Owning your own home

I couldn't agree more with you that the root of many of these problems - the majority I'd say - are down to people (leaseholders, co-freeholders, and third party, offshore, anonymous freeholders) seeing property as an investment rather than as a place to live. And speaking as someone who sits on the board of RTM directors I'm well aware of the kind of squabbles you're talking about, and I could well do without them.

However, there are levels to this stuff. I faced eviction proceedings from an aggressive freeholder for having the temerity to pursue that RTM claim (they said it was because I had dogs, but as our lease allows dogs, it was literally just lawfare). I watched my upstairs neighbour get pursued through the tribunal and county court system for a 'debt' which he'd already paid - by the time it got to court he was on the hook for £22k had the case gone against him. I've watched that same freeholder chase five of our leaseholders through court for parking fines in a car park which had been confirmed as being for our use by FTT and by the county court based on that FTT. I've watched the freeholder trouser £100k in damages to a boundary wall, then attempt to charge leaseholders for its repair. I've watched them add admin charges to every dispute, despite them not being allowed by the terms of our lease, and taking anyone who argues the point to court.

No-one's saying that RTM or share of freehold is perfect. Christ knows it isn't. But compared to being in a property with an aggressive, unethical freeholder, one who owns the managing agent, both of whom have a legal team on retainer? It's like a breath of fresh air.

That's awful - so co-freeholders are effectively stuck if they're stuck with an absent co-freeholder. That's infuriating. It'll be interesting to see if the proposed reforms will provide a way out for that situation.

A block I'm working with at the moment is unable to pursue RTM because they've got 25% commercial, and we looked into appointing a manager. As you say, world of pain. We've decided to wait until (if) the reforms come in.

Thats the one!

Here is what I have settled on for now... with the bathroom being cut in two so I can have a storage/utility area but keeping plumbing for a shower in so it can be converted back into a shower area/sauna when/if the loft gets done.

It leaves a 120x160cm shower area but my room is marginally longer, I wonder if there is a way to get a walk in shower area in yours... something I have seen which is super smart IMO is a shower behind a toilet (so concealing waste and cistern in a wall) which could be a good way to create space.

1 Attachment

I quite like this layout... a bath by a window is nice but will you actually be able to see out of said window? A shower by a window on the other hand.... this is with a 170x70bath and 80x120 shower but you could prob squeeze a bit larger versions of both in.

IMO people over do sink sizes too, but that's personal, I've gone with a 50x50 sink because there is a built in shelf for all gubbins.

1 Attachment

That posh couple off Gogglebox:

https://www.onthemarket.com/details/9909312/

This is how our bathroom is laid out.

Door position buggers it all up though as it's where the towel rail is in your sketch.

dammit's new gaff

also wth: "Knightrider Street, Sandwich"

would feel great taking zoom calls from that office

Love the way you think you are buying one big house, but the list of other houses you get thrown in just keeps on coming.

With all the talk of leasehold, I have a question for the hive mind. I'm selling a flat with 89 years left. Freeholder is Hackney Council. The buyer initially wanted me to start the lease extension process and they take it over which is fine. However what is the minimum I need to do for this?

Do I have to submit a Section 42 or can it be done in an 'informal' way. With a Section 42 or another way, do I NEED specialist survey done? I know neighbours who have extended the lease so there is precedent for cost etc already.

It's not a french drain if there isn't a way for the water to run off i.e. a pipe at the bottom of the gravel to collect water. What you might have is a moat.

When I had this I thought it was simply serving the notice, which comes at little cost to you other than paying your solicitor to do it.

However, when it came down to it, either my solicitor thought that was incorrect, or just didn't want to do it. Digging deeper, it looks like the issue was that if the notice is served incorrectly, the extension process won't continue, and the new owner will be back to square one, and you will have accidentally reneged upon something that was critical to the sale. And as you've left, you can't fix it.

So I just told them nah mate, I'm not going to do it, do it yourself in two years when you can.

You might find your buyer's solicitor is highly aggressive about pursuing this. Because it doesn't cost them anything to do so.

89 years is not a concerning amount if it was 82 years or something maybe

Yes I am painfully aware of that. My approach was to dig down in the hope that the moat will be further away from the current damp. Not sure there's much logic in that given the leeching properties of the materials in question.

There's a chance I'll redo the front garden bit as it's not very pretty if I can cobble some money together and if so, aim to create an actual French drain to take water away, towards the street.

The previous owner was growing flowers in it FFS

Classic, is it a lens distortion or is the slate on the corner further out from wall at top than bottom?

Have a wide angle web cam so people get the full majesty of it all (aeron kinda ruins the vibe, need a throne)

It was really annoying when that happened to us.

"Where are we going to put the tea room and gift shop!?"

If you design it from scratch and with nice bits then it will be great. Separate bath and shower are useful and it's not like you need to break dance in the middle of it so if it's compact then fine. Storage would be the thing that I was thinking about, if you make the space work hard in terms of where to put towels, spare loo roll, toiletries etc and keep it out of sight then the space will feel bigger.

Maybe move the rad behind the door and then you could have a full heigh storage on that wall instead

That does look like a good use of space, especially if you had nice minimalist shower panels. The window would have either frosted glaze or at least frosted film, so the bath near it would be nice for the light but not the view - it's a window that looks out onto the street anyway.

My concerns would be:

• Poo particles near the toothbrush (overcome by keeping them in a cupboard I suppose, tidier anyway)
  
• The current window is wooden-framed and while we'd ideally replace it, I'm not sure we can afford to - so having a shower right next to it might be better avoided
  

Our current bathroom is a smaller room next door to this one (about 1.8m x 1.8m so probably too small to be a bedroom) and we are aiming to use that as a laundry/utility room which could have storage for most of what you mentioned in it. Hopefully that's another way of keeping the bathroom looking a bit tidier and less cluttered.

If that's the case then great! With a clever use of colour/material you can make the space look bigger - big mirrored cabinet etc

Keep em all in the ceiling heigh cabinets above the sink 😉

Mine was not Section 42 as I had not lived there for 2 years yet. Section 42 is just the protected one that they can't refuse. Nothing to stop you contacting the freeholder and saying, "I'd like to extend the lease, how much do you want?" And if they come back with a value acceptable to you you can crack on. Saves the cost of surveys etc. You still do it through solicitors so it's all above board.

But as has been said, nothing to stop the buyers either doing what I did or waiting 2 years for the right to Section 42. I wouldn't want the initial hassle. What if they pull out of the sale and you get stuck extending a lease you didn't want to or paying the solicitors fees for abandoning the process?

yep @cjr ^ best, unfortunately is to tell them to do one.

Unless you want the lease extended anyway.

I just got a letter from the freeholder confirming they would extend straight away with our last place.