Owning your own home

If you mean a pull down bed, then yea. We actually have a frame just sitting there in this room. It was our spare bed from our flat, it’s a standard double. I’m reluctant to bolt it down anywhere in this room until the work is done to make the layout less stupid. And I’d like it encased.

To Soul’s point I’d like the room to function as a spare bedroom with clothing storage but also as an office working space.

At least that rad had got to go. I’m considering pulling out the chimney breast too.

I’m not sure if this is the same setup, but I had good service and price from h2i insurance brokers. Converted detached house, I was freeholder of the block and needed insurance to cover my property and the other leaseholder came to ~£320 pa I think.
david@h2ibrokers.com

I've used Steven Pentecost here https://maundertaylor.co.uk/insurance/ for that in the past.

When I was shopping around I found the number of places doing this insurance was quite limited.

Accepted an offer on our place last night and pressed the solicitor button this morning. I reckon we’ll miss the stamp duty cutoff by about a week. Lel.

Removing the fireplace makes the room easier to use I suppose but it’s a decent chunk of work.

If it were me I’d removed the chimney breast and get someone to build a full wall of storage including a pull down bed and probably a fold out desk. Intervention did a nice job in a similar room in the Barbican

Congrats BRO, where you heading?

Our buyer is asking for an Elecsa certificate. As far as I know it’s not a legal requirement to hold one as a homeowner. Is that correct?

The house was required in about 2012 before we bought it. I certainly haven’t got one.

As far as I know it’s not a legal requirement to hold one as a homeowner. Is that correct?

Correct.

You'd be doing well to miss it by a week at this point to be honest.

Cheers bro. Heading to Ilford/Seven Kings. Hardly a bastion of sourdough pizza or Scandinavian-themed tat shops but you get way more space, especially useful since we bred and currently trip over each other constantly.
It’s also not very green, as in not a single fucking tree on the street but garden blah blah blah.

Nice! You can’t be that far from plenty of green space even if your street is tree free. Having your own garden is amazing too, you’ll love it.

If it were me I’d removed the chimney breast and get someone to build a full wall of storage including a pull down bed and probably a fold out desk. Intervention did a nice job in a similar room in the Barbican

This is roughly where I am with it at the moment. Do you have a link to the example? (edit, it's this, right?) I trawled Rightmove looking at other houses in the street but they all seemed to be putting up with the existing layout resulting in a nice room looking cluttered and annoying to be in.

Speaking of potentially missing the stamp duty deadline, our sale and purchase was all going suspiciously smoothly until this week. However, the place we're buying is probate and we got this update from the vendor's probate solicitor via their agent:

We have chased up the Probate Registry again, who have said that they have all of the documents that they need, but that they are currently dealing with applications received on or before 19th October. We sent our application mid-November I believe.

Our solicitor is 'concerned'. So am I. Anyone with probate experience got any thoughts? It was meant to take eight weeks, which would be about now, but apparently the Registries have a huge backlog because Covid (in more ways than one, a lot more people have died recently).

I think @Señor_Bear your place was probate and you had big delays right? I'm worried now I've asked I'm going to hear loads of horror stories :/

Sorry, was looking for an actual shop rather than loo maker, my googling turns up the usual bunch which have a limited range. Cp hart don’t take Amex sadly. Thanks though and @6pt

My probate delay was 19 weeks, delaying the sale by 29 weeks

Ah, in which case give H E Olby a call and have a chat?

Built-in wall could also go on the other wall, I'd imagine it's easier to relocate a radiator than removing the chimney?

It is, yes, however the room, whilst not exactly narrow, has been reduced in width by a previous taking a slice off it to put storage in the hallway. With a short double bed you will probably just have enough space to walk round the end of the bed and between the existing fireplace (it will look a bit goofy though). Anything longer and it won't work.

Also I think in what was the dining room below we will remove the chimney there too so it will make sense to get rid of this one as well. Will keep the fireplaces in the lounge and the bedroom above it though.

That said will see if this is workable.

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do I need to care about getting a radon survey/test? seems pointless to me but o/h is concerned about it

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Oof. Was it waiting for the registry once the papers had been filed?

We're already war gaming 'what if we don't make March' scenarios. Our buyer's offer is conditional on completion by 31 March. We know she really wants it, but we'd expect her to drop her offer by the stamp duty amount if we don't make it in time.

The probate delay would be on the vendor, so we'd be looking for a reduction in turn. In theory, we could sell our place by the 31st, move out somewhere temporary then complete on new place whenever without losing any money, other than the cost of somewhere temporary to stay/storage.

It's a standard part of searches, surprised that your solicitor isn't planning to do it by default?

the searches came back with 'yes this is a radon affected area' and then linked to this map

then its on us whether we want to do anything more about it

We've also used Steven - it was expensive, but cheaper than others we found and he was a nice fella

then its on us whether we want to do anything more about it

All you need to do is pay them the £150 they'll charge for doing that quick google on the radon map and sending you the link.