Owning your own home

2 big moves with these guys - http://www.robinsonsrelo.com/

Not cheap but very good.

Any idea how much it would cost?

£0.

Oops, beaten to it.

I used Pickfords a couple of months ago:

DA5 to DA15

3 bed Semi - Fully packed....we had quotes from £1400 to £2600.

They came in at the cheaper end, and were brilliant. Packed 90% the day before, on the day they cleared up in a couple of hours. Keys @ 12, they unpacked into a 5 bed across 3 floors in 4 hours. 4 guys up & down 5 flights of stairs (for some boxes to go on the top floor). That included packing the loft and garage of the old house. They would have re-packed the loft in the new place if it was boarded out

Would recommend

Did they do garden pots as well?

Yes, I was thinking more in terms of solicitor's fees.

Yes, a Large planter with Bamboo & a couple of other bits

Couple of friends have used this guy and had good things to say
Jeff Codrington - 07889 680980

And I recommended him on Bikeradar based on that, and he got another good writeup
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12871022

We moved today with codrington's team and they were absolutely fantastic. Polite, efficient and careful with our belongings. Now to unpack...

Got to say thanks to @Tenderloin who alerted me to the London Boiler Scheme. They just processed my application and I've got £400 cashback on its way. Thanks bro!

The drainage search has shown there is a public sewer within the boundary of the property. Our solicitors are a bit shit.

Does anyone know of a way to find out where on the property it is located? - ie at the front or rear or the property, etc.

The big thing would be weather it would prevent an extention at the rear.

Also as the place we're looking at is ex local authority there is a restrictive covenant which looks to require council consent for any alterations. Has anyone heard of this before and how strictly it enforced.

My land law is a very rusty but I'm assuming getting a LA to agree to remove a 40yo covenant won't be easy.

Does anyone know of a way to find out where on the property it is located? - ie at the front or rear or the property, etc.

Can you not ascertain it's route via manhole covers? The one that runs across the front and side of ours can easily be traced via the manhole cover out front and the two in next door's garden.

Our place is ex-council and it had extensive work done before we bought it. Planning permission approved work but the council/housing association consent never took place until they sold it to us - 5 years after the work was complete. Apparently it was a box ticking exercise but IANAL & YMMV, etc....

That's a good idea. Unfortunately I'm not living nearby at the moment. I've asked the estate agent if he can ask.

It might be easier to organise going over in person... Hmm mm.

@Aroogah - cheers. That's positive at least. It's not in the sort of area where I think it would be an issue. A neighbour has also had extensive work done under permitted development, so I'd hope that at a minimum the LA would agree to that.

It's a bit frustrating as it adds uncertainty for somewhere we'd plan to live for a long time (as well as resale issues if things go South).

No worries. It's possible that the Council Planning Departments approval count as council planning consent - I have no idea. The legal tangles that you have to go through in this country to buy property are seriously messed up.

Check with your solicitor if you have one. The estate agent may also have some experience to share as well from selling other ex-LA houses - assuming they are not just some 12 year old in a suit.

We had this on our last house...

First thing we discovered is that plans are useless for exactly pinpointing where the pipes are. The only way we found where they were precisely was to pay dyno-rod to put a camera down there and then map it out, cost a few hundred quid.

Our pipe was actually a metre away from the house, exactly where we wanted to build an extension. We went through the process of getting permission from the water company to build over, essentially this involved giving them a lump of money, they then did a check on the condition of the pipe, thankfully it was OK, so they gave us permission to build over the top of it. For building regs sign off we then had to dig the footings of the extension below the pipe, which was 2m down and bridge over the pipe, which was a pain, but only cost us a bit more in labour and concrete.

Probably got all the docs somewhere if you want to see them, this wasn't in London but sure the approach would be the same.

Basically even if a pipe is in the way, you can still build over it, just a few more hoops to jump through.

Buying a leasehold flat in a block - any point in getting a survey if the management company/freeholder would be responsible for any structural stuff?

Which they would then charge you for, and add a bit for the privilege. So it would still affect you.

You selling the boat!?

Cheers. That is really helpful. At least it sounds like it doesn't kill any development off the bat. This is just outside London fwiw.

I might give my builder mate a call and talk it through with him.

The Estate agent is good, but ultimately he is the sellers agent. I have asked him if he can find out. Apparently one of the sellers used to be an aeroplane mechanic or something so is pretty handy - so it's possible he knows.

Our solicitors are lols. I'm hoping that they'll get their shit together now the 2nd property stamp duty rush has pasted.

I would be tempted to give the local water company a call, they would be able to tell you the process and liklihood of getting consent to build over. Looking over my emails it cost £430 for the survey and a £156 assessment fee, so not too bad at all really.

How much, if there is a fee you guys have paid your mortgage brokers? Got an appointment with a local company, just got an email with a list of docs I need to bring and a very small mention of their fees right at the end of a long email... and they seem a little high...

I'm in the midst of remortgaging and I'm dealing with London & Country. It's all over the phone but I'm fine with that. I work in finance and I'm comfortable with numbers so I'm not expecting them to hold my hand through everything.

They don't charge any fee, their money comes from the commission on the mortgage which is reasonably standard. I suspect I may have to do a bit more legwork in valuing my flat and so on but I'm ok with that. They have a good reputation and come out top for service in a number of polls.

If you're being charged a fee I'd ask what happens with the commission on the mortgage, if there is any.

"Our typical fee for arranging a mortgage is £495.The actual amount payable will depend on your circumstances."

This suggests it could be much higher depends on, I guess, how much I am willing to spend on my property... does it sound like a cowboy plumber who decides on how much to charge for a job depends on how posh the customer is?

Sounds like pretty standard wording for a professional firm. Personally before handing over any money I'd ask them.

1. Do they deal with the whole of the market
   
2. What do they offer that a company such as L&C with no charge doesn't
   
3. What happens to any commission on the mortgage
   
4. What is the actual fee structure, flat fee, initial fee + commission, initial fee + hourly, initial fee + percentage, ...
   
   

I used Countrywide to set up a previous mortgage which was free at the time but I see that they charge a fee nowadays.

cheers, I will send an email to them asking for more info. TBH, I didn't find them, this guy just happened to be hot desking in one of the estate agents I went to.

The argument is that taking a fee from you rather than the lender keeps them acting in your best interests.

Mortgage lenders pay varying procurement fees and so less than honest brokers might be tempted to push you to the one that pays most rather than the best deal.