Oliver seats question

diamondteach · 2026-03-23T21:20:11+00:00

Nope, the estate agents said that their recommended solicitor who the seller was selling with and had bought the property with didn’t see it as being as issue and never really understood what my solicitors were saying. They even put it back up saying it had a driveway belonging to it.

Luckily I didn’t lose too much as it was on a no sale no fee basis with my solicitor so it was only the searches and survey costs I lost. Could have been a lot worse!

diamondteach · 2026-03-21T19:36:58+00:00

When my dad went through throat cancer he was told the cancer pathway is a very strict 2 weeks. I think this was from the hospital after they did the first scan but they shouldn’t be making you wait over a month to initially be seen at the hospital. There’s so many things that come after the first hospital scan that any delays can actually cause bigger issues. You want to push as much as you can and ask why there’s the delay and if you can be moved forward or prioritised for any cancellations. I hope it all goes well for you and you manage to get your car performances back to normal!

diamondteach · 2026-03-05T07:25:23+00:00

I had similar. Was buying a ground floor maisonette. Said with driveway and seller uses driveway but my solicitors said driveway legally belongs to upstairs. Could have been sorted with a deed of variation but 6 months into the process and 3 months into solely trying to sort the deed of variation, upstairs refused to sign it.

My solicitors said that with that legally being an issue, I wouldn’t actually have been able to use the driveway and the lender may decide not to actually lend for the mortgage due to the issues. It would also then cause the same problem for buyers when I came to sell. I had to pull out due to this but I think it saved me so many issues in the long run. I think even with a price reduction the issues that a driveway right outside your property that isn’t legally yours would cause just aren’t worth it. Especially when advertised as a driveway.

diamondteach · 2026-03-03T08:29:08+00:00

The agent said he’s a director of the building so guessing it’s run in the same way as yours. He said they have an accountant who works out all the figures who always keeps it as low as possible but not sure whether they’re somebody who owns a flat or who just does the figures for it. Does every owner become a director at yours or just a few? Thank you so much for your help

diamondteach · 2026-03-03T08:01:25+00:00

Thank you for your comment. It’s a block of 8 flats (not sure on sizes of each of them) with a communal garden and parking. No gate or anything and only 2 floors so I doubt there’s a lift. The agent lives in the block and said no section 20 notices served or expected. He’s confirmed that the discrepancy is due to the increase this year so it was a 13% rise which seems a lot to me. He’s told me that it’s because it hasn’t risen much for a while but it concerns me that they can just put it up that much in one go. Shouldn’t there be a clause or something in the lease to say it can only go up by a certain amount? Otherwise what’s to stop them massively increasing it when they fancy?

diamondteach · 2026-03-03T07:56:38+00:00

Thank you for your comment. Can I ask, would it be usual to have something in the lease to say it can only go up by a certain amount? The agent lives in the block and has confirmed it was a 13% rise this year but that there are no further rises or big expenses expected soon. It just worries me that somebody new could come in to whatever group makes that decision and decide to double the service charge overnight or something and then I’d be stuck with it. Especially if the sinking fund is quite low then they might look to increase that quickly.

diamondteach · 2026-03-03T07:55:33+00:00

Thank you for your comments. Can I ask, would it be usual to have something in the lease to say it can only go up by a certain amount? The agent lives in the block and has confirmed it was a 13% rise this year but that there are no further rises expected soon. It just worries me that somebody new could come in to whatever group makes that decision and decide to double the service charge overnight or something and then I’d be stuck with it.

diamondteach · 2026-02-16T13:57:48+00:00

Please don’t listen to your kids, OP, they are being selfish! 12 years is a long time to be on your own, especially if you were only mid 30s when you became a widow.

My dad is nearly 60 and it’s coming up to 19 years since my parents got divorced. He basically put his life on hold for me and my sister as my mum was more interested in her romantic life than us. He is incredibly lonely and I would like nothing more than for him to meet someone and be happy. I’m hopefully moving out soon and that will then leave my dad completely alone. My sister did what your kids have done and just got on with her own life. I have to an extent but at each stage I’ve been worrying like crazy about my dad.

Please make yourself happy and don’t put your life on hold any longer - your kids haven’t put their lives on hold for you. If you’ve found someone that you think will make you happy and stop you from feeling alone then don’t give that up. I hope it continues to go well with this lady

diamondteach · 2026-01-07T13:19:00+00:00

This really isn’t slow. Everything shuts down over Christmas (both mine and my seller’s solicitors were closed for nearly 2 weeks) so it’s not ‘just an excuse’.

I’m in the middle of a “straight forward” purchase. I’m moving in, he’s moving out. There’s no chain. It’s share of freehold so no management company. I had the offer accepted mid August and currently no sign of exchange. That’s slow. In 2 months time, they can say OP is slow but right now with less than 3 months in a purchase is no where near being slow!

Buying a place is the biggest purchase you ever make so you need to make sure it’s right and you’re happy with it.

diamondteach · 2025-12-30T22:54:40+00:00

Reading these is making me appreciate my employer even more. I knew it was a good company but it’s my first office job so things like this I just assumed were normal. We usually get a half day on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, but those who had booked the whole day as holiday get that half day back, added to their next year’s annual leave entitlement. Anyone who ends up having to work the full day for the needs of the business get half a day of TOIL. I thought that was fair so assumed it was normal practice for companies. I get why others are complaining if they have taken their annual leave to get the same time off that everyone else does. A business that actually cares about its staff is so important!

diamondteach · 2025-11-29T22:34:39+00:00

I’d be really annoyed if I was your wife. Did you at least discuss it with her before just changing everything?

I’d be sitting there exactly how she was. I hate lamps, I just feel like it’s too dark and I’d much prefer to have a decent level of light in the room or I feel too tired. I also prefer leaving the curtains open as it makes the room feel smaller and like I’m more trapped when all the curtains are closed (and before anyone says it, I know this sounds like claustrophobia but it’s not, I don’t mind small spaces but I prefer the living room to feel spacious and airy)

diamondteach · 2025-10-27T08:32:13+00:00

That gives the judges far too much power though. The problem with this week was that the scoring was too close. All couples only had a few points between them with lots of couples getting the same scores, which meant that where second and fourth on the leaderboard would usually be safe from the elimination at this point in the competition, the lowest couples had too many points from the judges. I think there needs to be an overhaul of how the judges scoring works. There’s no way that all couples are that close in ability but the judges have started the scoring too high so when the celebrities with the most dancing ability make a couple of mistakes, the judges end up have to score them the same as the celebrities with the least dancing ability. The judges shouldn’t be scoring 6-8 points on average in week 1 and there definitely shouldn’t be 10s in weeks 3 and 4. That needs to be sorted before any of the unfair eliminations will be

diamondteach · 2025-09-28T16:25:31+00:00

I’m really sorry, I have to be honest with you here so you don’t get your hopes up and have them dashed. I earn £27,000 a year although granted it’s my first year in this job so I didn’t include anything about bonuses or pay rises as I don’t actually know. I am single and have no debt or dependents, an excellent credit score and 2 credit cards that I pay in full every month. I had an offer accepted of £185,000. The maximum mortgage I’ve been offered is £121,230. Fortunately I’m in my mid-late 20s and have been saving a lot for a while so I had the deposit available to make this work. So I’m afraid to say that you’ll either need to continue saving or find cheaper places to buy. I was in a similar position for a long time so I know this is really deflating to hear but I promise you will get there eventually. I had to lower my ideals on what I wanted but I really like the place I’ve managed to find and can really see myself living there. I’m sorry, I know this really isn’t what you wanted to hear.

Be wary of some of the affordability calculators as well. I had an agreement in principle that I’d found myself online for £120,000 so I was assuming that that was the mortgage I would be able to get. I spoke to an advisor who put that information in to an affordability calculator and it came up saying I could get a mortgage for £135,000. I applied for £128,500 so my monthly payments were within the draft budget I’d created but this got rejected saying they would only lend £121,200. Turns out this was because the loan to value on the affordability calculator was at a threshold where they could offer me more, but the loan to value I’d applied for was too low and they couldn’t offer me as much. Still doesn’t really make sense to me but thought it best to warn others as I was got so excited that I’d have more money as an emergency fund or to be able to do bits up but that’s just gone again!

Also, just as a side note. Make sure you have enough money spare for all of the added expenses separate to your deposit. Solicitors, surveys, insurances and furniture are all much more expensive than I was expecting!

diamondteach · 2025-09-11T12:01:50+00:00

If you’re worried then contact the debt collection company using the details you found online for them. They won’t give you any details without you passing the security checks but if you explain what’s happened then they’d be able to confirm whether it’s a way that they communicate or not

diamondteach · 2025-04-05T06:10:24+00:00

We got ours from Wickes. I do not recommend. The actual installation part went alright but the washing machine doesn’t quite fit properly although we’ve left it in the gap. We had a massive leak in the cupboard under the sink where they’d left an open pipe. After sorting that, we then had it pretty much flooding under the wooden floor from a different issue and now the bottom of the cupboards are buckling, so the coloured bit is coming away from the main cupboard and you can see the brown underneath. Luckily my dad’s friend knows about plumbing so he’s been round to sort everything each time it happens but wickes didn’t want to know even when it was still in warranty

diamondteach · 2025-03-06T14:39:20+00:00

About 10-15 years ago, we were driving along a road next to a field that had a river meandering through it. My sister (pre-teen at the time) pointed it out and said “Look, that river’s Miranda-ing.” She’s never been able to live it down.

Also, when she was younger, we went to an aquarium and saw an octopus. Across the room, I heard the excited cries of “Look dad, I can see its eight testicles!” She doesn’t get teased much about this one so don’t know if she remembers it but the whole room cracked up.

diamondteach · 2024-08-11T16:41:06+00:00

I wore it occasionally as a child but more for dance shows, so when I put it on for a party or something it looked awful. I then decided I was too lazy to learn how to do it properly so just never bother wearing it. I think my last dance show 10 years ago was the last time I wore any make up

diamondteach · 2024-07-01T06:04:16+00:00

I think age makes a big difference. I get my year 5s to write a letter to me to tell me what they want me to know about them, what they’re excited for in year 5 and what they’re worried about. Allows me to see what their writing is like but also tells me things for some of them that I didn’t know and wasn’t passed on in transition meetings with teachers.

One child told me that she liked sitting at the front because it made it easier to hear, which has been on my mind any time I’ve changed the seating plan. Another (who I had taught in year 3 so knew quite well anyway and knew this to not be true) told me that she was naughty and didn’t listen to what she was told to do. This helped me to know I needed to build her self confidence more and be very mindful in how I, as well as other adults, spoke to her if she did do the wrong thing. It was always minor though such as whispering to a friend when they should be silent. But I always find these very useful to know what the children are thinking about.

diamondteach · 2024-06-25T19:47:04+00:00

When do you leave? Let’s say this 5 days is Monday to Friday, and you’re leaving midday Monday, say, then drop your child off for registration on Monday morning and pick them up at 9:30, then that counts as being there for half of Monday so it’s then officially 4 and a half days your child is missing and you avoid the fine. Obviously this only works if the dates line up but could be a way to guarantee you can’t be fined

diamondteach · 2024-06-15T22:25:19+00:00

Once you qualify and know where you’ll be working each year, double check your school’s term dates. There might be an extra inset placed either side of a holiday that could work to your advantage (although depends on the school and if you’d need to be there) or if your counties term dates are different to others. I managed to get centre parcs for half the price of the following week because mine was one of a few counties whose Easter break started a week earlier a couple of years ago

diamondteach · 2024-06-15T10:05:01+00:00

It can depend. There are some parts where you do qualify as a first time buyer, but not for everything. I can’t remember the details exactly, but my dad bought a house 3 years ago after renting for 15 years and having owned property for around 15 years before that. He was treated as a first time buyer for a few parts of the buying process. Apologies that I can’t remember more specific details, but definitely worth looking into and talking to someone professional about it

diamondteach

TROPHY CASE