If the previous owners were cack-handed botchers, you're in real trouble.

Cold winters are so not a con!! I've been in the UK for 18 months and I miss *real* winters so much! Rain is depressing after 2 weeks of it. and its always smoggy, even in the country side! I miss skies that are actually blue.... not funny bluey grey.

Do you mind if i ask why you left the country then MissingCanada?

wow....I'll take it you have the former at the moment then, but doesn't that mean you end up spending a lot of money renovating it over the years? You can see why the houses just get swept along completely whenever there is a natural disaster like flooding or tornadoes.

We saw that in Peterborough Ontario recently, a lot of people lost everything, and there was a lot damage to others basement.

Similar wet weather in Seattle where people have therapy for depression due to the weather.

Is this available from the N.H.S. in the U.K.?

Maybe it should be considered to cheer everyone up!

It''s not a bad thing for homes to have a limited lifespan. Who wants to live in a 400 year old place with 5' doorways, 6' ceilings, walk-in fireplaces, stone floors, add-on plumbing and a roof made of grass? Sure they're quaint but so are those at Disneyland.

Canadian homes are appropriate for the environment and much better value for money. Denigrating them is just another example of Brit putdown.

eheheh-easy one to answer.....
MissingCanada (Wifey) is waiting for me to get my application for pr approved, then we're off. Would be too hard on us both to be apart again, having already been apart once for a year..simple case of the heart ruling the head, my temp visa expired so we came back here to get a pr, now we are just waiting to go back...

Eh? I think if the city storm drains back up through the city sewer system, it doesnt matter how good the construction of your house is, there are going to be big insurance claims. nothing was swept away in that flood. Of course if you are in the country on a septic system thats not going to be an issue

I seem to remember a fair amount of damage when that minor huricane hit the S of England a few years ago, so why over design and overpay to protect from something that is virtually never going to happen, and is covered by insurance most of the time. Now if you live in hurricane alley then maybe its a different situation, but probably not. Even windsor castle would probably be damaged if hurricane charley came to visit.

My house is average, but then it is cheap enough that if I need to make upgrades or fix things, I can afford to, If I have to replace the shingles every 20 years, it is still cheaper than paying hundreds of thousands extra for an equivalent place in the UK. To be honest the only major thing I have had to do so far is replace the heating which was over 30 years old, but that was for efficiency reasons that will eventually pay for themselves. Are you seriously saying that if you own a "UK style" house you never have to fix anything!

thats funny - sounds like our shower in the UK!

Especially in Victoria - don't flush the toilet while your husband is in the shower!!!!!

And have you seen the damage to the lovely old stone properties in Boscastle that have stood for hundreds of years? One freak storm and they've gone - £50m estimate to rebuild and we hear that many properties were uninsured (and certainly will be uninsurable now knowing insurance companies)

We live in Port Coquitlam and it is a lovely place I can walk a couple of blocks look North and the next town is Lillowet.Jokes and satire about the pickton farm are sick.By the way it does not exist now,going to be a sub-division,should have been made a public education/memorial park.

You will find that they have, but I think that you are still doing the right thing ,keping assets in the U.K. untill you are sure
but,to get a fair idea of the true cost find out what your potential earnings would be and therefore budget acordingly (the money brought from the U.K,if any would buy the extras ).
Friends of ours came out from several times "it's so cheap" was the cry,and it is when you convert U.K./Cdn.but that does not give a fair reading of lifes actual costs,any thoughts??

Hi Thornhill - gee we didn't hear a word in Victoria about it be turned into a sub-division - I hope that the families of the victims protest about it!!!! it certainly should be a memorial park - those poor women!!!

I would certainly like to know what went on there before I decided to to purchase a house in that sub division. Sorry you where offended by my piece of trivia.