Craig, your question on Lighting Control. The rise of LED has brought new dimension to the lighting control debate. Lighting Control Systems such as Lutron are the best way to dim LED. We use Lighting Control Systems with 0-10v, DALI and DMX dimming and it's possible to get very smooth dimming to really low levels. I don't really want to suggest one system over another. I'm sure they all have their strengths. Rako offers wireless flexibility for retrofit applications, Lutron has a superb heritage and history of fantastic reliability. I'd look for dealers who are really experienced in using the system and a manufacturer with a strong local support infrastructure. We've got an introduction to Lighting Control Systems on our site here and there are some useful manufacturer downloads. http://www.brilliantlighting.co.uk/lighting-control/

I'm building a new house and I've specified some Smart Home technologies - mostly for the lighting and blinds, which together can help give that lived-in look when nobody is home. I chose industry-standard technologies (DALI and KNX) so that nothing is tied to one manufacturer (who could go out of business or decide to stop making / supporting something) and there's no single central 'brain' which would cause chaos if it fails. I agree completely on the 'open technology' point - it's nice to have an app on your phone but it's not nice to have 10 separate apps because you bought things from 10 different companies, so you want everything controllable from one place and you want the labour-saving automation of one system talking directly to another (e.g. "I've just set the intruder alarm, so nobody's home, so turn down the ventilation system"). I'd also say it's worth making a judgment on where technology is changing most and not to invest a lot in something that's likely to become out of date quickly. For example, you can pay a lot of money for fancy KNX light switches but a cheap tablet will be more flexible, and voice control with Siri and Alexa is close to being mainstream.

Used to live in the US and we installed a charging drawer - it was basically the extension lead OnePlan shows and it was fixed to the inside of the drawer. The builder used a coiled armoured cable for it to attach to the socket which was behind the cabinet, so that it didn't get trapped in the cabinet when the drawer moved in/out.

I’m not a solicitor but I’d have thought they should have got probate organised before marketing the house. I’ve been executor and got everything organised before marketing and so it was really quick to complete as there was no chain. I don’t understand how you were expecting the keys and now they’re doing more searches. In your position I would ask your solicitor (not the estate agent- they represent the seller not you, so always be careful what you tell them) to establish exactly what is outstanding and then explain it to you with expected timescales- you can then assess whether you need to extend your mortgage offer. If it’s just minor things (eg executors often can’t answer standard conveyancing questions) then you can look at how important they are and alternatives (eg insurance policies can sometimes deal with missing documents). Check with the solicitor that he has everything on your side too (eg final mortgage documentation).