HamletHarrier

redpost Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "One of the major changes tothe PRS across London > over the last 20 years has been the increase in > rent. This has resulted in problems with residents > being able to afford and access decent,affordable > housing." > > Yes, and mandatory licensing is only going to > increase rents from decent landlords. > > I'm a decent southwark landlord with an over > compliant HMO (fire doors, fire alarm system, > quick repairs, has a lounge and garden), I have to > pay roughly ?1200 to comply every 3 years, this > has gone mostly straight onto the rent. It has > taken 20 emails and a year to get the southwark > HMO license correctly sorted. Southwark haven't > even bothered to visit the property. > > Rogue landlords with dangerous properties will > just continue business as usual. From the Southwark website it looks like the licence should be for 5 years (rather than 3). Maybe they made a mistake in your case in which case get in touch with them?

malumbu Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Two places I shop are Forest Hill Road Supermarket > - bit cramped but more space that the Co-op, and > Lidl in Sydenham, about 20% non-mask wearers. > Expect compliance is a Lidl thing, rather than the > specific store. Both stores have the habit of > blocking isles with stock and/or staff. Lidl > generally has the space to give non-mask wearers a > wide birth. It's not a demographics thing in that > people of all background are guilty, young and > old. > > The post above takes me back to a story a few > years ago of a couple having it off in an old > compartment train. Other passengers are trying to > ignore it, look the other way etc but it is only > when a post-coital cigarette is lit that someone > complains. I think it is a genuine story and gave > me the chance to say 'had it off' which is a term > from my school days/sit coms. That is from a story by the much-missed Victoria Wood - quote below: 'Last time I went Intercity there were a couple across the aisle having sex. Of course, this being a British train, nobody said anything. Then they finished, they both lit up a cigarette and this woman stood up and said, 'Excuse me, I think you'll find this is a non-smoking compartment''.

Apologies was sifting through the Regs in the early hours along with various news stories so got that bit wrong. Thanks for picking this up.

My understanding is that workers in the shops/ takeaways etc that can stay open during lockdown are supposed to wear masks unless exempt, or where there are perspex screens in place for staff behind the counter. In those cases if there is more than one staff member they should both be wearing masks (unless one or both is exempt) and practising social distancing unless they are from the same household (i.e. living and working together). You can report shops who are not undertaking Covid safety measures to the Council who will investigate if you provide them with specific details i.e. shop address and the concerns. The focus of the Council is engagement but then enforcement where there are continued breaches. A couple of weeks ago I went to Peckham and there were some shops where there were no efforts at Covid safety compliance. I engaged with the first of the shops, but then got a hostile response at the second shop hence went down the 'contacting the Council' route. I got the following response back (from a named officer) when I contacted OHS.Regen@southwark.gov.uk, and copied in the Ward Councillors for the area. 'Many thanks for your concerns below. Southwark Regulatory Services have been very active throughout the pandemic with officers patrolling and enforcing across the borough both in the week and at weekends. To date over 5000 business checks and actions have been undertaken in the borough. We have taken a robust enforcement stance and have advised, warned and taken enforcement action against many business premises in accordance with the various versions of the Coronavirus (Business Restrictions) Regulations. In view of your specific concerns against specific businesses stated below we will look into the matters raised.' The Council carry out visits to areas and specific premises where these have been brought to their attention - i.e. if you let them know about a specific shop, they will add it to their list of 'Covid compliance' visits. The Council don't deal with shoppers who don't wear masks inside shops, the Police have the powers under the Regulations to deal with people who don't wear masks inside shops. One change is that the updated Regs for this lockdown require people who are challenged by the Police to provide evidence of exemption in order to avoid a fine (now ?200 for the first fine). I saw today that a bye law has been passed in Southwark to enable staff at Borough Market to issue fines for people not wearing masks (i.e. they don't have to rely on an already-stretched Police force to do this). It's unclear how this would work in practice given that someone refusing to wear a mask could also refuse to give their details unless a Police officer is present in order for a fine to be issued to them. The HSE are also carrying out visits to businesses in tandem with local authorities. There is more information on this and advice for businesses, along with a Covid risk assessment template, on their website.

Edges

Hello for anyone on a budget who might still be looking for a tree, Morrisons in Peckham have a few 5ft and 6ft trees for ?18 at the entrance to the store. You can't take the mesh off in the store so have to take a gamble but the tree I bought this morning is lovely. Hope this helps.

Evict

Bread

Sorry missed 'Tread' in the post above so how about Rends?

Back to Trend: Tread

Notch

There

Sky all the way for us. Only about a day and a half downtime in total in the last decade or so (we were originally with O2 before that who got taken over by Sky). Have heard horror stories about Virgin and I had horrendous customer service from them with Virgin Mobile when I vowed never to have anything to do with them again. I get that all providers use BT kit but my Sky service has been up and running when neighbours' (from other providers) hasn't. I hope that this helps.

Pedal

Royal

Gang

Hi Mischa I don't think you would go wrong with Sydenham High: very committed staff, great environment. We actively went down the single sex route for our older daughter (no brothers) and it really worked out for her. The girls emerge from Sydenham High School confident, rounded and happy and the school really encourages the pupils to pursue what they really want to do post-school. My older daughter went there for Secondary School and is now in her second year at Med School. We'll be choosing Sydenham High for our other daughter for Secondary (if she's accepted). We've met and been impressed with the new Head and her approach. As others have said here they are tapped into the GDST network which is useful, and the School do taster days which might help you and your daughter make up your minds.