Senor Chevalier

I reckon that whilst there is some correlation between people's general level of 'sense' and their ability to earn money it is loose at best. Plenty of bright people don't earn a lot depending on circumstances and choices they make and there are certainly plenty of fairly dim people in well paid jobs. Could it be that people's level of sense is more or less constant (eroding slightly with age and booze of course) and that the ones that (deservedly or randomly) accumulate wealth remain just as sensible (or stupid) as they always were (rather than becoming stupid) but that their level of dosh over time just increases above their level of sense? There's also a reasonable argument that when short on time and not short of loot it makes no sense to worry too much about what occasional purchases such as a yoga vest cost. Don't get me wrong, I think the cost of the yoga vest is madness but then I also think that yoga is madness.

Martyn Long 07830195682 Chartered engineer, runs a small practice lives locally.

You said it! People used to slot in the new tax disc over the old one or remove the old and replace with the new. Now they renew online and many leave the old where it was. Doesn't mean they are not taxed. They wouldn't get too far without being picked up by ANPR cameras.

Indeed. The whole thing was a very difficult experience but we were sufficiently fortunate to be in the position to get ourselves into the predicament in the first place and eventually did emerge from the other side.

We bent over backwards to consult with neighbours for our planning and build. We got a mixed response. Some friendly and supportive (we were removing an eyesore). Some needlessly and pointlessly forced us to incur cost by insisting on extra party wall surveyors when we had offered to let them choose the surveyor to act for both parties - this meant that the money we were going to spend tidying up a shared wall / butting bottles of wine etc which would have benefitted them did not get spent. One neighbour was friendly and made 'useful' planning suggestions which we accommodated and then objected to these specific elements in their response to the planners - I kid you not. She moved out of the are a month after we completed and her parting words were that she was surprised to say that it turns out she rather likes what we've done. Others did the tactical planning point scoring thing - study the planning rules and complain about things they don't give a stuff about like the neighbours opposite complaining about a rear facade and window, concern that one bedroom is 0.5m2 below the Southwark guideline etc - chip away at our plans and cause death by 1000 cuts. One neighbour only provided partial access for our PW surveyor to assess and document the pre-existing condition of their property and then asserted that the cracks that had 'appeared' in all the rooms we had not been allowed to survey had been caused by us - I think he thought we were spending a bit of cash and he could get a full refurb of his property out of us. Overall it is a mixed bag. I would still consult neighbours, try to stay on good terms and consider requests but frankly trust myself to decide what's reasonable and not compromise on things that are important to me. If on the receiving end then try to put yourself in the shoes of the person trudging through the awful planning system and then often getting ripped off by builders, utility companies etc...

DVLA will help you. After I'd navigated their automated call system (take a deep breath) I got through to a very sensible chap who figured that the lesser evil was taking my money and taxing the car without the ref number. A rare display of pragmatism.

Wrestling this back to topic for a moment, living in London in terraced houses you do have to come to terms with the fact that neighbours will get building work done from time to time despite it being inconvenient. It is a fact of life and a pain in the @*** but a 'live and let live' attitude is far better than winding yourself up about something that at best you can frustrate but ultimately you cannot stop or control. Clearly there are rules which limit what people can do but provided they stick within them then it is better to accept the situation earlier and let them get on with it as after the work is finished they will be your neighbours. By chipping away, nit-picking and insisting on additional surveyors etc you can add to the unnecessary costs incurred by your new neighbours and deplete any goodwill before you've even become acquainted. Having the wall built on the boundary line rather than their side would give you option value if your circumstances change and you do wish to get your own extension done and / or future owners if and when you come to sell. The way planning rules work you can't stop development but you can nit-pick over things that you don't really care about thus adding to cost and worsening the scheme for your neighbours but making no particular difference to you which is pointless and just leads to bad will.

Are you suggesting it was you then Louisa?

Thanks DF / L

That's what I thought.

I've just been told off by an objectionable woman for disposing of an old paint can in my green general waste bin. I asked her if I wasn't supposed to do that and what I was supposed to do with it. Apparently I should know better but evidently I don't. I pointed out that she obviously knew what to do and it would be more constructive if she pointed me in the right direction but she just sloped off. A short burst on the Southwark website hasn't helped. Could anyone spare a moment to tell me where it goes? Failing that does anyone want a collection of miscellaneous paint?

I used James Lewis for my party wall advice on a build in Herne Hill http://www.jlewissurveyors.co.uk/ At the end of a long and complicated building project there's not that many of the people I used for the various elements that I would use again or recommend. James is one of them.

Bear in mind you will end up carrying both your son and his new wheels (whatever they are) for a good proportion of the time. Toddlers walk slowly and can't go very far - balance bikes are good but they reduce speed and range whereas a scooter does the opposite. Has to be scooter...

Yeah if you are going for stone tiles then it's got to be honed rather than polished... I'd draw the line at riven - you don't want to collect grime.

We had originally specified dalsouple but we were told that they had stopped supplying small quantities for residential and were focusing on larger commercial contracts so that's when we switched to Nora which is a very similar product. I'm sure either would be great and if you can get hold of the dalsouple in a sensible quantity then go for it!