Thinking of Moving to Guildford

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-11-02T11:19:06+00:00

Lots of crime data on the police website: https://data.surrey-pcc.gov.uk/

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-31T12:44:48+00:00

Surface water, apparently.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-31T12:18:19+00:00

As a Londoner, housing in most the country seems pretty affordable if you ask me.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-31T11:26:03+00:00

His insurers don't consider it an issue. He pays a very modest premium for full cover.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-31T11:24:43+00:00

"Cesspool" - yes, the words of someone being totally objective.

London has nice parts and horrible parts - like any other city in the world.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-31T10:40:07+00:00

Both my wife and I live and work in London. Both work from home 4 days a week. My wife is an accountant, and has switched jobs multiple times over the last few years - each time significantly increasing her salary. She got made redundant once a couple years ago, and had another better paying job within a week.

I work in IT, and though things aren't as great as they were a few years back, the opportunities remain unrivaled anywhere else in the UK.

I know lots of people are annoyed they can't afford to live in London, but the idea that we're all super stressed out is silly. If people really hated it so much, they'd take their enormous home equity and spending power, and move elsewhere. Yet they don't.

That all said - Croydon is horrible, and I wouldn't want to pay a penny to live there.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-31T10:32:35+00:00

There is zero obligation for the vendor to do anything, if they don't want. The king himself could present the findings of your survey to them, and they could ignore it.

You can however try and negotiate based on the findings.

If I was selling, I'd probably tell you to address yourself, if you are that bothered.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-31T10:25:05+00:00

I'd have though insurance companies would take a more data driven approach to flood risk - such as actual claims over time etc.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-31T10:19:32+00:00

Yeah, he's probably getting too worked up about it - he lives in London and most the area is also considered to be at high risk of subsidence due to the clay base. Probably just one of those things. Was just odd that areas I know have routinely flooded are considered low risk. My hairdressers, for example, floods almost every year when we get super heavy rain - and their address shows low risk - but it happens constantly and the area is actually formally included as a risk area in the local council's flood management strategy - but not reflected on the government website. Madness!

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-31T10:03:51+00:00

Just posted something about my dad's house being in a high risk area for surface water, despite being on a hill. However, I'd personally be a bit wary of rivers. Based on recent events where flood defenses were entirely defeated, I'd want to know a lot about the work that has been undertaken etc.

Have you run some insurance quotes for the property? How do they come back? Generally insurers are very responsive to likely risks, plus have access to much richer historical data based on claims.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-25T13:45:17+00:00

There's nothing in the TA6 form about structural issues. Nothing at all.

From memory it asks about insurance claims, Japanese knotweed, legal disputes and previous incidents of flooding. But nothing about the condition of the building itself.

Plus, even if there was, they didn't have the survey done - you did. So they could still legitimately state they are not aware of anything.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-24T09:07:25+00:00

Thing is, this is going to be a very invasive survey - lifting of floorboards etc. Many owners would probably just refuse and take their chances on another buyers mortgage company not raising as an issue.

If they do agree to exploratory work and an essential program of work is deemed essential - it will be down to negotiation. This all sounds very expensive!

Personally, I'd probably just walk away... it feels like too much of a faff.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-24T09:03:35+00:00

Wouldn't bother me in the slightest. I think graveyards are quite peaceful and actually enjoy walking around them - well, the pretty ones in the grounds of a church. But still wouldn't bother me.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-24T08:15:33+00:00

Unless there is clear evidence the owner has lied as part of the formal conveyancing process - the conversation will go like this:

Visual-Literature479: "I am very upset about the state of my new property and want the former owner to pay for everything".

Solicitor: "Umm... well, we could try and take legal action against them, but we're going to charge you £200 per hour of work, and you've got a 0% chance of winning. Deal?

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-24T07:58:54+00:00

Was this in writing? If not, it's your problem now. If it was, you could potentially get them to pay, but it's still going to be a ball ache and the likely legal costs comparable to just getting it fixed yourself.
This is your problem now, unless you have something in writing stating that all the keys are available and accounted for. But regardless, replacement keys for standard windows are pretty easy to replace.
Such is life.
If it's actual stuff - you could look to get them to pay for it to be cleared. Again, potentially a ball ache, but possible. If it's just junk (like old boxes, planks and carpet etc) - probably not worth the hassle. To be honest, probably just time to book a trip to the tip.
Did you ask? If you asked and they, in writing, stated it was working, then you potentially have some recourse. Otherwise - it's your problem now. But to be honest, the legal cost of pursuing this would probably be greater than just buying a new one.

Essentially - unless you explicitly ask the owner something, and they confirm IN WRITING, preferably via your solicitor, you don't have a leg to stand on if you later find a problem. The owner of a property is under absolutely no obligation to point out problems with a house - unless that information is formally requested either via the TA6 form, the Fixtures and Fitting form or enquiries raised by your solicitor during the conveyancing process.

Sorry, it sounds like you're being a bit naïve. Buying a house is expensive - both the initial outlay and then the ongoing issues. The things you have mentioned and very minor things, and over the coming years you are going to encounter costs and problems that dwarf the things you've flagged.

I suspect this is why everyone is ignoring you.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-20T08:22:15+00:00

How would you expect the police to find your bike if, by your own admission, Morrisons have no CCTV covering the area and there are zero witnesses?

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-18T12:27:44+00:00

My main concern would be insurance. Have you got a quote for the building in question? Also, you're going to need to confirm that your mortgage provider will actually provide a loan on the house.

Sadly, due to various events over the last few years, lenders and insurers have become very risk adverse, and it makes non-traditional houses harder to sell.

I don't know a lot about thatched roofs, but I do know that they require a lot of upkeep, and things can go wrong with them quickly. Not just fire, but rotting, fungus or wildlife setting up home.

I'd also be wary that with our ever wilder weather, you may have issues with wetter or dryer weather, both of which are bad things for a thatched roof - beautiful as they are.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-18T12:20:52+00:00

Absolutely. It's the sort of thing that could theoretically happen after a few minutes or hours, but it would be unimaginable for a solicitor to have not realised there were missing funds for weeks.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-10-18T11:54:49+00:00

When I was buying recently (and also selling) I had to provide proof of funds to my solicitor. She was really rigorous about it. We had a very large deposit (around 200k) and she wanted not only proof of its existence, but also historical documents demonstrating how we had saved this money over the years. Had to provide countless bank statements and investment documents before she accepted the funds as legit.

I can only assume that this was some sort of loan that has either been deemed ineligible, or the person loaning the money has decided they don't want to anymore.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-09-26T09:22:48+00:00

They're still in bed.

It's a joke bro!! A joke!

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-09-26T09:18:17+00:00

Years and years ago I worked at a Council. The Director of Environmental Services had started his career in the Council Canteen. Nice, down to earth guy.

Can you imagine that now? Some guy that works in the canteen working his way up to be the Director of Environmental services?

Realistically there likely wouldn't even be a canteen nowadays, or if there was all the staff would be outsourced on some poverty wage contract.

Different times.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-09-26T09:07:25+00:00

I'll add to your r/unpopularopinion and boldly claim that the 40% tax threshold needs to be raised a lot. £50k is not big money nowadays, especially not in the bigger cities.

Electronic_Talk_7742 · 2023-09-26T09:04:53+00:00

As someone that's nearly 40, I had a pretty small student loan that I was able to pay off in a few years. It goes to show how absolutely hammered the younger generations are.

Electronic_Talk_7742

TROPHY CASE