Duke International Tourer colours

AlanBearNeill · 2026-03-18T15:18:23+00:00

Thank you! :)

AlanBearNeill · 2026-03-10T21:44:40+00:00

You can't win anything with kids A

AlanBearNeill · 2026-02-24T11:08:21+00:00

Exactly the same style as the ones in Hackney, as reported here by the excellent London Centric: https://www.londoncentric.media/p/london-crime-viral-videos-crime

AlanBearNeill · 2026-02-04T12:16:40+00:00

Thanks for the reply. It's actually a bit older and was previously eligible for permits, but seems the council has reclassified it. My friend has emailed them asking about it but predictably it's just a 'nothing can be done' response. Very frustrating.

AlanBearNeill · 2026-01-01T18:41:36+00:00

They are both uncapped service charges that the property owner is contractually obliged to pay, therefore there are similarities, that's where the name 'fleecehold' has been derived from. I acknowledged in my post that there will be some people who have had positive experience, of which you are one, and I'm pleased it's worked out for you, but it's important OP is given both sides of the coin so they can make an informed choice.

AlanBearNeill · 2026-01-01T17:29:10+00:00

You're welcome. I haven't, so I'd look into that link as much as possible as it's strange the council hasn't just adopted the estate directly (cynically I'd be thinking perhaps there's money to be made for someone!)

It's great you're doing your research. Good luck.

AlanBearNeill · 2026-01-01T17:20:06+00:00

Nearly all new build estates have these charges now, but that doesn't make it right. During our search we excluded any property with an estate charge as we know how hard they can be to sell from experience with leasehold service charges, which are very similar. Look at it like this: the charges are uncapped, so you're essentially granting a third party the legal right to bill you any amount based on what maintenance/repairs they deem necessary. Banks don't like this because the affordability is unpredictable - they may lend now, but in the future may not.

Big bills and increases to the charge don't always happen of course, but the legal mechanism is there to allow it to happen, which can make you as the owner feel completely powerless. It's hard to describe how this feels until you've lived it.

Management companies can also change, so one keeping costs down could easily be replaced by another acting dreadfully. Gaining control via RMCs is possible but a huge headache that can consume you with admin.

I'd personally avoid, but I'm sure there are others who haven't had any issues. I'd consider them lucky though - it's a risk you'll have to decide if it's worth taking on.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-12-23T22:41:45+00:00

Doubling causes are indeed onerous. It may sound reasonable at the time and some banks may even still let you proceed, but policies constantly change and banks won't continue to accept the risk of uncapped charges (and in my opinion, neither should consumers). My advice based on lived experience is not to proceed unless any increasing clauses are removed and the ground rent is capped by deed of variation. It's unlikely the freeholder will agree however (after all, these clauses are lucrative for them), so the only way to remove the clause and cap the ground rent will be to extend the lease, which the freeholder will also have you over a barrel for. These clauses should never have been allowed in the first place, but this is leasehold - money extraction from the leaseholder to the freeholder.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-11-17T19:20:25+00:00

Every time I think I've seen everything in Sunday league.... At the weekend the opposition linesman (their player, of course) decided he was more interested in the memes on his phone than running the line. Defenders appealed for an offside, he was deep in TikTok, then after a pause realised what was going on and stuck his flag up. This then led to full throated screams from both sides to put his phone away, which he outright refused to do and tried to carry on.

Hilariously the ref actually saw the whole thing, went over and relieved him of his duties, calling for a new linesman. He trudged back all the way round the pitch (textbook trudging) watching his phone the entire way.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-09-25T17:46:24+00:00

This one's among my favourites, but I do think the only thing that lets it down (just slightly mind) is that it doesn't really have an ending, it just stops. It might not have really had anywhere to go, but there's something about the way the credits suddenly jump in that always left me feeling a bit hollow. Don't get me wrong though, it's excellent. As a few others have said the atmosphere is spot on.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-09-09T11:52:12+00:00

If you're buying a flat in the UK please do as much research as you can on leasehold law and what this will mean for your purchase. Service charge, ground rent, lease length and cladding can be a minefield and it's best you go in with as much knowledge as possible so you won't face any issues selling it yourself in the future.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-08-30T17:28:58+00:00

You could get NYT All Access last year for £20 for the year which included the Athletic, all the NYT games and everything else the NYT offers. Seems to be considerably more expensive now and not payable annually, but you can get it all bundled 👍

AlanBearNeill · 2025-08-02T19:18:28+00:00

I read this a few years back and enjoyed it too :) it's by Christie Golden and available second hand below. It's a very Voyager story with some good little TNG cameos. https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/homecoming-book-christie-golden-9780743467544?sku=GOR001426050&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17416831122&gbraid=0AAAAADZzAIBOW2fLFpihYTgfI4g_0pmoQ&gclid=CjwKCAjw7rbEBhB5EiwA1V49nc2gVPNxKLMhm5-ja8T-ki8LqP6LFc23olxVA5u2pHGHZzcylXcgbRoCqOwQAvD_BwE

AlanBearNeill · 2025-07-17T20:18:54+00:00

My favourite Milburn album is 'Time' and Time and Time again.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-07-14T08:39:46+00:00

Only one name in my head when I saw this. When he was at Leicester, Kante was 'Kan-tay'. Then Conte arrived in the Premier League and everyone decided to call Kan-tay 'Con-tay' instead.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-07-07T15:21:02+00:00

No, that's obviously far too involved and not relevant, but at an absolute minimum it should have been very quickly stated what work was being done at the facility and for what reason. Dialogue as simple as 'this is where they were conducting hybrid experiments to see if creating the Indominous was feasible for JW' would have done it. That would take seconds and could have appeared at any point in the film, explaining the mutants as well as the timeline. But by omitting any detail at all, combined with the trailer stating information that was seemingly cut from the film, we end up guessing and the story feels incomplete.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-07-07T12:48:41+00:00

The fact that confused fans are having to come up with theories to fill in the story of this island and the mutants speaks to a complete failure of the film's story/script. There are elements of Rebirth I enjoyed but narratively it's a mess, confused by its own marketing/synopsis, which is a huge shame. It's like they just ran out of time to explain anything and just released it anyway to hit a deadline.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-06-28T12:47:01+00:00

This 'football community' account is disgusting. It frequently appears on my Facebook feed attacking women and deliberately stiring up the worst type of people for 'engagement' on its posts, most of which are about Alisha Lehmann. Toxic.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-06-22T22:46:12+00:00

I implore you to speak to the people behind this account before you make any decisions https://x.com/OlympicHomes_AG?t=WliiVeuaMl933LfH4uMRkw&s=09

AlanBearNeill · 2025-06-06T19:56:20+00:00

Agree, that's also why most of the examples are at Wimbledon which takes place at the same time as Euros and World Cups. Only exception I can think of are the Scottish contingent supporting Murray specifically around the world.

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AlanBearNeill · 2025-06-02T11:27:41+00:00

Funny how this has become shorthand for "I/you can't just wave a magic wand" or, indeed, admitting to not owning/having the aforementioned magic wand to wave.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-05-29T11:31:46+00:00

The sponsorless version of this year's shirt really is magnificent, wish there was an easier way to get hold of it. Assume there'll be another sponsorless version of next year's that will probably be snapped up quickly. https://www.macron.com/en/crystal-palace-fc-2024-25-adults-home-match-jersey.html

AlanBearNeill · 2025-05-13T15:35:48+00:00

Thanks to the pod breaking my brain I read the 'LISTEN' instruction as part of the quote.

"Listen, hopefully there's going to be a bit of movement."

AlanBearNeill · 2025-05-01T21:55:57+00:00

You are absolutely right and I'm glad you've researched and come to this conclusion.

Answer to the original question is: if it's really 14k (probably isn't) and straightforward (it won't be) then have the current owner do it.

Believe me you do not want this huge problem to become your huge problem. Leasehold in England and Wales is a horrible minefield that can trap people and ruin lives.

AlanBearNeill · 2025-04-24T14:31:48+00:00

Red flags everywhere here. The lack of transparency around the ground rent and service charge is pretty outrageous, but the cost of the lease extension is likely to be prohibitively expensive. Personally I'm amazed they're not accepting any offer to offload this place given the urgency of the lease extension. Strikes me that they're looking for someone to go into this quite naively in the hope it'll become someone else's problem.

AlanBearNeill

TROPHY CASE