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Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

JeandeServiette · 25/07/2023 16:33

Chuntering.

ShyMaryEllen · 25/07/2023 16:34

I know. My guess is that there will be a housing estate being built nearby.

Jongleterre · 25/07/2023 16:36

I think the chap in the video was set a challenge for a bet.

'How long can you talk utter bollocks about a house, it's rooms and location for, using as much twaddle-speak without laughing?'

mastertomsmum · 25/07/2023 16:36

Nice inside but outside a bit of an eyesore

mastertomsmum · 25/07/2023 16:38

MrsElsa · 19/07/2023 08:41

Still can't imagine who would buy this type of property and what they would do there. Especially in Norfolk!

It looks really lonely somehow

Blakeney is a really lovely place but the house is ugly

Jongleterre · 25/07/2023 16:39

Alternative house competitions -

Cumbria £2

www.loquax.co.uk/housecomps/win-a-house-in-cumbria.php

JeandeServiette · 25/07/2023 16:39

If it was a bet @Jongleterre , he won. Swept the twaddle board.

Jongleterre · 25/07/2023 16:40

Lancashire £4.99 ends tomorrow

www.loquax.co.uk/housecomps/win-a-house-in-lancashire.php

Jongleterre · 25/07/2023 16:41

Nottingham

www.loquax.co.uk/housecomps/win-my-home-nottingham.php

AlwaysWantingIceLollies · 25/07/2023 18:57

I read that with omaze, they fully check and credit reference winners before they are notified, so that leads me to believe if you've got bad credit you won't be chosen as the winner.
So I don't play anymore, I was only entering as I can't afford decent house of my own. 🤣 will look into those ones posted above ^ though.
Please someone gift me a house 🤞🏼

ShyMaryEllen · 25/07/2023 20:33

AlwaysWantingIceLollies · 25/07/2023 18:57

I read that with omaze, they fully check and credit reference winners before they are notified, so that leads me to believe if you've got bad credit you won't be chosen as the winner.
So I don't play anymore, I was only entering as I can't afford decent house of my own. 🤣 will look into those ones posted above ^ though.
Please someone gift me a house 🤞🏼

Is that legal? I can understand not wanting criminals (as in bank robbers, not people with speeding fines) to win, in case it damages their reputation, but if they won't let someone with debts win, they should make that very clear when they take their money.

Zampa · 25/07/2023 20:45

ShyMaryEllen · 25/07/2023 14:05

I’m in the draw for the Yorkshire house, but will be away when the draw happens. I will be able to respond to an email, but according to this article they are half way to your house by the time you get it (and it doesn’t sound as though there is a privacy option - they come with a camera crew). There is a link in the article to the rules, and it seems that you are a ‘potential winner’ until the end of their validation process, which seems stacked in favour of their being able to pick and choose who they want to win.

https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/apr/04/too-good-to-be-true-what-it-is-really-like-to-win-a-3m-dream-home

Can it be legal to deny someone a prize because they go on holiday in August? I know it’s a very long shot that I’ll be the winner, but I love this house and it’s not far from where my son lives, so it would be my dream prize.

I know someone who won an Omaze house in the Cotswolds. They were away at the time so their daughter met the team at their house and they called them. Lucky sods.

ShowOfHands · 25/07/2023 20:53

Jongleterre · 25/07/2023 16:36

I think the chap in the video was set a challenge for a bet.

'How long can you talk utter bollocks about a house, it's rooms and location for, using as much twaddle-speak without laughing?'

My BIL is one of Sowerbys' talking Norfolk monkeys and we all rip the piss at family gatherings by walking into the room in a faux casual way and effusing about the weather or something similarly unremarkable. He hates us all of course, but it's free entertainment.

MillWood85 · 25/07/2023 21:08

There was one local to us that was won a few years ago.

The house had been sat on the market for some time before the developer sold to Omaze. It is a stunning house from the outside but the access to it is a bit offputting and the drive is one that you could send the kids down in a bobsled on a cold day. I'm not surprised that it didn't sell at what the developer thought it was worth and I don't think their business survived the financial hit.

BaublesinSummer · 26/07/2023 00:07

That video is grim.

AlwaysWantingIceLollies · 26/07/2023 09:04

@ShyMaryEllen honestly I've no idea but the background checks on the terms and conditions il copy and paste below. It kinda reads as though they can do background checks on you and your family and not tell you why you have been disqualified 🤔 you are a 'potential winner' until they deem you worthy of being a winner. I read the bad credit etc on mumsnet on a thread a long while ago which made me check all the t&Cs.

"Background Checks: Except where legally prohibited, Omaze reserves the right to conduct background screenings or security checks, at its discretion, on a Potential Winner and any Potential Winner guests, where applicable, and the Potential Winner agrees to sign any necessary documentation required for such checks. This will always be done in accordance with Omaze’s Privacy Notice. Promoter reserves the right to disqualify any Potential Winner and any Potential Winner’s guest(s) based on the results of such background check (or the background check of Potential Winner’s guest(s), if applicable), if Promoter reasonably determines that awarding the Prize(s) to such Potential Winner and/or Potential Winner’s guest(s) might reflect negatively on Promoter or any of the Prize Draw Partners, or be likely to put Promoter, any of the other Prize Draw Partners, or any other third-party in danger. *Promoter is not obligated to clarify, confirm, or share any specific results of a background screening or security check with any Potential Winner or any Potential Winner’s guest(s), whether the background screening or security check resulted in disqualification or not. Factors that could result in disqualification include, without limitation: having been convicted of a criminal or civil offence or being delinquent on a government-ordered payment. When requested, Potential Winner and Potential Winner’s guest(s), if applicable, must provide authorization and/or complete any forms reasonably needed to facilitate such a background screening or security check. If Potential Winner and/or Potential Winner’s guest(s) fails to sign and return the required documentation within the period specified by Promoter, Potential Winner and/or Potential Winner’s guest(s) may be disqualified and will forfeit any claim to any of the Prize(s). Except for Prize Draws in which Winner and/or Winner’s guest(s) qualifications, requirements or restrictions may be stated in the Experience Rules (for example, any residency or citizenship requirements, age requirements or health requirements), Potential Winners and Potential Winner guests will not be disqualified based on race (including colour, nationality or ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, gender reassignment, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity, or any other protected characteristics."

ShyMaryEllen · 26/07/2023 10:15

Yes, I’ve seen that, and assume it has been legally checked, but it seems dodgy that they can disqualify you from such a big prize without saying why.

RoyKentFanclub · 26/07/2023 14:31

I see the omaze Cornwall house went on the market yesterday. £4.5m

MoustacheTwirler · 26/07/2023 15:58

I am convinced I am going to win the Yorkshire House, have practically moved in already!

I have been trying to see the catch with the Yorkshire House but haven't heard anything through the grapevine. Any ideas?

JeandeServiette · 26/07/2023 16:07

ShyMaryEllen · 26/07/2023 10:15

Yes, I’ve seen that, and assume it has been legally checked, but it seems dodgy that they can disqualify you from such a big prize without saying why.

Yes that seems very shady (and as clear as mud).

KievLoverTwo · 26/07/2023 16:30

MoustacheTwirler · 26/07/2023 15:58

I am convinced I am going to win the Yorkshire House, have practically moved in already!

I have been trying to see the catch with the Yorkshire House but haven't heard anything through the grapevine. Any ideas?

Assuming the property is Crow Hill:

I have lived in a stone house with an EPC exactly the same and I can tell you the EPC will be a crock of shit. Our energy use was four times the EPC (but our heating system was questionable). Let's be kind and assume it's x3 the EPC:

https://find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/energy-certificate/5300-8059-0222-5222-3973

An average household would need to spend £3,385 per year on heating, hot water and lighting in this property. These costs usually make up the majority of your energy bills.

That's £10,155 to heat the main house.

The Council Tax on the house is £4356.

Then it has an Annexe which is also energy poor:

https://find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/energy-certificate/2753-3005-7209-5737-0204

An average household would need to spend £1,242 per year on heating, hot water and lighting in this property. These costs usually make up the majority of your energy bills.

Again, let's triple that.

That's £3,726 to heat the Annexe.

Additionally, the Annexe has it's own council tax of £1452 a year.

I tried to insure a stone built house in May. It was about 150 years younger than this one. It was 2000 sq ft and they wanted at least £1340 a year.

Let's assume insurance is x4 that because it's massive and far older.

Insurance: £5,360 per year.

So, before you've used any extra energy other than heat and water you're paying:

£10,155
£4,356
£3,726
£1,452
£5,360

£25,049

just to run the house.

It runs on LPG (liquid petrol gas) which I assume is the same pain in the arse stuff friends of ours struggled to get hold of last winter. It comes in big, heavy metal bottles.

You can't actually tell when you're going to run out because none of the reading implements for them work. You just have to keep one bottle next to the other and switch them over when one runs out. And hope you're strong enough to do so, because they're about five and a half feet tall.

Not only do you have to phone around to try to track down supplies sometimes, but the market is completely unregulated with no caps whatsoever.

We were on oil last summer when watching electricity prices go up. At the time, Kerosene (in actual oil form, but a similar fluctuating market) was quadruple the price of the highest rate anyone was paying for electricity and about ten times the price of gas.

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/propane

^ There's your propane history. I see it went up as much as Kerosene, which reached a peak of £1.30 a litre in March 2022.

... we finally moved out when we realised our 1500 square ft house was going to cost £1250 to heat in November if the prices stay the same. They've gone down to about 59p now (after averaging 30-45p in prior years), but they can always massively spike.

Every time there's a crisis in the world, these prices fluctuate. The week before last, our oil price went up 5p a litre because the OPEC countries decided to release less oil in order to keep the prices high - which is perfectly legal.

So, there are NO controls.

It also looks like it will get cut off/snowed off in winter, and that's not the kind of road that gets gritted.

In short, you need to be absolutely loaded in order to be able to afford to run it, or you need to sell it pretty damn quick. Houses in that price range can stay on the market for years, and if you don't live in stone buildings and heat them they fall to pieces (quite literally) very quickly. So someone would need to live in it, heat it, and pay the council taxes all the time it's on the market.

That said, I still bleedin' entered!

Energy performance certificate (EPC) – Find an energy certificate – GOV.UK

https://find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/energy-certificate/5300-8059-0222-5222-3973

MoustacheTwirler · 26/07/2023 20:13

😂

Thanks @KievLoverTwo! Guess I better also stick with Plan A (win the lottery) too!

ShyMaryEllen · 26/07/2023 20:55

When I win it you can both come over for lunch - we can eat outside if it's sunny or in the garden room if it rains.

MoustacheTwirler · 26/07/2023 21:23

ShyMaryEllen · 26/07/2023 20:55

When I win it you can both come over for lunch - we can eat outside if it's sunny or in the garden room if it rains.

Lovely! Would I also be allowed to have a potter around the potting shed?

ShyMaryEllen · 26/07/2023 21:36

MoustacheTwirler · 26/07/2023 21:23

Lovely! Would I also be allowed to have a potter around the potting shed?

Absolutely! And a root about the annexe.