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> > Estate agents don't much care what houses actually > sell for. They just want the instruction. The > business model is based on turnover, not high > prices. So agents compete for instructions by > inflating sellers' hopes with claims they can get > a higher price than other agents. Then, when the > house has languished unsold for 10 weeks, they > hope the seller will cut the price to market value > and get a sale. As a result, in a falling market > most sellers end up stuck above high-tide mark, > while the few buyers around only offer on the > bargains. The percentage model is totally biased against customers and favours the agent. If you're charging 2% of a sale price (no idea what rates are around here at the moment) and the asking price is ?1m, an agent doesn't care whether they get 2% of ?1m or 2% of ?900K, as it's just the difference of ?18K in the bank or ?20K that may come later if they are fortunate. A more equitable model would be to agree a listing fee for a price that any monkey could sell for (say ?800K in this example) and then, say, 10%-15% of every ?1 above this level. This way, the estate agent would be more realistic about the likely sale price and be incentivised to get the best price for their customer.

There was a crew on Upland Road, near The Actress junction the other day. Flight cases said Pure TV.

Maybe the rain has been summoned to wash away the filth left by the dirty festival hippies.

In an ideal world maybe, but sometimes it isn't practical to do so. Recycling bins is a much better idea - and more bins generally. Goose Green playground bins were overflowing the other day and litter was blowing all around the playground.

@ Sue - yes :-) but it also helps when you know what they are attempting to play. Wish I'd gone. Family commitments took priority. Totally agree with the concern about the park but as long as the litter is cleared away there isn't usually a problem. Grass is particularly resilient and it's not as if they used the bowling green as a dancefloor. I've been to festivals that have been knee-deep in mud and the spaces have recovered relatively quickly.

I thought Louisa might be on here having a moan today but perhaps it isn't as bad as she feared - or maybe she's taken a few pills and gone to join the fun - or maybe she found out what the P in Crazy P stands for and has had a stroke (in more ways than one). So far it has been no louder here than when the fair is on the Rye or when there's a local party going on. And I can still hear someone practising the violin and repeatedly missing the F#, so I'm thinking of calling Gala and asking them to turn it up. By the way, Norman Jay MBE is about 60 and pretty much introduced the UK to house music in the 80s; Greg Wilson is similar; Mr Scruff and Crazy P have been playing jazz & funk on the festival circuit for at least 20 years - hardly aimed solely at the 18-30 hipster crowd.

I *think* the trains stopping at Blackfriars is a temporary measure until the full Thameslink service comes into play in December. Last I read, there is due to be a Maidstone - Cambridge service that will stop at Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill. Also, there are due to be a lot more trains on the main drag through Blackfriars / City Thameslink / Farringdon, so it should only be a few minutes' wait for the next through train if your train terminates at Blackfriars, and it's just across the platform. It's not ideal but hopefully it will be an improvement in the long term.

I thought the Women's Equality Party did a formidable job this year. I can't remember seeing a "fringe" party making such an impact in recent years and their share of the vote is a testament to that. However, I suspect that WEP's success has taken a share of James's vote and it's sad to see someone else who has put so much into the campaign and contributed to the neighbourhood has lost his seat as a result. Of all the canvassers I spoke to, I found Labour to be deeply unpleasant. I felt they talked down to me and had no interest in listening to my concerns. No doubt they will all be toasting themselves with champagne, congratulating themselves on how many fish they managed to shoot in Southwark's barrel.

The council put notices on all the lamp posts in our street, asking residents to be considerate and move their bins back inside their properties. The regular offending household continued to leave their bin out, leaving too little space between the bin and the lamp post to get a push chair / wheel chair / tartan shopping trolley / fat person through. Still, they are the same household that regularly scrapes / bangs other cars when parking their massive estate car, so I doubt that a few notices are going to appeal to their sense of being good neighbours.

You could invite your relatives around to watch it on your TV or broadband while you cook them a nice dinner, or just do something else

Seems you can't answer the poll if you are not a Facebook member

I think they are enforceable but as an invoice rather than a fine. Something like agreeing to the T&Cs by parking there in the first place, and the T&Cs state that the parking is free for 2 hours and then ?100 (or some other ridiculous amount). Failure to pay can end up in a civil court case which can result in court costs and so on. As this has gone on for years, I would think that the general driving public would have wised up to them if they were not enforceable.

Do they give you a ticket or just shock you with a letter six weeks after the date? I went over my two hours today by the time I'd done a big shop, dealt with a nappy, a spillage and taking a toddler around the toy section. It's very easy to do!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I wasn't aware of edtots but I'm quite a newbie. Plenty of ideas here and on there.

I didn't know about that one, thanks!

Thanks for the suggestion!

We've just spent a wonderful summer with our 2 year old, visiting the various parks, playgrounds and museums all over London - we've been spoiled for choice. But with the evenings drawing in and the weather being less forgiving, we need to find some indoor drop-in activities that are closer to home. Any suggestions would be gratefully received - ideally no subscription / membership fees, walkable (or short public transport trip) from ED, likely to tire out a little dynamo..... Thanks

From the logo, I assumed that this place was going to be in an mock Art Deco style, but the artist's impression is far more disappointing: http://www.thetribeca.co.uk/

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