The House Thread

[SvN]

It was on for over £3million in 2023. :D

[niko_cee]

I've noticed a few auctions popping up miles below previous listed prices. Not sure if it's realism or repossession at play.

The footballers wives house I posted years ago is still apparently on the market.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/map.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E660&minBedrooms=4&maxPrice=1500000&minPrice=1000000&numberOfPropertiesPerPage=499&radius=3.0&propertyTypes=&viewType=MAP&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&viewport=-0.349485%2C-0.208036%2C51.0209%2C51.179&keywords=

That one's had a fair bit of price flux as well.

[Waffdon]

Is it silly to buy a house without viewing it?

There’s a house gone up with a fixed price where we want. I couldn’t get a hold of the missus yesterday until after she finished work and due to this a viewing can’t be done until Friday evening. I’m assuming the rest of the week is filled with other people viewing it and I have the absolute fear that it will be bought before Friday comes.

It was built in 2022 and 1s throughout the HR so can’t see there being many hidden surprises

[SvN]

Not silly, downright fucking stupid.

[Ben]

Yeah don't do that.

[Lofty]

Buy it Waff, liven up the thread.

[Manc]

Happens more than you think.

[Yevrah]

I'd never buy a house without seeing it but I do question how worthwhile viewings are. There's so much shit you only really notice/take a different view on once you're actually living somewhere.

[Shindig]

At the very least, I use it to scout out the area.

[Waffdon]

Happens more than you think.

Definitely. The amount of houses that are ‘SOLD STC’ on rightmove within a day is mental.

There will be zero surprises on Friday if we do get the chance to view it. The exact house has been built multiple times and I’ve been in and viewed them.

[Luke Emia]

Definitely. The amount of houses that are ‘SOLD STC’ on rightmove within a day is mental.

There will be zero surprises on Friday if we do get the chance to view it. The exact house has been built multiple times and I’ve been in and viewed them.

There’s normally a bit of time before a house gets put on Rightmove/Zoopla. So most likely the agent has already lined someone up to buy it then just stuck it on there to boost their stats is all.

[Waffdon]

Wish I did make the offer before viewing it.

Went to see it last night. Absolutely as expected. Send the offer into my solicitors when we get home. Silly bampots are not open over the weekend. Phone the selling agent this morning to make them aware I have placed an offer matching the fixed price but my solicitor is shut until Monday. Get a voicemail back saying someone has made an offer and it’s been accepted. Fml

[Pepe]

Glad we could help.

[Waffdon]

Top Gear were right about your lot

[Spikey M]

Buy it Waff, liven up the thread.

Always listen to the Lofster.

[Lofty]

Pants down, stick it in.

[phonics]

Going to view this place on Monday after the flat I spent 6 months post-purchase agreement dealing with solicitors fell through.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/66183321/?search_identifier=4c397ce85539821ff9f77be4627e40a b5100fc78fa06e4f280aeecce9a355173

3 bed, 2 bath, 2 living room in central Worcester for a price I can afford seems off but the thing giving me the biggest cause for concern is that it was bought in 2006 for 199 thousand and is selling for a grand more 2 decades later. There has to be a catch.

[Luke Emia]

There’s nothing on the listing about the lease. But, normally in these circumstances it will be a short lease or high service charge or ground rent.

The other one post Grenfell could be dependent on the height of the building if there is cladding that not having been resolved.

[Raoul Duke]

The lease is listed, as well as the other stuff.

Tenure - Leasehold (114 years)
Service charge - £1,800 per year
Council tax band - D
Ground rent - £200

Other thing to check out is if there's any major works planned in the building you'd end up coughing up for

[phonics]

The other one post Grenfell could be dependent on the height of the building if there is cladding that not having been resolved.

Yeah it was 3cm over what they qualify as a high rise and no-one could agree whether I'd have to pay for a shitload of work. Hence the fall through.

[Luke Emia]

Yeah it was 3cm over what they qualify as a high rise and no-one could agree whether I'd have to pay for a shitload of work. Hence the fall through.

Is it the building less than 5 storeys the total? If it is Nationwide, Halifax and maybe Santander might lend on it. They can do on certain buildings without the paperwork.

[phonics]

Someone came up full cash so I got dumped out. I didn't particularly love the place anyway so I'm not too distraught.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Ah, Lord Chunkington. Always a boon for the local housing market when he rolls into town.

[SincereTheRebel]

I needed to know which side of the fence i own. I believe it is the left side, as you look at the house. Sent for the deeds from Land registry UK but it does not show, which part of the property and land is mine specifically. It just gives the outline of the house and the garden.

[niko_cee]

If you can get hold of old conveyances [presumably you should have had some as part of a purchase] then the title plans on those are meant to have little 'T's on the boundaries that are owned by the property, but they are frequently not there and good luck getting anything useful out of the land registry. Best way is to probably ask neighbouring owners if you can.

For example these little marks:

https://i.ibb.co/hR4sSD3R/Boundaries.jpg (https://ibb.co/hR4sSD3R)

[Ben]

Our right side fence came down in the storm. I couldn’t find any information and predictably the neighbours said it was mine. I had planned to do the full thing anyway, just doubling up against the fence that isn’t mine, so it hasn’t changed anything.

[Mike]

The one on my drive came down, the old fella next door said it was his and got a replacement, didn’t want money, just my help putting it in. Perfect!

[SincereTheRebel]

If you can get hold of old conveyances [presumably you should have had some as part of a purchase] then the title plans on those are meant to have little 'T's on the boundaries that are owned by the property, but they are frequently not there and good luck getting anything useful out of the land registry. Best way is to probably ask neighbouring owners if you can.

For example these little marks:

https://i.ibb.co/hR4sSD3R/Boundaries.jpg (https://ibb.co/hR4sSD3R)

Thanks

[Spikey M]

Another rate cut. :cool:

Already fixed my mortgage for £70 less pm from May, Hopefully I can fix lower still now.

Still about £400 more than we were paying 3 years ago, mind.

[Waffdon]

If they do start reducing, I hope it’s within the next 4 weeks as my missives date is 01/03/25

[Bam]

If they do start reducing, I hope it’s within the next 4 weeks as my missives date is 01/03/25


It won't be.

[phonics]

Offer goes in tomorrow:

https://i.imgur.com/69X8yQF.png

Measureables work out at about 1250 square foot bang in the centre of town with gated security and parking.

Parents want me to lowball by 15 grand because it's all electric heating that needs updating (currently an E grade in efficiency) and the bathrooms/kitchen could do with renovating but I like the place so much I don't want the seller to think I'm taking the piss and tell me to fuck off and not take my calls. Think I might compromise and go 5k under the listing knowing I'll do list price when they say no.

[niko_cee]

Not sure there's much point in blurring out the address among esteemed friends and colleagues, other than it is quite a comedy address, but good luck nonetheless.

My comedy escapade through the planning system continues.

[phonics]

I did that before realising I’d literaly linked the whole Rightmove page less than 10 posts ago.

Thoughts on the low balling business?

[niko_cee]

No idea, it's usually a good negotiating tactic. They can only push you back towards the price but usually the dance goes something like price is 200, you offer 185, they say they can't accept less than 195 and you agree 190. I don't really get offers in excess of though. You need to know the market to know whether that price is a fair starting point for negotiations, I would always go under, usually offensively so, but can see how that wouldn't work if they are genuinely expecting an offer over or it is competitive. Only been on 6 weeks so it's probably not like they are desperate yet. Have they had any other offers?

[phonics]

No idea, it's usually a good negotiating tactic. They can only push you back towards the price but usually the dance goes something like price is 200, you offer 185, they say they can't accept less than 195 and you agree 190. I don't really get offers in excess of though. You need to know the market to know whether that price is a fair starting point for negotiations, I would always go under, usually offensively so, but can see how that wouldn't work if they are genuinely expecting an offer over or it is competitive. Only been on 6 weeks so it's probably not like they are desperate yet. Have they had any other offers?

Relisted because the last bloke didn't have the money. Meanwhile my deposit will be 65% of the listed price so maybe I can get away with playing silly buggers a bit on lowballing.

[Mike]

Thoughts on the low balling business?

If you really like it, just offer what they want. When we sold our old place, someone lowballed us, someone offered asking, the lowball then offered asking, then over, but we had accepted the other asking price offer already so just went with it. Don’t risk missing out if you really like it.

[Waffdon]

Why are you buying a flat if you’ve got over 100k to play with

[phonics]

Why are you buying a flat if you’ve got over 100k to play with

I've lived in flats most of my life. I don't drive so centrality to transport and walkability to ameneties are important. I'm single. I have no use for a garden or the time to maintain one. And for the money I'm not gaining much more space if any in return.

Meanwhile if I took this flat for instance, the mortgage payments would take my 'rent' from 800 a month to 400. I'm not sure what there is to gain from a house.

For more context the deposit is fully funded due to Brexit rules when I left Switzerland. By law my pension should have to transfer into another pension fund but due to me going from Switzerland to the UK it could not be transferred to a non EU entity. So they had to pay it to me in cash, because I was unemployed I could only make a maximum pension contribution of about 3.5k. So I stuck the rest in an ISA which has returned about 8% a year for the last 3 years.

So now I’m just converting that money minus the profits and some inheritance fund into land in a way that makes my cost of living go down at the same time.

[Pepe]

Alternatively, why don't you offer a smaller deposit and invest the rest?

[Ben]

Not sure how strong the market is where you are. I’d go £192.5k and bump it to £197.5k if/when they refuse the first offer. I’ve bought two houses (one in a booming market) and got them for a shade below asking price both times.

If the market is weak you can probably start at 185-190. If it’s strong they’ll tell you to fuck off if you offer anything below asking. Basically scope it out, they won’t blacklist you for being cheeky out of the gate.

[Lofty]

Mortgage rates going down, not been on long, they'll likely be happy to wait than sell under asking unless desperate.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Alternatively, why don't you offer a smaller deposit and invest the rest?

There's no investment like British housing under the current (eternal) policies.

[Pepe]

Not saying not to buy, but to pay as little as possible upfront.

[Shindig]

I dunno, halving his rent for the next 25-30 years will pay him back. He'll have money to invest off the back of that.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Better yet, live on the street and invest it all.

[Pepe]

If the interest rate is lower than the returns you would expect from investing your money (which they usually are) then you should put as little as possible upfront. If the interest rates are higher, then you do the opposite. Basic stuff. If this is not common knowledge in the UK then you have no place criticizing Americans about 'half three.'

[Magic]

Why are you buying a flat if you’ve got over 100k to play with

He's a Champagne socialist. Can't be complaining in a detached villa...

:uhoh:

[Waffdon]

Speaking of flats, I seen one in Dundee going up for 400k. 1 bedroom. :D

Looks nice, but know your place lads.

[Magic]

Riverside?

[Ben]

Dundee, Florida.

[niko_cee]

We need to get DOGE in to delete Natural England.


A small colony of endangered spiders has halted the development of more than a thousand new homes in a blow to the Government’s growth plans.

Plans to build hundreds of new houses and flats in Ebbsfleet in Kent have been abandoned after Natural England designated part of the Government-approved location - a filled-in quarry and the cleared site of a former cement works next to a railway station - as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

The designation was necessary to protect a colony of rare “distinguished jumping spiders” from developers, Natural England said, even though doing so obstructed part of a £300 million Government-backed plan to build a new town.

Ian Piper, chief executive of the Government-backed Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC), confirmed the environmental order would affect plans for homes saying an estimated 1,300 properties slated for development would be lost.

It will be seen as a blow to Rachel Reeves and the Labour government which has put house building at the heart of its plans to boost growth and kickstart the economy.

The Chancellor announced a major change to planning rules in January, saying she would strip green quangos of their powers to block building, saying they have wielded an “oversized say on the future of our economy”.

Her comments were echoed by Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, who said this week, as she unveiled plans to slash red tape in the planning system: “We’re tackling the housing crisis head-on – for everyone who needs a safe home.”

‘Ludicrous situation’
Steve Norris, the Conservative former transport minister, who until last year chaired a company that tried to build a £2.5 billion theme park in the area in parallel with the planned Ebbsfleet Garden City, described the SSSI situation as “ludicrous”.

“All I can tell you is that until Angela Rayner, to her credit, grasped the great crested newt, bats and jumping spider issue, a development corporation established by the Government for the express purpose of delivering much-needed housing was prevented - by an agency set up by that same Government - from delivering those homes, for reasons which it had no obligation to justify,” said Mr Norris.

“In any other democratic country that ludicrous situation would never have been allowed to persist”. He added the Ebbsfleet situation was “one of the clearest examples of just how awful we are at delivering big infrastructure - and, in the process, deterring private capital from funding big investments.”

With house prices in Ebbsfleet averaging about £400,000, according to property website Rightmove, protecting the spiders has potentially blocked more than £500 million worth of economic activity from property sales alone.

Derelict land just south of the River Thames was bought for £32 million by the Government-sponsored Ebbsfleet Development Agency in 2019, paving the way for the construction of 15,000 new homes.

The 125-hectare site, which stretches from the banks of the Thames down to a railway junction some 20 miles east of London, includes a filled-in quarry and the former site of a cement works. It sits directly next to Ebbsfleet Station, from where high-speed trains reach the capital in just 18 minutes.

Blocked construction
Mr Piper, the EDC boss, insisted that the SSSI had “not affected delivery of the majority of new homes” at Ebbsfleet, but conceded that the designation had blocked construction on a parcel of land known as Ebbsfleet Central West, immediately next to the railway station.

Development of SSSIs is effectively impossible because of draconian controls placed on construction, sources familiar with planning permission law said.

Edel McGurk, Natural England’s regional director for the south east, said: “Housing and nature are not competing interests – sustainable development and nature recovery must go hand in hand.

“We will continue to work with developers within Ebbsfleet Valley to explore innovative solutions to support the new development and help them comply with environmental law.

“We share the aim of supporting development in Ebbsfleet, while incorporating wildlife and enabling people to benefit from a nature reserve close to where they live and work.”

A spokesman for the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Almost 5,000 new homes have already been built at Ebbsfleet, alongside other facilities such as schools, parks and infrastructure and we will continue to work to deliver up to 15,000 homes here.

“More widely, we are streamlining the planning process and introducing the Nature Restoration Fund to get Britain building and deliver a win-win for the economy and nature.”

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/A0Jc9s_ZbuVAEdICkiUWGA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI0MDA7aD0xNTAwO2NmPXdlYn A-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_telegraph_818/f4bbace893af690655e1d4d517861ad1

[Shindig]

I didn't even know jumping spiders were native to the UK.

[Waffdon]

Riverside?

Ye.

https://tspc.co.uk/property/1-Bed-Penthouse-Flat-For-Sale-446-Riverside-Drive-Dundee-DD1-4XB/

[Pepe]

I'm glad that housing for spiders is a top priority. Can't be kicking them out in the middle of winter.

[Magic]

Ye.

https://tspc.co.uk/property/1-Bed-Penthouse-Flat-For-Sale-446-Riverside-Drive-Dundee-DD1-4XB/

Could be the attraction of the fumes from the main road below, the train station behind, the big Tesco at the side or the suicides off the bridge at the front.

[niko_cee]

I'm glad that housing for spiders is a top priority. Can't be kicking them out in the middle of winter.

They're basically a rogue agency at this point deleting any and all attempts to build housing in the South East of England and probably beyond.

Round these parts it's the Lesser Whirlpool Ramshorn Snail that has torpedoed development.

https://naturebftb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/17-Little-Whirlpool-Ramshorn-Snail-Alex-Hyde-1.jpg

[Manc]

Can't wait for Phonics to tell us he was done by some yute matching the asking price.

[Shindig]

Could be the attraction of the fumes from the main road below, the train station behind, the big Tesco at the side or the suicides off the bridge at the front.

And you can watch it all from your landing-based home office.

[Magic]

And you can watch it all from your landing-based home office.

I know, maximum cringe at that. :D

[Magic]

https://jitty.com/inspiration

This is good. You can image search through listed properties using AI.

[Shindig]

This goes from quaint to ASSAULT OF THE SENSES very quickly. (https://www.purplebricks.co.uk/property-for-sale/4-bedroom-semi-detached-house-durham-1766727#/)

I kind of love it.

[Dquincy]

Looking to purchase a new TV as my current one is circa 7 years old and lacking in screen quality.

Should I be going LED or OLED? Is the latter worth the additional cost?

Giggles is the master of mobile phones. Does your knowledge stretch to bigger screens?

[Magic]

For gaming omg yes. I cannot believe the difference.

I got the LG B4.

[Giggles]

Looking to purchase a new TV as my current one is circa 7 years old and lacking in screen quality.

Should I be going LED or OLED? Is the latter worth the additional cost?

Giggles is the master of mobile phones. Does your knowledge stretch to bigger screens?

It does not. I wouldn't have a breeze about most phones these days either.

[Dquincy]

For gaming omg yes. I cannot believe the difference.

I got the LG B4.
This looks good. Not as expensive as I was expecting either. Thanks, will scout the OLED options.

[Magic]

This looks good. Not as expensive as I was expecting either. Thanks, will scout the OLED options.

B4, C4, G4 or if you have the money a Bravia. Nothing else worth touching.

[phonics]

I’m either not getting this flat and I’m going to crash out or these estate agents have got an extra 4.5 grand out of me and I’m about to crash out.

No other bidders and then 12 hours after putting in the bid that ‘the owner will accept’ I’m forced into a ‘final and best offer’ situation.

[Mike]

We got into a final and best offer for our house, we didn’t improve our offer, as we had already offered what we had, and we got it. Not sure what was going on.

[Ben]

Estate agents being the greedy cunts they are is what was going on.

[Bam]

Not really, estate agents are employed by the seller to get the best price they can. Adding more on to there cut within is a Barry bonus.

[Shindig]

I’m either not getting this flat and I’m going to crash out or these estate agents have got an extra 4.5 grand out of me and I’m about to crash out.

No other bidders and then 12 hours after putting in the bid that ‘the owner will accept’ I’m forced into a ‘final and best offer’ situation.

What's the auction fee you'd be on the hook for? Some of the ones I was looking at yesterday were 3% of the sale price + VAT.

[Waffdon]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158874785#/?channel=RES_BUY

Genuinely wouldn’t have batted an eyelid if that was listed at 500k+. What a bargain

[phonics]

Offer accepted :cool:

[Waffdon]

Just sent deposit and legal fees over to the solicitor and have never felt so poor in my life. Not paying for holidays in advance has come back to bite me. No April holiday :sick:

[Giggles]

God love you.

[Waffdon]

Life is hard.

[Magic]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158874785#/?channel=RES_BUY

Genuinely wouldn’t have batted an eyelid if that was listed at 500k+. What a bargain

Except it's in weirdo land.

[niko_cee]

Isn't it called The Kingdom of Fife?

Or is that the other side?

[Magic]

That's Perthshire.

[Waffdon]

Having an issue with Errol of all places is certainly a take. It’s a village surrounded by fields. Perthshire is gods country m8

[Magic]

I was there at the weekend for a meal. Absolute freak show. Mix of English boomer champagne socialists and inbred farmers.

[niko_cee]

I've fallen victim to the batocracy.

We're, in all likelihood, going to get planning permission to demolish and rebuild an old bungalow, but because the ecological survey was done by thieving cunts [aka ecologists, £1400 + VAT thank you very much] who never look a gift horse in the mouth we now have to undertake a single bat emergence survey [fuck knows how much + VAT with the extra kicker it can only be done between May and September] for almost literally no reason because a single building on the site had a low chance [2 on a scale of 5] of providing a poor quality roosting environment for bats [there was no evidence of actual bats found]. It will have no determinitive impact on the decision itself. It just needs to be done so it can be signed off as having been done. So instead of getting permission next month, or even in the next week or so, we now have to wait 2 to 3 months to give some bastard another grand or two for no real reason, more cost, more time in the toilet. I'm actually amazed anything gets built over here.

[Pepe]

Should just leave the entire country to the bats.

[phonics]

Another tax on fat people that can't climb stairs. Disgusting.

[phonics]

Meanwhile, I am absolutely amazed having been told that online solicitors are a rip-off waste of space how much more efficent they are. People answer my phone calls! More than one person can look at my case! It's a fucking revolution.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Gas the bats.

[niko_cee]

I'm sure I've said this before, but there are no bats to gas, unless you mean the planning officer and/or council ecologist [actually an Essex CC ecologist who moonlights for Horsham as well apparently] which would be very sexist of you.

Current replies to the possibility of conducting a bat survey within the council's stipulated time frame:

"afraid not" - this was the enirety of the reply and indicative of the sort of Wurzel Gummage chickens in the house level of unprofessinalism entirely representative of this field, and

"currently taking bookings for late May with a 3 week turnaround time on reports" [my planning person wants the report ON HER DESK by May 30th.

:face:

This is actually, quite literally, Kafkaesque. I can see myself walking out of the planning department, having given the report in, and being shanked on the street. Abrupt end.

[Pepe]

Make a counterfeit one.

[niko_cee]

It's very tempting. I wonder if ChatGPT could do one.

[Dquincy]

I'm sure I've said this before, but there are no bats to gas, unless you mean the planning officer and/or council ecologist [actually an Essex CC ecologist who moonlights for Horsham as well apparently] which would be very sexist of you.

Current replies to the possibility of conducting a bat survey within the council's stipulated time frame:

"afraid not" - this was the enirety of the reply and indicative of the sort of Wurzel Gummage chickens in the house level of unprofessinalism entirely representative of this field, and

"currently taking bookings for late May with a 3 week turnaround time on reports" [my planning person wants the report ON HER DESK by May 30th.

:face:

This is actually, quite literally, Kafkaesque. I can see myself walking out of the planning department, having given the report in, and being shanked on the street. Abrupt end.

Why can't you use a different ecologist who has a better lead in period?

[Jimmy Floyd]

My ecologist is an absolute stickler for a two-week turnaround, but I guess not everyone can be as lucky.

[Dquincy]

Both parties (case officer or the applicant) can also request an extension to a planning decision date.

[niko_cee]

Why can't you use a different ecologist who has a better lead in period?

I have found one, so we'll see where this goes. £900 + VAT. May 5th.

Obviously with better experience of how this shit goes down what you need* is your 'own' ecologist who, like any surveyor, will write up what you want them to, within reason. I ended up with a cunt on random chance who used their professional discretion to go down the much more costly and time consuming route and absolutely refused to budge when pointed out that what they were saying was somewhat against the professional guidance they were referring to themselves. I've since found a series of other preliminary surveys where the discretion on essentially the same thing [1 low quality bat habitat building] led to no further action, which was accepted by the same fucking planning eco consultant, but you have no comeback against it. There is no case law where precedent can be used, it's all on a whim. It's an absolute racket.

*or, you know, just set fire to the building.

[Lofty]

If we fixed the mortgage rate for 5 years 12 months ago, in general is there a large penalty for moving house before the final 12 months of that term? I know there can be early exit fees for switching or settling early but feeling more and more like once my nobhead neighbour has finished his extension so it isn't a building site eyesore we are going to move, crime seems to have gone bananas round here recently.

[Luke Emia]

If we fixed the mortgage rate for 5 years 12 months ago, in general is there a large penalty for moving house before the final 12 months of that term? I know there can be early exit fees for switching or settling early but feeling more and more like once my nobhead neighbour has finished his extension so it isn't a building site eyesore we are going to move, crime seems to have gone bananas round here recently.

Depending on the lender you should be able to move the mortgage to a new property - subject to small print and the new property being acceptable. If not if you repay the mortgage you are probably looking at an ERC of about 5% on a 5 year fix. There might be steps down each year but those are becoming more rare.

[Spikey M]

We have fixed for 3 years (from next month) with a view to moving again after that, but there's a chance we may have the money together before that, so we asked the mortgage advisor about this.

His answer was that it's heavily dependent on the market at the time and the Bank in question, however ours - HSBC - often overlooks the fees (if less than 18 months remaining) as long as:

A) they agree with the valuation of the property you are buying
B) your new mortgage would still be with them

There's no guarantees though and they're within their rights to charge whatever fees you signed up for.

[Lofty]

Thanks for the answers chaps, wont be just yet anyway as the flat roof on the kitchen has given up the ghost so currently got a tarp on it ahead of a reroofing on Wednesday to the tune of £1000, thankfully I know a roofer.

[phonics]

What the fuck is the point of solicitors. They seemingly do absolutely nothing all day, the most difficult task is logging into the county planning application cms and downloading those files and then sending them to you.

I had my bid accepted on the 27th March. These fucking morons can still not give me a confirmation date on the exchange date but they have managed to wangle together a bill for the costs where they are charging me THREE AND A HALF THOUSAND POUNDS for doing absolutely nothing.