Asset

They start at 3.30

They were diseased, I asked the guys doing the chopping. You can see when you look at the stumps the middle of the trees were rotten and it travelled up the entire length of the trunk. I would say they were a lot older than 100 years.

Hi, I have a file about a foot thick.... I'll try and keep it brief. I represented myself. I had engaged a solicitor initially but after the first few letters it became clear the council would not back down and wanted to go all the way so I had deal with it myself as I couldn't afford the legal fees. The whole situation was ridiculous. When I bought the property my solicitor questioned service charges in the lease and we had a letter from Southwark Council confirming no service charge was payable on the property. For the first several years we weren't charged any and then out of the blue I began to receive invoices for service charge. I queried the charges and never paid them and kept on maintaining no service charge was payable and the sums built up until it was a couple of thousand. Eventually they slapped a county court demand on me so I counter claimed for stress and harassment etc and wrote up my case blah blah and said I wanted the case directed to the LVT and the court ordered it to go to there (thankfully). My main argument was my property was an individual street property and not part of an estate and therefore had no shared space for which I could be accountable so this is quite different to charges relating to estate repairs however my experience showed the complete incompetence of Southwark council's leasehold management department. The LVT does provide clear information on the information required and the steps necessary for the procedure so that is helpful. Prior to the hearing you have to gather all the documentary evidence possible - this meant the council had to provide itemised information on the charges being brought to me - seriously, there were charges for sewage works on there that the council had no idea where actually the works had taken place, there were charges relating to repairs on houses at the other end of the road - I repeat I am a street property not an estate property but even if it was an estate you would query having to pay towards repairs on individual dwellings, service charge is only supposed to cover costs relating to shared space. I also had charges for maintaining a piece of green space at the other end of the road - now if I lived next to it and received some benefit I wouldn't have minded contributing to the minimal costs for maintaining it but the LVT agreed that as it was so far away no costs could be apportioned to my property. I'm not sure what else I can say, before going to the LVT you have to get Southwark to give you all the information relating to charges. I found in my case I was getting invoices that had a non-specific figure for repairs and maintenance and it took me quite some time to get them actually to provide the itemised information necessary for me to challenge them. As highlighted in MirandaS's case above there is a lot of misinformation floating around and the LVT has to decide what is fair and reasonable. I had people from the panel coming to inspect the property and the surrounding area and it was at times quite an intimidating process but for me had a good outcome. It annoys me that someone else would just have rolled over and paid these charges quite unnecessarily and would still be paying unfair charges now had I not gone through the process. So basically, if you've got the time and strength to go through the process it is worth it probably.

^^^^ Er, lol...^^^

It's all right Bob - whatever you need to think to assuage your guilt ;) We'll all have stacks of cheap electricity soon now the Chinese are providing lots of lovely nuclear power for us. But that's another thread....

@ Loz - I made the distinction in my comment.

Every little helps bob, and tumble dryers use a lot of kwh Not everyone has the luxury of a washing line outside either

Just another thought - if you live in a hermetically sealed, centrally heated house a little underpant moisture in the air would prob not go amiss

I reckon you've generally got a couple of days on a use by date anyway. Best before can be ignored.

the clique that the other clique don't belong to obviously

Put my heating on recently too. half an hour in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening at the moment I'm sitting at my desk with a blanket round my knees just now... Edited for repetition

It's not just the financial cost one has to consider but of course if we don't care about the environmental cost then by all means tumble dry to your heart's content.... I manage not to have washing hanging on radiators in the winter without a tumble dryer. One of those clothes horse dryer things (available from Farmers at a reasonable price) in an out of the way area sorts the washing needs of a family of four here. Reading these comments about what you are paying for gas & electric makes me think my costs aren't too bad now!

Cry baby of the week...

LVT is Leasholders Valuation Tribunal.

@ Charles Notice. I'm a lease holder and it is a 'street property' that the council insisted was an 'estate property'. I am aware it is a different case from the usual however the point was more about the process of tribunal and the obstructiveness of the council during that process and that it uncovered quite a bit of mis-management that I'm sure could be extrapolated to other Southwark properties.

Dog refurb delayed - what a surprise.

I haven't read through all the pages here but just wanted to say that I took Southwark to the LVT over service charges and now pay none. The council fought me all the way and were incredibly obstructive and as a result it was a tedious and time consuming process but for me had a good outcome. during the process all sorts of ridiculous charges that the council couldn't back up at all were discovered so it is worth keeping on it and insisting for clarity and information - not something they were willing to give..

I looked up Isaiah14 "For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob" blah blah Not sure if there's any hidden meaning.....

What is the 'unsafe walkway'?

I've spoken to the guys in the shop and they said they expect to be employed by Sainsbury's - which is a good thing at least. Some of them have worked in there for many years and I like them. I agree it's a shame - Shepherds is expensive but for basics like bread and milk not much more so than other small grocers and as someone else has pointed out it does have an eclectic range. I doubt the newsagents will survive but that's not really a problem 'cos it's pretty crap and not an independent so who cares other than for job losses. The village - for all its haters - is a great space to live near to and IMO Sainsbury's is totally wrong for its vibe. Not much we can do about it tho I suspect

The roof was extensively repaired not too long ago, picture shows a roof in good nick. Any damp issue presumably has been sorted now. It doesn't look derelict it just looks empty and in need of decoration and there's no accounting for taste in re. carpets.

Nice that Dulwich is exempt. Obviously the citizens who live near, say, Burgess Park are not capable of having civilised picnics in the park.

Bromley's not exactly nearby. I think a skate shop is a great idea. Definitely a market for a decent skate shop locally.

matches in the bathroom