sophiesofa

I grew up in the sticks and loved it. But... I had two sisters to hang around with, if I didn't I would have been very bored in my small village. My parents did ferry me about quite a bit, but it was great. My husband was born and bred in Peckham and went to an awful school so left with few qualifications, that was a long time ago though. I used to work in a Lewisham school and couldn't hack it (just keeping the kids in the room was an achievement) so am now a teacher in a Kent grammar school. That school was poorly managed and had other problems, I'm not saying London schools are bad. We sold our East Dulwich 1.5 bed basement flat and moved to a 3 bed house in Sevenoaks for around the same money. We could't afford a bigger property in/around East Dulwich, so for us it made sense to move further out. We're a short walk from the town centre and park and it's easy to get into London to see friends, get some culture etc. You get both good and bad schools anywhere across the country. I really think there are pros and cons to both, so you should just do what you want. Be warned, the grammar systems turns parents crazy! PS some schools have security entrance gates (students and staff swipe in) that have been mistaken for metal detectors before. I have heard (could be a rumour) that there are a few London schools with metal detectors.

We're buying a house with past subsidence. I found insurance through confused.com that was cheap. I can't remember the name, but there were two insurers willing to insure the house - both under ?200. In the end we've had to stick with their current insurer (only as we had a panic and had to arrange it on the day we exchanged - we foolishly didn't realise we needed it that day, so didnt have time to send in the underpinning docs etc.) and it was nearly 3 times more. As a buyer I was intially a bit freaked out when we found out the property had been underpinned and worried about mortgages, insurance, if we were overpaying and future sell ability. It's just very common in the south. The firstly house we were going to buy fell through, and the one we are buying both have been underpinned, admittedly a long time ago.

"Gossip"?! No.

Oh come on, you're making some ridiculous statements there. Yes, by all means request to see the bid but stop and think about what you're saying! I was/am very pro charter but if habs had won, I'd have still congratulated them, not accused them of doing something behind the scenes. Just support the school we're getting, it's not that hard. confusedbyitall Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Something smells wrong to me. > > Of the 1500 how many were from existing pupils > parents? > > Why wont you publish your bid? How long before we > can request it via FOI? > > I have a hunch something behind the scenes has > gone on, that's how you won...not by being the > better provider. > > You piggybacked off the steering committee and > when you were not the chosen provider by them > threw your toys out....of the ranch rover. > How much real community work have you done > towards this? > > I am gutted and annoyed Habs didn't win, they are > by far the better provider. > > Many thanks to the steering committee who have > gone beyond the call of duty to gather the > community on this. Gutted for them

Congratulations Charter!

I don't know, but nothing much happens dec-feb.

Is this some kind of response to thinking they'll be a new secondary in competition to them in the next couple of years. I may be reading too much into it though!

Wow, well done to your mother in law and husband! What utter scumbags. My granny (not in London) scared off a would be attacker in a public toilets once. She was really happy until she was described as an 'elderly lady' in the local newspaper! se22cat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > But otherwise, top form! Ever since the forum > started, I think this is the only ever crime > related thread where the criminals have actually > been caught. I started one about 4 or 5 years ago when the police arrested someone trying to break into my flat - I called 999 and they caught him. Admittedly turned out he was so drunk that he was having trouble trying to climb out of the front garden, but still they did catch him. Was quite sad actually as I went to court and it turned out he was homeless and couldn't remember why he was trying to get in.

When I was young I asked my Dad how new MPs are picked. He told me they all go round the back of the House of Commons, then a man shouts go and the first person to put their hand up wins. I only discovered this wasn't true when I was 18.

Another vote for the one opposite the plough.

I live on lordship lane opposite the police station. I just did the check your address thing on the website and our flat isn't in the zone. So it's not all of lordship lane. I've never had any problems.

I walked - only 10 mins down the road though

Two years ago we bought a hotpoint washer drier for about ?360. Best money we ever spent.

Thanks jdr

Thanks both. Kk yes I suppose that is a good back up plan. We got a little off the asking price as we only have one person behind us in the chain and the house is vacant. Similar story - previous buyer got to the day before exchange then lost his job so it's been empty for quite a while now. We had our offer accepted before it was properly on the market this time, we did get slightly carried away and went above our planned budget, but we can still afford it. Before this underpinning thing we were happy with what we were paying. Now we've had a little reassurance about the underpinning value side of things we're less worried. We went and had another look around the area today, did some standing outside the house looking a bit suspicious! We have decided we're happy to go ahead (as long as the survey goes ok etc.). No house is ever going to be perfect. It's taken the shine off it a bit, but we're still excited about the prospect of living there. We're planning on being there for the foreseeable future; it would be different if we were buying it with more is a short term view. This forum really is excellent. Google had failed but the edf was/is excellent. Thank you!

Thank you m golden, it's reassuring. Was the underpinning reflected in the purchase price? We're also hoping to do a loft conversion in the future - ideally to square off to the side of the house (others on the road have) to make it larger - we are aware this will of course add more weight so may mean extra works to take the weight. I've done a preliminary bit of research on the insurance side of things and it should be fine. Our main concern is the potential difficulty in selling on and whether we are overpaying. I think selling on will be a bit less straightforward than normal, but obviously not impossible and I guess there's no definitive answer on the value side of things. The surveyor will hopefully be able to help with that side of things. Thanks again

Ours still works - we're on lordship lane near the old police station

Thank you everyone, you've all been really helpful. We've asked our solicitor to start the conveyancing work with only getting more info about the subsidence history and insurance stuff for now. We don't yet know why it was underpinned and at the moment we don't think it's moved since 1985. It did have a 20 year guarantee, now expired. The vendor doesn't seem to know much about it (he's owned it for 12 years) but hopefully the solicitors will find out details. It's a 1930s house and the house it is attached with was underpinned at the same time, but the neighbours on the other side (not attached) we don't think have been underpinned. I guess if we do get as far as paying for a survey, we can ask the surveyor to take into account the underpinning when he values it. Otherwise I don't think the vendor is going to budge on the price we had agreed prior to finding this out. Thanks again

Anyone have any ideas? It's a little house and we don't have high salaries, so we're scared of making the wrong decision. If we are going to pull out we'd like to do it early on to save money and time. If we were going to stay there forever we'd buy it, we're just worried about selling it on in the future. I know this is an incredibly boring thread but it doesn't really belong in the ed businesses section.

I went to Brockwell park for the first time. I didn't mind paying and at 7pm we got in quickly. The delay for the start was a bit if a pain but it didn't really matter. We did make a big mistake by standing in the wrong place. We couldn't see the Catherine wheel or bird at all and we weren't too far from the front, but we were to the side. Everyone on our side was wandering if there'd been an error, as to us nothing at all happened until the third song (I think) which was when the fireworks themselves started. The fireworks were great but I completely missed the smiley faces for the happy song - probably because we had a side view! My advice to anyone next year is don't stand at the side.

I've posted to pick your wonderful brains. We've had an offer accepted on a house in Chislehurst. We've since found out it was underpinned in 1985. At the moment we don't know much more than that, but assuming there's been no signs of movement since (and this is documented) would the value be affected? We've done a bit of research and as it was so long ago and we have a good deposit, we shouldn't have issues obtaining the mortgage and Insurance seems fine (they seem to be fine generally with work that long ago) just not as easy as 'normal'. We've talked to people about it and we're getting conflicting advice. Will the house be worth less than what we had accepted, given the past history? I have of course searched google but there's divided opinion, except that most people think underpinned properties are actually a safe bet, it's just the problems/stigma attached to them. We do appreciate it will be harder to sell on in the future. We keep jumping from walking away, to let's see when we've got more details. My gut tells me if we are to continue with the purchase we need a chunk of money taken off? Thank you for any words of wisdom. I wrote that on my phone so apologies for any typos.

I think it's unrealistic to expect staff to all get public transport. It's easier to get into Central london than it is to go around the edges on public transport. I'm a teacher and I drive, as do about 70% of the employees (although my school is in kent). When I had an office job in Central london I got the train and tube. Yes, it would be better for the school and the locals (I live opposite the new school) if all staff walk or get public transport, but it's just not going to happen. It's already a tight site and I don't think they should compromise the playground space. They'll just have to park on the roads, which is far from ideal.

KidKruger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes I agree CS. > I think the system should be that you take a > ticket when entering the car park then insert it > back into the ticket machine just before you > depart and it calculated your parking fee. > But that would mean they make less revenue from > fines - which I'm sure is a lucrative revenue > stream for the hospital. > Very sad the way hospital car parks are run. Southampton General and Milton Keynes hospital have the pay as you leave system so I just assumed most did. Bit crap to fine people for having to stay longer than anticipated!

Is the proposed school now going to be called Haberdashers' askes's Hatcham East Dulwich then? Such a mouth full! Is that to try and disassociate themselves from haberdashers's askes knights academy which is not that far away?

Thanks all