Hawley

jamesmcash Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi all > > Abe_froeman - re the building on CPR, I am fairly > sure that this is private property and therefore > the works will be privately funded. > Good luck with that.

That's a relief - and better late than never. The council's only had five or so years to do something about it, after all. Many thanks to UVArchitects.

Sue Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So. If somebody is injured, or worse, by something > falling from this building, who is responsible? > > The owner? Or the council, who cannot claim that > they were not aware? Or somebody else? Both, I would imagine. I'm rather glad I kept copies of various emails to and from the council. If any of the direct neighbours are reading this thread and have any issues in the future re house insurance or the like, do feel free to DM me.

It was in poor/middling condition in 2013. Things went rapidly downhill when the (unfinished) loft conversion was carried out in 2014. The "project manager" had no building industry experience whatsoever, he was simply an associate of the owner. The guys who carried out the work lived in the property for the duration, without electricity or heating to the best of my knowledge. I was also led to believe that, bizarre as it now sounds, Southwark Council funded the works in the form of a grant. The property was to be handed over to them for rented housing. The owner goes by the pseudonym of James Richards. His real name is Jacob Reichman and he is an utter tool.

I had the misfortune of dealing with the owner of this property back in 2013. He lives in Stamford Hill and in my opinion is a highly unusual character. As other posters have pointed out the house has been empty for at least six years, probably a lot longer. When I last ventured inside in 2014 the interior was caked in pigeon excrement. It was crusted all down the staircase and banister, like a sort of bird-poo stalactite. The smell was indescribable. After months of trying to get the owner to sort out his chamber of horrors, I contacted James Barber and Tessa Jowell, both of whom were extremely helpful. I was put in touch with Michelle Williams at Southwark Council who was... well, less helpful. The upshot of all this was that the council assured me that they would enforce a compulsory purchase order on the property. This was in 2014. Clearly little has been done since. No surprise there.

Although it's been a while since we sold our house through NoFlies such was their level of service and professionalism that I feel compelled to recommend them again. From my experience, Tony and Brendan are real one-offs; they're proactive, hard-working, they listen, they communicate, and they absorb all of the stress associated with house moves on their shoulders, not yours. I say this as a seller who was forced to abort one transaction at a very late stage, thus denying them their very hard-earned fee. When we were ready to move again we had no hesitation in re-instructing NoFlies. If you're looking to sell I would advise inviting them round for a chat at the very least.

Speaking from personal experience, I can absolutely recommend No Flies. They handled my sale fantastically.

Happy to recommend F Smith & Son in Croydon, who have moved me and my family twice. Excellent service from a smallish, family-run firm. http://www.fsmithandson.co.uk/

clockworkorange Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What fee % did no flies give? How accurate was > their pricing? And how close to list price did you > get? > > > How do hart compare? I bought through them years > back but now looking to sell. > > Appreciate comments. > > Got pedder coming next. No Flies charges a fixed fee. Percentage-wise for us it worked out at a miserly 0.6%, which I found extraordinary bearing in mind the effort and service they put in. They got us the full asking price...

We had a full bathroom refit completed four years ago. We've now sold up and moved, but the last time I saw and used 'our' bathroom two weeks ago, it looked as good as it did the day Atanas and his team finished. They did a brilliant job at a brilliant price.

I was extolling the virtues of No Flies on here a few days ago. We sold through them last month and can't praise them highly enough.

I can only agree with all of the above. Soon after the referendum, my wife and I decided to put our house on the market and relocate overseas. Having read several glowing reports on No Flies I invited them round to discuss our options in what was a somewhat nervy, febrile market. What I was looking for was an honest and transparent approach to selling our house as there was a very real chance that we may have had to pull out of any prospective sale in light of currency concerns. Things could become pretty complicated. I wanted any potential buyers to be aware of this. My wife and I were extremely impressed with Tony McDonald and Brendan Cassidy from No Flies, who handled everything to do with our sale with the minimum of fuss. We were told what we could realistically hope to achieve in terms of price. There was no ridiculous price inflating to get our business, no flim-flam, no BS. Just good, considered, mature advice. Feedback on viewings was speedy, emails were answered usually within the hour, calls returned promptly. As it turns out, we were indeed forced to pull the plug on one potential sale a few days before exchange. I felt pretty awful for our prospective buyers, but No Flies handled everything in an understanding, grown-up manner. The same excellent service was in evidence when we decided to try again at the beginning of December. The result is that we have now sold our house at full asking price. The fee for all their endeavours - they have a fixed pricing structure which is way below that charged by the Lordship Lane big guns - worked out at a frankly ridiculous 0.6%. Our patch of south-east London is awash with estate agents, and I'm sure there are good eggs out there working for some of the high street names. But I really do think anyone considering selling should at the very least stick No Flies on their shortlist. Based on our experience you won't be disappointed.

You could also try Ecclesiastical who have been insuring us for the past four years. http://www.ecclesiastical.com

Echo all of the above. Dave advised that a 'damp' wall underneath a window in our spare bedroom was a result of us drying laundry in the room without opening a window. A simple condensation issue. Very glad I asked his opinion as a well recommended roofing company told me the problem was being caused by poor external pointing. They were wrong, he was right.

East Dulwich Tavern does a nice coffee and has a couple of large sofas in the rear room...