Complete!

Got the keys - about to enter our new house. Took a camping table, two chairs and a bottle of fizz along with a pizza bought from the bakery when I collected the keys at lunchtime - our first meal at Lanarkshire duly celebrated!

A RIBA a RIBA

How do you pick the perfect architect? We've looked at websites, sought personal recommendations, interviewed several architects and are about to speak to customers of the favourites. But how do you really pick the person to go share the business of designing and building you the perfect house? I've (no surprise to those who work with me!) done an interview comparison sheet and constructed an options appraisal matrix... Then as usual we'll compare gut feeling to the scientifically derived rankings and if they agree, great, if not we'll review the rankings to see whether the weightings are wrong or we're being led inappropriately by our hearts rather than our heads. But perhaps you have a better way? Please share it with us!

The Grey-Hair-Ometer

Baseline today - see how it progresses through the project...

How much is our house worth?

We have got market valuations from three different estate agents which vary quite a bit. Go on, guess what the spread is. Nearest guess wins a prize! Well - the answer is the agents clearly don't know - £175K variation... Susie wins a flight in the Duo at some point! Actually, two valuations were fairly similar and we're going with a Great British Compromise on those two.

Mowing the Patio....

As all the garden and paddock are down to rough grass, we asked the vendors if we could go in and mow the lawn before it got out of hand. Unfortunately by the time they said 'yes no problem' and we got down there, it was.... too late.

Most of Friday and Saturday were taken up with trying to retrieve the situation. Alan started off by mowing the patio... and then the 'lawn' and then the paddock while I commenced excavations on the driveway. How on earth will we manage two large plots while we're going through the process of design, planning and building? Only one thing for it, I will selflessly volunteer to do as few days' work as possible...

What are we buying?

This is it!

And the view from higher up the hill - arrow is showing the house:

And this is why - the view from the back garden:

The Story So Far... Chapter 2

14 March 2014 Went to view Lanarkshire – big name, small bungalow... The bungalow has planning permission to add a top floor. Superb location, splendid views, but... the plot faces north. Can we get a light sunny house that still faces the views? One comfort is that while we’re in the middle of the biggest floods since the Ark and the village road is currently a river, we are high enough up the hill that nowhere feels damp underfoot. I go and speak to the duty planner – he turns out to be the chap who did the planning permission for the top floor. Clearly he won’t commit to anything but in principle he’s relatively optimistic about much of what I suggest we might want to do – although of course there are no guarantees until you have the signed permission. 18 March – our offer is accepted. Oh my goodness!!! The vendors have tried a couple of times before to sell but it fell through for various reasons. They accept our offer on the basis of exchange within 28 days. We’re happy with this – if it can be done, we’d like it to be done. Over subsequent days it becomes clear that one of the things that caused ruckles before was an uplift clause in the event of redevelopment – happily this is now extinct. Instead, the concern is regarding the water supply. Southern Water are absolutely sure it’s on mains water – but have no idea where the supply is. Work that one out if you can! We poke around for a stopcock and meet several locals but fail to resolve the question. Trying to sort all this out means that we reach the 28 day limit and start to panic again – will they give up and sell to someone else instead? I’m away at the Pribina Cup in Slovakia and Alan is left panicking on his own at home - we get stressed as it slides over Easter and still doesn’t quite happen. It’s not entirely clear why it hasn’t happened – our solicitor assures us she’s talking to them and they’re happy but do we relax? No we don’t! 30 April Finally... after a few last minute hiccups, we exchanged contracts this afternoon.

The Story So Far...

Liz and Alan have been looking for a plot to build themselves a house for around seven years. Each time we found something we liked, someone else bid more for it. I (Liz) was starting to think it would never happen. What we wanted was around half an acre or so in a quiet scenic location somewhere local. And - and this is the key thing that has made the search difficult - it had to be better than where we are now, which is extremely good. Well, finally it looks as if we have found it. All will be explained in the next instalment...