Owning your own home

What does that word mean? Is it a synonym for dickwomble?

Pretty sure he has me on ignore.

DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE DickWOMBLE

is Jeez an estate agent?

Is that a euph?

it is now.

I dont think that people are saying that you are unreasonable.
Just that you come accross as a bit of a dick.... (put lightly)

I've yet to find decent coffee in Leyton.

FML

And yet, last night I saw a bearded manchild ghostriding a tiny BMX and another, dressed in a pandabear onesie, longboarding down Leyton High Road.

So, one has to ask, where the fuck are all the artisanal coffee shops with upturned Belgium beer crates for chairs?

Oh and can we stop bickering now don't antagonise - compromise

peace

Jeez started it....

;-)

related to the debacle above. The flat I have bought has a loft. It is a purpose built block and I am a lease holder. My little mind has been whirring about loft conversions but as I dont own the roof would I be able to do one as I would want to put in sky lights?

Thanks Jeez, in your experience what is the likelihood of the freeholder granting permission? It is a private purpose built block and no one has done it as far as I can see

Jeez - you a surveyor?

would you mind if I sent you a short Pm to pick your brains on something ?

I'm a solicitor so would be happy to do a brain exchange in the future if you thought I could help you (the query concerns my personal affairs though not a cllient)...

thanks, yes I am going to go through the lease. I think I have rights to store stuff there but will obviously check that

Right, I have an issue and I'd be interested to hear what people think. Including Jeez ;)

Our flat is a shared freehold. We have the ground floor. There's a shared garden which is totally shared. Not split in any way.

We want to redo the back of the flat because it's a nice south facing garden, but all of the light is blocked by our bathroom at the rear end of the flat. So we want to put the bathroom on one side and put a door in the back, fill in the existing door to the side return and put some bigger windows down the side.

This needs the OK from our upstairs neighbours as it's a 50/50 shared freehold. We spoke to them recently and initially suggested glass all the way across the back, but they felt this would reduce the value of their place by reducing their privacy in the garden. To be honest I didn't mind this as it works both ways - I want privacy in our new kitchen too.

So we were going to go back to them with some drawings of a compromise at the back.

Unfortunately they've now decided they want to sell and ASAP. But realistically a sale will take months, they haven't actually put their flat on the market yet and we will need about three months to get planning permission once we've agreed drawings with upstairs as the freeholders.

We were planning to do this work in September, but if we wait for the new neighbours it is going to be spring 2015 earliest, as removing windows and so on can't be done in winter.

When we first found this out my first reaction was: OK, it's crap, but we'll have to wait.

However, I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect us to wait so long just because they're selling, and having discussed with a few people they think we should still try and get sign off from upstairs before they sell.

I'm struggling to see what's in it for them though. We can't force them to agree it, but at the same time we are 50/50 shared freeholders, so there has to be some compromise.

So I want to tackle the issue, but not quite sure how to go about it. Would rather not fall out as we've always got on very well, and I don't think that will help. But I suspect they won't want to consider it.

There is one reason that I think they should, which is it doesn't seem entirely fair for them to sell their flat as is, knowing that we have plans to do this, but presumably not telling the buyer. I think it would be better if any buyer went into buying upstairs knowing our ambitions.

Also I wouldn't be surprised if the new buyer wants to split the garden, which would complicate things further. It's a three bedroom flat, so realistically they may well have kids.

Noisy, annoying kids who will ruin my peace and quiet :(

That makes sense. Is there any chance of building a flat up there (eg if there is a big communal landing with space for stairs up from the current top floor?

Are there any planning issues? Call your local planning dept. and speak to the Duty planning officer. Also search the local planning site for applications in your block - you never know it might show a neighbour just having been granted PP or alternatively just being turn down in no uncertain terms.

Planning is one of the numerous aspects of property that I know a bit about, but basically only enough to know to take nothing or granted and check and double-check everything.

now I am worried about them building a flat above me! I would hate that

@ fox:
Would any solicitor acting for someone buying their place find out about any of these plans in their searches (don't know how, but I don't they'd hide it if they agreed to you doing works). I've just sold my ground floor flat (share of freehold) and I think I had to say if there were any works coming up that I'd had to agree to.

To be honest, if I was selling (and having only skim read your post) I wouldn't agree as I wouldn't want to explain any changes (even trivial ones) to my buyers in case it required more work.

Are there any planning issues? Call your local planning dept. and speak to the Duty planning officer. Also search the local planning site for applications in your block - you never know it might show a neighbour just having been granted PP or alternatively just being turn down in no uncertain terms.

Planning is one of the numerous aspects of property that I know a bit about, but basically only enough to know to take nothing or granted and check and double-check everything.

If it is just to insert some rooflights, this can almost always be done under permitted development laws. No planning permission required.

I really need to check the lease when I get home. we have a hatch in our flat and the loft is the footprint of the flat. the estate agent said the flat comes with a loft but that could mean anything. lease, lease lease!

Also I wouldn't be surprised if the new buyer wants to split the garden, which would complicate things further. It's a three bedroom flat, so realistically they may well have kids.

Noisy, annoying kids who will ruin my peace and quiet :(

Sob. Sob. Sob.

If you want peace and quiet, move to the sticks.

Sob. Sob. Sob.

Well yes. Seeing as we spent a quarter of a million pounds on a flat we'd quite like to be able to hear ourselves think. Upstairs have wooden floors and it's not a problem at the moment but they are two grown adults who are hardly ever in. Is that so unreasonable? I don't think so.

Andy my parents did that, they built a motorway a mile from the end of their back garden and the resulting roar is louder than anywhere I've ever lived in London. They hate it. This isn't New York. Londoners enjoy (relative) residential peace and quiet and I don't see what's wrong with that.

You might get 4 students with one in the living room. Then you'll wish a family moved in. Talking of sob stories I received a hilarious unsolicited letter from foxtons in crouch end pleading for me to contact them if I wanted to sell as they had a buyer who unfortunately missed out on buying a place in the area. I welled up a bit when I read it. I would scan in it for the lols if I could be bothered

Unlikely given what it will sell for, but yes you're right, who knows and you can't really generalise. I have nothing against families or children, it's just that we've only owned for just under two years and are a bit worried about what new neighbours might be like.

Jeez - thanks. I don't know the answer to your first question, finding that out is a priority. You make a good point about privacy which I hadn't actually thought of...

my downstairs neighbour is a unitarian minister which effectively makes him a satanist. the orgies and human sacrifices are unrelenting.