Ferdinand

Interesting. In the early noughties, I bought a CAP-Gemini Gold Season Ticket (= unlimited for one year) and basically took a year off to go training. Not cheap - something over 5k. Did something just under 100 contact days in the year, mainly in hotels on the South Coast. Probably the most useful courses were around higher level management - TQM, Change Management and so on. But there were also a lot of technical courses, as they had just bought a company called QA Training. Good value overall, as it facilitated a career change. F

Yep I ran into that at Uni in the 1980s as part of the attempted self-justification rhetoric of the feminist. I always thought it went back well into the 1970s.

These are two Gresham lectures by the Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer. Gresham Lectures are free lectures in London, funded by a legacy from Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-1579). The first was on the centenary of the Spanish Flu epidemic, looking at the history of pandemics. The second is on COVID-19 Coronavirus.

Wickes actually do free delivery for orders over £75 (except to Timbuktu ), which I think is a lot lower than it used to be. Unfortunately several buildhubbers live in Timbuktu.

Whilst Wickes have 2 x 2,5l for £34, which is £7 per litre. Obvs minus your usual Wickes 10-20% trade and other discount, plus 5% more if they are running a Trade Offer as they did late in March. Makes it about the same price as Armstead ?, or close enough to buy on paint not price. Dulux own outlets are currently shut. But who knows what else is out there? Ferdinand

Welcome @DevilDamo. We like voluble people and photographs. I note that you are an anagram of Model Diva ???. I like your avatar - well designed to draw attention on the page.

It's also an assertion of identity by my sibling. But I think all this Heath-Robinsonism and proposals for extended self-flagellation argues for my solution. Leave them to it, and go find a cup of char.

It means you reduce your total costs by buying well. You need to find potential extra value, hidden or otherwise, that you can generate that others cannot, or do deals at competitive prices. The former of those is really just one way of making it competitive. An example for a house might be buying in Oct/Nov when the owner is facing another 6 months Council Tax on it, and may reduce the price by 5% for that and other reasons, or being a cash buyer such that you can take advantage of circumstances. I think it is @PeterW who has the aphorism that "if a plot has reached the open market, it is overpriced". F

Oh, and 7: You should look to make a great hunk of your margin on the way in not the way out.

What I do is take properties with a similar role in the market or similar as properties, work out the selling price per sqm (not the asking price), make what I judge to be appropriate adjustments for slightly different areas, finish, facilities - and that gives me a relatively conservative benchmark number to apply to my own project. Then the new or refurb premium should work in my favour.

I do not do this for a living (yet), but I have had my eye on it for a number of years, and I have my likely strategy fairly well developed. I have done a significant size PP and sell with Outline. Q: Why do you think that restoring a cottage will be a potential money pit, but that does not apply to converting a tractor shed? My comments: 1 - You need a hell of a lot more potential margin / spare capital than you think you do. Everyone will want their pound of flesh. 2 - The mindset of develop vs self-build is entirely opposite. The former is about risk reduction, cost control, what other people want and profit. That latter is about what you want. 3 - To my eye both of those projects have a diverse portfolio of risks. I think for a first project you want something simpler. I think the first one should be small enough that you can take the hit and do another one if it goes completely tits-up. 4 - God only knows where the market is going. How will you manage that risk? eg London could be full of empty offices, as the corporates all discover that all their paperworkers can do half/half weeks with not a lot of loss. 5 - I honestly don't know how to call PP or not PP. Personally I think I can select my plots such that there will be nearly a certainty of getting PP, and can find them that have not been noticed. But I could be wrong. 6 - You need to build a team of financier, architect, builder, lecky, solicitor and all the others. Ferdinand

Check your insurance policy and leave them to it. Be out of earshot. Others may have a different view.

I've used Dulux Easycare. One thing to watch for is that they also have bathroom and kitchen versions, and about 29 (ish) shades of white, but that not all their umpteen shades of white are available in all ranges. So if you plan to match, choose carefully, and do it all at once - next year they may have a different selection of whites. Also watch out for discounts - the last lot I had for a whole bungalow was about 30% off overall - Wickes 3 for 2 plus some wheer i needed less or not on discount.. Something like £110 not £160. But I would never by Dulux for spraying, as it bungs up my machine. Ferdinand

JFDI is tempting.

Is there any indication of land you own on the plans in your Land Registry docs? Sometimes these are to the road centre.

"Subtle" and "nuanced" are the words you are looking for. Seeing that contraption down in Bristol makes me think that you are actually Wallace who has escaped from Aardman. ?

So how can it make a din? Take it back. Disfunctional.

Would there actually be much of a cost saving with the smaller construction after the new paperwork costs? Could you find a use for the rest of it, such as a garden store?

So what is the point of quieter fans if you are installing a din rail?

You could make your path to the garage slabs on a loose gravel base, and run it in the gravel.

Just to wrap up my contribution here, here is a piccie of what he back of one of the wooden post bolted to fencing spur fences looks like. Ths is in my own garden. The neighbour has the good side here; I’m not worried because it is at the end of the garden behind a fruit frame with a blackberry. Not especially happy tat he stained his side mind, but it was paid for 50:50.

There was a TV programme that had a chap who built an industrial style barn for himself with a bit round the corner for his cars a couple of years ago on a former timberyard or scrapyard, I think. He was around 65-70, so built it with a 2 bed living wing, and such that the car-barn could be made into more accommodation for his family next generation when he had popped his clogs. Might have some insights but I will not be able to find it easily.

Their contact details should be on the Registration details you can get from the Land Registry for £3. Or ask the tenant, or the agent if they use one. Of course, they will have been consulted in the statutory process when the PP was put through, but it only gives a few weeks and there is no guarantee it made it to the LL within the period or at all. I have a huge extension for next door on the boundary of one of my rentals because the docs did not get through, and I was not sufficiently on the ball then. He tried to do some unacceptable things such as a balanced flue over my garden, and it was a hell of a performance to get them changed. Ferdinand

I think I've said everything I have on this subject - so best of luck Margaret.

Sorry about that. I was thinking about building one inside it.