Daydream fund challenge part 4

alfie_1

Davesnave wrote: »

:eek: :eek::eek:Cannabis? :eek::eek::eek:

green stuff dave, looks a bit like tomatoe plants if accidentally mixed together

phoebe1989seb

alfie_1 wrote: »

phoebe... you are now near / in staffodshire is it ? do you find a difference in the delay/ forwardness of your plants ie wisteria than Wiltshire ? ours here seems late BUT I know we get that sharp wind off the coast that delays a lot.. I noticed LIR's flowers/plants are often earlier than mine. be interesting to map the progress of same plant at what stage around the country !
well done CTC or should we say "flowerpot man"...& "likkle weed"...

Yes, that's correct Alfie Re: the delay or not between here and our last house in Wilts, DH is convinced there's actually very little difference, whereas I'm not so sure. Based upon the potted wisterias brought from our last house he's probably right - I have pics from last year showing them flowering towards the end of the first week in May and it looks as though they're on target for the same date (roughly ) here. Of course they are in pots so I guess that might make a difference - or no difference iyswim?!?

The evergreen clematis Armandii was slightly ahead here.....I think

Otoh, the beast of a wisteria we inherited when we bought this place is well ahead of our potted ones - but then we estimate it's been here since the mid 1920s when the house was extended, so I s'pose it's so well-established it's ahead of the game

There's a pub up the road that has a slightly smaller specimen than ours and that is even further advanced. Both are on South-facing walls btw.....

Right, that's convinced me I really MUST get those pics I keep promising on here tomoz

Davesnave

alfie_1 wrote: »

green stuff dave, looks a bit like tomatoe plants if accidentally mixed together

Err, yeah, I know.

There wasn't any text in IHS's post at the point when I saw it, so I did some guessing. You can see that from the picture quote. I didn't edit anything out. :A

But I guessed wrong.

Davesnave

DD1 and DH have had the tree surgeon in today. They and their left hand neighbour get on well, so they've agreed to go 50:50 on having all the overgrown trees in their gardens cut down.

Here's what the trees looked like:



They have the most trees but the neighbour has the two largest and they're to the south/south west of DDs garden. The garden is already much lighter and when those two go, it should be transformed. Inside the house is brighter too.

I like trees, but the ones in their two gardens were way too large. Most of DD's were self seeded sycamores.

ferretkeeper

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

IHS dare I ask where you heard of this "conservatory heating" idea and where the kit came from ?!?!

Thanks for that heads up Dave they put the word "Cotswold" in the show info and think they can add some zeros eh?! It's barely Cotswold, or we couldn't have afforded to live there!

Might be worth comparing the difference in travelling to Devon to the saving on the pitch cost and accommodation...I was prob going to sleep on sis's sofa for free, might end up in my van, I'll have more space in the van but it'll be colder!

Alfie, re the holiday let, I didn't go too mad into the regs, certainly no-one was interested in coming to look from the council, That's poss the Wales difference :rotfl:

I was guided by the advice from Visit Wales on safety issues but the whole place was brand spanking new when we'd finished the refurb so signed off electrics etc. And there's no gas appliances.

Check locally, but you might be able to avoid council tax by meeting certain criteria re occupancy and other things that puts the property into business use, which here was valued so cheaply there were no rates to pay...ask anonymously, and hypothetical questions- don't drop yourself in it

It's crazy how things can vary so wildly from one place to the next, as in rules and regs, and the interpretation and enforcement of them. Just another post code lottery!

Davesnave

Meanwhile, here at home, we passed another milestone today when the last major internal demolition was completed.



I finished removing the second wall in Bed 2 which is becoming Bed 1, now it is longer and wider. As you can see, for a while we had a 'priest hole,' having built the new stud wall to Bed 3 next door a while ago.

alfie_1

FK.. I don't understand how you can not pay council tax on any property ? I know theres an exemption whilst renovations are done but surely only for a limited time. thereafter if privately let CT and insurances kick in and if holiday let even more so. we had to get registered as a holiday let thus getting inspected yearly. also all electrics had to have yearly checks with certificates ie emmersion heater,cooker etc. health and safety included fire alarms, exit doors/windows,even temperature of the fridge. the hottest thing was every applicable furnishings had to have the fire safety label.
we even had to prove change of use !!


p.s. the fines for not complying were also scary !

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Alfie I wouldn't have a clue TBH on holiday lets etc, so I cant give any advice, I can remember the lovely ITSME ( WHO I MISS BIG TIME) was having major problems with council rates on her barn converted holiday lets.. i think the problem ws she was paying council rates on them, and when they stopped letting them out, she still had to pay rates on them, to stop paying rates she had to rip out everything in there, to return them back to barn status??? or something like that..
so in theory i can say the 'ranch' is a commercial premises office/ packing station etc, and i wouldn't have to pay rates?? somehow i don't think the council would go for that would they??

ferretkeeper

As I said if you meet certain criteria here you qualify to go on to business rates instead of council tax.

Who is checking and fining people? Maybe there's an equivalent office at our LA I don't know about. I was never told we needed to register somewhere, whether we did holiday lets or short hold tenancies. I spoke to a fair few council departments and other agencies while we renovated, but then they don't often know what other departments do.

We still make sure everything in the house is safe and checked as required, it's common sense, plus it would invalidate our insurance if we didn't and I would worry constantly - I def don't need more things to worry about!

Looks like another nice couple of days, I really must get the gardening jobs finished, there's a bit more weeding to do and lots of plants to go in. They'll get a really good watering in over the weekend judging by the forecast I've just seen :eek:

COOLTRIKERCHICK

so if i put either the ranch, or other house as a commercial 'holiday let' ( and put in planning for change of use) i wouldn't have to pay council tax?? did you have to put in for change of use FK??


if it can be done, this would save us a potential 2k rates a year at the ranch..


I know we are diff councils etc, but what department, or people did you speak to, to get more info on this??


thanks for the heads up, going to look into this, as it potentially could be a good loophole if it can be done...


We have commercial public liability insurance etc on the place anyway, as it is classed as a commercial smallholding, due to the fact we sell pigs at market etc.. even though its a hobby, that don't wash anymore pity lol