AliG

It all depends on how good a swimmer you are. It works perfectly for me, a professional swimmer might prefer a swim spa. This totally misses the point. I can think of hundreds of jobs around the house that are easy and yet no one wants to do them thus they are better automated if possible. Because the underground temperature is higher and steadier than the outside temperature, the insulation of the room is more important than the insulation of the pool. The underground temperature is usually considered to be a constant of around 8 degrees so the temperature difference between the pool room and its exterior will be higher than the difference between the pool and underground. Clearly though more insulation is better. I was shocked how little insulation pools came with as standard. There are evaporation losses as well. Yes but it looks like the pool has a cover as does mine. Otherwise I would strongly recommend one as evaporation losses are very high. Heating my pool/pool room uses around 15-20000kWh of gas a year. Hard to say exactly as I have never turned everything else off except the pool. The room is 10x7x2.7m plus another 2.5x5x2.7m for the plant and changing room. Plus 9x3.7x1.35 for the pool, so the pool itself is only around 15% of the heated volume, hence I would focus more on the insulation of the whole space. The cost that people tend to miss is the dehumidifier and pump. They use around 4500kWh of electricity a year. I have timings set to maximise use of PV and night-time rates, but basically they cost as much to run as the heating. Including chemicals you are probably talking about £2-2500 in running costs a year. It was a lot less before utility prices increased. The real cost is the cost of the pool and a very large room to house it. That’s probably about 400k at today’s prices.

I couldn’t find a better picture. The area you can see there with the pipework is underneath the pool room. I think it was just backfilled with gravel after the pipe work went in. The pool sits under where the blue tarpaulin sits. You can see the pool sitting up at the top right waiting to be lifted in. I think they used french drains around the outside and then they painted the walls with some kind of paint on tanking membrane. It wasn’t a big job at all. The pool itself had 50mm of EPS insulation all the way round. We laid another 100mm of insulation on the concrete base then sat the pool on top of that. I’d be asking if the pool needs any manual maintenance like checking pH levels which would be a pain. I have the guy come service ours every 8 or 9 months and really he just delivers extra chemicals that the system uses automatically. I just chuck a cleaning robot into the pool every few weeks. Our pool is a bit larger and our air handling may be overkill but 6 years in the pool room still looks like new. I went to a local pool to see how much space I needed to do lengths and we ended up just over 9m. I’d consider a very slightly longer pool and no swim spa which would make things a lot simpler. Our pool is I think 9.2x3.7x1.35. It should maybe have been 1.4 deep.

Our pool is effectively in a small basement as described. The thing they are missing is it had to be tanked to stop water coming in and it has to be insulated. Otherwise you will lose heat to the ground. The pool costs the same to heat as a space that size would cost heated to 28C. It actually costs more to run the filter and dehumidifier. I have a Niveko pool which is made of polyurethane resin. It looks and feels a lot nicer than fibreglass but is a bit more expensive. Have they not mentioned air handling and dehumidifying in the costs. That was another 20k for mine. It heats the pool and extracts heat and moisture from the air. Also the filtration equipment looks quite minimal. I have a sand based filter, pump, centrifuge, uv disinfecting and automated pH regulation. There is literally nothing to do, the pool looks after itself.

This would be the easiest but seems a bit much for some chicken wire There is about 30m of the stuff. It was there when we bought the house we knocked down, so I am guessing it has been in at least 15 years and shows absolutely no sign of rusting. I suspect the fencers just dig through it, I just thought this was a good opportunity to get rid of it. The problem is the amount of stuff that has grown through it, it is tougher than the wire. I think I might give the hoe a chance and see if I can scrape the stuff off the top of it so it lifts up. A sharp spade might also work, I don't have one to give it a try.

It looks like the part is here, just need to find it without the rest of the stuff https://www.ventilationland.co.uk/en_GB/p/vent-axia-siphon-sentinel-kinetic-advance-o32-mm/18784/?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAB0qKPDPgcA_zQB1T1U2Ii7QMSNZM&gclid=CjwKCAiA0rW6BhAcEiwAQH28Iher6XY6Qox2OJWqL879n9bCwv20DkFKsMKbmeQHzBscJaDZu_07qhoC4QEQAvD_BwE

After losing 15m of fence to a fallen tree due to recent winds, we decided to replace the whole fence. In front of the fence the previous owners had put a post and chicken wire fence. I thought it was pretty ugly and had considered pulling it out but now seems the time. Little did I know that the fence is buried under years of fallen leaves and plants that have now grown through it. There is about a foot of fence buried, but it sits pretty much horizontally under 6 inches of growth. So there is kind of a chicken wire L with about 1ft above ground and 1 ft under the undergrowth. When you pull at the piece above ground it lifts up all the roots and plants growing through the wire, like lifting a carpet, but there is too much growth through the wire to pull it out. Trying to apply leverage to the wire eventually starts to break it. I guess the easy option is to cut it at ground level. but there fencers are not going to thank me for that. I can see various hoes that might work for this, see links. Any recommendations? Do I try and cut the roots above the wire making it easier to pull out or do I try and cut through the wire also. Plus these things looks somewhat sharp and dangerous, are they safe to use? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harbour-Housewares-Digging-Wooden-Handle/dp/B00GAZ221Y/ref=sr_1_6?crid=355NZ4VXKUR1R&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.M7BcWgfC56Cvm5URYZTIqVrpXoQPaodvYcBMvyCChz7l2HNfw0L9C_fXy20b2KpiwddwkTZLTsmYbjrFNlUfAoL-sg7FgWw8MzRjf7OXqHAD2mj1AxgBilgYCo2Mvln-HyCxQYJu6OH69OwDfV2DmzvPnum1e6sTlrPxsS78HdNjdqoKFsgtPv1ixA7ovwBb1MlX412oaCsTnSrTpYQn7R8YQqkW_wvONuWNcPmP481G43SNmPhT5pIyYfoQ2sohHViX5GaYSnhSYADP4kbotloSZy9_DbyXKD0J6ShanKM.U7t3qBa7KUmdm90S8WVxQci6l8XUXREdIlQG-E5o9tg&dib_tag=se&keywords=grub+hoe&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1733153751&sprefix=grub+hoe%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-6 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-85632-Digging-Hoe/dp/B01LWWH7HG/ref=sr_1_9?crid=355NZ4VXKUR1R&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.M7BcWgfC56Cvm5URYZTIqVrpXoQPaodvYcBMvyCChz7l2HNfw0L9C_fXy20b2KpiwddwkTZLTsmYbjrFNlUfAoL-sg7FgWw8MzRjf7OXqHAD2mj1AxgBilgYCo2Mvln-HyCxQYJu6OH69OwDfV2DmzvPnum1e6sTlrPxsS78HdNjdqoKFsgtPv1ixA7ovwBb1MlX412oaCsTnSrTpYQn7R8YQqkW_wvONuWNcPmP481G43SNmPhT5pIyYfoQ2sohHViX5GaYSnhSYADP4kbotloSZy9_DbyXKD0J6ShanKM.U7t3qBa7KUmdm90S8WVxQci6l8XUXREdIlQG-E5o9tg&dib_tag=se&keywords=grub+hoe&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1733153751&sprefix=grub+hoe%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-9

The point I am trying to make is simply how to value the property. A large number of the possible buyers of the flat would have to pay second home related taxes so the value has likely fallen due to that. It is also worth considering who we might be able to sell it to after university. I had a discussion about this a few years ago at work and was very much persuaded by a colleague who I didn’t always agree with. Despite stamp duty being paid by buyers in terms of who settles the bill. Stamp duty goes up, prices go down and vice versa. Buyers have fixed buying power set by wages, savings, mortgage rates etc. If they have a large extra bill to pay then that reduces what they can pay for something. Even if we don’t have to pay the extra I am still considering how it has impacted the value to other buyers. Scottish first time buyers only pay no stamp duty below £175k. Over that they get a fixed £600 off what the stamp duty would have been.

Oh yes it will be hers, basically gifting her the money. But the sellers own it as a holiday home and I have to believe that a large part of the market is holiday homes and student lets, especially looking at small flats. These have to be worth less than they were 6 months ago due to tax increases. I just don't want to overpay, pointed this out to the agent. Interestingly he didn't push back or suggest any other offers had been made. Main reason to do this is she wants to live on her own and also I don't want issues with trying to find a rental every year, dealing with landlords and so on. A lot of student rental stock is pretty poor, the new purpose built stuff is crazy expensive for what you get, you're talking £14000 a year for a 20sq metre room. However, a bonus, if you are in the fortunate position of having cash available, is that the return on cash after tax is appalling. So, say I am getting 4% interest on cash, this is only 2.2% after tax. Higher inflation makes tax on interest basically a wealth tax (You earn more interest to cover higher inflation, so are effectively paying tax on inflation). Therefore the loss of interest after tax is way way less than I would be paying in rent. I would save the equivalent of around £6000 a year, basically covers transaction costs after 1 year.

Made an offer so in wait and see mode. Not being a landlord I didn't realise all the changes to second home council tax, LBTT etc. The flat is being used as a holiday home. So I am guessing the 200% tax will really sting. They have also upped additional property LBTT in Scotland to 6% of the total price. This also applies for a corporate purchase. So the value of places up for rent, which would be the main value of this place must have fallen. My guess is that values should have fallen around 5% because of these two changes and this is not reflected in the home report valuation which was done before this. I guess the purpose of the changes is to make houses a lot more expensive for landlords than owner occupiers and I think that is fair. I'm not going to have to pay this and it does look as if it is reaching the limits of what is reasonable. TBH I'm surprised prices haven't fallen between this and interest rate increases.

I think it would be cheaper to be on a time of use tariff now anyway.

Been to see the flats again. What I thought was a big hot water tank was actually two tanks. Hot water below and cold water above. The pump kicks in when you use a hot tap and gives good hot water pressure. I assume that the electric shower if necessary due to the small size of the hot tank. There was good cold water pressure in the kitchen which presumably is connected to the mains and poor cold water pressure in the bathroom which is presumably connected to the cold tank. Should I be able to replace both tanks with a UVC connected direct to the mains and do away with the pump and electric shower? One flat had an e7 timer on the wall. The other just had a switch which said hot water and timers on the electric radiators which makes me think they have done away with e7.

Yes, I will run taps when I am there tomorrow to see if I can get an idea of what is going on. I don't understand why there appears to be pump next to the tank and the shower is also pumped. The tank pump did look ancient in the one flat we saw last week. I'll try and get a picture of it. I also noticed that the electric shower seemed to be a new addition as new pipes had been knocked through the wall to it from the cupboard behind. Maybe the tank pump gave out and this was the solution. We could conceivably have six months before my daughter has to move into the place so plenty of time to do it up. It is extremely well located and I suspect that a lot of buyers wouldn't have the time or inclination to renovate so I could get my money back on the renovation as well as having a nicer place to live. There is a reason we live in a brand new house we built ourselves!

A very good point. One of the two flats is top floor and we do have a preference for this reason. Luckily as all the flats are one bed it shouldn’t be too noisy. Daughter is currently in halls and HATES sharing due to other people never cleaning up after themselves. Many people it seems leave home without ever having done any cleaning themselves. Also person in the room next to her seems to be living on US time and constantly video calling people after midnight. However heating and hot water are free and they have underfloor heating! We don’t know the thermal makeup of the building. The EPC uses assumed figures. It appears to be block built cavity construction from the mid 80s with the original double glazing which seems in surprising good condition. All the internal walls seem to be solid also. Loft has 170mm of insulation that we can top up. As it is quite small heating shouldn’t be too big an issue. My main other issue is Artex ceilings in a flat built in 1985 could have asbestos in them. I know it’s fine if left in situ but I’d remove it if it is asbestos or skim if it’s just Artex. There is very little choice. Either much older places in worse condition or much more expensive newer places. Onerous stamp duty in Scotland makes me want to keep the price down.

Looks like I need to have a closer look at the system when we go look at the two flats again tomorrow. Considering the hot water tank and apparent pump next to it, I wonder if there is a pressure issue. Presumably low water pressure could limit my options. I might take some pictures for people to comment on. I have zoomed in on the brochures and both showers appear to be full Mira electric showers. Not clear why you would need these when there is a hot water tank.m Having listened to people I am certainly leaning towards replacing the tank with a new UVC and then having just a mixer shower but I guess I could have flow or pressure issues that might make this difficult.

The existing tank is an old school one covered in yellow foam, so the only saving I was thinking of was less heat loss in the tank. It looked like it was easily 200l or more. Probably would save 1-2kWh a day in heat losses. If the tank and pump need replaced anyway due to their age the choice is a new UVC or a new electric combi. Actually looking at costs, maybe a new UVC is a simpler/cheaper solution. This would also allow the power shower to be eliminated. Indeed I would only get an electric combi with an integrated tank as heating hot water on demand would be very expensive. This relies on the system allowing the water temp to drop to a lower set point during the day before it kicks in to reheat it with a higher set point during the night. I believe that this should be doable.