Ferdinand

Why did you not offer her a 1m long hall cupboard? :??? ?

Looks good. And best of luck with the health. I've had so much treatment in the last 2 years that I've just asked for the latest (nasal polyp) to be put on hold for a year.

Is this "overage" - a clause to retain extra value for the seller if the buyer does x, y, or z? The clause is perfectly normal and is a risk /benefit sharing mechanism. Entirely normal to have one. They just need to be written or parsed quite carefully. It will be a jointly appointed RICS, or similar. What does your surveyor say about the final GDV of the project? I don't understand why you can't get a decent estimate of value with PP. That is also normal. You could renegotiate the clause - eg on sale of first barn. I have heard of one where it triggered on the nth house, so they just stopped at n-1 . Just a normal part of the risk mix. If they want all the money they could of course have gone for outline themselves. You can play games as well, of course. If it is "triggered by PP", then you could apply for one - trigger it and pay. Then apply for the other two a bit later. We had a clause on a bungalow (.5 acre plot) we bought next door once, and that was 20 years 50% of value uplift triggered by grant of PP binding on successor owners. That one was vulnerable to this strategy but in the end the people we sold it too did not want to develop, just extend, and they limited it to PD rights so the clause did not apply. ( @Bramco, not a strategy to be used with your own family, unless you want a perma-schism. ? ) TBH 1m sounds a *lot* for *potential* barn conversions. Is it a well-written clause? I might be inclined to try and lance that clause for a smaller amount than it could potentially achieve. Depending on the wording, apply for PP for a shed or garden pond ?. Certainly get legal advice. F

"Pastiche of Local Vernacular".

On avoiding his demand for a fake chimney. "Pastiche" is a useful polite, but contemptuous, word, as it hints at fake.

Yes -all energy demand, not production. If you relate it to all generation, then one missing bit not shown on these total numbers is imports which have grown relatively over say 20 years.

If it only has 3mm of insulation I would take it all off and do it properly.

Pity they didn't hide it in a haystack.

Doesn't seem to work for the Ministry of Defence. ?

Ahem: https://comicvine.gamespot.com/builders/4060-60019/ Just not made the movie, yet? They are behind the creation of the entire Universe from Chaos. But, as the Architect said - who created the Chaos?

Don't do that; they will have no option other than to back down and let everyone else walk all over them, or go nuclear - which could end up with them forfeiting your lease. That is sensible. NLC have some successes, as well as some (imo) overambitious aims. You may end up at the Tribunal, if you are determined and they demur. F

Given that nuclear regulation is independent and statutory, I think that "Chernobyl incoming" is a little overwrought. I note that we have 2 gas power stations mothballed with 2/3 the capacity of Hinckley Point C, and that energy demand has been significantly falling for 20 years now. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1007132/DUKES_2021_Chapters_1_to_7.pdf

Depends on what is in your "fixed price" contract. It may include terms as to what may change under which circumstances. There is also a thing called a "firm" price contract, which is really fixed. See: https://www.commercial-consulting.co.uk/post/contract-price-type If someone tries to impose a price increase on you, your action needs to depend on all the circumstances. Half may be reasonable if it is genuinely unpredictable, but if eg it is recent and you have discussed Brexit / supply crunch consequences then it may be different. Nick's "take a hike" could potentially leave him with a liability.

Depends what else you do to mitigate. There is, for example, a current proposal for a 'social tariff'. I'd put a carbon tax on everything based on emissions, which would simplify it very much. And gradually turn against gas as electricity is decarbonised. We have just had a god-almighty media and political flap about a rise in energy prices, yet they are still *after* the flapping around 25% *below* the real level they were at around 2013. I see no reason to subsidise anything out, beyond what has been done previously. I can see a case for ramping up some current projects by volume, though. The normal replacement cycle for heating is 10-15 years for gas, and whatever it is for oil fired. So one thing we need is to insist on upgrades when these are replaced. A ban from 2035 seems quite reasonable, but I am concerned that the current Govt are running scared and risk defecating on their own relatively good record as emissions-reducers. As for relatively rich people in older properties demanding money from the relatively poorer population to make up for their own neglect to invest in properly maintaining/upgrading their own properties in the past - I find that quite obscene. We probably need some quite heavy Pigou taxes, such as higher rates of Stamp Duty or an extra band of Council Tax for poor quality properties from an efficiency point of view. And it needs to be in the Owner Occupied sector, as that is where the slum properties gather now. Yes - they need to catch up on this one ?. They are ahead on setting a timescale for requiring decent energy efficiency in OO properties, though. The Govt in London are dragging their feet, though Rishi shows signs of addressing this. F

Pallet Timber Price Index: https://www.fefpeb.eu/wooden-packaging/timber-pallet-price-indices

So they need to be used to build a woodstore like @joe90's from them to keep the other wood in. Which I was planning to find a picture of but it seems he has never uploaded one. Full of good ideas, me.

So you now have some wood to store in your woodstore !

There's currently a shortage of pallets. But I don't know if you can yet dismantle them and sell off for more than the price of a new shed.

You could do some fake plywood ones for stack ventilation like Kevin McLoud did at Swindon. Just don't put them 3 storeys up in the middle of a two-sided gable so you need some quite serious lifting gear or a big scaffold to repaint them ?.

I'll give you a free opportunity if you make a £20 donation to BH. Give the ones with glyphosate to Hufflepuff, who sound like the people on the "B" Ark Ship from Golgafrincham.

Cheers.

I've taken a vigorous alder out my hedge by my lane, and need to prevent it coming back so the holly to fill the gap gets a decent run. It is too big to dig out easily, so I want to poison it. Any suggestions? I have copper sulphate available and apart from that probably only a couple of root weedkillers (ie glyohosate) which will be no good for this. Will drilling a hole or two and packing with copper sulphate do the job? Thanks F

I would top that up when you put the other one in next week, if still to do.

You clearly need to bathe inside a dry suit to save water. A perfectly shaped bath 2mm deep.

At this point, have a cup of tea for 20 minutes,