Cyclemonkey

Exactly and who are you to judge what sacrifices people are making? Some of us have not seen elderly parents for weeks and will not until this is over. Some of us who live in flats have nowhere to be outside. Some of us who are key workers are working 12 - 15 hour days every day. We are all doing our bit. It would be a damn sight easier to do our bit if some people would refrain from being so self righteous and judgemental.

Exactly. It is judging and finger pointing of the worst kind. More of it is wrong judging and finger pointing. They are operating perfectly lawfully. Now if you have an issue with the safety of their queue or operations that is a different matter.

Exactly. People queueing sensibly for goods is not killing people. Again cafes and restaurants are allowed to sell hot and cold food for delivery or pick up. Ice cream is food. So allowed under the rules. Also i am astonished at the stupidity of saying big supermarkets should be able to sell alcohol, ice cream and other non essentials but you want small, local businesses who sell this to be forced to shut? How is it less safe for me to quickly pop to my local off licence than queue up outside Sainsbury's for 30 minutes? That is mad and will just ensure the only shops left standing at the end of this are big chains.

They are a food business selling hot or cold take away food for collection or delivery. Exactly what rules have they broken?

If they are blocking the way why don't you speak to them? I have asked people to move and they are usually happy to comply. We are all trying hard to live our lives and do the right thing in a very unusual and difficult situation. Try a bit of understanding and chat rather than judgement.

Again stop making stuff up. You can leave the house for essential food and medicine and one form of exercise a day. You may as well say I shouldn't go separelty to my local butcher or baker because I can do it all in one trip at Sainsbury's. I have no desire or need for ice cream. But we all want out local businesses to survive this so just stop piling on a business for running their business within the rules. Now one area you could criticise is if they are not able to manage their pick up queue appropriately.

No. That is not what the government rules say. How about you read them. It says cafes and restaurants can remain open to sell hot and cold food for collection or delivery. The rules do not specify what is essential food. Likewise off licences and breweries are allowed to open to sell alcohol for collection or delivery.

Erm PapaJohns, Dominons, Four Rabbits in Nunhead, Bona in Forest Hill. All local pizza places that are open.

Lindylou - that is not how the rules work. It is the type of activity not the type of shop. Selling food for delivery or collection is permitted. The rules do not specify what type of food, just food. Therefore if Sainsbury's can sell ice cream to takeaway so can Oddonos. I am not really defending the right of E Dulwich people to buy ice cream, I just get annoyed seeing self righteous finger pointing at small businesses by people who don't understand the rules.

I am assuming most people are not going out just for an ice cream. Why would you be more likely to catch it from an ice cream queue than say the queue for meat, vegetables, bread, alcohol or just walking down Lordship lane. Anyway they are two different issues. Cafes and restaurants are allowed to sell hot or cold food for takeaway - collection or delivery. So this is allowed. Whether you personally want to queue or go in to the shop is up to your risk appetite as with every other permitted activity at the moment. I am making the choice not to get the bis at all, others are happy to do so,often for short journeys.

Show me where the government has defined basic neccessities? Stop making up your own rules. Food and drink take aways are allowed to be open. I am allowed to be out of the house to exercise or shop for food or medicine. If on one of those trips I also decide to buy an ice cream, a coffee or a can of beer to take away that is completely within the guidelines. Yesterday we went out on a combined exercise and essential food trip (bread and flour). We also bought jam doughnuts. Not essential but it cheered up our walk back no end and gave money to a local business we would like to survive this.

Is there a government list of essential food? No there isn't. Ice cream is food, therefore shops are allowed to sell it to takeaway. Sainsbury's are selling it, along with all sorts of "non essential" food.

Multi tasking, you can leave your house to exercise/buy food and get an icecream. If Sainsbury's can sell ice cream to takeaway then surely other businesses can? Some.people will not be happy until all we are allowed to do is sit at home eating bread and water and judging people.

Cafes and restuarants are allowed to stay open to sell food to takeaway. Either for delivery or pick up. Ice cream is a food.

What are you going to report them for? Being a takeaway food business? Because that is allowed.

What do you mean by "period house"? Every house is "period" given it was built in a specific time period. There is a perfectly decent 1960s four bedroom terraced house with garage and garden on my road currently on for ?620,000. If you want coving, a fire place and higher heating bills some Victorian speculative build will probably cost you a good ?50,000 to ?80,000 more.

If it is laminate flooring it should be fairly easy to take up a few bits to take a peek at what is underneath. Most purpose built flats tend to have concrete hardstanding between floors - our purpose built 1930s flat certainly has as did the 1980s ex council flat we lived in before.

NewWave I hear you! We live right at the top and it can be a curse but it wonderful once you get there - a real hideaway. It's they only place I've lived in London where you can wake up to birdsong.

But it is a bit of a slog up that hill after a long day at work!

Some of the roads in Forest Hill have great views. Taymount Rise and Eliot Bank are a couple. I suspect a flat will be better than houses for the kind of views they are looking for. Both those roads are decent blocks of flats.

Nothing more to add other than shock and sympathy for the tenants and leaseholders. How awful to think you have somewhere secure to build a life only by learn this. Wandle and Southwark have some serious explaining to do.

Hardly the most important or pressing issue here although I imagine like a lot of public bodies Lambeth Council will probably have a large multi site commercial contract with an energy provider that is probably paid monthly in arrears.

You need to work out ASAP what the freehold arrangements are. If you Co own the freehold you will do so via a company of which you will be a shareholder That company should send you accounts every year and there will be an AGM. If that is the case speak to other shareholders and see if you can call an EGM to sack the useless agents and address the issue of the leaking roof. If there is a separate freeholder then get together with your fellow leaseholders and investigate right to manage.

I wonder how many comply? Our block of flats is in private grounds and putting up sales boards is forbidden. Doesn't seem to stop them attaching them to our front gate. What we have taken to doing is removing them, putting them on the pavement and then calling the agent telling them that we have removed the board they attached to private property without permission and have now reported them to the council for fly tipping.

I think it's hard to tell. Traditionally the time before Christmas is slow because people don't want to move over Christmas, however people sell for all sorts of different reasons and have different drivers. I think London is such a mad market often normal housing market wisdom does not apply. We bought in Forest Hill this time last year and when we were looking in October/November 2014 prices were reducing all over the place from the peak of price madness in early January 2014. Conventional wisdom also says that political uncertainty also drives housing market behaviour and a big driver at the first time buyer end of the market is the coming changes for buy to let investors - tax changes and increases in stamp duty for people buying additional properties. Ultimately you cannot second guess the market so you have to find a budget you are comfortable with, don't be panicked into exceeding it, be prepared to be flexible and accept that despite your preferred time line there are a lot of things in the house buying process you have no control over.