ailbhe: (Default)
[personal profile] ailbhe
Sir Parsley and the Dragon

Friends of mine bought a listed building as their family home about a year ago. They got all the usual surveys and checks done, and were granted a mortgage, and all that good stuff. And now, after Livi's younger daughter's son was born and Livi was signed off as unable to work through illness or incapacity, their house is crumbling. The bricks in the chimney have crumbled to dust, literally not figuratively, due to vibrations in the road outside. Their insurance doesn't cover this damage, which increases daily. The whole roof needs to be replaced, the supporting wall needs serious work, and the chimney stack needs to be removed or replaced, I'm not sure which.

Meanwhile, they are living in friends' and relations' spare rooms, sleeping on floors and dressing from boxes or suitcases - three adults, a teenager (who is still trying to attend college), and her baby.

Adam (Livi's husband, the girls' stepfather, the baby's step-grandfather) published a book for kids aged about 6-10 years a while ago. If you buy a copy, it will contribute about a pound towards the thirty thousand pounds they need to rebuild their home.

Obviously, they can't just sell it and start again - totally unfeasible.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-02-05 01:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] socmot.livejournal.com
They got all the usual surveys and checks done

My negligence bells are going crazy. I think they should seek legal advice because it sounds as though someone may not have done their job.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-02-05 01:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] socmot.livejournal.com
Yes, this is true enough. Gah. What a horrible situation.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-02-05 01:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] livi-short.livejournal.com
We have been told that the legal battle against the original surveyor may take a year or more and the chimney has now collapsed and there is an open hole into the house. Luckily we have scaffolding up so no one was injured when it went.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-02-05 02:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] socmot.livejournal.com
That's awful, I am so sorry.
Hope the surveyor gets all the bad things that are due to them.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-02-05 01:32 pm (UTC)
rmc28: Rachel in hockey gear on the frozen fen at Upware, near Cambridge (Default)
From: [personal profile] rmc28
Well it's now out of stock at Play.com and I just ordered Amazon's last copy (they both claim "more on the way").

Once it arrives, I'll try to get a picture and a review up on Amazon.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-02-05 01:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] livi-short.livejournal.com
Thank you so much. I really appreciate this.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-02-05 06:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nolly.livejournal.com
Here's the Lulu link, whihc some may find useful.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-02-05 11:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mamagotcha.livejournal.com
I'm visiting here via [livejournal.com profile] elisem's journal.

For your American readers... (http://www.amazon.com/Sir-Parsley-Dragon-Other-Stories/dp/1847534392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233875855&sr=8-1) although I don't know if the author will get quite as much, but it looks like the book was published here to begin with so maybe he will. Can't hurt, anyway.

We had a similar nightmare with a house in Kansas City... we were informed that we could only sue the surveyors (here, inspectors) for the amount they charged for doing the inspection/survey. Hope you friends are able to obtain more satisfaction from your legal system than we were with ours!

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