Owning your own home

Gethin Lloyd at Knights in Chester did an excellent job for both me and my partner on different properties that are both in London. If you want the number let me know

Santander are currently not accepting the EWS1 and instead just need a letter from the freeholder confirming that the building meets the standards (below). You might have more luck getting that, although my freeholder refused to give it to me despite me actually having an EWS1 as it would shift liability onto them.

1. Has a review of the building, including the external walls, in relation to fire safety been carried out in accordance with the latest Government advice? YES/NO
   
2. Did the review result in any remedial works being required to the building? YES/NO
   
   

If Question 2 is answered YES, Questions 3 and 4 must also be answered

1. Have the works commenced/been completed? YES/NO
   
2. Will any costs be passed on to the leaseholders? YES/NO
   

Anyone have a recommendation for someone who can decipher the bundle of AV wiring that is in our new home? Have nice looking speakers everywhere and wires on wires, but no idea where to even start.

Thanks for the information, I’ve just been down a 3hr rabbit hole. What a shit show.

I think it was. Cheers, he was very good. Just about to get him to do some wills for me now.

Well he only had 4 viewings on it last weekend but he got two offers on it from those viewings so looks like the price was there or thereabouts.

That's a pretty good start.

It gives me a bit of hope for ours if we come to sell.

One of the houses a bit further up went for £480k in summer - looks like there's some profit to be made there.

Welcome, same situation here. 15m building finished in 2019, no cladding and the building company have confirmed it's all either brick or fibre cement board but estate agents won't even put it on the market without the EWS1.

I wouldn't pay upfront for that job - I can't see that they will be so inflexible as to lose the business if you don't want to go for either of those options. Have you spoken to them or is this all 2nd hand?

The estate agent said it wasn’t a problem until yesterday which is about 6 weeks since the offer was accepted, I just can’t understand how it wasn’t flagged earlier.

Flat buyers understand little (tend to be FTBs) so critical stuff will come up late.

Ask the sellers, or ask them who installed it all.

The estate agent specifically said it wasn’t necessary.

estate agent said

Red flag right there...

They can say whatever they like with no recourse.

EWS1 is now being applied to almost all multi-occupant dwellings constructed before December 2018. It’s also not contained to the external walls any more, and is basically superseding the cat 4 FRA. Which is a wholly unfair standard to hold flats to but not houses.

I have a feeling it was finished after December 2018, my girl friend moved in sept 2018 but building works were on going. Would this make a difference? Thanks for help everyone, it’s such a difficult thing to get my head around and doesn’t make sense logically.

No

Installed before they moved in.

Throughout my buying and selling process I was constantly astounded by how little the estate agents knew of the legalities and technicalities of it. Things like not understanding the limitations of an indemnity policy or having no idea of what the covid legislation said about moving house.

I had an email confirming it after I asked for clarity on what MIL had been told. Guy we're dealing with seems a bit of a shyster so I think I'll say to go back and say no and see what happens.

Thanks for all the conveyancing recommendations. We're going with Uzma Malik cos three recommendations and I got a good vibe from the info about her on MW's website etc.

Just emailed her and got a full reply in three minutes so first impressions are good!

Isn't it better to have sentoed and lost than to have never sentoed at all?

I reckon this @Mickie_Cricket

Don't know about sento in the next place... We're looking in a few particular streets @tbc as close as possible to @chrisbmx116 so we can stalk him and the gardens are much more overlooked.

We're OK with that, but one needs to cool down post-sento and that could be a bit weird. But the bathrooms are ridiculously big, so you could fit in two baths - cold and hot - in theory but might need a structural engineer to check that turn of the century brick could take the weight!

We have thought about a sauna too, no structural worries, but I feel like I'm more of a hot bath man...

We asked our buyer to accept our local searches from 2012 and indemnity insurance as a condition of sale btw, so we're hoping that will deal with Hackney's cyber issues.

It’s just a numbers game for them - get enough in and enough will pop out the back of the meat grinder as completed sales

Mortgage offer approved (took over 5 weeks) now onto the conveyancing.

Boris said in PMQ you don’t need an ews1 form if your building is under 18m...ha.