Owning your own home

I've seen one working in the road. They use a rod which they hold to their ear and they can detect the leak by listening to the pipes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X5ru8TBtlQ

Aah - that's great, thanks. Reassuring that it's not snake oil!

Ended up needing a fair whack of kitchen out/make good work, so might be worth looking at insurance too.

Hmm - hope you were covered. Fingers crossed it won't come to this

Any chance you could have a slow leak from a toilet that you haven't noticed, a slow leak from a faulty flush can waste quite a lot without anyone noticing (although 4x seems a lot).

Other than that, you could just systematically close isolation valves to narrow down the problem.

Well, the one minute B+Q video on the topic does make it look easy. But certain elements remain deeply mysterious (e.g. how to attach to the existing portion of wall?? Do I need to remove and replace that also?)

Do I need a builder? A handyman? Contemplating getting someone in to do the whole bathroom and bundling this in with that.

That's very often what happens. It's an in between sort of job. Sometimes you find someone local who will do it for cash. That's historically been the most efficient way financially that I've seen it done. Problem is this type of person is difficult to contact.

Maybe try on line places like NextDoor or Facebook. Very often you'll get someones wife recommend them or another customer they have a good reputation with. Sometimes it's the kind of person who doesn't have a van so you have to organise removal of the rubbish or delivery of materials. It's a sort of hinterworld of building labour.

Thanks thought as much. Anyone used these people? No charges etc seem to have good feedback on trustpilot fwiw

https://www.firstmortgage.co.uk/?infinity=ict2~net~gaw~cmp~QC%20%7C%20Telephony%20%7C%20Search%20%7C%20Generic%20Mortgage%20%7C%20Geo%20London%20%7C%20%5BE%5D~ag~Generic%20Mortgage-Advisor~ar~593189613512~kw~mortgage%20advisors~mt~e&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1bqZBhDXARIsANTjCPLSD-uz3ZVCWKCiZ6gHMkcCi2Iwcwiw9afz-KBkArjSuve3waYrWU4aAhirEALw_wcB

If you’re after a good broker, speak to Mike at Crystal Clear

Crystal Clear Financial Services
https://crystalclearfs.com/

Yes, actually! Very easy to deal with (and we had 'unusual' circumstances, which meant a bit of back-and-forth with lenders), got a good deal, weren't too pushy about extras (easy enough to say no to the home/life/etc., insurance). Would use them again.

Another vouch for Mike at Crystal Clear. Mike was amazing for our first house purchase and he's currently doing our remortgage. He's great.

Ok good to note also @Cazakstan did they charge you or the lender?

Good to hear thanks, think I’ll see what they say as no commitment

Another question sorry, is it best to get a estate agent valuation on property or just off something like Zoopla?

I may be cynical but about 95% of an estate agents valuation consists of typing your address into zoopla.

Now that mortgage rates are going up so fast those valuation numbers from zoopla are likely an upper limit on what a property is worth.

You pay circa £300 to Crystal Clear for their services. For me, it feels well worth it for the peace of mind of a whole market analysis of getting the best possible rate in your circumstances. Especially at the moment.

Record low today for the £ vs the $- looks like the BoE is going to have to hike interest rates shortly to try to stop the plummet in the pounds value.

And, handily, our fixed term mortgage is coming to an end shortly.

Go for a base rate tracker and hope that the lunatics get défenestrâted? Pray? Something else?

Also, how are people going to afford mortgages that are at 1.49% today when they go to 6% at the end of their fixed period?

Something else?

It's boring and only for the somewhat privileged but you can sell investments or whatever and pay a load of it down.

Also, how are people going to afford mortgages that are at 1.49% today when they go to 6% at the end of their fixed period?

Cut down on the avocado toast presumably

Have you double checked the actual reading on the meter? We had this recently and they had read the wrong meter in the road!

Ah, my investments- which being honest look a lot like old road bikes.

Unless the government does a u-turn so that the financial markets calm down its going to get very ugly.

Some people are going to have to sell up and move into rented accommodation so that they can get out of their mortgage.

It comes either as a result of their own decision or because they end up in deep arrears on their loans and their bank repossesses their home. It’s the early 90s all over again and it’s what caused the early 90s house price crash.

Interest rates were circa 14% at the time. The problem is cheap money inflating the price of housing. That also comes down to people taking the risk that they will have access to cheap money for very long economic cycles.

Some of this stems back to 2008 when savings were protected by bailing banks. Since then interest rates have been artificially low because savers had protection but no returns.

This might be a daft question, but you aren't in a terrace are you? The toilet and shower for one of my neighbours is still on the shared supply through back garden, even though they have a new meter out the front.

Also, how are people going to afford mortgages that are at 1.49% today when they go to 6% at the end of their fixed period?

As an aside, at least it will stop people moaning that "How comes I can afford £1500/month rent yet a bank won't allow me to take out a £1250/month mortgage"

Will we see a lot of BTL landlords forced to sell? Or am I being wildly optimistic and they'll just put rents up?

Indeed, although the same people will presumably start moaning that it was irresponsible / mis-selling that banks ever lent more than 5x salaries.

Will we see a lot of BTL landlords forced to sell? Or am I being wildly optimistic and they'll just put rents up?

I think that it's quite probable that the leveraged "dinner party" landlords will start to sell, particularly as many will not be breaking even month-to-month with rates at 5-6%. It doesn't feel like tenants could, in general, afford to pay much more in rent given the energy squeeze.