Owning your own home

Good to know...

Share of freehold with flats upstairs and downstairs. We all have a (private) chunk of the garden but access (for us and upstairs) involves walking across the garden belonging to the downstairs flat (there's no problem with this access, lease allows for it, it's worked well with current downstairs neighbours for the last 10 years we've been here).

Downstairs are selling and prospective buyers have a "small dog". Current lease doesn't allow pets but says that consent should not be "unreasonably withheld". Fair enough, it's not a big enough issue to warrant the sale falling through.

Anyone had similar? What needs considering? Currently on the list:-

• New downstairs neighbours would have to install gates to prevent the dog from getting into the bits of the garden for us and the flat above us (upstairs have a baby and want to use their garden this summer). This would be relatively simple given the layout and existing fencing.
  
• Noise? Can we state anything that could help us if the dog turns out to stay up all night barking?
  
• Limits? What if they want to get another dog? An army of great danes? Only replace it with a cat if the dog dies?
  

Sounds like you're overthinking it. It's just a dog and who doesn't like dogs?

Eat the dog

I thought I did until we got new neighbours upstairs with two Yorkshire Terriers that will bark at any movement at any hour. It gets tiresome very quickly. They are however fucking abysmally trained.

Here we go again. Just offered £5k under asking on a 3 bed terrace with the expectation that it is loft convertible. Am willing to go a bit over asking. Let's see how this one pans out...

^^ Am digging these garden offices btw. I too "need" a pool table. Wait. Recording studio. I need a recording studio.

Fifteen large seems rather expensive to me for what ostensibly is a shed.

I'd rather spend three and do it myself.

I really like ^^ but too smart for bike cave/workshop and spare room when missus find another bike and goes mental

Besides, bike caves are supposed to occupy badly-lit and only-just-high-enough basement areas and sheds, not the McLaren Technology centre in Woking.

Having said that, @dancing james has a truly epic man cave. #notaeuph

So current potential buy requires quite a lot of work including all new gas central heating and loft and cellar conversions.

Any house-thread wisdom or advice on any of these projects?

Get stuck in yourself, reading from the Collins Big Yellow Book of DIY, learning as you go.

You'll be done in weeks, months at most.

Oh, wait...

Ha!

My big Georgian town house has a rotten floor. I don't think I am ready for more dry rot so soon.

Oh well. The search continues.

lol

Anyone in the Cambridge area recommend a RICS surveyor for a full Building Survey?

Definitely going to be contracting almost all of the work. I'd like to farm out the painting and decorating too. I've moved house at least half a dozen time in the last ten years and have had enough of decorating to last at least the next decade. I hate decorating.

Thing is, I don't have the skill or patience to do it as well as i'd like and I always end up in the shitty position of being dissatisfied with the job, but not dissatisfied enough to do anything about it. Every time I've opened my eyes for the last three years I've looked up at the shitty job i did on the raggedy line between the walls and ceiling of my bedroom. To be fair, I did actually attempt to rectify that until I found out the colour had been discontinued. Anyway, there are new carpets in there so there's no way i'm risking them with my cack-handed ways.

Last time I tried wallpapering I nearly had a breakdown and ended up calling a guy to come and finish it. Best £100 I ever spent.

So yep, whilst we're getting fairly major works done i'm very tempted to stick a bit on the budget and get the whole place professionally finished while I put my feet up elsewhere.

Are you aware we were literally 1 key turn away from Nuclear Armageddon?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Arkhipov

It's certainly not cheap but it adds similar or slightly higher value to the house immediately and has taken no more than 5 days (not consecutive) to complete. It's also fully compliant with all planning & building codes as well as fully guaranteed for 25 years.

I'd say it's worth the money.

Tim, does it count towards your living area footprint? I think our regs say we cant build over a 1/3 of property.

Of course it's worth it - you've just invested money in it.

it adds similar or slightly higher value

I wouldn't have thought so, tbh. It's nice but if it's that easy, there's no point paying extra for it.

Adds 5% to the value of the property - so I imagine what @Soul says is correct. I guess a nicer version would add more than a portacabin

Tim, does it count towards your living area footprint? I think our regs say we cant build over a 1/3 of property.

Nope, you can build an outbuilding in your garden under your permitted development rights. Class E of the GDPO states that it can be up to 50% of the total area of land around your house is size x 2.5m high (to eaves).

I'd stick an old shipping container at the end of the garden and work around customising it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20ft-shipping-container-/131728007747?hash=item1eab99e243:g:nrgAAOSw~OVWwOHW