Ferdinand

I take it you have a full structural survey in your hand? If not it is a small (relative) amount of money (£400-£700?) to have done - and if you are commissioning it you can ask for information on particular questions, recommended repairs and their costs, and a formal valuation taking this into account. Ferdinand

Technically it is called "with matters reserved" (ie reserved to be talked about at the later stage), and the applicant can reserve what they want. It is quite common eg to leave everything reserved except for the number of dwellings and the entrance, layout as these are the details which if they weren't there would devalue the plot. In a self-build context that might be eg "200sqm 4 bedroom house" and entrance plan. As that is the stuff the vendor needs to maximise their benefit. In my case we did a full suite of everything - including proposing planning gain contributions exactly in line with Council policy, as the driver was getting it through before they wrote it out of their emerging local plan and poleaxed it for 15 years. Ferdinand

On the other hand, you can currently get 5 year fixed rate money at well under 2%.

Isn’t that drunk scientist in horticultural Latin?

Yes, mate. I say you will be known as Aethelred the Unready the Second. And in 1000 years your wifelets and your 4 mother-in-laws will wake from cryogenic storage, go “is he finished yet”? And then give up for another 1000 years. I can answer that. Some 13 year old boys are caught blue-handed by their teachers reading Smurf Fanfic, and publicly humiliated. From that point onwards than can never get enticed by big hands. Go on ... ask . It was the Famous Five last time, and it *did* exist ? . Wasn't it transgender George performing in spiv Julian's lapdancing club 10 years later on in the (slightly adapted) narrative? TMI?

Sorry slight typo. It should have read: "Also depends on whether you roof ridges are parallel or orthogonal to the roof joists." I'll aim to come back this evening with a drawn detail. F

What's RER? (Apart from Fido with a Stutter). (And the French acronym most difficult to pronounce in French - why did they make the Paris Regional Railway a linguistic chicane? Like giving a Russian R to a non-trombone playing Brit.) (Sounds like the kind of thing BRE might invent so they have to spend hundreds of K of Govt grants explaining it.) F

Telehandler or Digger with lifting arm?

I note that the whole thing is now up in the air because some charities have launched a legal action. Sigh.

Can anyone help me understand usage classes under the new Order? If a Unit was B1 / B8 use (General Industrial and Storage respectively until is all changed on September 1st) does that mean it can be used for B1 *or* B8? (The background is that the Change of Use on my gym to D2 Leisure expires in a few weeks, and I am trying to work out whether I need a planning application under the new system. D2 is now in the same new Class E as B1, but is B8 has been retained separately). I don't think I need to do anything, but the Council are saying if it was B1 before I wouldn't need to, but because it was B8 I now need to do a Planning Application. Thanks Ferdinand

Interesting. I tend to cut back then spray the new growth when it is young and thirsty. Perhaps both before and after?

This is a little bit 'idle curiousity', but I was wondering if anyone does? We do seem to have a lot of people with outrageously good views from their plots. For non-landscape nerds a ha-ha is a sunken wall and a ditch used to give you an uninterrupted view of the landscape, but still keep livestock out. The only downside is that it doesn't keep the wind out. I know quite a few people who have a hedge and a raised platform, which seems to be a modern alternative. We used to have one at home where the garden level ran across a depression in the pasture, probably put in when the Georgians or the Victorians laid out the garden. It was where we eventually incorporated a stone hut for the Aquatron 'composting loo' to have it out of sight. Very common in National Trust properties. Isn't there even a nod to these at the Badminton Horse Trials, with a fence called the "sunken wall"? Ferdinand

Dear God.... http://www.cornwall-vacuums.co.uk/skyvac-accessories This is the Kirby Vaccuum of roof cleaners.

There is a longer chat here:

If you want the short (24 ft) pole package it comes to £562 from there .... more from elsewhere. No idea what the long - 34ft - pole costs. Pole must have used Sergei Bubka as a consultant and paid him in gold medals.

Suggest sitting down and thinking about what you want in your finished conservatory, based on what you want to do in it. Then working back and deciding what needs to go in at which stage.

Looks good. Borg have visited in pic 4. Then a good result. There's always an upside. You can identify the gluttons by their our inability to exit after being fed.

The joists are 8" in depth and stand around 4ft between each other. Not reallly too sure on the fall of the roof (25degrees at a guess) and its a lean to from the main house. Are the gaps left by the roofing shape not enough for ventilation? No I don't think they would be OK because then the flat half of your roof gets no ventilation and you could end up with condensation in your insulation or between your layers. It *could* be alright but better to be as safe as possible etc. Also depends on whether you roof ridges are parallel or orthogonal to the roof ridges. With 8" depth that's not a risk I see you need to take. My opinion is that I would perhaps work with say 100mm or rockwool or similar, stapled to be about 15mm up the side of the joist, which would give you a gap above of approx 80mm. Then you have space to allow ventilation above. The other driver for a larger air gap as I suggested is that the smallest soffit vents I know are 50mm, and structural strength of the perimeter beam needs to be maintained sufficiently. Cladding over the bottom of the joists is far easier than between beams. You have not mentioned that it is a leanto - mine is and my airflow along between joists was towards the wall. I resolved that by leaving a 50mm gap between the tin and the wall, then flashing over with a wider grade of Ubiflex left ventilated at the ends. Depending on which way your joists (and ventilation) run you need to think about the roof / wall join and satisfy yourself that it will work. F

There are too many potential complexities here for me to even try and answer - never mind the COVID regs changes. eg "His 12 month tenancy ended" depends on the tenancy type - if it is an AST (the default) then it would not have ended but evolved into a rolling Statutory Periodic Tenancy., unless it was brought to an end through normal process. But the only way the tenancy could end at present would be by mutual agreement, since COVID restricts notice you could give unless certain circs, and he did not (I assume) give notice ... that does not seem to be the case as he continues in occupation. Just him being there will count as a change of mind on anything he said before anyway iirc. If that is the case and the tenancy has ended, then you have to either enforce (which COVID stops you doing for now unless various exceptions) or accept rent (which will create a new tenancy with god-knows-what terms unless he signs something). If you do nothing it could later be argued that you consented by letting it persist. The pragmatic way might be an exchange of letters continuing the existing tenancy, and you would at least have a defined situation. You need to decide what to do about him lying about your position to the other tenants. One way is to write to them when you know where you are telling them what the situation is. It may be important to communicate your non-consent to what he has done, either explicitly or by doind something else. I would recommend going to a specialist LL forum, or even better joining an LL organisation and asking the helpline. NRLA currently have what I think is an offer of 12 months membership for £75. https://www.nrla.org.uk/join If you evict him without following the prescribed processes it could be criminal. I have no idea what liability you would have if the other tenants chucked him out. HTH slightly. @pocster may have things to add. F

So it is quite happy to sit there under the thunderbox with no lid on the bucket for a couple of months, and the smell protection provided the liquid / solid separation, a handful of sawdust, the toilet lid and the fan (in the case of your posh one)? And if you were composting it would be about 10 buckets in total. Thanks

Cheers.

A question about the compost loo, if I may @Tennentslager.. How often do you need to change the bucket, and do you have dozens of buckets composting? Is it one per weekend staying there say? The application I am debating elsewhere is whether a compost loo is suitable for an allotment, and I thought of this system. I guess the issue will be whether enough compost can be generated to be worthwhile, and whether one or two allotment-holders generate enough poo to fill a bucket quicker than it gets too smelley to be pleasant. Any comments would be most welcome. Cheers Ferdinand

The internet would be so boring if no one used underscores in filenames.

If you're going for 2 x 2m there may be space to make that a shower room, as well. ?

We'll have a competition ... you have been warned. It could be Boaty McBoatface. I'd go for King Canute (newt, innit?).