Lazero

Hi James - did you manage to find out anything regarding the below, following my post on 11th June? Judging from a lot of other threads recently we are going to see an awful lot more of speed bumps and road closures/ barriers. Would be interesting to know if average speed cameras are ever an option on some roads with more traffic. James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I agree with your take on average speed cameras. > But London has a lonson Camera Partnership > controlled by the mayor of London. So I'm not > clear if we can have them locally without LCP > agreement - let me find out.

Hi James, What do "additional works" generally consist of? Does that just mean speed bumps? I'm all for enforcing the speed limit, but personally hate speed bumps. They're uncomfortable and annoying (mainly on my bicycle but also in the car). Many around Southwark are so poorly designed that you actually have to go way below the speed limit (in a car) unless you want a very sudden jolt. It also doesn't sound like they do much good for the suspension. I know some people are really against speed cameras but I don't see a problem with the odd average speed camera. It works on the Rotherhithe tunnel - no one speeds and no one gets frustrated being stuck behind someone observing the law.

I lived on Underhill, near Belvoir road, for 4 years and only moved away 6 months ago. The P13 was always very good at sticking to schedule. There are also lots of apps showing bus stop arrivals so you can time it and aren't waiting around at the stop for ages. Otherwise you can go through that passageway at the end of Langton rise and walk down Overhill to get to the bus stop with 176, 185 and 197. There are lots of options for the commute, depending on where you need to get to. I travel to Farringdon - P13 to West Dulwich and the one direct train was the most pleasant (generally get a seat on the 0849) and fastest option. But if I needed to get in early (before 8.30am) the P13 can be too full to get on as it goes past a lot of schools. 63 all the way takes longer but you'd get a seat and save a fortune on the travelcard.

Over a few years I have sold via Pedder and No Flies, bought via Winkworth and Bushells (recently rebranded I think), and additionally once had KFH in to give a quote when I was selling. Winkworth were good when I bought, but quickly lost interest in customer service once exchange had happened (i.e. when their fee was guaranteed!). Pedder (for my sale) were good on the customer service front initially, but I was soon passed on to a much more junior person, the branch manager who had come round to quote took his eye off the ball and the sale soon fell apart as no one scrutinised the buyer's situation closely enough. The common thread with all the high street guys is also that they are constantly trying to push their other money makers - mortgage advise and solicitors - to the seller and buyers alike. I think that results in some conflicts that on a few occasions made me think they weren't fully acting in my interest. I'd echo the No Flies recommendation. You deal with the people you initially meet, they don't have lots of other products to push, and they coordinate and do all the viewings as any bricks and mortar place does. They were also infinitely more responsive than anyone else.

GG - what about those cars that have advertisements on them? Typically very old cars that might otherwise be scrapped, and they have "man with a van" or "cars wanted 4 cash" plastered all over them. They seem to be parked on every busy street when there are no yellow lines. I suppose the owners would argue that it's no different to British Gas or BT labeling their own vans. But they almost never move and so they also strike me as illegal public advertising.

Good work Green Goose. A few are back up outside Altima Court. There are two flats that are currently for sale, so I can live with those for now (Ludlow Thompson and No Flies). Portico (see red devil's post) have also put a sign up even though they have no properties for sale or lease in the building. Clearly just trying to get their new name out there, as they only seem to have 3 ED properties on the books right now. I wonder how widely they are doing this, has anyone else seen these appearing? I've emailed them to point this all out and to ask them to take it down, otherwise I'll just cut it down and bin it this weekend.

Daniel Santa (his company is called DS repairs) has done this work (among other things) for me recently. Good standard of work and reasonably priced, plus he's local. If you do a search for his name you'll find the large thread of recommendations, where I originally got his details.

Thank you for the help, I will have a good look through the site. It must still be relatively rare in this country (I know it's quite a common technology in Scandinavia) as I couldn't find too many installers online.

Has anyone ever had an air source heat pump installed in their home? Ideally an inverter system? Can you share any recommendations of companies who you have personally had quotes from or who actually installed the system for you? I'm interested in knowing rough costs but also reputable businesses that do this. I've looked on Which? Local and can only find one or two in Greater London with good ratings. On checkatrade there don't seem to be any local companies or any that specifically say that they do this sort of work. I've got some fairly inefficient electric heating (no scope to get gas - I'm in a block of flats) and am interested in installing one of these systems. Much more efficient than what I've got, and they can also do the reverse and cool the air like air conditioning (for those 2 days in the year that are hot enough to need it). Feel free to post on here or PM me. Genuine feedback and recommendations only please - I will do basic due diligence and check for new accounts/ those with ties to these businesses, issues I have seen come up in other threads. Thanks

On my most recent move I went with Stefan, who I found on Which? Local. He is based in southeast London and brought in another guy to help with my move. Here's his site: http://www.eazy2move.com/ I didn't have him do the packing, but I presume it's something he would offer. They were very good on the day, moved quickly and took care of all my stuff. Otherwise I've previously used these guys, who are based near Loughborough Junction: http://oisremovals.co.uk/ They are slightly more expensive since they are a company - but means they might have more availability and people to do the job. They were very good both times I used them. I once used them for packing - a guy came in for half a day and did the whole job, would've taken me many nights after work!

When I was a first-time buyer I made the mistake of signing up with Foxtons. Their constant calls and harassment put me off. And when I moved next time I completely ignored their properties on Rightmove as they would be over-priced and you'd have to put up with them. I didn't mind seeing properties marketed with online companies but it makes it very awkward to be honest about a place or to negotiate. On the plus side their asking prices always seemed more reasonable as the agency doesn't know the area, and the owner is less likely to try a ridiculous initial asking price the same way Foxtons (or even KFH) do. There is also a tier of small "off the high street" estate agents that seem to be more popular. I dumped my high street estate agent for one, and friends of mine have had positive experiences. They're less complacent than the big chains and offer a more personal service.

I'd also like to recommend Alan. I tried using Which? Local to find someone but found the recommendations to be out of date, and the coverage for SE London wasn't great. EDF isn't always perfect for recommendations, but I found Alan's details on here and was very pleased. He changed both front door locks after I had recently moved. He pointed out, very helpfully, that neither lock was "British standard" and therefore the average contents insurance policy would be void for me or any of my neighbours. He was very keen to point out he wasn't up-selling and offered to check my insurance policy, but I completely trust that he was telling the truth. He suggested the cheapest/ best way for me to meet insurance standards. Once he had the lock he came back, agreed a price up front, stuck to it, did the work efficiently and cleaned up after himself. Also a really nice guy.

I would second the No Flies vote. I completed about a week ago so my experience is very recent. I was originally selling through Pedder - they were OK but the sale went wrong and I partly blame this on the buyer having used their in-house mortgage advisors. The mortgage advisor was overly optimistic about the buyer's prospects of getting a mortgage offer, although once I found out his circumstances it seemed obvious to me that he was high risk. It fell through very late and I lost out on my onward purchase. I think the experience was typical of the bigger high street chains - they push their other services and my case was very quickly offloaded to more junior staff with little oversight from the person who did the initial valuation. I was just some other number and they really cared about getting new instructions. I switched to No Flies on the recommendation of a neighbour who sold with them this summer. There are just two of them, and I dealt with them at all stages. They don't push other services on buyer or seller, and I was always able to get through to someone or got a reply to emails within hours. The service was certainly much better and at a lower fee than Pedder. They took all my experiences into account and really made sure the buyer was sound and that everything went smoothly.