Owning your own home

does anyone actually like kitcheloungen combo things?

I like it. Look at the light, imagine how dark those rooms would be if they were divided. You bustle in the kitchen and occasionally yell "YES I AGREE HA HA HA!" at your guests at the dining table.

Vegan catfood thread >>>>>

Update/recap:

Feb 7th - saw house, made offer, offer accepted.
Feb 8th - applied for new mortgage via L&C (both self employed with up and down years but OK capital & credit ratings)
Feb 8th- May 26th - much fuckery from L&C
May 27th - offer from lender including acknowledgement that to get on a decent lower ltv product we'd be using some money in the form of a gift from a family member.
May 28th - sign paperwork with solicitor assuming quick exchange
May 28th - June 26th - waiting for lender to acknowledge to the solicitor that we'd be using some money in the form of a gift from a family member.
June 29th - the alleged deadline from the vendors onward purchase to exchange as they say they can't wait any longer.

Had similar threats before in this process so pinch of salt etc but I'd be so fucked off if it all fell through after 5 months of stress and money.

u wot m7?

The gift from family thing should be quick. ID and money laundering checks. A letter signed by family member to say it's a gift and they have no stake in the property. That's it. Should only be a few days.

We signed that at the end of May. Literally been with Clydesdale since then. They did take an insanely long time to give us an offer but a month is batshit.

Tetchy, in Brighton.

Was this in response to @greenhell comment on the kitchen-diner in the overpriced Faversham house?

I like it in theory. In practice ours feels a bit of design failure though... We have a slightly different layout but same basic principle. We've been in there two years and I've never quite managed to get it to my liking. Despite having been knocked though it can be quite gloomy down there. A badly conceived extension to the east side of a north-facing garden blocks all sunlight from the back and to half the garden.

The fact that it's two room knocked though and at lower ground level means very little direct light gets in from the front either. The two-rooms into one thing also makes the space really hard to use effectively. Almost all the external walls are already taken by units, fireplace, meter cupboard, stairs etc so there's practically nowhere to put furniture. There's only one bit of wall not already covered against which you could put a sofa or dining table and that's right by the front door (which opens straight into the room) and miles from the only place it makes sense to put the TV. The front bay window isn't big enough to have the (modest) dining table in (it's a different shape to next door). The island in our kitchen means no room for a table there either. Badly designed island (two back to back Magnet units with a cheap marble top) means no space for stools round that either so i'm left with a kitchen-cum-front room with a chronic "where do I put the table?" issue. Having it by the door feels bleak and drafty, the middle of the room just looks weird and takes up the whole space... have ended up with it sort of near the kitchen island with just enough to squeeze chairs between it and the table. Whole thing wants ripping out and redesigning really.

I'd love an architect to come and look at the whole thing and offer up a solution that utilizes the space better. Like I said. Nice houses. Need a bit of work to make them worth the asking I reckon.

been with Clydesdale since then.

Your broker didn't mention that Clydesdale literally do everything on paper?

See earlier post:

Feb 8th- May 26th - much fuckery from L&C

I spent 16 of my hard earned pounds on vegan food there on Sunday. Stall called Nooch. Rather mediocre, sadly.
Then tried to go for a beer at the CBT but it was full of football twats. Took refuge in the CCC beer garden, which mercifully has no telly.

can anyone translate this into normal speak

Section 20 notices – major works
There are currently no Section 20 Notices which have been served relating to costs for
major works which have not been invoiced.

The freeholder hasn't issued any formal notices to the leaseholder informing them of forthcoming maintenance or improvement works for which the leaseholder will have to pay more than £250. There are no maintenance or improvement works in progress for which you might get invoiced should you buy the place tomorrow.

I assume they won't negotiate.

Out of interest is there a reserve fund?

So basically because our works havent been costed yet, they can say this?

We havent had a money conversation with the vendor yet (solicitors...) this is from the latest council leaseholder document.

So basically because our works havent been costed yet, they can say this?

Yes - because the question they are answering is 'have any section 20 notices been served?', not 'are there plans brewing to do something that will probably require section 20 notices?'.

Section 20 notices do not require an estimate until they reach a certain stage. They just need to be sure the work they related to will be spendy.

Thinking about it, you may view this situation as a positive. It's unusual to get longer term visibility of this stuff, and it gives you a truly valid point on which to negotiate a discount. You can use the lack of a reserve fund, I assume, to further drive home the point that the current owner should pay something towards the upkeep of the communal and structural bits, even if they were lucky enough to have dodged the bullet whilst they lived there.

We were told that their were major works in the offing when we were looking at our flat - cladding the exterior (hopefully in a non-flammable material), which was (is) going to cost a lot. 8 years later and there's still no sign of it happening soon. It will happen, has to, eventually - but we may have sold the place having lived in it for ten years before it does.

Thanks, super useful.

Negotations start when solicitors pull there fingers out there arse

Same here. It's happening now! Six months in scaffolding and counting. Got a new pane of double glazing today though, happy days.

Least they didn't regenerate the estate.

I suspect you'll have a reserve fund, whereas we and Rogan will probably not, which is kinda like getting left holding the baby. The good news for us is that the work is highly visible stuff (new communal stairwell, pointing, painting, lighting, doors, entryphone) which in theory should add value. And as we are on the top floor we got a new roof and reap the insulation and non-leaky benefits.

They fixed the roof on our block. Top floor got a leak soon after.

That’s ok - they can just get the insurance company to repaint our entire flat again - it needs doing.

See. Major works can be good.

Major works really highlight the difference between what I would call ‘fake money’, ie accumulated house equity and mortgages and ‘real money’, ie savings from wage income.

It’s crazy how many sellers of £500k+ properties appear to be doing so because they don’t like the idea of stumping up £5-10k of ‘real money’ to maintain their own asset.

It’s crazy how many sellers of £500k+ properties appear to be doing so because they don’t like the idea of stumping up £5-10k of ‘real money’ to maintain their own asset.

Are there many doing this?

Most private blocks have reserve funds that if well managed will pay for works.

Ex LA stuff tends not to - for reasons that I don’t really understand. This causes problems.

Are they allowed to run a reserve? I bet they're not.

Housing associations manage it, but yeah probably some archaic legislative reason.

In my experience of flat shopping a few years ago, reserve funds are rare for older flats / converted houses and yes, section 20 is a big driver of sales.