Twirly

steveo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My bastid tax bill But that's not irrational rage...

I didn't so much mean legislating where people could live or work, more policies to encourage development elsewhere. But I guess that London has always been a magnet and just grows and somehow seems to cope - or people just put up with poor travel conditions, etc. As for where the money is coming from - I thought that was supposed to be foreign money investing in central London? That pushes those who would normally have bought in Kensington/Chelsea etc. further out (to Clapham, etc.) and the Claphamites move to ED, those of us who couldn't afford ED anymore move out to other areas, which will cause a price rise there, and so it ripples out. Eventually to the countryside (that is a plan we're definitely not ready for yet!).

Never mind the housing, how is London's transport system going to cope with a million more people? It struggles at the moment. strae, does the report say why the capital is going to keep on increasing in population/size? Wouldn't good planning encourage some of this population growth/economic growth to go to the regions rather than the SE? Or even other areas within the SE?! Suddenly that retirement plan to sell up and move to some remote (cheapish) rural location is looking quite appealing, in about 20 years time!

unlurked Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Baby on Board badges Well if people gave their seat up for pregnant women on public transport, these probably wouldn't be necessary. And at least it saves the more rotund amongst us from being mistaken for being pregnant and having a seat offered to us!

MrTwirly used to work for a company that did conservatories up in Scotland many years ago, and there they weren't allowed to put kitchens under a glass roof. No idea why, other than something to do with planning regs.

Even those of us who did have plenty of equity still had to find additional funds to trade up. I started looking at possibilities 3.5 years ago, and even with plenty of equity, all we could get in ED was one extra room and a handkerchief sized garden. To get more, we had to leave the area. Considering that I bought the flat on one salary, and was then looking to upgrade on two salaries plus equity, that was disappointing.

Pretty's was one of my favourite shops in the area - being mostly veggie, I've spent a lot of money with Chris over the years. If it does go, it will be a sad loss to the area. Depending on what Chris wants to do (and alixandjames, please do pass these comments onto him, and if you can feed back his opinions), I would have thought that a dual approach would be best: 1. Explore the legal side It would be a real shame to just give up on that particular site if he does have any legal rights to stay there. He has invested time, money and energy in the premises, but also in building up local trade - he would have to do that all over again elsewhere. I also don't like the thought of the new owner riding roughshod over someone's livelihood like that. If I were in Chris's shoes, I wouldn't necessarily want to spend vast amounts of money on a legal battle, but to give up without a fight doesn't seem right either. 2. Looking for alternative premises This might end up being the only possibility. Whether he could find something in ED I don't know. I guess that if he does move to another area the lovely butchers and fish shop won't have their equivalent for the veg. (I know that one of the chaps who works in there lives over near where we've just moved to - would love it if you could open up near Wallington ;-) Good luck to Chris and his family/team whatever happens.

Last morning in ED and MrTwirly and I almost got run over by Paul McGann crossing Frogley Rd.

bob Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You can take the person out of ED but you can't > take the ED out of the person. > Bob S Like!

Well it's comforting to know that I'll be in good company then! Brendan, we are moving to Surrey, technically speaking, though I'm still thinking of it as London... Loz, MrTwirly has a similar plan as I can't find anything similar where we're going. Every area should have it's own version of the EDF! Anyway, we're only 40 minutes away in the car, am sure we'll be back over occasionally. And I can keep an eye out on here for the latest "in" places to book for lunch when we do...

The title says it all really. How many of you don't actually live here anymore? I know there's a few. As I've said elsewhere, I leave this week for less expensive climes (sadly), but I do like the EDF and there's nothing similar that I've found so far where we're going, so I'd like to keep popping in. Will I be in good company?

mynamehere Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I here-by "like" all of flower's postings (until > otherwise noted!) Me too!

I suggest you try further afield, although it probably won't have quite the same feel. After extensive research, we started looking in Carshalton and ended up buying in Wallington - we're getting a 3 bed semi with garden and double garage (for my massage business/a craft studio!) for an extra ?30k on the cost of our 2 bed, gardenless flat in ED. I reckon the commute (via East Croydon to Mayfair) will probably take an extra 15 minutes or so, but will obviously cost quite a bit more. It seems very green, quite friendly, and every time I tell anyone where we're moving I either get "ooh, it's nice around there" or "that's quite up and coming! - exactly the comments I got when I said I was moving to ED over 15 years ago (though I am not expecting it to go quite the same way!). ED is lovely, but it has changed enormously and will continue to do so with more people with more money coming into the area.

In Scotland, the seller has a survey done, and it has to be redone/update every three months if the property hasn't sold. The survey is available to the buyer from day one, so you'll know if you're taking on somewhere that has to have a new roof, etc. It's a bit like the EPC, but obviously more extensive, you currently have done when selling in England. What I don't get about the Scottish system is the "offers over" system, and that didn't work for us. Scottish buyers are taking on that part of the English system, seeing the price set and in a buyer's market (which it was when we sold the flat) and making offers under (as happens here too in a buyer's market. Of course we are effectively adopting that part of the system here, and yes, an auction is taking place - your home is valued, put on the market and with the current feeding frenzy out there, offers over the asking price come in and some are going to sealed bids.

I think it depends on the state of the market at the time as to whether buyer or seller has it best - seller probably at the moment. We've just done both and it was pretty stressful from both sides. But I can see the point of trying to get some commitment out of the seller once an offer is made. In Scotland of course, it's legally binding once the offer has been made and accepted (with no bonds required!), and our relatively recent experience of selling a flat up there (admittedly chain free on both sides) was a walk in the park compared to down here. I don't pretend to understand the system (it was a bit confusing since we seemed to go through very similar stages), but up north does seem more straightforward. When we were selling here, I decided to behave with integrity. I had an offer I was happy with and simply told the estate agent not to market the flat anymore, and that even if someone tried to gazump, I wasn't interested (I'd already been told that our buyer had lost out on a couple of properties). Luckily for us, our seller did the exact same thing to us. If only all buyers and sellers would do the same, it would be much better, but people think "ooh, I can get just a little bit more..." and keep on marketing after they've accepted an offer.

I think it was done to us as a "joke" as all three flats were occupied when it was done overnight. I only found out when I took some rubbish out in the morning, with key in hand, and couldn't get back in. I was very thankful that other people were in!

I googled, and came up with this article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11382591 So, the general population, but I would assume that many are concentrated in Central London. But yes, ?100k between 2 is probably more common. Even then, you're still going to struggle around here now to buy a 2 bed flat with a mortgage, unless you've got a huge deposit. Yes, bank of mum and dad, plus City bonuses I suspect is helping cash buyers.

Ultraburner, you must live in a different world to most of us then. If only 2% of the population earn ?100k, how can that be "not unusual"? It may not be unusual in certain sectors of the population, but it is unusual for the other 98%!

This happened to us a few years ago (husband thinks it might have been after Halloween). Upstairs neighbour simply went to B&Q and bought replacement innards, then had new keys cut. Not sure exactly what you need to buy, but maybe someone can advise. Cheaper than getting a locksmith out. And yes, report it to the police. Usual thing of building up a picture of crime in the area.

Yes, prices are increasing. I first had my flat valued in April 2013, but didn't put it on the market until July - by which time we were advised by the estate agent to add 9% onto the price they'd recommended 4 months earlier. It went for over the asking price. (But we would not be buying the house we are, so I'm fine with that - it was enough.) We move on Friday :) I reckon that if we'd waited until the autumn we'd have got even more. A flat a few doors down (which admittedly is being marketed by Foxtons) has roughly the same square footage but a different layout; it does have a small roof terrace, and a "kitchen diner" but both the bedrooms in the pictures have single beds in them. It's on the market for ?525k... which is ?175k more than ours was. http://www.foxtons.co.uk/search?keyword_type=postcode&keyword_value=se22&property_id=880011&resource=thumbnails&search_form=keyword&search_type=SS&sold=1&submit_type=search So yes, prices are mad. The bubble will burst at some point. I am glad that we are moving when we are.

If the technicalities won't let you do exactly what you want, can't you just view/use both calenders at once? I have my own one, but then also access to several clinic ones and I can view them all at once both on PC and phone (though I have to keep an eye on how I enter things on my phone as I sometimes end up with stuff on the shared diary by mistake).

I do Ceroc (aka modern jive), nearest venues are in Greenwich or Clapham. http://www.ceroclondon.com/ or http://www.cerocgreenwich.co.uk/ I have also done Argentine tango at Tango South London http://tangosouthlondon.co.uk/ who hold classes at the Constitutional Hall on East Dulwich Grove. Claire and Luis are excellent teachers (I've not been for a while as I broke my little toe a while back).

Sounds as if you were unlucky EDrant, have always found the do a good job.

Actually, it could be a good thing that someone with such a dubious attitude has outed herself and effectively removed herself from any position of power or influence...

So sorry to hear that, and hope the work turns up soon.