Week 97: Miracle on 23 High Street

Graham (building regs) to inspect work: 

They have to tick off the following itinerary before I can even think about talking to the lender. The good news is the main builder has advised me that most of what’s required has already been done below:

Strengthening of roof

Rebuilding of gable end wall

New first floor timber floors

New concrete floors

All alterations to walls and installation of lintels over doors and windows

The dry lining of external walls

The staircase

New roof on utility

New toilet connection

Electrician to give certificate

Heating and boiler certificate

Front doors and replacement windows to be either fitted by a FENSA contractor or building regs to inspect

Need guttering down pipe connection connected to soak away

Gutter on the back of the main house needs repair.

Masonry on back wall above conservatory needs repointing - Needs Lime Based Mortar 

Tightly redress flashing on the chimney 

Any ridge tiles that need to be repointed; some have gaps

Builders to do list:

Front Door (kitchen)

Staircase

Internal doors inc lounge frame with ground floor skirting

Window sills to the front sash 

Steps to be placed in: 2x front doors, conservatory & the lounge needs levelling

Basically all the bits so I can get the carpets in)

Loft Hatch  

Macerator Pump instead of digging outside drains

Small opening in the lounge (an old tiny window) create a shelf.

Window reveals/Romero to sort

Plumbing Sign Off: 

Pay Western Power £1407 to reconnect 

Install full WC & hang small radiator

Fit & test boiler 

Plumbing for washing machine & dishwasher

Fit shower screen & bath panel

Fill ALL holes 

 Wow! so it appears Kevin may have a heart after all…

I’m going to start calling him Kevin Hart; you know that cute guy in the movies...okay bad joke. On a serious note Kevin is the Director of Ascot Bridging Finance and a major decision maker. Contrary to popular belief he wasn’t the ‘ugly’ that would be our project manager who really is the single most coldest person I've ever had the dis-pleasure of meeting. Everyone other than him has shown much remorse with compassion and doing whatever they can do to bring the project to an end, including Ascot. In light of the current situation Kevin has decided to drop the 5% interest to a 1% per month in default charges as he is well aware that we will lose our house and that is not his intention. 

They’re not any different to any other short-term lenders who come with bad a rap and in fairness I don’t blame him, we couldn't show him anything concrete but more of a liability/nuisance. We fell in the hands of a terrible project manager who didn’t do anything other than hinder this project. Seriously, we are not passing the buck he completely took advantage of our limited experience. Anyway, to give you the low-down of where we are at the moment. Kevin has agreed on the following:

  • A final two month extension costing us £1250 in advance for all leagls

  • A further payment of 2 x £1290 for two consecutive months

While these are very high fees it’s still better than losing the house altogether. We now have to work extremely fast to get the house fully completed and yet pay for another valuation (£500) and take it from there. We still have to find a further £15k to finish the above list as they have stopped the final payout of £9k given the close proximity of our deadline (12th November 2021).

Please readers, tread carefully when it comes to bridging finance it is not to be taken lightly. Enter at your own peril. When it works it works very well but can turn sour very quickly if you start to fall behind.