Thetownend.com

Having lived in a flat for a lot of my life and the last 6 years in London our next property will be taking neighbours into consideration, a rural place with few people around seems very tempting right now!

Going from mid terrace in city centre to detached in a small village has been marvellous!

I couldn't go back to terraced again as the noise was a real problem and not helped by having young 20 year olds living next door with parties etc

That's what we are looking to do - good to hear Horlock! So much countryside though so difficult to know where exactly to go! It won't be as far north as you as need to get to London for work!

Yeah we are looking for the same, move either completely rural within reasonable distance of Swindon, or one of the surrounding villages.  Needs to be detached and tick as many boxes as possible that we are looking for.

We already have a few possibles on our list..  I just don't want neighbours ruining my life..

The problem in doing this around Swindon (and many similar towns) is finding somewhere that isn't likely to get swallowed up by developers' expansion schemes in the next 10 years or so. I guess if you go far enough out, you should be able to avoid it

Or buy this place and pocket oodles of cash

https://www.french-property.com/sale-property/1510-34081

Good point. Personally we want to be rural but close enough to Towns/Cities for commuting etc. New housing estates personally just don't appeal but as you say its difficult to know what will happen in the landscape. Out of interest do Grade 2 listed properties mean they are more or less protected?

Properties in France can be so cheap! You can get 8 bedroom massive places with pool for 200k Euro.

Right here goes.....


In terms of seeing where development is proposed its worth looking at the Local Plan (no idea where this process stands at the moment in Swindon) to see what has been allocated for housing and also look at where they are with their SHELAA (this seems to be fairly up to date https://www.swindon.gov.uk/downloads/file/4177/shelaa_report_final_2019 ) finally TBH talk to agents or locals, for instance round here when we were looking there were loads of houses popping up on a nice road but with a little digging it became clear that the local estate (who own a lot of the farmland) were planning to promote the fields behind them all for development which they subsequently did.


Grade II properties are as protected as I or II* in simple terms to do anything physical to them needs LBC plus anything within their setting draws impact on their setting into a material consideration. Oh and you have very limited (if any) PD rights.


The rural French property market is dying on its arse and Brexit is just going to make it worse, when they decided to move back my old man tried to sell their place in the Aude (near Carcassonne) and they couldn't give it away, managed to get a British tenant in who is paying rent in sterling so not affected by the pound being shite. Problem specifically is that the main market down there is German or British and with Brexit, British aren't buying!

Thanks Horlock. Was aware of the PD rights which rule out a lot of properties which have one bathroom downstairs or whatever!

It might be worth moving this into its own thread if any mods can be arsed?

A property/moving thread sounds good, I've got the agent coming round in 10 minutes to get mine on the market.

I've recently done mine and got 1% selling fee

I opened up a can of worms in the "Trivial things you don't understand/mildly annoy you" thread about wanting to move due to my neighbours.. I (and others) thinks it warrants it's own thread.  If an Admin can do their black magic and move the current conversation in here it would be appreciated..

I actually quite like my neighbours. But like so many others at the moment we're looking to get out of town to somewhere a bit quieter.

The for sale board should be going up today.

I've be been on the market for around 3 weeks so get ready for the initial surge in viewers and silly offers :nod:

I'm renting in central London, and it feels like everyone I know is trying to move out of the city to somewhere a bit greener (although by our standards, this is just anywhere with a small garden).

Urban house prices are still going up though. I simply don't know how this market works, it's a fucking mystery. Just the stamp duty holiday propping it up?

Anyone buying would need to purchase by mid January at the latest to benefit from the free stamp duty. Leave it any later and the chances of exchanging contracts by the end of March is slim unless the government extend it

We're in the suburban belt you speak of. Zone 4. Mostly 1930s terrace houses. Prices round here are going crazy and the market is insanely aggressive. We've got friends with a really good budget who just keep missing out on houses going for 5% over asking.

Wil it last? God knows. Everyone has been predicting the stagnation for years. Never seems to happen.

Property is theft.

As of this morning we've had an offer accepted on our new house. Delighted and the Estate Agents we experienced were all a breath of fresh air!

Will be moving to Daventry in December so if anyone knows of any other Town fans around there give me a shout!

Give them a plug Bob as so many moan about them

Daventry in Northants?

Yeah

We had our first low-ball offer last week. He came back for a second viewing at the weekend, so hoping he'll come back with an improved offer soon.

Apparently his Mrs had been doing some research on local sold prices and noticed a house in the street sold for £30k less than ours is up for around 9 months ago. Rightmove shows it was in a bit of a state and probably needed about £30k worth of work. It's funny how peoples minds get anchored on that kind of thing though, and now they think they'd be overpaying for ours. I'd offer them my time machine so they can skip back 9 months and buy that one if they like, because unless they wait it out there ain't any bargains like that available at the moment.

I'm probably overly complimentary as they are just doing their job but apart from one guy who didn't know the answer to any questions, the others were very knowledgable and on the face of it appeared to be passionate about the places we viewed.

I've had three low-ball offers over the last month but I won't budge as it's priced accordingly and not desperate to sell

Fair point and it's not as if they don't get much money for the sale😁

My experience in the past has always been that Estate Agents are a pain in the fucking arse.  The process appears to be over the top flattery to try and get the listing, pop it online, then simply mail out the existing database of seekers they have, then cross fingers.

I thought they were overpaid and useless, then I moved over here.  The Seller and the Buyer both get an agent and the fee is fixed at 6% shared between both!!!

I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about good/bad customer service having worked in that industry and I think its something I really regard as important.

I'm fully aware that these people benefit from a sale, I (probably naievely) just felt that I trusted them.

Talking about trust has the agent show a client around Saturday and when I got home noticed that a couple of things had been moved and a tap turned on. Surely with Covid etc they're not supposed to touch anything other than door handles

I live 15 mins drive from Dav, I really like it, enough of everything you’d need, close to M1 and M40

Thanks China Red, that's a relief! We have been to the town twice and your summation is exactly as we thought. We actually had a decent Sunday roast yesterday, and there is a Weatherspoons that actually doesn't look rough and unwelcoming!

Anyone purchased a brand new house and exchanged their property with the delevopers and if so were they offered close to the market value or was there a big difference.

If you get market value you are probably paying over the odds for the new dwelling.

I wouldn't buy a new build personally purely because of estate service charges.

That is a big concern especially on top of Council tax

The issue is that you don't have the same statutory rights as leasehold owners of flats. 

Good point

If it’s leasehold run and don’t ever stop running.

Even the new “fleecehold” houses sold as freehold are a joke. Be very careful.

I recall a persimmon “freehold” with £45 to change/fit a doorbell. And a £1000 application fee if you wanted to sell. My missus mate lives in one where the fees double every 10 years. It’ll become unsaleable.

Join this group and take a look:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/786983251448976

Aye, I just moved out of a freehold - paid £100 a year maintenance fees for the maintaining the grounds which a) they barely did and b) was in addition to council tax. And then charged £400 for a ‘moving pack’ when we sold - which as far as I can tell was a bunch of leaflets and publicly available documents

Sounds such a rip off and was that in Swindon 

Leasehold, surely?

Nope. Estate service charges and positive obligations to pay certain fees are common on freehold properties on new build estates.

I can bouch for that in TGV new build development in Swindon all 1800 homes pay approx £20-25 per month service fees

We had this when we moved. Never ever saw anybody carrying out maintenance etc. Its a fucking con

We've got a couple coming back for a second viewing today. Fingers crossed they're motivated by this potential lockdown and want to get an offer in.

We had second viewing this week but was offered £7000 lower than the asking price and as we've missed out on a couple of houses turned the offer down

Don't know what your asking price is but that doesn't sound like a low ball offer.

£315,000 or above

I would take that. I suspect that values will start to fall in the near future.

Nope, freehold. Those on leaseholds pay the same and more.

It's a dilemma as a couple of houses we were interested in have recently sold and Sod's law we can't see anything else around within our price range

Sell now and go into rented/temp accommodation for 6 months or so

Roughly £6000 on rent so there goes the stamp duty saving and not knowing what the market will be like next spring

I sold some property this year and am waiting for some form of 'market realignment' next year. Living in temp accommodation at the moment.

Are you in Swindon/UK

South West. Sellers down here are asking for crazy prices in my opinion. Prices seem to be inflated by more than the current stamp duty saving.

All those wealthy Londoners snapping them up so it makes sense to sell if you got a good price and sit tight until they hopefully come down in your area

I live in a freehold in a new build estate. We don't have it. What a con.

I know some of us are in the process of moving so its a bit of a relief that the govt have announced that house moves can still go ahead.

We are waiting for confirmation of our moving date but we are now in a chain which is moving along nicely so fingers crossed we'll be out of London in just over a month!

The problem I have is we have just had an offer on our property but can't find one

hmmm, yeah that's a bit of challenge.

As JBZ stated before it does look like house prices are going to drop in 2021 so it could be worth renting short term so you could get more bang for your buck in 6 months or so? I know the Stamp Duty Holiday ends in March 2021 but the reduced prices could more than offset that. Its all a gamble of course.

With Covid ongoing and Brexit in the post I would suggest its a foregone conclusion.

It's a difficult one as I don't want to get stuck in rented accommodation for six months or more at a cost of approx £1000 per month then find I can't find anything suitable

It is a difficult decision and taking a gamble on rented/short term accommodation won't be for everyone.

What would be ideal at the moment is for the government to extend the non stamp duty until the end of June as I can't imagine anyone buying in mid late Jan is going to complete by the 31st March plus things are going to slow right down now because of lockdown and Xmas

When this weird house bubble bursts, that is ongoing currently, boy it will burst. Huge buyers market. All those rushing to by a property to save on stamp duty will likely have purchased a property they don't really want. I am seeing and hearing of people putting offers in after one viewing. Crazy. Then they'll be stuck with a devalued property when the market slumps.

When it does slump, it's not going to recover for a long time. The market is very artificial atm.

You could be right and the only ones who will be ok will be mortgage free so if they want to downsize the smaller properties will be cheaper too

Does anyone know in general how long lawyer searches can take? T'internet says 2-3 weeks but given the current climate I just wondered if we have any hope of moving before Christmas!

The issue will be who is working in the places where the searches are directed to rather than the lawyers themselves, for instance I know that many planning department are working on a skeleton staff with majority working from home and imagine many in local charges department will be likewise.

In addition keep hassling your solicitor, from experience they tend to be shite at chasing things up!

Depends.  I understand local searches can take a while.

Remember, you may not have a solicitor acting for you. A lot of routine conveyancing work isn't done by solicitors.

Yep, we have found this over the last 2 weeks or so. They are a nightmare to get any bloody information out of! Caveat - understood that its a very busy time for them, but a quick holding email to say all's good, or i'll get back to you by xxx doesn't take much time or effort.

If you used one of the bulk conveyancing outfits recommended to you by an estate agent, I am not surprised by this.

Even more infuriating when the fuckers dont even respond to your email

No, we are actually using the same lawyer that the wife used to buy the flat that we are selling now.

All are different, first house we bought we used local solicitor practice, the searches took bloody ages, weeks and weeks passed and despite a chase every few days calls were not returned and nothing updated. Finally kicked off and threatened to take business elsewhere suddenly a call back within the hour, transpired that the solicitor dealing with it had been off sick for 4 weeks yet no one had told us nor passed the case to a colleague, long and short it was all reviewed and done in a week after that.

Since then have used a local conveyancer who has been brilliant, gone way beyond the call of duty on a couple of transactions for no extra fee!  

Customer Service is a big thing for me and non-response is indeed a massive frustration. I guess its as we are desperate to move as soon as physically possible so these minor inconveniences tend to be blown out of proportion!

You are right, of course - service can vary across the board.  I have not been impressed with certain bulk conveyancing firms when dealing with them both professionally and personally.

Thing is a lot of conveyancing is done on a fixed fee, unlike the more general legal stuff where the buggers contact you constantly at £x per telephone call and £y per email and £z per letter, when its on the basis you cant keep them quiet I find.

Even if the lawyer is working on a hourly rate, they should provide a fee estimate etc.

You could try phoning the search department of the local authority, directly, to ascertain timescales for local searches (and cheekily, without much prospect of success, enquire how your own search is progressing).  Timescales vary greatly from authority to authority.  Bear in mind there are other pieces to the jigsaw, like the local water authority, replies to enquiries from the Seller and so on. 

A decent outfit should be able to spare you 6 minutes to check and 6 minutes to speak to you to give you a reasonable rundown of ETAs and the specific searches being undertaken.  If you email, there'll be a black and white record of your attempts to get an answer.  You could be laying the groundwork for a Complaint that way, or more realistically a way to exert pressure later.

It is not uncommon for Licensed Conveyancers to give better service than than solicitors, even if they will ultimately be less knowledgeable than the best solicitors. Conveyancing factories are shit as are those agents who recommend them for a commission, often falsely claiming their appointment by you will make everything "easier to manage".

Interesting view

Kind regards,
Gareth

xxx

 :girlgiggle: :clap:

I'm looking for a lodger. 475 a month all in, large single, part furnished, en suite with bath and shower in an Old Town Townhouse. DM me if anyone knows anyone looking

Random question - what's the ettiquette around holes in walls from pictures etc when a place is sold? Is it the done thing to fill in the holes and paint the wall etc?

Just remembered I made a right mess of putting the TV on the wall and I'm sure there are about 6 bloody holes hiding!

Personally wouldn't bother.

Agreed, they’ll probably end up redecorating

Cool - thanks guys. That's what I was thinking to be honest.

Just leave a tub of Polyfilla in the middle of the room with a post-it note stuck to it reading "I've already used 6 tubs :)"

We're now sold!

Now to find somewhere to live...

Congrats,

Where you looking to move to?

We're still waiting on 2/6 searches to come back and then hopefully we can move.

I'm in the same boat sold but can't find anywhere as the few properties we were interested in sold before we had an offer on ours and could do with the government extending the stamp duty holiday

Haven't decided. Smaller town or village is what we're looking for, ideally.

I've been looking at places in south Devon, but I'm not sure the wife is keen on moving that far.

We were lucky that the house we really wanted had 2 or 3 people really interested but already had the sale of our flat sorted so managed to snap it up. Goes without saying but having a sale really is advantageous in the current climate! (and probably all climates to be honest)

Good point and glad that you have found what you are looking for. My worry is how long my buyers will wait as I'm assuming they need the free stamp duty saving as it's around £5500

We're prepared to break the chain if needed. It'd be nice to benefit from the stamp duty holiday ourselves and save nearly £10k, but if we have to pay it then so be it.

Where you looking down there?
That's where I'm moving eventually. Got the green light but Mrs won't go until our home is paid up here first. Looking like 3/4 years. I look regularly at properties so will be well prepared. Everyone I've met down there who has moved to the area has said it's the best thing they've done/go for it etc.

Newton Abbot or Teignmouth area would be ideal for me. But really anywhere within 20 mins or so of the M5 as I'd still need to be back in Wiltshire a couple of days a week for my business.

Nice. Both easily near the main roads out to the M5. Teignmouth is somewhere we will be considering too( the back beach sunset there is special) We're looking between Exminster and Brixham.

We accepted an offer on ours last week and have had an offer accepted on a new place today :beers:

Although Wiltshire council are apparently taking NINE WEEKS for local searches.

Fingers crossed we complete before April.

Ive sold five weeks ago but can't find anything suitable so would love a stamp duty extension!

They'll have to do something re: stamp duty holiday. Think of all those collapsed chains if they can't complete by 31st March and lenders get jittery about people suddenly having to find a few £k extra for SDLT.

I think a grace period for anyone SSTC is most likely.

I hope that you're right as I'm quite frustrated as I had seen 2 or 3 houses that I had liked but they all sold just before I had my offer

Wow 9 weeks is a lifetime! We got the last of our searches back yesterday (took just under 2 weeks).

Looking to exchange next week and all going well we should be moving on either the 16th or 17th.

But Jesus moving is one stressful expensive experience!

On and congrats by the way!

Needless to say for those that are house hunting etc, make sure you do your homework re which conveyancy firm you use. Our buyers appear to be using the solicitor equivalent of STFC and they have slowed down the process so much that we might not be able to move this year now.

We found out who they were last week and their Trust Pilot reviews are shockingly bad.

Me and Ms Flash are going our separate ways. Not married (this time) so its just the house to be sold.

Going to be living oppo ends of town.

Sold a few weeks back.

Just had a mail from the Solicitor as searches are starting blah blah.

Looks like the Solicitors are covering themselves with a 'we cannot confirm it will all be done by the time the Stamp duty window expires...'..

The same with our buyers. Offer accepted and solicitors instructed over three weeks ago, my solicitors haven't heard anything from theirs yet.

Unimpressive but there may be circumstances where they are awaiting the return of written client instructions and i.d and "money on account" even, before contacting yours.  

So far as you are concerned, you will need to have completed property information forms and fixtures and fittings forms, so that your own solicitors are ready to send this out to your buyers solicitors, with a draft contract, as soon as they do hear.

The agent that I'm using told me yesterday they are telling clients to prepare to pay the stamp duty as everything now is taking around 12 weeks to complete ans they haven't heard anything to suggest the government will extend the holiday

Anyone got any recommendations for decent solicitors to use in or around Swindon for house moving?  I have used some before but didn't have a brilliant experience last times around so looking for a decent word of mouth recommendation to try somebody new.  No Solicitors are reasonably priced I know, but the more reasonable the better obviously :D

Royds Withy King were excellent for us.

Anyone who is thinking of risking passing it on dont. I've had it for 4 days now and it's brutal, can do little else but lie there groaning waiting for you next set of tablets. Worse bits are the constant cramps and the real bad taste of food and liquids on the rare occasion you feel hungry. In the last 24 hours I've managed a grand total of 30 minutes upright.

Shows how fucked up i am wrong thread

Does it have to be a Swindon solicitor as I'm in the process of selling and my agent has given me a decent contact who is slightly cheaper than the quotes I had locally and there's nothing to pa you uprfont and if it falls through even on the day there is no fee

I used BLB solicitors, had Jas. They were/she was very good

Relieve to read that tier 4 rules still mean that moving can happen.

We’re pushing for a 4th Jan move but may have to settle for the 8th.

Pooleys did fine for me.

100% with you here.
We Got very lucky finding just that property before it went on the open market.
Surrounded by trees and a paddock.
Garden was a complete jungle and managed to get a mini digger in to clear the lot.
Sitting in the garden Summer nights with no neighbours is pure heaven.

That was our motivation for moving as well. Living in central London in a flat really does start to lose appeal the older you get!

Can’t wait to experienced a quieter life!!

As daft as it sounds BO, you'll both really "hear" the silence more. Just when you pause to think or sit down...that "can you hear that" moment will happen. A moment of nothing but silence with a smidge of nature thrown in - a chirping Wren or chortling Song Thrush and a warming gentle breeze; a mooing cow or hinny from a mare and a waft of freshly trimmed lawn clippings.

Enjoy, less than 3 weeks to go :)

Re: solicitors, I spoke to a few mortgage broker friends who said that all conveyancers are as bad as each other at the moment. They can't cope with the volume of work and prioritise the punters who shout the loudest.

I've gone with an online firm called Juno who seem pretty decent so far *touches wood*.

Cheers Bamboo. In the summer when my dad was in Scotland we stayed at his house in Wantage for a week and we just loved it. Something so nice about going for a walk in the country and being able to pop into a rural pub for a pint of two and just take in the countryside ambience!

Cheers for all of the suggestions re solicitors.

JQ - I suppose it doesn't necessarily need to be in Swindon, especially as you can't really visit face to face at the moment anyway.

And Banbury, exactly - looking forward to a quieter life.  We have found a place on the outskirts of Faringdon, that has neighbours, but not as attached as we are at the moment.  It also looks out onto a nice quiet, vast wooded area that there is no risk to be built on in the future.

Whether we will get this done before March 31st is questionable, but we are in a strong position to negotiate with the seller so I am relaxed about the situation.

Finally we appear to be in a state to exchange and complete now! Our buyer’s lawyers have been ridiculously slow and we very nearly pulled out as we had a cash buyer ready to step in which would have seen us better off financially. However my wife has been ‘gazumped’ before so we’ve stayed true to our buyers and we finally have the thing all agreed.

Moving on 12th January now and literally cannot wait. These have been the most stressful weeks imaginable, the wife can barely sleep so just looking forward to getting back to some level of ‘normality’ which in itself isn’t really feasible in these times!

Now is the time when you realise how much junk you've accumulated over the years.

Looks like I have just sold this morning after the house eventually getting on the Market on Friday (4 days after 4 views).  Got asking price from a buyer that is sold with no chain and motivated to move ahead of the Stamp Duty holiday ending.  Buyers Solicitors are aligned, and we are looking at going with the solicitors that the building company recommended because it should save us some time because all searches on our new property are all in their hands already.

Fingers crossed we have done everything that we can to make this as smooth as possible and be in by March 31st.

 

Well drilled ne mate and hopefully you will get completed by the end of March but the way the country is a team the moment none of us know what's going to happen

Sold my house yesterday after 3 days on the market which was a nice surprise. Buying an executive new build on a 5 house development near Tewkesbury that’s something a bit different.Would be nice to complete by March as stamp duty will £26k then vs £10k now but ultimately matters not in grand scheme of things.

Never a truer word...

I have accumulated tonnes of crap...

Going through it can be fun, finding stuff you thought you had lost. Most of it a load of old shit though.

#humblebrag

Has it got an extender, a lofty dual aspect and a healthy patina?

We actually did a bit of a de-clutter earlier this year when we decided to move so did manage to get rid of a lot of stuff and also put some in storeage.

But yes, in essence you are correct!

:D

Hopefully not in the floodplain ? https://www.getthedata.com/flood-map/tewkesbury

I would seriously check to see if it is flooded where you are buying. Tewkesbury is currently under water.

I would imagine these executive new builds have moats and portcullis (portculli?) built in.

Probably, but I remember driving to Walton Cardiff (edge of Tewkesbury) a few years ago to pick someone up. As we drove off his estate there was a big billboard at the edge of an underwater field advertising new properties being built at that site.

There were some lovely properties and villages around there, BUT......

Finally, after 2 months of hellish stress caused by our buyer's solicitors we have today exchanged on properties and all going well we will be moving at the start of next week. Even yesterday when we were due to exchange the lawyers couldn't find the deposit, only for it to magically turn up at 17:22 when the day was over and another day lost.

I know with Covid etc there is lots of anxiety around but this experience has been massively stressful. Even worse when its waiting around for things you can't control.

Never moving again! Or at least not for a very long time! For those who are currently on the moving path, I wish you all the luck in the world for a smooth exchange and completion.

Happy days (finally)! Sure you have noted it previously but where you moving to?

Daventry in Northamptonshire. Decided that we want to move out of the city to somewhere much quieter but not to the extent where there is bugger all to do. As a town Daventry seems nice enough, has a Lidl, Tesco and a Waitrose so best of all worlds! Also has a decent newish leisure centre etc, and they are building a cinema there next year so as a town ticked all the boxes.

We had outgrown London some time ago so looking forward to the next chapter in life where I have to mow a lawn etc!! The commute won't be the best but I have already agreed to 2 days a week in the office in Canary Wharf max, so think I can handle that! (he says, nervously!)

Nope, being from Tewkesbury that was the first thing I checked. New house is on a hill so good views of the current floods. Got my mortgage approved today, took about 6 hour which is good.

My Sale/purchase is moving along nicely, draft contracts sent over to the buyer today and all things in place for my purchase - early days but looking positive to get done by the end of Feb/start of March.

Fingers crossed

We've just sent draft contracts to our buyers too, survey being done on our purchase tomorrow and hopefully draft contracts for that soon too. Crossing all limbs it goes smoothly.

Berni and Samdy I really hope that your moves do go smoothly. My wife has had sleepless nights worrying about this falling through and my blood pressure has been raised by things out of our control.

The irritating thing for me is that our vendors are moving to France and so the move going into 2021 has really inconvenienced them massively.

They say moving home is the most stressful event after death and divorce.

At least when it works it can all be worthwhile.  Divorce too, quite often.  Death I'm not so sure.

Good luck anyway, movers

I've not shared much on here, but we're also months in to a protracted move.  My usual response to any problem is too look for a fix, as quickly & effectively as I can.  So it takes some adjusting to reset mentally to a situation where so much - from tardy solicitors & the whims of your buyers to the effects of a global pandemic - is out of your control.  You just have to accept that what will be will be.

Fingers crossed for all movers.  We'll all get there eventually, regardless of the route & the time taken to get there.

I'm a seasoned house mover, it doesn't get easier but it does get there eventually.

Having come through the other side, I think you are bang on Ardiles. I wish we had stayed calmer during the whole process, I think the desire to be in our new house before Christmas was a big driver, but in the grand scheme of things, it really wasn't important at all.

Another question for people - we can't get internet installed until the 26th January (BT/Openreach), but I need to work remotely from 18th Jan. Is there anything I can buy temporarily that will provide internet until it is properly installed? Would a BT Hotspot work?

Can you tether from your mobile? Also, is it your responsibility to make sure you can work from home, or your employers? I'd be tethering and then expensing.

That doesn't work unfortunately, we are unable to get onto the network that way.

Might just have to take the hit and get some sort of dongle.

Can you not find somewhere to work for a few days? I imagine its hard in these times but when I started working from home and we had net issues I would go down town, do a couple of hours in Nero, a couple in Costa and a couple in the Library if necessary.

Likewise are there not anyone like Regus in Daventry where you can use their drop in space, I know I spent morning in their Newcastle facility once working?

Yeah you see because of Lockdown I suspect you can't go and sit in coffee shops etc these days (only takeaway I presume).

Not heard of Regus, i'll give that a whirl.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaeliconforti/2020/12/19/how-to-work-remotely-in-the-bahamas-for-up-to-a-year/?sh=10cd630f5cf4

Proving to be a good couple of days. Draft contracts received from our vendor today and already signed electronically. Homebuyers report completed today, value issued to the mortgage lender and offer received in the same day!

Just local searches to finish and we're good to go.

I'm sure something'll come along to fuck it up, but it's all going alright so far.

My Company has this dongle thingy that you load up with credit. I will be using it, no doubt when i move.

Works well for mail etc but Teams meetings can eat it up!

BT-Wifi (ironically) allow you access to their hotspots for £15 a month but it's also limited. Not only in effectiveness but also time spent browsing/working. It will kick you off and you have to log in again. It's also only available on a 1yr contract so you have to buy out or keep it, which you probs don't want to spend £180 for substandard speeds, being continually kicked out and for possibly only a max of 3months usage.

Are you certain you can't use your phone as a hotspot? If so, how come?

I use my data and use 3-4 devices/log ins and have not once used my allowance. I have 60GB but even then I am streaming films, series and footy in HD along with my regular browsing, music and uploading shit tons of images and video footage, as well as file sharing too. I think the squeakiest of bums I got to was about 3GB left over. Once my latest contract ends I'll just be keeping my current phone and going for someone like iD, who offer 100GB for a similar if not cheaper price :)

Pretty much the same for me, I am surprised at how quickly it is moving considering they seem to warn on every piece of text that they cannot gaurantee having it done by the end of the stamp duty holiday.

Apparently the view is that January is an opportunity for them to get deals done early if all of the necessary stuff is in place before it becomes a free for all in Feb/Mar.  It sounds like you and I are in the earlier category.  All we can do is make sure that they have all of the stuff that they need immediately after it is requested to keep the momentum going.

I was expecting to be moving at the end of March, currently it is looking likely to be mid to end of Feb - which would be a real bonus.

To be honest I'm now not totally sure about the using the phone as a Hotspot. For some reason I thought it was outlawed but now I am wondering if that's all in my tiny little mind.

 The 3/4G signal in our flat is absolutely bobbins so I never got the chance to try when Virgin kept going down last year. I'm sure I'll work something out, cheers for the suggestions though.

Our excitement is building now, we have the parking spaces outside the flat reserved and the removal men and deep cleaners booked and now going through the list of what to cancel and change etc. Staying in a hotel is acceptable if you are moving so we've booked a cheapy in Daventry Monday night whilst we wait to get the keys to our new home to move into on Tuesday. I carried forward some holiday from last year so took the whole week off so really looking forward to pastures new.

No more slamming front doors, buses and fire engines/police rattling past at stupid o'clock, no more listening to Michael Flatley and his troupe of elephant footed posh dicks clumping around in the flat upstairs. Not going to miss the noise and the 'hustle and bustle' at all.

A bit like a kid at Christmas at the moment!  :girlgiggle:

Just being nosy - why deep cleaners? Is that something your buyers demanded? I would never have thought about doing that unless I was leaving a rental.

No real reason aside from we wanted to leave the place how we would want to find it and my wife is a little OCD with cleaning and she is a little concious about Covid as well so we decided to go for a more deeper clean.

Obviously we could have done it ourself and saved some money but at this stage we really can't be bothered!

Many of the properties I have purchased over the years have been left in a shocking state.  As a matter of personal pride, I like to  hand over a property in a clean and tidy state of repair.  Not everyone seems to take that view.

With one of my previous moves I was left with a dustbin full (and I mean full) of cat shit.

I'm doing some odd repairs where needed here and there and will give a quick vacuum once the house is empty but that will be it. Buyer will probably change everything when they move in anyway so bit of a false economy.

Its a matter of morals IMO. I will clean as much as i can, as best i can.

Moving from a 4 bed detached with garage to a two bed mid terrace (shes going to a 3 bed with Garage)...This means i am being ruthless with all the 'crap' thats been accumulated, i have to be!

All stuff 'going through' NHBC certificates and all that bollocks. I am hoping for end of Feb.

Yeah I agree. We are probably going overboard by getting a deep clean but for piece of mind I'm happy enough.

You're welcome man.

Another idea (if for some reason your phone IS preventing you from creating a hotspot (just makes me think of Barrymore) or signal. Maybe just buy the cheapest smartphone that can enable hotspots, then get a cheap PAYG Sim with the ridiculous data offers 80GB+ P/M for about £15/20. Probs looking at £40/50 layout and will save you much inconvenience without any worry on usage.

It may seem a bit arse about tit way of going about it but just an option. Also remember 02 give you access to their WiFi hotspots too. Failing that you might have to sit outside a McDs with a soggy Mac...  :no:


I'm kind of excited a bit for you. Is that sad? Nah fuck 'em. If anyone deserves a new break from the smoke it's you. I can see Mrs Bob and yourself really flourishing in a bit more quieter life. Sunny barge hires down the Grand Union Canal await :D

Its all a bit of a minefield, when I had to sell my mums place after she went into care I was selling a property in south Wales while based up here which was a bit of a ball ache. We ended up selling over 6 months after I last saw the place (when we had put it on the market).

It transpired that when the buyer moved in the heating wasn't working, cue them kicking off as the sellers questionnaire had stated that it did work (it did when I last ran it!) yet they had had multiple viewings after I had, including insisting on a final one which pushed exchange back a couple of weeks and knew I hadn't seen the place in months.

TBH we went back with Caveat emptor as they had ample opportunity to test such things knoing they hadn't been run for months.

Likewise when we bought this place it nearly burnt down between exchange and completion. It was empty (we have only ever bought houses following deaths) the electric supply into the place failed and caught fire, thankfully it was into the garage and the neighbour saw the interior of the garage was flickering and called the fire brigade, thankfully ENWL sorted that as it was their infrastructure at fault!

Yeah the seller's property information form is an important document and you can be sued in misrep depending on your replies.  Failure to disclose disputes with neighbours is a common issue.

You should have emptied that before you left really, 4D. Poor form.

Im surprised he didnt sell it!!!

Moved out of London yesterday and waiting for the keys to our new gaff now. Seems like a age since we accepted an offer on our flat in August but looking forward to the next chapter.

I think any visit to the CG is going to have to involve the car going forwards, (I used to get the train to Didcot to meet my dad who lives in Wantage) but away games in London and in Northampton and the Midlands should be more than feasible.

Happy days mate. Good times await Mr & Mrs Orange!

My first house, in Moredon, was a very quick move - we were in less than 4 weeks after looking - pressure was on as our rented place was being sold.  Speed was of the essence, so we had to find places with sellers willing to go quickly and no chain.  That led to some fun on moving in - the entirely full set of sheds with rubbish was one thing, but the whip left in the bedside drawers was another!

Didn't you have time to pack them?  :)

Sorry to hijack the thread but i'm in the process of looking for a rental property and my boss put me in touch with her Dad who was a good friend of my Dad's growing up, who has a fair few houses in Swindon. I'm going to view one of them in a couple of days but these are all self managed rather than agency managed. If i were to go ahead with it, is there anything i should be asking/making sure is in place before committing to anything. I've never rented before so its all alien to me.
Thanks

As a landlord, you have to comply with 'the law' if you use an agent or self manage.

Presumably you want to know the length of the initial fixed term, deposit amount and rent etc.  I assume they will also have a written AST agreement for you to sign (although you can still create a tenancy without one).

Landlords have to secure your deposit and provide certain information at the start of the tenancy (if they don't they can't serve a section 21 notice). That info includes an EPC, gas safe certificate and the current how to rent guide. They also have to give prescribed information regarding the deposit and where it is held etc.

In addition, they have to confirm that you have right to rent.

There is loads of helpful guidance on the world wide web.

Cool, thanks for that. It will all be above board im sure, i just want to make sure im not leaving myself open to unneeded headaches.
By "right to rent" is that just that I'm in the country legally etc?

Yeah

Probably also worth making sure he is allowed to rent and not hamstrung by an planning issues and or conditions on a mortgage.

Plus as JBZ notes there is the whole issue with regards to your deposit.

Thanks, im sure the guy is all above board but i now know what things might start to ring alarm bells.

You .must do checks to make sure that the tenant is legally in the UK.   Pretty sure that this is law.  I use an agent who does this for me so can't help you how to go about it.   I know it costs me every month but I do nothing, they find the tenants, vet  them and sort all the paperwork, collect the rent,  and sort any problems,  so much easier.

Chubbs is the tenant. I think he might know if he's legit or not  :soapy tit wank:

How's everyone getting on? We're dealing with enquiries on our sale and purchase at the moment. The ridiculously minute things like can you get the boiler serviced and have you broken any of the silly restrictive covenants.

Hoping we can get this all sorted and completed before the end of Feb.

I know it seems a bit nick picky checking these things but, of course, the conveyancers will be the first to take the flack if they don't and problems subsequently come to light.

For me all things in place regarding my purchase, and ready to go.  We are waiting for the searches to be done by our buyer on our current property, we are 2-3 weeks in and were told that due to the current high demand this could take 4-5 weeks, so hoping to get some news in the next couple of weeks and possibly an exchange date.

Expecting to move towards the end of February, but this is not based on any concrete confirmation.

Not sure what its like in the areas where you lot are moving, but in the specialist press I get there seems to be suggestion that in many areas the savings in Stamp Duty window have been more than swallowed up by an inflation in price due to the temporary demand created?

That is the case in the south west (west of Bristol) I would say.

Assuming that you are not looking to flip the property quickly though, it's still a worthwhile and significant saving though.  I think most people are expecting for house prices to go down, dip or at least stall for the forseeable future, but if you are buying a house with a view to staying in it for the next 5-10 years, and you haven't had to pay the upfront cost of stamp duty, it can make a big difference.  If it had not been there, I am not sure I would be moving into the house that I am.

Mines plodding on I’ve got my mortgage sorted and buyers should have there’s sorted in next few days. Only thing slowing things down is that the people buying my current house are Sri Lankan and have a different concept of time and urgency in comparison to me. This isn’t helped by the fact that the stamp duty holiday only saves them a few £ on my current house whereas it’s about a £15k saving on the house I’m buying.

Probably true in most cases. We had our offer accepted at £15k under asking though, so swings and roundabouts.


Been there, done that. We bought our current place from an Italian couple, probably the most laid back and non-urgent people in the world.

Searches taking forever.

Service Company has to provide a pack to the new buyers and thats a deal breaker if they dont have it.

paid £250 for 7 to 10 days return and my Solicitors are still waiting!!

Service/management companies...total rip off.

Looking a bit at buying a house in Scotland, so now spending a lot of time learning about the Scottish property purchase system, which seems a whole lot better than the English. Had only the vaguest idea it was different until a week or two ago mind.

Anyone got any experience buying north of the border know anything worth looking out for?

My best mate is a solictor in Dundee and he specializes in the property side of things for Blackadders (yes really!) in Dundee and Perth, if you have any specific questions I am sure I can point you in his direction.

https://www.blackadders.co.uk/property-services/estate-agency

Have you read this?

https://www.martinco.com/news/buying-property-scotland-vs-england

Which area are you looking at moving to? the Mother in law lived in Edinburgh for 10 years, some lovely areas up there and some not so lovely :) BO has experience up there too I understand.

I certainly do PV. I lived in Haddington and Dunbar in East Lothian when I was in my school years. Haddington was a standard small market town whereas Dunbar, which was also a market down was by the sea and had a lovely harbour. Not that I saw a lot of it as I was generally in the pub!

Then I lived in Edinburgh during uni and working days, loved Edinburgh, truly great city with 2 football teams - I chose the maroon side to follow, the Edinburgh derbies were tasty affairs as it was when the ugly sisters came to toon to play the boys in maroon.

My sister now lives in Fife, on the outskirts of Dunfermline which seems a nice enough town as well. I'm no expert but know bits and pieces around those areas if you need any info Nemo.

The Mother in law lived for 10 years in Niddrie....yes I know! it actually wasn't as bad as they make out!

My best mate, the solicitor lived in Dundee (horrible), Perth (lovely) and now lives in Alyth (quiet), I have several mates in Fife, a very old mate, a fairly famous comedian, moved from Essex to Pittenween last year on the Fife coastline and absolutely loves it there and is now studying for an Art degree in Dundee Uni.

I know Dunbar well as the Mother in laws sister in law lived there and we used to visit, we got married at Dalkeith, another nice town just outside the Burg, we often used to stay at Musselburgh which is nice too.

In the main though the less urban the nicer the housing and more for your money. Avoid some parts of Edinburgh, Glasgow and all parts of Falkirk, Kircaldy, Dundee and Aberdeen and you will be fine :)

I live in Haddington now, on the West Road on the way out of town.  Lots of new builds all over East Lothian including Haddington, Dunbar and if you’ve got the cash, North Berwick. Nice part of the world although Scottish independence could change that.. 

Some memories flooding back reading that PV. When I was growing up Niddrie was a no go area full of run down council estates and bams all over the place!! I suspect some cash has been spent on it now to make it a bit less of scary area?

Didn't spend a lot of time there but Dalkeith was nice and used to go to Mussy races quite a lot, another good fun town just on the outskirts of Edinburgh. I've never been myself but Stirling I think is a nice commuter town, between Edinburgh and Glasgow?

Bloody hell, those are words I didn't expect to read on the TEF today!! The West Road is a lovely part of the town, I used to deliver the free papers around there, some of the houses on that road were massive! And overlooking my old school - Knox Academy! I really want to go back some time and see how much has changed, I probably haven't been there for 15 years at least.

I lived on Long Cram, which isn't too far from West Road, then to Burnside, again not a million miles away, and then when my parents moved to Dunbar rented a small house with a friend somewhere in the nungate, I forget the name of it now. Have you lived their long Eric?

For golf enthusiasts, East Lothian is very good (not that I play)

Lots was spent on Niddrie about 10 years ago on all the old tenements and replaced them with nice housing, but the people are the same!

Stirling on paper looks lovely and nicely placed with some nice buidings. I loved the castle but was worried when I got back to the car that it was still in 1 peice is all I will say.

Even further north - looking at moving to Orkney for a bit. We've been there a few times on holidays and loved the place, it's probably a bit of an overreaction after living in London for the last 4-5 years, but I work fully online now (from just before the pandemic, as it happens) so there's no requirement to be anywhere with great transport links, just decent internet, and somehow Kirkwall has better fibre provision than Islington. We want to move there at some point and figured now was as good a time as any (or more accurately, the best time would have been 18 months ago!)

I've read a bunch of guides to Scots property law, but the one you linked is new to me PV and has a few extra bits in comparison with the English system. Need to get a solicitor next I think. We rent now so at least we don't have to sell under one law and buy under another!

I grew up in Park North and moved up to Edinburgh in 1993.  I got the job offer 2 days after the Leicester play off game so the timing was terrible given I didn’t get to see many of our top tier games.  We’re in the house on the corner of Letham Drive so literally 2 mins from Knox.  A small world.....!

We're selling our house in Hampshire at the moment.  Just waiting for the bottom of our chain to complete their admin.  And will then be renting in Stirlingshire initially, before buying, hopefully, later in the year as cash buyers.  We decided to do it this way precisely because of the different conveyancing systems in England & Scotland.  Not essential, I'm sure.  But just felt marginally less terrifying than trying to tie up a Scottish purchase with an English sale.

I was at school at Knox for the play-off game and it wasn't a bank holiday so sprinted home to listen to radio 5 (the signal on my radio was absolutely pants so I ended up watching the game on teletext!!).

I think it was after we got into the Premier League that i really started to wear my town shirts to PE and for playing football in after school. I only got to 1 game in the Prem as well, Chelsea at home around Christmas time.

Yeah I know Letham Drive, that's just opposite 'Viv's' or Rosehall Stores, where I suspect you don't get penny sweets anymore!! So many memories are coming back now, playing 5 a sides in the Aubigny Centre, going for my first legal drink in the Tyneside Tavern (my first illegal drink was at Johnny's snooker club in Tranent at 15 - Orange Hooch no less)

Haddington is such an easy commute to Edinburgh on the A1.

Mate of mine moved from Witney to near Kelso in the borders and has never looked back, likewise another mate from round here* moved back to Edinburgh and now lives in Aberdour on the north side of the Firth of Forth.

He moved into a rented house I was sharing in Lancaster years back, he comes from Colonsay and bizarrely we discovered we had mutual friends on that island that he knew from growing up and I knew from Oxfordshire!

Wow thats some move! good luck mate.

I think the TEF header needs to change its colour pattern to "Tartan"  :D

I went to Glasgow hotel and asked for a tartan room, they gave me both :D

Waheyyy! Too quick that JJ  ;)

'You entered the hotel suite,
on the banks of Drumnadrochit.
A dimly lit room that smelt of feet,
was the moment her hand...
...slipped into yer holy pocket.'

Finally able to move into a place of my own after living back with my mum for over a year. Can't fucking wait!!
Not looking forward to having to furnish the place from scratch, and i think i underestimated how much things will cost, but I'm sure i can pick stuff up from places like Facebook market place.

Going to be a resident of RWB soon.

We have a TV bed that doesn't work in our new house that's for sale if you need a bed and mattress. You'll have to collect from Daventry mind you so not entirely local but thought I would put it out there :)

I've got a free sofabed if you want it? It's a fold out foam one, just doesn't get used and is taking up space.

Me too, if our vendors and solicitors pull their fucking fingers out.

Thanks guys, luckily the few things included is a bed, 2 sofas and a work desk, plus white goods in the kitchen. Oh, and curtains :-) So enough to make it livable-ish.

I know i can save money but getting things 2nd hand, and im not a snob about 2nd hand things, but i am a lazy bastard and driving around places collecting this that and the other doesn't appeal to me. What does appeal to me is putting everything into an amazon basket and have someone deliver it to my door :-)

Nice, where about? I don't really know Bassett well at all, but i'll be in Wesbury Park.

I hear ya Chubbs, I'm of the exact same mindset as you!!

All the best for your move.

Woodshaw.

We've finally exchanged contracts today, moving next Friday. Much less stressful than I'd anticipated.

yay, good stuff

Contracts and bumpf all signed...

Now its the completion date thats causing an issue.

Removers all booked, one party going to rent.

Hopefully a date will be agreed in the next few days...

Staying local Flash?

Other end of Calne near The Talbot.  The 55 is still reachable!!

Nearest 55 stop for you will be The Strand. Uphill all the way back so taxi home  :)

I have an idea and hopefully someone will have a clue whether this could be an option or not. Basically I'm thinking of buying a second home which will be the house I eventually move to. It will be used as our holiday home in the meantime. My idea is to keep my current home for a few years before selling it to then pay off the second home mortgage balance and hopefully have some money over from the mortgage payments already made. I plan to do this next year when my mortgage on my home here will be paid off. Is this something that is possible?

I may be wrong but if you purchase a second home in your name you will be liable for 40% tax if you rent out or sell within two years in capital gains tax.

It will not be let out. Will be used frequently by ourselves and maybe immediate family only before we move down.

You may be ok then but do check first

I think you are OK so long as you don't profit from the second home.  You'll be remaining in the first home and treating it as a Residential property and occupying it, so that should avoid the need to pay Capital Gains Tax.

Thought so, cheers for that.

Check out insurances too Arriba, especially if it's going to be unoccupied for stretches of time.

Will do, Cheers.

All completely feasible.

Borrow against your main home to buy the second one, then pay off the mortgage when you eventually sell up and move to the second home permanently.

There'll be no CGT on your main home when you sell it because it's been (and will remain) your principle residence.

The only thing to concern yourself with is you'll have to pay additional 3% stamp duty on the second home, so that's something to budget for.

Thanks for that info. Appreciate it.
All looking positive at the moment. Will get financial advice once my mortgage is paid and I can then pursue this idea.
 

Anybody familiar with Easymoove estate agents as curious how they make their money if they don't charge a selling fee?

They charge the buyer.

Dosen't that put potential buyers off🤔

Probably in some cases, yes.

Many thanks, I couldn't find anything out about them online after having a flyer put through my letterbox.

I suspect they have an online presence. Your search may be slowed down by the many web pages you have running for like minded individuals who like to meet locally.

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: or the county ground ticket map may be causing some slowness.

You've lost me

A reference to your browsing preferences as highlighted (inadvertently) by a recent screenshot.

Recent or quite a few months ago on a shared computer at work

I noticed that  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Give it up Jimmy FFS :D

 >:D

Exactly!

JQ, we all know it wasn't a shared computer!  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

He may have been using a shared computer, which makes it even more pervy!  ;)

Oh my gracious lord! I didn't even think of it like that!  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Something's wrong bamboos posting during the day!

It's a property thread lads & lasses stick to the rules :gathering:

Fel brave. Might delete

Returning to real estate, anyone have any favourite car parks?

Isn't Coach Parks more your thing?  ;)

The screenshot was definitely from an iPad which casts considerable doubt on your defense.

*Uses rope ladder so JQ can climb out*

'The rope is only 50ft long Jimmy, any more digging and you'll be stuck'

Meanwhile another property has sold

Preston is pretty good as was the one in gateshead until it got knocked down (sorry)

Sent from my SM-A125F

Reckon he meant to type "singers", fucking predictive text  :)

he's a sharer alright