As of today, Claire and I are officially homeowners. We are on the property ladder and all grown-up! Well, the grown-up bit is up for debate.

This has been a few months in the making, but I was reluctant to blog or tweet anything, until it was confirmed and we had the keys in our hands. Making any announcement anytime sooner would be tempting fate.

We are not moving far. Not only are we staying in the same area of Bath, but we will be living on the same street! Just a couple of hundred yards up the road. We love the area where we live and it is very close to where both of us work. We also knew that we couldn’t rent forever – we were at the mercy of the landlord, who could evict or put our rent up, without us being able to do anything about it. Not anymore! No more getting permission to hang a picture on the living room. If we want to drill a massive hole in the wall, we can.

There has been loads to sort out with the house. I must have spent hours on the phone to and emailing mortgage brokers, solicitors and insurance companies. That’s all before moving in. Now it’s a case of getting a locksmith to fit new locks, getting a plumber to install a dishwasher *, calling the energy supplier to give our readings and obtain a Smart Meter, getting Sky installed **… the list goes on!

* Yes, a dishwasher. We are finally getting a dishwasher. Since I left home in 2006, I have always had to wash by hand. I hate it. I would rather clean the toilets, after someone had explosive diarrhea.

** We need to get our Sky TV and internet ASAP. I was devastated to learn that we will be without internet for almost two weeks. No Sky+ for almost three! These utilities are up there with air! Never mind if we’ve got no running water – we need our television and internet access. Pray for us and send the Red Cross round.

I will try and take some photos to upload soon. At the moment, the house is looking very empty as we are yet to move in. The big removal day is Thursday. We have someone to pack our stuff and take it up the road for us – a man with a van; or more likely men with ven.