Ferdinand

That seems a bit weird. Aren’t you pensioners supposed to be the rich ones who have filched all the money, and now spending all your time on cruises? As for the Housing Association concession, that is probably down to HAs being horribly complicated in VAT terms. Ferdinand

So are you back to an ASHP? Or, when the house is efficient, is oil back to being a reasonable option? Ferdinand

To save depth you could use roofing laths as your framing timber. For me the key dimension would be how much insulation it needs. F

There could be a transition issue whilst the new property is being built, and your mum become therefore a beneficiary (ie living in) of a property you partly own in the interim. That may imply a rent being paid for that benefit, or it being taxable on the notional rent. But that is a relatively small factor, or could be perhaps be turned into one. Ferdinand

OIt seems clear-ish. I think we and probably you need a bit more info. IMO it not as unusual a situation as you seem to be thinking. 7.5k seems unnecessarily expensive. If you go to somewhere like Landlordzone or Propertytribes and talk to one of the professionals who advertises or sponsors there with a development specialism it could be a start. So so we are talking the sort of swathe between say Chiswick and Surbiton. Richmond would be good. Hancock's Half Hour country. It may be useful to take Estate Planning advice and Business Planning advice as separate elements. The important thing is to find somebody who has done 20 nearly identical things before, ideally in London. I would probably be looking in eg Guildford or Sutton rather than eg Chelsea for my adviser. Very different rates. Potential other factors involved 1 - Are there siblings or children who need taking into account in the transactions? 2 - I think a good flexible solution could involve creating a property company, probably for the investment property. Property can be injected and extracted at face value without tax implications iirc. Then your mum could gift you shares etc in tranches if necessary, or resign as a director, and you can appoint and unappoint Directors. You could inject the refurb capital, and your mum the property .. or a lifetime gift of half of it etc. 3 - Might be worth converting into 2 or 3 flats for resilience of future income. One tenant gone bad can create a 6-9 month dead spot in income. Managing tenants is increasing professionalised, it is easy to come huge croppers for trivial errors, and especially in London Councils are currently riding out like Wild Bill Hiccock on landlord hunts, sometimes with justification. 4 - Presumably you are dealing in values between say 0.5 - 1.5 million. At those levels, Stamp Duty .. especially with the plus 3% .. can be murderous in London. 5 - Tidy thinking says that perhaps you want to own part of the investment property not part of your mum’s new one, though that raises the prospect of Inheritance Planning again. 6 - One way would be to develop the existing in a company, rent out or sell, and take the money out as income for mum or pension for you at 40k a year or tax free maximum over x years (or read back for 4 years). Or entrepreneur’s relief etc. But for these there are requirements in terms of having added value and done work. 7 - In general do stuff quickly and reach a new stable state .. as it is all changing, and political risk is around at present. This is opinion only. Ferdinand

Good point. F

That is about the same as a 75W incandescent, or 2-3 GU10s. I tend to use more rather than less, but that may be old age. F

I think I would aim to design out chases as far as possible by socket placement etc eg inside stud walls and back to back. All the way around a door is a hell of a long way. If you are new building then posijoists with webbing are one way. The trick I used in my last restoration to solve the upstairs downstairs issue was to buy a bungalow ?. All my runs to the loft for fire alarms etc were in places eg in cupboards where I could put conduit. My circuits around the house were all in channels under the floating floor, so if I need to I can get to everything, then behind skirting. I am am not totally convinced yet as there was buggeration with some doors, but I think it is a net benefit for maintainability. Ferdinand

Welcome. Start with a requirements statement. What do you want to do in it? Write it in one sentence. Then one para. Then one page. And post 'em here. Get the ish dimensions (count fence panels x 1.8m) and aspect and relations to other houses / gardens, and plan (Council website or Google or learning - how to draw plans - opportunity). For now, that looks like Derby County's old football pitch, so have a kickaround or learn Petanque. Ferdinand

I think that depends on eg volume of water - if you have thirsty ones at the top, then lower down it could be less damp, Also, I am sure that anyone here .. even me .. could rig up a level by level system with different effective pipe capacities. Washers, restrictors or even clothes' pegs. F

Can I throw another alternative onto this thread? A large (perhaps also relatively deep for a high volume-surface area ratio) pond, and a pumped or gravity outlet. If you have a SUDS Swale, it could even be a standing balance in that. A pond could double as a reflecting pool, or even as a fire-brigade-lake if you are beyond the crucial 45m or significantly isolated. I am not sure which regulations apply, but clearly Health and Safety for children etc. Ferdinand

I'll watch this with great interest, as I have always been quite skeptical about Living Walls. I can see benefits such as increasing humidity, cooking ingredients, mint to drive insects away, or creating smells - but it seems like quite an overhead to keep it thriving. So, agreed on auto-watering. Looking forward to being convinced. Ferdinand

I thought this might of interest to Buildhubbers. I have been sent this as material to inform the redecoration / minor makeover of a student house in the summer. It is some pics of a recent 'Co-Living' (= HMO for Professionals) development designed by Comfort Lettings, one of the most forward thinking Lettings Agencies in Nottingham. It shows how these developments are evolving. It is a careful refurb of a largish terraced house roughly 15 minutes walk from Nottingham City Centre. There is nothing here that is particularly expensive to do, although some of the items are probably "dressing" for the (professional) photos. I do not see, for example, mini-cacti for the dining table / bathroom, or duvet covers, being supplied as part of even a Furnished Let. There is more information on the original page. Of note are: Greater variety of tones in the room design than 7-8 years ago. "Feature walls" incorporate materials with an 'industrial' feel. "Scaffold plank feature wall', for example. Textiles on walls. Good use of mirrors. All rooms Ensuite (this is interesting, as it is possible for "rooms with facilities" to be individual units taxable as "Band A" dwellings. That is just one of the complexities with which Landlords have to deal.) A " large leafy plant" (a bit different from a "French Widow") in every room. Everything inclusive, including Bills, Council Tax, and 300Mb broadband. Included fortnightly professional cleaner. An EPC number of D67 - a good move to manage those inclusive bills, and within a shower-waste-water-heat-recovery-device or two of getting a "C", as may be required for 2030. The basic fabric of a renovation such as this will last 15-25 years, even though redecorations, carpets etc may be redone after 5-7 years. All rooms are double bed, unless there is a very good reason not to do so. Typical rents are approx. £500-550 per room per calendar month, with the package described. It is interesting to see that they are already addressing the Tenant Fees Ban which comes in from June 2019. Whilst it is clear that this is done to a budget, it looks good. The main effort of design is in careful choice of unifying themes - here I make those common themes to be: Monochrome vs contrast. No longer 'soopa-doopa-white-and-pale-scandi' - for those who will admit to knowing their Abba, I'm tempted to call the new version an Annifrid-inspired palette rather than an Agnetha-inspired version. It's a bit more folksy-hipster. Industrial and 'natural'. Exposed materials .. eg bed frames, tables, basket chairs, wire shelves, textiles. Geometric patterns. Consistent use of these elements. Photos (from Comfort Lettings website): For me this is an interesting parallel to @puntloos' question about a "next level" vs a "finekitchen" design. The evolution of design feels similar - the finekitchen option seems like a "2010-ish" high-end HMO design, whilst the one featured here shows some similar features to the "next level" version.

Welcome.

15k 24mth interest free credit card? (Know your limits)

Hmmm. Sparklng water tap. Or 350 bottles of champagne & £3.50 change. Tricky.

I have tracked down one of the accessories that came with my sink ... a glass chopping board which sits along the sink inside the recessed area. Cost ..er .. £90. I use it for standing the TV box on to keep it dry just in case. I can't really see the logic unless it is a sink with a wdu. https://www.franke.com/gb/en/ks/products/accessories/accessory--sinks/112-0046-415_detail.html Ferdinand

Another part of my then employer was playing with technology for that in payphones, back in the early 1990s. I recall the publicity shots. Here is a trial that was done for railway crossings. Credit: http://www.samhallas.co.uk/railway/windmill.htm Ferdinand

To me it is unnecessary and the money should go on ‘fabric first’ rather than an unnecessary gadget. I bought a better quality, more robust, fridge and a nice giraffe that goes in the door. Even better is one that came with wine in it .. bonus if nice wine. Also my kettle filling device of choice. Ferdinand (Sorry ... carafe)

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Insulated kettle. What it says on the tin. Different Temperature settings. Bosch. Keep warm button. £58 ish. Rather intrusive bleep that can be dealt with by snipping the speaker wires. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-TWK8633-Styline-Collection-Cordless/dp/B003ZHVAJA/ Had one for 3-4 years. Recommended, as is the related toaster. To be fair, I would go for a Boiling Tap if I were putting a new kitchen in. Ferdinand

I have an insulated kettle. On chopping boards, I am far happier with a folio of chicken - meat - veg - fish boards for about a fiver in different colours, rather than combine them on a fixed area. if I went for something like a glass item, it would eventually blunt my nice expensive knives. My experience is that the harder a chopping board, the more likely you are to chop off a finger when it slips. Water hardness is variable, so check what it is in your area. Google for the place to look. My Franke sink came with a chopping board on little runners made of glass. F

May be of interest. (Assuming half to two-thirds is from residential development, this is 20k or so per new build house). Source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/685301/Section_106_and_CIL_research_report.pdf

Difficult to know what they would do if it was over :-0. Get one of those James Bond helicopter buzz-saws things, and fly it full tilt round the corner to give a full-length Dutch Gable? Does anyone know of enforcement over roof height? I would think it would need to be 2ft too high before they did enforce, if it was already built. F

"Dear XYZ Thank you for your letter. Whilst I always enjoy visits from Council Officers, in this case I was simply maintaining an existing access into my field, for convenience and in order to prevent mud being spread onto the lane by vehicles - thus preventing a potential hazard. As it is a field entrance, I am entitiled (required?) to carry out such maintenance. I enclose a screenshot from Google Earth, and also a photograph taken this morning. You are, of course, welcome to visit in any case. Rgds etc Basil II, the Bulgar-Slayer, Founder - Varangian Guard"