Ferdinand

Talking to them, a space saver seems to be an option on the saloon not the Touring, and in the website configuration for the Touring the RFTs are an option which also requires you to buy more expensive wheels. ANd you lose the mobility kit , whatever that is. So the goo may be the standard, at least on the 5 Series Touring 2.0d SE that I was playing with .. providing they give you something. F

There seem to be some very good deals available at the moment. When I started this thread I was seeing offers which potentially cut the ground from under lower priced brands. - (via Carwow) Mercedes E Class 200D Estates (OTR price £38k) for as low as £30,300 ie 20%+ reduction. - A BMW 5 series Touring 520d 2.0 SE Aug 2017 Pre Reg with <100 miles on the clock for under £27k. List price is £39k. Audi and Skoda 4x4s fall within my criteria. Personal Contract Purchases These seem to be available at about £3k down payment plus approx £250 - 300 plus VAT per month for 36 or 48 months on mileages of about 8-10k/year for private buyers for cars similar to the above. Sometimes better deals are around, somtimes a little worse. I am not experienced with these so am not totally clear good that is, but it looks OK. More modest brands are a little less expensive. But it seems a good time to buy these diesels, especially as Euro 6 diesels are planned to be permissible in urban emission zones. @bassanclan Thanks for the comment. I think the V90 is a little smaller inside (based on reviews) but I will go and have a look. Ferdinand

Like it. So are you going to Appeal his decision?

@Ian D I was looking at the existing planning app, where the Lombardies are a line alongside the common drive/parking area, so could fall into a common ownership of some sort depending on how it is all set up in the new scheme. The trees circled are the ones where future ownership would not be clear, and the back gardens of the houses lose their sunny aspect as they are on the north side. That S106 also looks nebulous - afaics it does not say what the Planning Obligation sum is. That may be to your advantage as you can negotiate it or possibly change your Planning App to avoid it entirely.

What does 'Planning' mean here? What scope will he cover? Does that include the application?

Aha. That looks doable if the consultant is familiar with the local Council policies. But it might be productive to specify a memo report not a posh report. When I look I was a little concerned about all those trees ... particularly the long row of 70ft Lombardies and who would own them as it looked like common space, and about the house orientation with the back gardens facing. North iirc. Without researching local prices, I might look at 2 or 3 with a different orientation, possibly a bigger one for you and two smaller houses. Beware of TPOs, so deal with your trees before PP application. F

I think that £600 will get about 1.5->2 days of time as a maximum unless there is a special factor involved, and 25-30% of that will be writing, so I hope you wouldn't expect too much. Unless it is a very simple, focussed brief I would be concerned about the thoroughness that is possible. If t is a general brief, he will need nearly a day to get to grips with your planning app and the history. With such a small quote the precision of your brief and telling the consultant what not to do will be crucial.

@epsilonGreedy Having thought a little more, I think that in your situation I would: 1 - Contact the architect first, framed as an expectation ("could you clarify" or "could you confirm") that small changes would be OK or attract a small charge only. I think I would do an informal phone call confirmed by email with the drawings. Confirm the contents of the phone call in the email, so you create the contemporaneous record. 2 - Ask the seller more formally after you have the architect answer. Then the vendor will tell you about what he has negotiated. Then if the architect states the charge in the conversation, you have a negotiating lever with the vendor. And if he says it is OK, then you are in the clear. If he wants money, perhaps make an alternative offer involving him being allowed to show clients round your house for 12 months after completion, or similar - if you are so inclined. Ferdinand

THe answer to para 1 is not usually unless the vendor negotiated something with the architect at the outset, or the architect was an employee of his, or there was a work for hire agreement, and the terms of the relationship transferred all the rights.

If you haven't bought the plot yet you could make a right to reuse part of the sale contract, and the seller could deal with it easily because they were switched on enough to have the ownership of copyright or right for a n other to reuse in their contract with the architect, or there could be a fee which they could absorb or negotiate about passing on. Or you could renogotiate with the architect. Or you could ask the seller what it would cost them to get the right to reassign to you, and they may get a better price from the architect. We have covered on BH somewhere because some of us learnt the lesson the hard way. If you are talking about this it would also be useful to talk about you taking over formally as client so you could benefit fully from the architects liability insurance etc. THe cost could be nominal. That was a standard facility from the Surveyor when we had a structural survey done before we sold our last house ... the buyer could become the owner of the report for a very few £ (perhaps £30 iirc). This thread touched on elephant traps where architects are involved: The same applies to all consultant reports :-). F

I think the 5 Series Touring has a space saver. I think.

No it's fine. That s just the largest thing I would need in there :-). And since I do rentals I have a stack of doors in mr garage that Ts preferred to have taken off while they are there that will need to be put back. I admit that delivery fees are one thing I really do not like.

Yep. I think they are all turbo. Slightly noticeable lag lag lunge on the Skoda when accelerating quickly, but that is not really necessary anyway.

Oh. For ********** Thought that was a bit bold low for Philips.

Time for a bit more data. There are some remarkable deals around which I will put in a separate post - perhaps it is a good day to buy. I test drove a Skoda Superb at the weekend - brief report to follow, and I also intend to have a try on: Mercedes E Class Estate Audi A6 Avant BMW 5 Series Touring Jag XF Shooting Brake :-). (They want to sound like an Agatha Christie book). VW Passat Estate. This is where I am: Essentials Big flat load space. 2m+ x 900+ is a pretty good definition. Ability to tow up to about 2 tons - so electrics not up to it. Loads of torque. Sub 40k list price; I will not be paying the extra £1550 road tax. 50 mpg in normal driving. Modern 2l diesels seem good enough. Can't really see the point in needing more than 8s 0-60 and 140mph. Robust tie-down options inside. Can see the corners of the car. Would Likes Parking Assist. Build tin roof bars. WIBNIs Gadgets and Gewgaws are nice if they work but most of them are hardly necessary. Having played with the loaded Skoda 'Laurin & Clement' model, and the not loaded Audi Allroad, the only ones which catch my attention might be Electric Tailgate. Heated front screen. I am not convinced by big 19" wheels. They are just irrelevant. Ferdinand

He has nice shirts. People keep comparing them to my Jeff Banks items.

Day job. Villain on police dog training courses.

Is your plot carved out of the grounds of the Listed Building. If so, you will need to have a conversation about whether you count as being in the "curtiledge" of it. Perhaps with your Architect / Planning Consultant first. Who owns it? If it is someone like the National Trust then you may have problems. You may also have more to deal with if garden features are listed. Could you post the text of the entry from the Register of Listed Buildings? Suggest the text, not an address. Link. 13m distance and 5-6m in your garden does not sound like a lot to me, but you will know when conversations start. Suggest being careful to listen first, then go away and consult and reflect, then reply. One more source of information, and possibly references for consultants, may be the Historic Houses Association. Or ask a local estate agent or wise-owl property person. Ferdinand

So is this a migration of the complexity from lots of tariffs into complexity within tariffs now that (iirc) OFXYZ (GEM? Or is that just a lettuce and a wine gum?) have restricted them to 4 (?) tariffs? We need a device which switches it all in real time, or even interrogates a newly-secure smart meter and switches tariffs and/or suppliers every 30 minutes. Roll on the future .

THe tall thin shape helps prevent too much mixing. This is Stratification. The heating of the TS water all happens via heat exchangers to keep the glycol in the solar system and the water in the boiler circuit separate from the water in the tank. The boiler heats the top via one heat exchanger. THe Solar heats the bottom via another one, and because it is in the coldest part it can use its more variable / lower temperature in low sun conditions more of the time. THat is Low Quality heat because it is variable and lower temp. THe boiler ... High Quality heat ... is hotter and consistent. There are various valves and mixers and thermostats used so that the system can be most usefully .. er .. managed to give the best outputs. And if I talk about that In detail I will get something not quite right, so I won't try. Roughly the tap water is drawn off from the top, and the ufh which is lower temperature from lower down. I do not know enough to comment on size without some research. @Onoff might know, and seems to be around. J

(Roughly) Because the TS has a temperature gradient ... it is hotter at the top and coldest at the bottom, and the solar heating circuit comes in at the bottom, and the boiler at the top. The thermostats and water heating circuits are arranged such that the solar water heating always operates to the max it can, and comes in to the coldest part of the tank. Ferdinand

I trust it isn't that Island in Winchester with the water mill on it :-). Welcome. Just read a lot and ask a lot of Qs.

Welcome. One trick is to define a unique tag for your project ... make it the same as part of your blog title if you do a blog ... and attach that to all your threads on the project, then you can ask in the section and people can still find the whole body of material on the project. I started doing this a few months ago with Little Brown Bungalow. But it is better if you leave the spaces out to make it easier to make the tags identical. You can go back and add them later eg when you go back to the thread and post later summarising the outcome, but it is better to start at the very beginning. Ferdinand

I spy with my little eye something beginning with IT Person. Been there. Done that. EScaped. Now half sane.