Owning your own home

Yeah I agree with u.
My friend is buying and has little or no contingency.
I've got 6 months contingency thank fuck.

They don't need to know exactly, just roughly. Show us a picture.

They said they can go 5 years either way...

I grabbed a pic from google map, that OK? I can take some during the day if not... It's the house with the red door, with a basement flat which is my bit... all the houses here have basements...

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Search for the street in the 1911 census, if you cannot find it then you are post 1911.
http://search.findmypast.co.uk/streets/street-results-for-1911-census-for-england-and-wales?addressstreet=southwell%20road

Follow that with some style features from the valuation office and the sash windows probably put you into the early 1920s.

http://manuals.voa.gov.uk/corporate/publications/propertydetailsguide/ageCodes.html

I'd probably put 1924 down or ask an owner occupier neighbour if they know.

You only have to answer to the best of your knowledge I believe. If you're not trying to hoodwink them you'll probably be OK.

Then again, I'm no claims investigator

That's what I said when I renewed it over the weekend, it's usually done automatically but this year I had to call to check something. They insisted the year matters... I still don't understand why would it matter if the building is in a good state of repair and not about to fall off... and the current year we have on my policy was a random year they put on to begin with anyway obv they were smart enough not to admit it when I said it was them who put a random year down.

@Ramsaye, Thanks will check out the links... I could ask some of my neighbours but I think most are renting as faces keep changing every couple of years...

8 months in and I've got my first major fuck-up. Blocked drain… this could get expensive

buy some drain rods. 15 notes from argos.

I've already tried rods, thinner flexible cleaners, caustic soda, acid. The problem is that the blockage is in a really awkward place, so access from outside is near impossible, or I have a collapsed pipe.

describe the awkward place. also, any external interceptor/inspection pits with covers, or external soil pipes? as ever, a picture could be useful

No earlier than 1832 and no later than about 1855, I'd say.

The house on the end of that terrace (11) has been unmolested and carries its original four pane sash windows. The reason it has 4 panes is that that was the largest size of glass that could be cheaply made at that time. Note that round the back they have much smaller panes because the expensive stuff was reserved for the front. Sheet glass was invented in 1832 and was widely used by 1837. as the century rumbled on the sizes that could be produced got bigger, and the single pane sash became commonplace. You'll see that many of the houses in that terrace have single pane sashes but they will be conversions or replacements, "keeping up with the Joneses", because the decreased rigidity caused by losing the central fenestration necessitated the use of 'horns' to strengthen the sashes, as at no.23. It would have been unusual for a sash window frame to be produced without horns after the middle of the century, but 11 and 13 do not have them.

Oh Thanks for the info! However, the census carried out in 1911 didn't seem to have my street on it as according to the link provide by Ramsaye. Doesn't census include every single street there is?

It's about 2-3m from the outlet, there's probably another 1-2m before a point where I know it's not blocked. Kitchen sink, shower and share the same drain, seemingly, as they're blocked too. The blocked drain feeds into another (probably the house's original) drain, which is also fed by a sink that is working. Shoved a rod up that for 4m with no effect, so these two feeds probably come into that at either side via T-junction. I reckon the blockage is under the floorboards, so my hero of a dad is going to help me pull some up on Friday and see what we can see. I don't think it's a collapsed pipe as there's standing water in the bathroom sink still.

In the 1888 - 1913 OS Map your street went by a different name. It was known as Vaughan Road, if that helps.

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/sidebyside.cfm#zoom=18&lat=51.4670&lon=-0.0985&layers=171&right=BingHyb

Southwell Road used to be called / part of Vaughan Road. Look up Vaughan Road.

In which case Vaughan road appears in 1861 but I can't see it in 1851 so BQ looks bang on. Unless some bugger changed the name of the street again.

What ever you do, DON'T call Pimlico plumber. Rip off cunts
I won't bore you with the details but useless and expensive

Thanks guys, collective power on the Internet! Really appreciate it. I still don't understand how this is relavent with content only insurance...

Once again, thanks a lot. :-)

If you need a plumber, I know a couple of good ones, 1 covers south london and 1 usually works in North London (Camden sort of areas). Shoot me a PM if you need numbers.

Ah cheers, but I'm in Bristol anyway. Like I say, my dad, who's pretty damn handy, is going to have a look at it with me on Friday. Until then luckily I have a second sink, can shower at the gym and the girlfriend is away. Couldn't have happened at a better time tbh.

Down to one query, I think.

If you have a set of the deeds, they may give you a more accurate age for it (we got a set when we did the original mortgage, and should be getting another copy now that we've remortgaged).

It can be relevant for things like

1. Ease of entry - doors with a single pane of stained glass in are known a 'burglars friends' in parts of the country, as you can often just knock out one pane of the stained glass and get at the latch, and these are common in houses of certain ages.
   
2. Fire protection - are the electrics original or retrofitted? ditto other services
   
3. How well built is it likely to be - if your house collapses, whilst your buildings insurance will pay for it to be rebuilt, your contents will pay for the things you had in it to be replaced, so they have an interest.
   
4. I think you've got the idea here...
   
   

TL:DR? Contents insurers have a legitimate interest in the age/state of your property.

Then surly when the convention was done is just as important? I am only a tenant and my landlord hasn't got the slightest idea as she is only the owner of one of the two flats, the guys who owns the lands is a fucking dick... so...

I'd have to wonder how the owner got buildings insurance without knowing the age of the building

Why. Is. This. Taking. So. Long.

Basically forgotten what the place looks like now.