A FRIEND told us the other day of some horrendous adventures he had had over housing problems on getting married. He had bought a broken down house and engaged builders to start on minor alterations. But he was having simultaneous difficulty disposing of the lease of a flat whose landlord was trying to make him pay huge amounts for unspecified "repairs". The builders were meanwhile exceeding their brief and demanding large sums of money for seemingly little work.
He sought the advice of a surveyor who pointed out that planning permission was probably necessary and recommended a mortgage and the hiring of an architect. He himself would he willing to render further professional services — at a price. A bank manager was then approached who gave a lot of information, most of it inaccurate.
A solicitor. whose advice was now sought, seemed never to be in his office and was discovered to have a drink problem. Our friend nearly had a drink problem of his own by this time. But he had a bit of luck. He heard about a "housing counsellor" who turned out to be honest and competent. Since then he has never looked back.
So that others might profit by his experience he even gave us the housing counsellor's name. She is Iris Nledlicott of 19 Royal Avenue, London SW3. (Tel: 01-730 5564/8307). Miss Medlicott, it seems, dispenses for a modest fee advice based on long experience and considerable expertise. She is said to be "bang with-it" and to know all the tricks of a particularly tricky trade.
Urbanus