ToughButterCup

Who knows, we were all working really hard at not looking at the dungarees. For a moment I considered asking her where she bought the clogs. But uncharacteristically, I restrained myself. Shame really.

Breakdown in a shower? Wadja mean? Spark plugs wet or something?

Attagal! (You asked for that ) My results came back less than two weeks after the job was done. But I was comprehensively - though informally - briefed by the geologist at the time. He could ( just like the piling guy who came along later to inspect the ground) tell almost exactly what the composition was. And, as I later learned, it was almost the same stuff that was found a few hundred yards away. Alluvial Till with Mudstone incursions

Before replying, it's brilliant to have you two on this forum. Thanks @ProDave and @Onoff One gable end has been partly removed and so is open to the elements: that's where the bins and meter box are, still covered by the roof . Its a bit like a large sentry box. The meter is in an external meter box on the inside of the 'sentry box' wall. Like this..... (meter box not illustrated because its hidden by the bins) Yes, it is the back end of a smart meter; and I have been given the gubbins for use inside the house. I remember reading (you perhaps?) outlining why they aren't all that good an idea. But the whole job was free, so maybe I cannot moan too much.......

Sid - from British Gas- came to see me today. And a very nice man he was. Didn't charge a penny. This is what he left me..... and now a bit like @nod on this thread I need to decide on which CU to buy. Or CUs ? - There's the question This installation is in our piggery, some 5 meters from our house. The piggery act as our rubbish store, laundry room and will have the socket which powers the digester, some soffit lights, some lights of its own, a small under sink water heater, and a few sockets. In essence our piggery is the same as most people's garage (but no pig - or car for that matter) Never one to keep it simple if I can possibly make it complex, I'm thinking that the piggery should (must?) have its own CU perhaps? With a separate one inside the utility room in the house. The house is five meters away, and we've already laid the electricity duct between the house and the piggery. Simple question. One CU or two? More? And, if you are feeling kind, please explain why. Thanks

Ya beat me to it Hugh............ anyway, shouldn'a worried ; he doesn't understand the words anyway....

Some will remember my little tussle with the weather . And while the weather was not to blame, I had simply assumed that July did not bring turbulent easterly gales. Once the mess had been cleared up, I started to think about the lessons learned. One conclusion was that I should keep a closer eye on the weather forecast. After ferreting around for a good while I have been using two Apps (applications, or programs) The Met Office Weather App and Windy.com And while they are both excellent in different ways, neither allows me to define my own alerts. The Met Office App produces excellent warnings, windy.com provides a huge amount of detail - really interesting to view. But in the way of things, I get my head down in whatever I'm doing and often forget to look at the forecast. And when I do, I look for easterly gales freezing overnight strong north westerly gales Is there an app which allows you to set your own parameters for an alert? What I really mean is a free app of course.....

Waiting in line at the local BM. An organisation that hasn't changed from the 1990s when I first set foot in Lancashire. But I suspect it probably hasn't changed much since time began. A powerfully built but small white haired man get to the head of the queue. No neck, just muscle, shoulders the size of an American oarsman's coach. His frame must have been put together before steroids were invented. Several staff are chatting behind the counter - there's a queue, no, audience of at least 10. All builders (except me) Roofer: Riaaat mate ah want sum roofing felt: cuppla roles laaak BM You mean Vapour Control felt: how many rolls d'ya wunt? Noooo mert, ah want sum roofin felt, just'a culpa rolls laaak. The BM shop assistant, spotty, super-clean hair do, biro tattoos : 'Mum' and 'Hat', one on each forearm looks flummoxed. Well we've got [................... A series of trade names.............] Silence. Complete silence. 10 builders (and me) , Hearts almost stopped. The roofer eyes the sprog behind the counter, and cold as ice and says Maaate if yer wanna know why wimmin dunt ever cum in 'ere, it cos o' twats laaak thee mekkin me feel laak a reet prat. Ah been cummin' in ere since long afore yer dad wuz born orderin' fookin roofing felt. '..... Kin rooofin felt 'assss all. An if yer can mek me feel laak a reet prat, yer can do 't same fer wimmin. Nay wonder ya never see a wun in ere. The shop door opens, all eyes swivel (just like a pub entrance door) and in walks a large female, in dirty dungarees, severe hair cut with purple and red highlights, forearms the size of my thighs , most things pierced - the list would be too long - sporting a chunky paint-spattered watch. And clogs - proper Lancashire clogs. Two days later my tongue is still sore where I bit it .

Its not an illusion. Put a glass of gin, ice and a slice in front of it, and it gets warmer. Same with a cold beer. Gonna try a ready meal in front of it next time Debbie is working late.

This thread is about Credit Unions. Merging it with others threads would tend to confuse.

Lots to get our teeth into here. Thanks F. Ian

Its no secret that we have hit such a rock. And privately I have been told of others. @ProDave makes no secret of the delights of caravan living either. I'm not sure yet how much we'll need, but I soon will know. It will certainly be less than £100k (If it's more she's in trouble). In thinking about P2P lending, it'll be sensible for us all to start small anyway. Thanks for the reference to folk2folk: (here). Makes interesting reading

Hmm. Was that on ebuild? Here? There , J mentions that he was looking for £100k, not that a lender (or group of lenders) needed to have £100k available.

On this thread @NSS makes the point that maybe we are as yet too small a group of people to consider operating this model to help our members. What would the critical membership size be to make it work? Is there a critical mass of money that we'd need to be taken seriously as P2P lenders? @SteamyTea has just posted that he'd need £100K he also asks if anyone has experience of Zopa Could we support a loan of that amount?

A quick read of the UK section shows that the P2P sector is significant. The entry is of interest to me principally because of the References section. There's plenty there for a quiet evening's fireside reading (ooops, sorry PH owners) The article is full of unsubstantiated assertion, so I'm treating it with a good deal of care: respectful skepticism even.

@MikeSharp01 posted an idea that we might in his words '... crack a series of issue...' Here's what he had to say (posted here) edited slightly below. I have and idea for the pot that might crack a myriad of issues. We could set ourselves up as a credit union. These are very simple mutual societies many of which are run by volunteers. They can take deposits and make loans. The deposits are protected by the FSCS up to max (£80k ish) so no risk to deposited monies. Loans can only be short term max 5 years unsecured or 10 years secured on the borrowing members deposits. The max loan to a member is £7500 in excess of that members deposits. We would need to find a pump priming sum to kick start the Capital adequacy rules. It is a regulated activity but can be run by volunteers the main leading group have to be 'fit and proper' and sign up to running the business. We could set up our own membership rules but would have to be limited to people with an assoiation with our goals EG self builders or interested in self building issues - called a 'common bond'. To be a member we could insist on regular deposits. Interest on loans is charged per month and is capped at 3% per month but we could just set the rate to beat the bank for the depositers. Obviously it is a bit more complex than set out above but no more complex or onerous than a limited company. The registration is with FCA rather than the charities commission or companies house. There are annual returns however. (accessed 01/12/2017)

Crowd Funding is a means of raising capital. It's really quite different to P2P lending. @JSHarris provided a neat summary earlier today here As with the entry on P2P (here) I copy and paste an edited version of it below. Crowdfunding is solely a means of raising capital, with no absolute obligation on the recipient to pay anything back at all. It is primarily used to provide investment for start-up companies, where initial investors may receive a reduced price product in return for their investment (assuming the company gets off the ground), and more recently has been adopted as a way of raising non-refundable donations for specific charitable cases (like sending a person to another country for medical treatment not available in the UK). It is not a lending or borrowing scheme in the usual way we would understand such a thing, and anyone who invests in a crowdfunded project has to treat it like any other high-risk investment or donation and not expect to ever get their money back. There are exceptions, but this is generally how crowdfunding works. In terms of self-build and renovation, I can see a place for crowdfunding a start-up company that has come up with a product or service that looks to be beneficial to self-builders. I cannot possibly see how crowdfunding could be used as a substitute for a lending scheme, like a conventional mortgage or loan. (accessed 01/12/2017)

A really succinct summary of what P2P is was provided by @JSHarris, here . For completeness, I've copied and pasted an edited version below. P2P is a means that allows usually small investors to invest money at an agreed rate of return to borrowers that they choose. It's a logical extension of the principle of informally lending a friend some money for a time and then getting it back, with the difference that P2P almost always carries some interest with that borrowing, although often far less than that charged by conventional lenders. P2P also allows groups of investors to amalgamate a number of small investments in a single project, with [...] P2P there is a formal agreement that the investor will get their investment back after a defined period of time, plus an agreed level of interest (usually, there are schemes that operate within Islamic law that get around the issue of interest, as interest is haram in Islam). (accessed 01/12/2017)

Excellent! Where's your local? We'll all be round there begging a free pint tonight. I think you might need the pre-conditions signed off for Planning.... not BC

Try an incognito browser window.....

Ok How about a sub-section of this site entitled..... Funding Self-builds and then these sub-sections - (just a quick stab at them) P2P lending for self builders Current P2P models, examples Infrastructure: operationalising P2P lending P2P : national level issues National Level guidelines for P2P Other research sources General discussion area

Well, I never, look what I found........

Thanks for the summary, J. I wonder what @Stones thinks? He did after all start the thread as 'crowd funding' Like to comment Jason? Ian

Hmmm. At this stage, every way we turn, there are more questions than answers. It would be useful to formulate key questions. Reading the contributions above, how about this for an initial list.... P2P lending OR crowd funding for self builders. Which? Both? Does a P2P lending system for self builders already exist? Infrastructure: trying to avoid reinvention of wheels: how have people operationalised P2P lending? What models for P2P lending and crowd funding exist? Are there any formally recognised associations for each sector? Are there any National Level guidelines for P2P or Crowdfunding? I expect I have missed things off the list. It's not meant to be exhaustive. It already looks exhausting. And it's not as if we haven't got much to do anyway.... I'll ask later today at Lancaster University Management School (make Debbie do some work) whether there are any lecturers or PhD students who are researching the field. Should at least be able to get a good reading list.....

It's the '... more on that later ...' that has me hooked.