Owning your own home

I'm not heathen from the hinterlands, half Gregg's sausage rolls and half parmos

Giza clue - how big is the house? What length of wall needs damp proofing?

3 bed, victorian mid terrace.

3-4m wall at rear.

Chemical damp proofing is mostly a total con. But if you can use it to get money off the purchase then go for it - just don't worry about having to shell out for the work afterwards, and spend the money you've saved on other more worthwhile things.

http://www.heritage-house.org/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html

Boiler: £1500 - 2000 odd. Assuming something in the region of 24KWH.

DPC: £750 - £1000 depending on method. Usually they hack away plaster and inject into brickwork. I think more often that not, the cause can be cured without needing a DPC. In some ways, a DPC can just hide the damp as they may add an impervious layer underneath the plaster. If the gutters are full/fucked then you may have water landing on the ground along the wall which leads to ingress, or water running down the walls which allows it to soak into the brickwork. This also tends to wash away your brick pointing over time. Look for signs of algae and moss externally, near the area of damp and see if you can trace where it comes from.

As you are negotiating, you may want to tell them that you definitely need a DPC, just to help your case by making it sound as expensive as possible.

Unsurprisingly the council are still being dicks and haven't sent the contract through. Got radio silence from them and their legal team.

thank you

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/property-developer-handed-record-breaking-fine-for-hoxton-flats-built-without-planning-permission-a6773456.html

“I am a simple person, I don’t use outside builders, I do it myself," he said. "Everybody makes mistakes. But we have not done any drugs here or had prostitutes in here.”

lols

Part of me think that if the flats are built to standard - and there's no indication that they aren't - that it's wasteful to knock them down. Maybe the council could offer him a deal to transfer ownership as part of the fine (I'm sure they're worth more than the fine, but could be cash too). That would mean he's punished for taking the piss, but that we don't have to go through the palaver of knocking them down and rebuilding them. I mean, they don't have planning permission, but they look like they'd have been given it had anyone bothered to ask...

My brother is currently completing a large extension in Wimbledon. Merton Council have been complete and utter cunts.

They were super pedantic about his plans which have since been replicated by a guy two doors down who hasn't followed them correctly and is in breach of what my brother actually planned.

He's written to the council and instructed his solicitor to commence proceedings.

Their legal department will chuck it around like a hot potato before awarding him fifteen large.

cheers mate.

Main thing seemed to be paving being too high and they recommended a bell drip finish.

The house is currently pebbledashed shudders

At least it's not got that truly abysmal fibreglass stone cladding.

The only property that adds value to is in Dagenham.

It's got polystyrene ceiling tiles and ceiling fans, so its not far off.
Christ...

I'm a bit confused. Is he suing the council because his neighbour has built the same extension as him?

Also, any joy on finding somewhere yourself in Wimbledon?

His neighbour hasn't built the same extension. His neighbour didn't accommodate the changes that the council wanted my brother to make. Hence the figure of fifteen grand.

If that pebbledash is fixed with cement-based render and/or painted in non-breathable paint then it's a sure fire way to ensure the damp walls will never dry out properly.

After some persuasion my housing association has now agreed once again to let me staircase and sell in one transaction and waive their 8 week nomination period. I am now free to sell my flat again!

What estate agent would the forum recommend for selling a 2 bed flat in Bethnal Green?
I've talked to Keatons and Ellis & co already. I was also considering Hunters as they have a 0% offer right now (what's the catch?).

sold my flat in vic park with Davey stone on broadway market. ask for Jodie. big thumbs up from me.

This is good advice. Pebbledash can also be problematic when it cracks too. Can pay a specialist (I think they are called Mahon in Leytonstone) to remove it and re-point at a later date.

Interesting POV! I live in Walthamstow and consider it very much part of London, but then I've always thought of the city as a fairly nebulous collection of enclaves.

I have an infuriating acquaintance who insists in living in central Manchester, she's dead against what she calls the suburbs. Nice little areas on the edge of the city centre that have students, pubs and cafes instead of workers, clubs and bars. More for your money too. But nope, to her Manchester is whatever you can see if you stand in the middle of it. That's a town to me, a 'city' is a more expansive, less definable entity.

I mean, they don't have planning permission, but they look like they'd have been given it had anyone bothered to ask...

I'd presume he's tried getting retrospective permission, which is an option if you've built something without permission, and been denied it. So if he had originally asked, he would have got a no.

However, I agree. Knocking them down - which will now almost certainly happen - is a massive waste of resources and environmentally dreadful. It would be much better if they could work something out but knocking down properties in this scenario is as much a deterrent to others as anything else.

I get what you're saying but still don't get the £15k figure - where has that come from? Has a solicitor advised him of this? It seems unlikely given how woefully inadequate most local authority planning/enforcement teams are.

If your bro thinks the neighbour has got off lightly he can raise that with the council's enforcement team, but every planning application is unique so I can't see why they'd pay anything out.

Also, if he hasn't already, his best bet is to appeal their decisions. If he hasn't already done that there's definitely no point involving a solicitor.

Sheltered social housing for drug addicts and prostitutes on rent he has to subsidise would seem fitting.

£15k is what it cost him to make the adjustments to his existing build.