen lots of stuff within the economy is still running quite hot and if they hadn’t had to bump the rate up as quickly as they did I don’t think they would be talking about cuts, they would be looking to keep the rate higher and strengthen the pound to help keep import costs lower(especially oil).

[niko_cee]

Bet you don't get too many 'house type - castle' (https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149157857#/?channel=RES_BUY) on Rightmove.

Such a weird place. In the arse end of Crawley, pretty much on a major A road, sandwiched between one housing estate and a new build development. You'd have to be actually insane to have done it in the first place, and even more so to buy it.

£1.8m reduced from £3.2m! :cab:

[Pepe]

Let's pool our Mellin earnings all together and make it TTH's headquarters.

[wullie]

The outside looks more like a novelty biscuit tin than a castle.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That must be in an absolute state only to be £1.8 million.

Would make a good TTH HQ though. Yevrah can have his own wing, and Ian can man the front desk on a real living wage.

[niko_cee]

I don't think it's in a particular state, although I'm not convinced pics 28 onwards are really doing it any favours. It's just in a batshit location. Local media suggested it was a labour of love for some potentially Mahow related stonemason. As the listing suggests, it was initially a small cottage, so fuck knows how he got permission to build that. Without even getting into the why.

What's the budget then? I don't mind low-balling them.

[Pepe]

Hasn't SvN been funding this place for who knows how long? Maybe he'll be willing to fund the HQ too. In return, he can be in charge of the maintenance.

[Ian]

That's what Mellin is actually living in but he's selling it for just 1.8m because he's ready for something more spacious.

[Shindig]

The outside looks more like a novelty biscuit tin than a castle.

Yep. I expect the surveyors to come back with 100% shortbread.

[phonics]

After a series of shit viewings, sellers taking the piss with prices, the time I thought I found 'the one' only for a second viewing to reveal that it was rotten with damp and mould, and a failed purchase because the estate agent forgot to tell me someone else had already bought it the day prior to my bid despite registering my interest multiple times in the previous 2 weeks, I think I've found the one.

https://media.rightmove.co.uk/23k/22403/148781381/22403_S965508_DOC_00_0000.pdf

It's a manageable size, bang in the centre of town but off the busy areas, kitchen looks decent and the 2nd floor that I can use as a living room/office combo. Bathroom looks like its not been touched since the 90s but it's 30k under what I was willing to pay so that can be fixed.

I can't wait to see it on Saturday and find out the reason it's still on the market is because it can only be sold on the provision that a large serbian bodybuilder gets to use your bollocks as a boxing speed bag once a week for the duration of the lease.

[phonics]

Bet you don't get too many 'house type - castle' (https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149157857#/?channel=RES_BUY) on Rightmove.

Such a weird place. In the arse end of Crawley, pretty much on a major A road, sandwiched between one housing estate and a new build development. You'd have to be actually insane to have done it in the first place, and even more so to buy it.

£1.8m reduced from £3.2m! :cab:

I don't know why but going through the pictures and seeing this bathroom got an audible guffaw.

https://i.imgur.com/S2RZDfW.jpeg

[Pepe]

Fit for royalty.

[phonics]

This place is incredible. It has no logical consistency, you leave the entrance hall that appears to be a Greek Hotel that hasn't had any work done on it since 3 recessions ago and sweep into the jacuzzi bathroom that looks like a vegas hotel that comes with a menu for hookers instead of a minibar. Then go to the loft which is where Buffalo Bill keeps his victims prior to murdering them.

[niko_cee]

And then there's the modern slavery annex pics at the end.

I can only assume it is being marketed exclusively to drug lords.

[phonics]

We have 12 bathrooms, 11 bedrooms but only 1 kitchen that looks like a Kebab shop that would fail a hygiene test.

[phonics]

Offer accepted :drool:

Right at the top, top of my spending but who cares. I don't have to live in the parents basement for another 3 months.

[Giggles]

How much does bar work pay over there?

[phonics]

Enough to cover 220k worth of suck my dick.

[Spikey M]

I less kind person would point out how underwhelming that is for someone with rich parents, that lived rent free in Switzerland, with a high paying job, for years. Not me though. Put that lil winkle away.

[phonics]

It's amazing what people will make up about you to make themselves feel better. What's the need to make someone else miserable and tell them they're a failure? Who hurt you?

[Giggles]

Enough to cover 220k worth of suck my dick.

Wasn't an attack, fair play you for doing it. Put it away.

[Spikey M]

It's amazing what people will make up about you to make themselves feel better. What's the need to make someone else miserable and tell them they're a failure? Who hurt you?

I'm just doing what you would do to someone else. Unbearable, isn't it?

[phonics]

I'm just doing what you would do to someone else. Unbearable, isn't it?

Yes and I regularly have to go to therapy for being a self-hating drug addict who thinks about killing themselves twice a day, what's your excuse?

[Waffdon]

He has to read your posts

[Lewis]

Genuinely lolled out loud at that one.

[phonics]

Got me.

[phonics]

My solicitors just sent me an email saying they refuse to be liable for the sale and dropped out. The email contained 2 sentences that weren’t copy pasted from lawyers in which they spelt both my name wrong and the word ‘unable’

Truly impressive.

[Magic]

How did they spell Cunt?

[phonics]

Is baby tired and cranky after his first day of school?

[Spikey M]

My solicitors just sent me an email saying they refuse to be liable for the sale and dropped out. The email contained 2 sentences that weren’t copy pasted from lawyers in which they spelt both my name wrong and the word ‘unable’

Truly impressive.

First time I've come across anything like that. Did they say why?

[niko_cee]

If any sort of discrepancy turns up they wash their hands of it.

Unfortunately the conveyancing sector has been completely overrun with morons/shysters. You have to research who you use quite thoroughly.

[phonics]

First time I've come across anything like that. Did they say why?

Based on this:


HI Joesph,


I am writing in connection with the above matter and unfortunately need to advise you that I cannot continue to proceed to act on your behalf in relation to your purchase.

The reasons for this are that earlier this year the law regarding Leasehold Properties has changed significantly and due to the various legislation changes, what would have been acceptable when the seller purchased the property are no longer the case. The Building Safety Act 2022 came into effect, and this has put a huge onus on leaseholders for the upkeep, maintenance and repair of the properties and along with numerous other reasons could mean that property owners are liable for tens of thousands of pounds for obligations to upgrade and keep properties safe. Due to the huge impact the change is having, mortgage lenders are now concerned that the risk is too high to lend. Now, this means that a lot of properties are currently unable to sell or have finance placed on them because lenders are refusing to lend. This obviously impacts transactions and until legislation is changed or the lender’s stance on such matter’s changes, law firms are now finding it difficult to proceed to act.

We as a firm have taken the decision that we are unbale to act on any properties which fall within the Building Safety Act 202

and looking into the act, my building height puts me right on the edge of said Greenfell legislation applying (if you measure from the floor of the highest apartment it's below, if you measure from the roof it's above) and they don't want to or can't afford the extra legal work required.

My guess is that they just lost a big lawsuit/liability case due to this and so all properties where this may apply must be dropped.

[Boydy]

It sounds like you shouldn't buy it.

[SvN]

Yep, I'd move on.

[Spikey M]

My employer has properties that have fallen foul of the new(ish) cladding rules and it's been a disasterclass. There are part owners with private landlords in the same block and they have been stung for tens of thousands. Some of them have had to just walk away and lost it all.

Avoid.

[niko_cee]

No cladding worries for me, but I've just got the legal report back on a shack I want to buy and it's an inch thick. 4 separate titles, areas of unregistered land, dodgy boundaries, possessory title, unknown restrictive covenants dating back to 1902. It's a fucking bungalow ostensibly in the middle of a town. No executive summary or really much advice either so it's like a scene from A Beautiful Mind trying to understand the bastard.

[Waffdon]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150771209#/?channel=RES_BUY

Gotta be a mistake :D

[niko_cee]

Managed to find Katie Price's 'Mucky Mansion' after seeing it was apparently in Horsham [it isn't].

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150874157#/?channel=RES_BUY

Probably quite a good buy if you've got a couple of million to spare. The former residence of the Rt Hon Francis Maude MP apparently.

[Luke Emia]

Looks like a lot of house for that money round there. I can only assume the photo's don't do it justice and it needs a lot more than just superficial work to it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'd love to live in a house like that. Bored with one room, why not go and sit in another. Maybe that's just me and my one-bed speaking.

[niko_cee]

Looks like a lot of house for that money round there. I can only assume the photo's don't do it justice and it needs a lot more than just superficial work to it.

I reckon you'd probably be looking at over a million to properly refurb it, without even getting into the grounds and the fact that there has been a lot of illegal dumping apparently, so there's probably all sorts of bad shit in the ground. It's also very close to the A24 so I'd imagine there would be an amount of road noise which isn't ideal if it's rural idyll that you're looking for.

Once you start looking at it as a £3m+ project, and if you're willing to live in the middle of nowhere [imo] then you have many, many better options. You could get this (https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145257218#/?channel=RES_BUY) for £3m, for example.

[Lofty]

Get a blacklight in there and the price tumbles.

[niko_cee]

Update on the shack, having been satisfied with the legal report the sale has been progressing. Under the auspices of everything being fine we've had it site surveyed and incurred architects costs etc to knock it down/rebuild it. Due to complete this week. Lawyers have done a routine priority search with the land registry and some sort of application with regards to the possessory title has been lodged in August. Title that was applied for in 2015, and has stood unchallenged since 2019. Seems weirdly coincidental that an application would go in after we'd had our title report back [it would have shown on that had it been made before] on something which is likely unbeknownst to all and sundry. I smell discontent on the side of the sellers [it is an estate sale and I think there is some dispute over who gets what] and some chicanery afoot. Going to be absolutely seething if this falls through.

[Magic]

Anyone got wooden flooring?

[Lofty]

Yes.

[Magic]

Worth the extra over LV or laminate?

[Ben]

Depends if you're going to be willing to give it treatments to keep it in top shape.

Otherwise, go LVT. Get a good quality one and worry about it 20 years down the line.

[Baz]

Carpet > anything else on the floor

[Magic]

Can't carpet because cat.

[Lofty]

Carpet is lovely, but yeah LVT is the one.

[Pepe]

Carpet is horrid. The one thing I hate the most about my new place.

[Magic]

Lol so cat piss can soak in between the LVT?

May as well kit my fucking house out like a Dexter murder scene...

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Just get rid of the cat, simple.

[Danny]

What are you doing wrong to make the cat piss on the floor?

[Yevrah]

Probably suggesting it work on a Scottish fishing boat.

[Magic]

What are you doing wrong to make the cat piss on the floor?

Nothing, he just randomly does it once every couple of months. I had to cut the carpet out and put piss plastic pads on the living room lol.

He had separation anxiety for the first two years so we'd come back to piss when we left him for more than 6 hours but he seems to be ok now he's a bit older.

Little cunt.

[Pepe]

It's said that dogs become like their owners. Didn't know it was also true about cats.

[Magic]

It's said that dogs become like their owners. Didn't know it was also true about cats.

100% he's an AuDHD mess.

[Manc]

Depends if you're going to be willing to give it treatments to keep it in top shape.

Otherwise, go LVT. Get a good quality one and worry about it 20 years down the line.

How much did it set you back in the end?

I persuaded the Mrs to get a higher end laminate and people can't tell the difference. Saved me hundreds.

[Luke Emia]

We put oak floors in downstairs in the living room and the hall. Now looking at redoing the utility room and not sure if to do it with tiles or LVT. Can’t imagine will be that different in price.

[Ben]

How much did it set you back in the end?

I persuaded the Mrs to get a higher end laminate and people can't tell the difference. Saved me hundreds.

We ended up paying around £3500 but that was for full downstairs except living room and we needed the floor screeding too. We also got the glue down stuff, not clips. But I got mates rate too, and the variation in price from type to type is a lot as well so not sure how my experience will compare to you/others.

[Magic]

I'll be going for hallway, living room, dining room, stairs, upstairs hallway.

Trying to avoid any sort of fabric anywhere but apparently it's really slippy on a staircase so might need a runner... Which will be torn to shreds.

[Baz]

Your cat sounds rubbish.

[SvN]

I made the mistake of looking at Rightmove last week, and saw that the absolutely perfect house is on the market. It's in the area we want to eventually settle in, and is within the price range we expect to be able to afford when we move in a few years. But it's out of reach now, and moving would be stupid while the wife is still part-time at work, nursery bills are so high, and the kids' school is around the corner.

Wish I hadn't seen it to be honest.

[Shindig]

Purple Bricks have a place opposite my folks with erm ... very few details. We're talking one 240p photo of a room. Got a lovely old look to it but, as I suspected, it's the smack house. It gets raided every few weeks. :D

[Shindig]

Viewing a place tomorrow that is maybe 100 meters away from the railway tracks. Anyone lived that close to a station?

[phonics]

My mate did when I was growing up, even I barely noticed it when I was there.

[Lofty]

You need to work out what line it's on, see what the timetable is for train frequency and try and find out if freight runs over it over night, also work out if there are level crossings nearby, near enough for the sound of the klaxons to carry. Some bell bought a renovated barn flat right next to one a while back then tried to get Network Rail to reduce the volume of the crossing klaxons :D

[Ben]

Viewing a place tomorrow that is maybe 100 meters away from the railway tracks. Anyone lived that close to a station?

Lived 20 metres from the railway for 20 odd years. Only ever noticed it when they came through during the night with that contraption that cuts away all the overgrowth. Even the potash trains didn’t stir me.

[Lewis]

I think living near a railway line would be alright, but braking noise would surely be an issue living near a station.

[Magic]

I think living near a railway line would be alright, but braking noise would surely be an issue living near a station.

It's more the people. Yuck.

[Shindig]

You need to work out what line it's on, see what the timetable is for train frequency and try and find out if freight runs over it over night, also work out if there are level crossings nearby, near enough for the sound of the klaxons to carry. Some bell bought a renovated barn flat right next to one a while back then tried to get Network Rail to reduce the volume of the crossing klaxons :D

No level crossings but I've definitely seen GBFr go through it. A Nova 1 or something flew by whilst I was checking the location out. Also spotted a couple of other places up for sale in the area.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Viewing a place tomorrow that is maybe 100 meters away from the railway tracks. Anyone lived that close to a station?

I live right beside a train station.

You end up zoning out 90% of the trains. The only ones that are cunts are the non-passenger night time ones and even then they'll only piss me off if I've got the window wide open.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's the sound of the train doors opening, at least on SWR. Couldn't live with that. Trains chugging by, splendid stuff.

[Lofty]

If it is actually a station then you will also have to zone out the sound of the automated see it say it sorted announcements etc too.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Ah yeah, that's a good one. We need a 'great/shit sounds of modern life' list. Train door bleeps and semi-distant tannoys bleating see it, say it, sorted. Thank you for shopping at Tesco. That sort of muffled sound of sucking through paper straws. The sound of loads of bottles being slung into a bottle bin out the back of a pub. The sound of the hydraulics on a bin lorry or bendy bus, like Phil Mitchell blowing himself up and then deflating. Women talking in that tone where you're not sure if they're addressing a child or a dog.

It was much better when you used to hear that Intel chime on adverts.

[Ben]

The OG PlayStation boot up sound. :drool:

[Shindig]

I didn't think about the announcements. They only seem to pipe up around here for delays but you get plenty of, "This train is not stopping. Please step away from the platform." There's a Transpennine Express bang on time for the viewing so I hope I'm indoors when it pulls up.

Looks like my mortgate in principle hasn't budged in the year since I did the last one, either. I wouldn't make a profit on a resale of this place. :D

[Luke Emia]

I didn't think about the announcements. They only seem to pipe up around here for delays but you get plenty of, "This train is not stopping. Please step away from the platform." There's a Transpennine Express bang on time for the viewing so I hope I'm indoors when it pulls up.

Looks like my mortgate in principle hasn't budged in the year since I did the last one, either. I wouldn't make a profit on a resale of this place. :D

Make sure whoever does your mortgage knows it’s right by the train line. Some lenders won’t like it.

[Shindig]

Okay, that place is nice. Got a lawn with a flowerbed out front that I would have to ... not neglect. Two decently-sized bedrooms and a shower room. The boiler is in the loft which was the only thing I had against it. Three trains went past whilst viewing. It didn't seem too bad, even with the door open.

Might still look for a plan B but I really want to get out of renting at this point in my life.

[Lofty]

Had a plumber out twice this week, somehow he's made things worse than when he was called out. I hate dealing with tradesmen, always a fucking ballache.

[Lofty]

Leaking again, unbelievable.

[Lofty]

I live in a semi 1 from the corner, our attached neighbour being the corner. Across the back of us is a neighbour from the other street. They are building an extension, we had planning notification and weren't opposed to it. However the drawings were pretty simple. He is doing it himself to save money so has been working at it since July. Now he's building it up but whilst I suspect it is at the limit of the height without exceeding it, the proximity to our boundary fence suggests to me we are going to be left with a 3m high breezeblock wall looming over half of our garden fence. If it is rendered or red brick in keeping with the houses I wouldn't mind but I can't help but think he's going to leave it and that is going to devalue my house significantly.

Anyone had experience with this planning shit?

[niko_cee]

The required finish will be specified in the planning permission [or the drawings], most councils have pretty good planning portals where you can look through all of the app documentation etc. A looming 3m breezeblock wall on or near a boundary sounds a bit :cab:

[Giggles]

You really need to thoroughly go through planning shit when of affects you directly.

[Lofty]

The delegated report says one condition of approval is 'all external facing walls shall match in colour, form and texture to those in the existing building.'

So presumably he'll have to not leave it as breeze blocks. I just can't see how he's going to render it with it being so close to the fence, he hasn't got above the fence line on ours yet so hopefully he's going to brick the exterior wall above the fence on our side. Annoyingly it's neighbours we havent exactly fallen out with but don't particularly like. I'll permit access to do it from our side but that fence is actually concrete panels that were cemented in so not exactly simple to lift out.

I do think we would have always struggled to really oppose it anyway if we had wanted to as every adjoining property to theres in all directions, including ours, has a single story extension of some sort.

[Dquincy]

If it's currently brickwork, then I suspect he will render it for the external finish.

Also, if he is excavating within 3m of your property and below the level of your foundations, he should have served a party wall notice on you.

[Ben]

Anyone got experience with any necessary building regs if I wanted to build a staircase up to the loft and board it out, insulate and plaster? It wouldn’t be a bedroom if that’s any help.

[Bam]

Would think you'd get that under permitted development.

[Ben]

Good stuff. Do I still need to pay some suit hundreds of pounds for the privilege of visiting my house for 10 minutes to nod his head in agreement with my plans?

[Bam]

Afraid so, but you're best going through the right routes.

[Dquincy]

Bam is getting confused.

Permitted development is planning related. Loft conversions often fall within permitted development subject to your design and property fitting into certain criteria.

Building regulations will separately be required as you will be effectively adding an additional storey to your property and changing the loft to a heated space. Main points will be:
Insulation to pitched roof to meet current u-value targets.
Reinforcing roof joists.
Stair installation to meet permitted dimensions and structural requirements.
As it will,presumably, become a 3 storey property, you will need a protected means of escape to your stair and landings/hallway on all floors. This means you will need 30 min fire rated doors to all doorways onto the landing/hallway.

There are other aspects, but the above are the main points.

You can obtain Building regs via an approved Inspector (private route) or using the local authority building control department. I recommend the former. The latter can be painful and slow.

Also you need to be aware that (following Grenfell) the Building Safety Act has come into force. This has led to an update in the building regulations in October last year, whereby the legal responsibility for complying with building regulations and appointing a Principal Designer rests with the client (you). This is a change from previous where you would rely on the approved inspector to tell you if your design/works are compliant.

Hope that helps.

[Baz]

Not quite as bad as DS had it but there’s been mould slowly creeping in where the walls meet the ceiling in the upstairs bedrooms. Had a roofer round for a quote today who says the felts perished and has suggested getting some eaves trays along the front and back, as well as dry verge caps fitting on the sides. Been meaning to get the latter done for a while so good to get it all done in one go. £800 for the lot from a bloke my dad has used, who sounds exactly like Tyson Fury.

[Lewis]

The Ayatollah's mate is in a landlord dispute, and my feeling is she has just been mugged off and can't do anything about it, but I thought I would get a second opinion. In short, she was lodging with some Eastern European couple for two months, moved out, asked for her deposit back, and the dirty boxheads have said you broke the house rules talking on the phone late and using too much gas, so we are charging you a fiver a day for moving your shoes to the shoe rack every day for two months plus the cost of new bedding (wouldn't you replace the bedding between lodgers anyway?) and this equals exactly your deposit.

I said go to Citizens Advice when my opinion as the oracle on all things British was sought, but apparently they just told her to take him through the county courts, which 1) costs money; and 2) will presumably take about five years. Has she in fact just been mugged off and might as well wave her four hundred quid off, or would she have a reasonable expectation of getting something back?

[Ben]

Small claims court?

But at £400 I'd just chalk it up to naivety and learn from it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If it was a normal rental then the deposit has to be in a tenancy deposit scheme, but with lodgers this isn't the case so unless they want to go through the small claims court they're buggered.

The learning experience should be not to go anywhere near eastern Europeans when it comes to a business arrangement.

[niko_cee]

As someone who is about to have an ecological survey on an old 1950s shitheap bungalow I've bought next week I feel my waking and sleeping hours are currently being assailed by bats (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/nov/07/cost-of-shed-to-protect-bat-colony-near-hs2-has-topped-100m-chair-says). I say sleeping as I had a dream about it last night where the huckster charged with the survey found loads of evidence of the little fuckers with his high powered torch, like some sort of hotel inspector wannabe. And one wonders why nothing gets done in this country. Got the water neutrality statement/lie [£1000+ VAT please] to get through next so I feel old matey up there's somewhat disdain for the cunts, I'm sure they're lovely people, at Natural England.

[Shindig]

Raise the bats as your own. Like carrier pigeons but more goth.

[niko_cee]

I mean, I have no problem with them in general, I just think the best and brightest bats should go stay *wherever bats come from* and work to improve the lives of ordinary bat folk there, rather coming to my future house and being a pain in the arse.

[Lofty]

Need a new washing machine, the Hotpoint one we got for a wedding present is on it's last legs and at the stage where a repair is more expensive than a new one. I've always liked the look of the Samsung ones due to their 5 year full warranty, any recommendations? My parents have an old Miele which is a trusty steed but I've heard the new ones aren't what they used to be.

[Manc]

I did a lot of research two years ago when I moved, and Haier came out on top.

[Lofty]

Interesting, has it lived up to your expectations? I see their warranty exceeds Samsung.

[Manc]

It has. Unbelievably quiet.

[niko_cee]

Looks like the HQ is going up for auction with a million pound sticker price if anyone is interested.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156431405#/?channel=RES_BUY

Crawley just announced as one of the worst places in the UK to live to add a bit of flavour.