Slight Crisis

Phone call from my neighbour last night (I am on the boat at Watford) at 22:35 to say water leaking from beside rear door accompanied by loud banging noise.  Luckily I had put a key in a key safe outside the back door so I was able to give Mel (neighbour's lodger) access - she switched off the water. Bless her.

Text to the builder - he has responded this morning at 08:30 and is off there this morning (Sunday) with a plumber to have a look.

That's what comes from employing a reputable builder - I am sad it has happened but delighted with the response from the builder.  Well done DJ Hutchings of Towcester.

A follow up from Tom from DJ Hutchings this morning (Tuesday 23-July). The issue was caused by a spike in the water pressure in Stoke Bruerne and the hot water heater not being able to react to it because it had been set to just above the value the water company had advised.  A pressure reducing valve has been fitted and the problem should not recur.

A good week

View from the front door
(better without Indian Chief I feel)

Thankfully things slow down in Stoke Bruerne during the week.  I've taken to sitting outside on the step to have my mid-morning cuppa and have met a number of local people all whom approve of the work I've undertaken (well had done for me).

I still cannot get my divan bed up the stairs so it looks as if that is a non-starter now - bit sad about that.  Tom the builder came round on Monday to do the snag list - there's a few things need doing but the vast majority of the work is excellent and I am very happy with the outcome.  I have rearranged the sitting room (at towpath level) any number of times but think I now have something that looks good and suits me.  I haven't put anything up on the walls yet (apart from a mirror) as I want to get the feel of the house fully before committing to that sort of thing. I have also cleaned out the 'hole' where the kitchen windows go - that looks much better now.

A lovely summer scene looking
in the direction of  the tunnel

James (next door) kindly invited me to a BBQ on Tuesday evening which was very pleasant and very kind.

I have still not registered with a doctor.  The one of my choice in Towcester seemed to have no one at the reception desk for the 20 minutes I waited there so, as it was so hot, I gave up and will go back later.

There's still some work to do on the windows - have found there is no motar between the repaired frame and the wall and the frame and the window sill on the two top windows but has been done on the lower window.  I'll have to find out why that is.

I am getting used to going up and down the stairs (having lived in a bungalow for 27 years) and am sure it will help with my cardio vascular system! (Or so my friend Sue would say).

One of the things I find very useful is the mile-upon-mile of retail outlets in Milton Keynes (just 15 minutes drive away).  I think they look awful - just big amorphous corporate buildings but they have everything you could wish for and I console myself in the knowledge that just 15 minutes up the road is a little oasis of calm called Stoke Bruerne!

I was sitting on the step this afternoon (Sunday) and started talking to very nice elderly lady.  It turns out she was the daughter of a gentleman called Jack James who lived at No3 and started the Canal Museum off in 1963.  She was most interesting and told me a little about the layout of the house. The lower ground floor as the coal and wood store (now the kitchen), the towpath level was the living room cum kitchen with a large pantry at the back.  The second floor had two bedrooms (currently one bedroom and a bathroom) and the top floor was the big bedroom (and still is).  Other facilities (loo etc) were behind the house in the area I now park the car.

Shortly after this I was standing on the steps and along came Rob Locatelli who I know very well from Basingstoke and River Wey Navigation times - what a small world.

Off for a few days now to go to the IWA National - don't particularly want to go but I think a break from the house is perhaps a good idea.

It's taking longer to settle in than planned

The Morris men at the top lock

But that's because there are so many distractions!

On Sunday a number of Morris teams (is that the correct collective noun?) or is it 'sides' arrived at set up on the far side of the top lock.  It was sorchingly hot but they all danced for a couple of hours in rotation and then marched into the pub (the Boat Inn) in strict line to the very loud beating of a bass drum.  I am not sure that Morris dancing is my 'thing' but I did enjoy seeing a traditional English pastime being enjoyed by so many and some of the team's turnout was a credit to them.

Nutfield and Raymond being breasted
 up prior to the Stoke Bruerne 7

Then in the evening Raymond and Nutfield moored (temporarily) right outside my front door as they waited to lock through the Stoke Bruerne top lock.

I didn't get anything done in the house that day I am afraid.

In the evening a had a chat with a delightful couple (Katherine and Tony) who were renting No4.  I talked to Katherine about curtain poles and she suggested talking to the blacksmith at the tunnel mouth. I walked down to see him and he would be very happy to make curtain poles to fit in with the style of the house - great and it puts money into the local economy and not into some amorphous corporate!

The reason I moved to Stoke Bruerne

Well one of them anyway.  The view this evening from my front door is just wonderful. On the left you can just see the back of Bideford, (Towcester's butty), then there's the butty Moon, then Lamprey, Kestrel and Sculptor (the Canal Museum's boat) and a hire boat making a valiant (and successful) effort to squeeze through the only available space.

Without the hire boat 

It could almost be a picture from years gone by! 

Now moved in

I moved in on Thursday 27-June-13 and was greeted by the builder with a bunch of lovely lilies and a bottle of champagne (did I pay him too much I wonder?!).

The house is delightful but there's a lot of work to do in settling in and there's a few things the builder needs to finish off but nothing urgent.

There's only been two really challenging things happen - my new bed won't go up the stairs no matter which way we tried so at the moment I am sleeping on the mattress which is the essence of a good bed I think and my chest of drawers didn't make it up the stairs either - may be i can dismantle them a bit further and see if they will go.  At the moment they are in the sitting room which is a bit of a nuisance but it is not a huge priority at the moment.

My friend Sue (who lives in Tenby) came, along with her friend Tony, to take me out to lunch on the Friday - that was lovely and gave me something different to look forward to.  We went to the Navigation just below the Stoke Bruerne top lock which I enjoyed.

For the time being I seem to be going up and down the stairs most of the day!

VAT and other taxes

The following is the text of a letter I have sent to my MP concerning VAT and other taxes I have had to pay on this house. I think it is sell explanatory! I await a response with interest.

Andrea Leadsom
MP South Northamptonshire
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

I write to you as a new constituent having recently moved from Brookwood (Woking) to Stoke Bruerne (NN12 7SE). My concern is the VAT levied on me to bring a house back to a habitable status and other taxes.  I believe that I have brought a house back into the useful housing stock of the UK and at the same time left my previous house in good order and condition and now occupied by a young couple.

The house I have bought was described as being empty, unfurnished and unoccupied and as such attracted, at the time of purchase, a zero rating as regards Council Tax. Of course that ended on 01-April due to Government legislation and for some reason, unclear to me, I had to pay the full rate of Council Tax for the period 26-April (date of purchase) until date of occupancy (27-June).  I am entitled to the single person discount (25%) only from the date of occupancy despite the house remaining empty, unfurnished and unoccupied.  In the meantime I have had to find alternative accommodation.

I have undertaken some research and am aware that a listed building is entitled to some exemptions but I find the HMRC Notice 708 so complicated that after reading and re-reading it I find I am none the wiser and I regard myself as being of reasonable intelligence.  Likewise a new build is seemingly zero rated for VAT (again the HMRC notice is complex) but bringing back into use an old (1848 I believe) house which remained empty, unfurnished and unoccupied, is in a conservation area and is, according to the South Northamptonshire Council website subject to an Article 4(2) designation (no permitted development) subject to VAT at 20% on all work seems to me to be an omission on behalf of the Government and, in my opinion, grossly unfair.

The structural report I had commissioned on the house in Stoke Bruerne indicated that the house was structurally sound, had a contaminated water supply and I, along with friends in the industry; believe required complete renovation to bring it up to an acceptable standard.  I was surprised that there was no form of relief, from any source, for me to bring the house back to a habitable standard and back into the housing stock of the country whilst of course retaining the historical aspects of the house especially as regards the frontage onto the Grand Union Canal.

The work required included:

• Complete renovation of the three canal facing windows whilst maintaining the historical aspect of the house
• Replacement of the front and rear doors whilst retaining the historical aspect
• Installing new cost effective heating
• Replacement of the outdated kitchen
• Complete renovation of the bathroom - the floor was unsafe amongst other issues

My accounts show that I paid the following amounts in VAT and other taxes

• Windows (VAT) £640
• Recarpeting (VAT) £400
• Bringing the house back to a habitable standard (VAT) £8,300
• Additional Council Tax for the period not occupied by me (due to building works) 26-April-13 to 27-June-13 £100

This is my only house, it is not a buy-to-let or any other form of investment, I am not a developer and it is my intention to remain in the house for the foreseeable future. I do not intend to sell the house or make it available for rent.

At a time when it is well known that the country is short of housing I am uncomfortable that there is no process to claim some kind of rebate against the swingeing VAT (20%) imposed on all aspects of bringing this house back to a habitable status.  I wouldn't expect a zero rating for work such as this (although new houses are zero rated) as I have undoubtedly improved the accommodation but I believe there should be avenues to claim a lower rating of VAT for the principle of bringing a house back into the usable stock of the country.  And as for the refusal of my local Council to grant the 25% single occupancy discount from day one of my ownership - I am lost for words on the way this is allowed.

I have paid Stamp Duty on the purchase but have also been taxed, unfairly in my opinion, on work required to bring the house back to a habitable standard to the extent of approximately £10,000 for which the Government has done nothing other than to add it to their coffers.

I would appreciate your views as to why I have been taxed, again in my opinion, so harshly when listed buildings and new builds are seemingly able to obtain substantial relief.

If you are in the Stoke Bruerne area I would welcome the opportunity to meet you.

Firm Date to move in

I now have a firm date to move into my 'new' house.  Thursday 27-June.  Yes I know it is about three weeks later than the original estimate but the spring has been very wet and apparently the new plaster (especially where it is thicker) has taken a very long time to dry out sufficiently to allow it to be painted.

I am looking forward to it with nervous anticipation.  I am concerned mainly that my bed will go up the stairs - it does break into two pieces which are about 3'3" x 4' so it should.  My friend Sue, who will be staying with a friend of hers, Tony, in Buckingham, has said she will try her best to visit on the Friday - I may well need it but do hope so much she can visit.

In the meantime I have to sort out the van (done), sort out the storage company (I think that's done although they keep sending me bills which I don't owe), sign to say the storage is empty and then get myself to Stoke Bruerne in time for the removers to be able to have unfettered access.

Almost all too much but I expect it will be OK on the day - I sincerely hope so.