Owning your own home

yeah, you're right to an extent. She's going to live in it, and I'd assume in 10 years time this would hopefully be sorted out so resale value wouldn't be affected. but it seems like something you should be able to find out from a surveyor, but no one I spoke with seems either to know what the forms are, or to be willing to delare that the building would need one.

It's not clad, it's brick built and 1960s so I can't see how it might be required but with the horror stories in this thread I'm still wary

I have a non horror story, in that the ground floor flat I own in a 2007 five story building with what suspiciously looks like a cladded top floor didn't seem to trouble the buyer getting a mortgage for it. But yeah, evolving situation.

Thanks that’s good to know. I’m totally in unfamiliar territory.

My cladding disaster gets deeper by the day.

I've lived in the same place for 20 years. The bathroom is only 10 years old but it was 20 years old before it was replaced.

I can understand why it might surprise people that anyone stays in one place for 20 years but I know at least 8 households in the surrounding houses that have been here longer than 20 years.

I have fitted plastic and copper pipe, never even considered the price difference as the joints for plastic seem to make up any difference in the cost of the pipe. I use plastic occasionally when it's out of sight.

I think Sam_w has it right, no one knows yet what the problems will be. I've seen copper pipe failing because of iron deposits in the manufacturing process, a whole load of Italian copper had that problem at one point. I'v never been called to a problem with plastic fittings but I don't deal exclusively with plumbing. I've never had a plumber tell me they wouldn't use it or a supplier give me any warning about it.

The magic point where cost meets quality

Prob sip

I have a log cabin style one, it is OK, but does take constant low level heating even though I opted for the thicker wood, its very cheap for the sqm, I paid something like £7k for a 3.5m x 7m one. I think @Soul has\had a more insulated (not sure if sip) one.

@dst2 - we had one installed at our last house from these guys: https://www.thegardenoffice.co.uk/

Was very well insulated and we added underfloor heating which was great in winter.
Overall issue we had is that we just never used it enough. Certainly didn't get the cost of installing it back in terms of time spent with it. It did help sell the place though...

Do you think you would have this year/in the probable future of increased home working?

Had the call with Architect - went well and at this point excited.

The plan at this point would remove the garage and turn this into extra living space, that would double as an additional bedroom with en-suite. Does anyone see this as a terrible idea? There is parking in front of the house and about 20m down the road is on street permit parking.
It's mostly a re-config rather than extension but should make all the space more usable and tbh this is more important to us than a bigger house. Maybe I'll make a current project of it...

In that house, definitely, as we had an office inside that would have been my wife's / the baby room once she arrived which would have left just the garden room to be the office.

Now we have more than enough rooms for me to have an office in the house but, given wife / tiny child are around almost all the time, it would probably be nice to have a room that's completely separate from the house to focus in.

make all the space more usable and tbh this is more important to us than a bigger house.

This 100%.

Make space and entrance for eCargo bike (if no side access etc).

OK good to know, it's still on our list for this place and with the likelihood of both wfh for the foreseeable I thought it made sense.

double side acces ;)

mortgage offer finally issued, searches were returned for our buyer, just a few enquiries to smush and we're good.

Needed that news today!

Just did my BBC interview. Quite scary this TV business.

Good to hear! And yeah, Amey actually talking sense for once with a bike entrance...

I've been looking for places with garages for that same purpose, more as an extra bike/study/away from the kids space rather than an additional bedroom, if we have another child. Also looking at places with garden studios and or a large enough garden to put a studio in, for the same reason.
Garage offers as @amey states more ways to get cargo bike/ or just ordinary bikes in and out without traipsing through the house.

I think we'll get another car but on street permit parking is a fine alternative and extra home space is more valuable to me than a house for a car..

If you've got off-street parking you're winning. Especially in London as you never know what will happen. For eg my folks have just lost half* the street parking on their road due to a new cycle highway.

The only thing is whether you'd like to have some sort of garage/workshop style room? Access straight from the street is always better than having to go through the house to a spot in the garden.

*actually 100% of it due to the building works...which have randomly all ceased.

The only thing is whether you'd like to have some sort of garage/workshop style room?

Yeah, I have seen these done quite smartly - keep the garage door but move the wall halfway up, so you have a workshop with street access but get a bigger room behind.

Retrofitted garage openings (ie wall plus windows) can look a bit awkward.

What's happened now?

I think they make perfect sense if:

1. There's more than one person working at home at a time / there are physically no rooms in your house capable of housing an office already
   
2. You work from home enough to justify the expense
   
   

We had a sofa in ours too and the reality is that it was never used as a hangout space because it was a pain in the arse to keep going to and from the house. As a working space, it makes perfect sense as a way of separating your work life from your home life.

I'm heavily bias because I'd fucking love a small garage to keep my motorbike and a tool chest in.

One of those old 1950s style ones that wouldn't even fit half a modern hatchback in would be fine for me.

Didn't you also say that it was too hot to use during the summer?

Something worth thinking about in terms of design/aircon / etc.