Mulberry View

It's a good point, well made. Perhaps I should contact the solicitor (the executor of the will) and start a conversation. My uncle is speaking as though the terms of the sale are up to him (and the other 2 beneficiaries), but I guess the executor holds the cards ultimately and is the right person to converse with?

Great tips there @scottishjohn. It's really a lot to get our heads around at the moment. But in the most ideal of worlds, we'd live in the existing house until our new one is finished enough to live in and there's not much stopping that from happening. It'd be lovely to be so close to the plot as we plan to project manage it ourselves anyway. It'll just be down to whether we can figure a self-build mortgage with enough headroom without having the existing house to sell at that point and with a (relatively modest) mortgage on it. With no outlay as such for the plot, we can progress as fast as our income will allow towards getting it all split up and prepared for build at least. As we'll by then be owners of the main dwelling, I assume we can sell the existing property for whatever it is valued at, irrespective of what we paid for it?

So, I'm trying to buy a building plot from my Uncle that is part of a property he has partly inherited (he's currently trying to buy out the other beneficiaries, but can't afford to on his own). We thought it would be a nice easy transaction, but in fact it has turned out to be filled with complication. Not least because there won't be a plot to buy until he's bought the main bit etc etc. The upshot is, we've had the chance to buy the whole property, which is hugely nicer from the viewpoint that we'd be ultimately in control of all decisions and no uncertainty about lending money etc. We can put the new boundary where we want it. Here's the scenario... It's a 1950's built 'country style' Bungalow standing in about an acre of mostly mature landscaped garden. The house as it currently stands is a little unconventional, it's liveable in, but needs modernising. It does have a felt roof, albeit pitched to about 25° (estimated), but looks to be in really quite good condition. It stands in an off-road location, not visible from the road at all, but it is located around 3 miles from the centre of the city that it's positioned in and in a desirable village. There is a slight concern with access and highways that may complicate the plans to add another dwelling, but we have some measures we can take to understand that better before we jump in. It's literally just outside the conservation area and within the development zone, so pretty favourable and with no TPO's. I have the deeds for it in front of me and certainly need some help understanding the restrictions it mentions, but it doesn't look hugely complicated. Who could I get to clarify these for me? What I'd hope to do is sell my current property and buy this one. There is about a £25-40k difference between what we expect to sell ours for and what we can buy this one for. We're currently at about 30-35% LTV on ours and not tied in to our current mortgage. I anticipate borrowing to a similar level just to buy the property initially, then think about self-build funding a little further down the line. I know we'll face some challenges in trying to get a mortgage with the non-standard (I guess) construction, but we could agree to do the roof immediately I guess? It's a little heart-breaking to do that because if we re-sell the main property, the new buyers might well want to tear it all apart, including the 'new roof', which we'd have only done to pacify a mortgage lender. C'est la vie. Ultimately, we'd still like to split off a building plot, build on that and sell the original property. We'd have to live in the main property for the time-being and may choose to renovate, partly renovate or sell it as is once we've split the plot off and figured where we'll live. Perhaps we'll stay in it until our new one is done or not, yet to be decided and partly dependent on raising the self-build funding. We might just rent somewhere else or live with family if we need to. We might consider caravan life, but we both work from home, so that's tricky! I think the price we can buy it for would be at a level where we could remarket the property again (give or take a little) even with the plot removed for similar money, perhaps we'll have to have the roof tiled and do some light modernisation ourselves, but we'd end up with a cheap and very attractive plot (about half an acre, with some mature trees and completely secluded) for the net sum of next-to-nothing, depending on how clever we are with the process. I think our only interest in it is the building plot, I don't think we can make the existing property into what we want long-term when you take into account cost viability. I'd really appreciate some moral support on this and help spotting potential pitfalls, I have to move quickly and either grab it or run. ?

Things have drastically changed and I definitely need help now. The opportunity has grown/improved, but it's quite different and needs a very different set of considerations so I'm going to start a new thread...

THIS is the reason I'm so put off using trades. We renovated our current Bungalow from being in a 'super derelict' state and have self-taught most things. We take longer to complete a job than a tradesman would, but the end result will be with you for years, so needs to be perfect otherwise it will bother you on a daily basis. That job is shocking, honestly, I wouldn't tolerate that in any context even if I had to suck up the costs (which you won't).

Weary of doing this in case we can't get planning through.

Those are interesting points. I guess in the event of death, there could be a provision for that from the estate, but how about bankruptcy? What could be expected there?

Yes, my Uncle (the 'borrower') is a handshake kinda guy, but this isn't just a couple of grand either and I know money can make people do weird things.

To secure the purchase of my building plot, I have to first lend a large sum on money to a family member. It'll be a short term loan, basically bridging the gap between when he buys the whole property and we successfully obtain planning permission for the subdivided plot, roughly 3 months we think, at which point legal ownership of the plot will pass to me and the loan will be cleared. It's a great opportunity, we all want it to work, but we do need some legal backup "just in case". I have downloaded what looks like a fairly convincing loan contract, personalised to our circumstances. If this is signed by both parties in the presence of independent witnesses, are we fairly safe? I'm happy to pay for the right advice if anyone here is suitably qualified to offer it? I'd also welcome constructive opinions. It's a pivotal time for this and it's stressing me out a lot at the minute.

That's what I would do personally. I know some will think that's unnecessary, but...

I'm not particularly a network cable expert, but I'd be worried about that. Especially if the cables are being installed where they can't easily be replaced. I tend not to dispense cables from their boxes for this reason.

Here's a revelation for anyone that has flue issues. When we fitted our Wood Burner, we could only achieve a flue length of just over 3 metres, which is woefully short. We battled for years with it being incredibly difficult to light and would frequently smoke the room out. Then we bought one of these cowls, which totally transformed it. I know it looks a bit funky and weird, but it's worth every penny. It works like a dream, spinning on a nice little bearing, tracking the wind and drawing air through it's ingenious design. Ours is now matt black so as not to draw attention to it, also the reflective chrome coating was playing havoc with the neighbours when it was sunny. This is where we got ours... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DRAGON-Self-adjusting-Chimney-Cowl-for-insertion-6-7-8-10-stainless-steel/151951881289?hash=item236109b449:m:mkckuj9atLKv4qtYNTby9QA

Come on, you must have something to add? I've got more, but thought I ought to let others have a go. ?

I don't think you're wrong. I do think that's what he's hoping for. ? A complete solution would be better in my opinion though.

I'm sure we'll all proud of what we've achieved in the building/renovation of our homes, but as DIY'ers I'm sure there are some tales to tell about moments that have made you nip up your butt cheeks. The ones that you look back on fondly and help you to re-appraise your own limits. I'll start. My best friend is an accredited Solar PV installer, we had our system fitted in August 2011. 3 months later we decided to build an extension that resulted in the panels needing to be repositioned. He's a busy guy, so I did the donkey work. I removed the panels to store them, then once they were ready to go back on, I did the physical re-fit. Everything went well and I took it as far as I could for him to come round, make the final connections and check off my work. I was in the loft, bundling the wires together. Neglecting that PV panels have no 'off' switch, I managed to receive a substantial shock. I won't lie, it hurt, in fact it brought tears to my eyes, but more due to the thought of what could have happened. Luckily it was 4pm, so the intensity had gone out of the sun and the panels were not producing anywhere near their peak. Had they have been up to speed, I imagine my Wife, who was out at the time, would have found me, chargrilled. The thought terrifies me. Who's next?

...and that's a problem how?

I'm a Google Nest fan. It's a flawless piece of kit and plays superbly well with Android. I only use mine for Heating, but I understand it'll handle the Hot Water side too. I also don't use it to the limit of it's capability, but to be able to turn the heating on from my phone, or off when we're on holiday and forget to turn it off is a revelation. I know they're not the cheapest, but honestly, when we finally do our build, we'll certainly be fitting another.

Thanks for your reply. What sort of thing would be expected in a covenant?

Gawd, we thought this bit would be straight-forward. So, in essence, here's what we're doing. The 'simple' version... (I'll cover the not-so-simple version afterwards) My Uncle has inherited the property that his late Mother (my Grandmother) lived in. He wants to split away a plot, which I want to buy. Fairly soon, we'll have a Topographical Survey, showing a mutually agreeable division, resulting in a set of land-registry compliant plans, sale price agreed and all amicable. It's essentially a cash purchase from our side. I assume it's not as simple as it sounds though, do we need a solicitor to provide a conveyancing service?

Further to this, I've noticed that some refer to the flow sensor as the small 'impellor' shown above, some as the whole brass affair. Is the impellor part of the larger brass assembly? I'm guessing the impellor itself has no electrics in it, logic would tell me that it either works or it doesn't?

Nick, Thanks for this, all very helpful. I've done a bit of work on the boiler anyway, so am *fairly* confident. I've had the DHW Heat Exchanger out a couple of times (once to clean it and once to replace it), I'll take a look at this over the weekend. ?

Hi, and welcome. We're also learning about visibility splays. Not sure if my recent post will help you? I've not reached a satisfactory conclusion to it yet though. Good luck with yours.

We've got a 15 year old Vaillant Turbomax 837 boiler, it's a hefty beast and has been pretty reliable. It's recently developed an intermittent fault. I'd say 1 in 10 times, possibly less, it doesn't fire on demand for hot water. There are no obvious errors and often shutting the tap off, waiting a couple of minutes and then going again will get it going. I've not noticed an issue on the heating side, although I realise that'd be less obvious. Any ideas where I could start looking?

No, I have a lead flashing with a lead upstand. you're expected to use a secondary storm collar. I can't recall why the rubber all-in-one flashings weren't an option for me though? No pic of mine, but I'll try and get one over the weekend. Hopping on the roof is tricky at the moment as I'm 6 days post surgery. ?

Furthermore, in this badly MS Paint amended photo, what I have aimed to show is what I deem to be the most practical solution. The arrow points to the water meter cover that appears to be set at the height that we'd need to raise the driveway to, in reality it'd swallow up most of the grassy area on both sides. We'd be adding 400mm at that point, tapering it off up the drive. But we'd have to lose the 400mm as it heads back towards the highway and, I guess, without making it horrible to use and without a tricky hump. I wonder if they'd give us a bit of scope with blending it into the highway (as shown) a little more widely to help with this? Do you think 400mm sounds like a lot to lose over 2.5 ish metres? This work would clearly be a benefit to the existing users of the driveway, probably adding points in our favour from a planning standpoint. We might all be able to share the costs to an extent and get the whole thing resurfaced while we're at it, although this will be secondary for sure. Could the council, at that point, enforce that the owner of the wall agree to not add to the height on that corner, perhaps @Sensus could add his expertise here?