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As an update, had the air test done today and it turned out alright. I wasn't sure what to expect, tbh I don't even care anymore, I'm bored with living in a caravan now and just want to be in the damn thing?‍♂️ must be 2.5 yrs in this van now! Anyway, got 0.2ach which confirms my suspicion that the horrendous condensation we had at Xmas was due to lack of ventilation. Thankfully the MVHR is jacked up now so no further issues. Living in a 30ft x 10ft caravan with two cats, a 9 and 11 yr old whilst staring at our 280m2 house for the last year has had its day now. Roll on move in day. The joys of self building. Champagne taste with lemonade budget = a long time living in a box?

What Joe said. We buttered up the neighbours and they all objected anyway. The 8 page objection contemplated the history of our beech hedge (you can't protect a hedge), the ecological impact of concrete and that there was 'too much' parking provision etc etc. All politely noted and rejected as valid criteria by the planners. We built it and they all tell us how nice it is now.

"They" want to be in power so if there is a general will amoung the people it could happen. I think there are other countries where land values are closer to this 10% of build cost level, when I lived in rural France the local mayor on behalf of the community was selling building plots at a fraction of UK plot prices. I don't think it will happen because retired people would not want to see the value of their homes knocked down 30%. The 45 to 65 year olds will not want to see their inheritances devalued. The over mortgaged aged between 25 and 50 would not want to face negative equity. It would only happen if 1 million angry young people filled with revolutionary fervour march on London and take over, I live in hope.

A word on objections and planning. You can have zero objection and still get refused. You can have a hundred and still get planning (over a certain number of objections it gets pulled into committee vs being at the officers discretion). What is relevant is planning law and your LA's planning policy - some of it is very subjective ('not in keeping' is the alternative to 'out of character') but that cuts both ways when you appeal. TBH - I would not have made the initial withdrawl and changes unless the planner hinted heavily that it would have got it through. I would appeal and maybe re-submit option 1 also and be prepared to appeal that too. I do believe planners like to justify their existence somewhat and rely on compliance by the public. They don't like appeals as they need to defend them and if they loose too many it does not look good. Get a planning consultant on your side, maybe one who is an ex LA planner (they tend to have the local understanding and also relationships). One of our neighbours is a conveyancing solicitor. For our application 1 (rejected) and 2 (largely the same as 1 with a few minor concessions) they wrote 8 page objections with every possible angle explored. Planners did not take any of their points but rejected 1 on separate issues. They were poised to reject 2 as well until the consultant got them on the phone and said we will be appealing both schemes and we both know applicant will win. He then gave them a graceful climbdown option of 'what do you need to see to make you comfortable' (n.b. NOT what needs to change, we had already compromised to our limit in app 2). They settled on a seeing 3d render vs the starker 2d elevations and low and behold, problems evaporated. As @the_r_sole says, many ways to skin the cat wrt schemes but you need to know where the red lines are, if they really exist. And finally, while everyone invests a lot emotionally into these processes, do not take it personally. It is just one of the many mountains you will climb on this journey so just treat it as an unpleasant bit of necessary bureaucracy. Good luck!

Just for a laugh, let us assume that we double the number of houses in the country, so from around 35 million to 70 million. That would be near enough one house per person. We would double the land area that is housing, but not the infrastructure, we would not be doubling the population. So we would use up another 2% of the land area. We really need to reassess our thinking on planning.

Roller wave is a real thing. I've come across it on commercial curtain walling. Like ripples in the glass. Not sure what causes it (vibration, draughts in the glass factory?) So bad sometimes that when it's installed and being cleaned, the squeegee rubber only touches the peaks on the glass and misses the troughs!

I got a price for hinges to the DXF the kind soul on the other forum did. They were nom. 350mm long. £22ea, water jet in 6mm Gr304 stainless which I don't think is too bad. However 350mm is aesthetically too short. I reckon they need to be about 500mm long. Wondering if I could go down to 3mm. I went and stuck some white tape on at 500mm long. I'll probably have them cut blank as the coach bolt centres aren't exactly regular though they are on a straight line. I was going to mock up the hinges in tin foil to get a better feel before I committed to having them cut. Then someone else did me this: There'll also likely be a vertical stainless strip of some sort dead centre and a mock lock/clasp/GoT (blame @pocster) or WoW shield etc in the middle eventually.

That's the wording ours was. There were minor issues but the planner justified her decision in her report to the senior planner. I basically think it's the stage between the planner submitting the report to the senior planner / panel formalising the recommendation.

I wouldn't accept that. Btw you're brick work is stunning. Almost looks too good...

Not a valid objection Don’t bother, our neighbour who objected to everything had no valid objections whatsoever (according to the appeal officer). It’s nice if neighbours are nice but its obvious yours is not anyway.

I love doing paperwork, love sorting out sets of figures etc!

Everyone to their skill set I say. He even found a VAT problem that my builder had missed as well as me and as I said his fee was more than paid fir IMO. I am crap at paperwork but good at woodwork, I also paid a plasterer because I am crap at that as well!

+1 for trying to get difficult neighbours on board. I've lost count how many times we applied and how many times the same neighbour unreasonably refused. On the last application, we wrote a polite letter to the neighbour pointing out that despite their last objection the last application was actually granted, and what we were now applying to do was to vary it in such a way that our extension would be some 50cm further away from their property. Only when they realised that, did they stop objecting and we got our plans (which we actually wanted, as opposed to the weird concession the council had forced us into) approved. It was very frustrating though as I was aware of the importance of getting neighbours on board from the outset, and therefore printed all of our drawings in A3 for them and took them over to explain what we were applying for before we actually applied. I invited the neighbours to raise any queries or concerns with me directly before we filed. One neighbour was very reasonable and told me that they would be neutral on our application, whereas the other one refused to engage with me at all and instead wrote vehement objections after our application was filed.

It's not in yet but I think it's going to be a unit with a PRV and stopcock in a box down the bottom of the garden.

You may find that strangles the flow rate. Not something you'd want with 18 flats off it

Oh yes, he was very good, not expensive and claimed VAT that I had missed so his fee was more than covered. He specialises in VAT fir self builders. His details are. Office: 01269 825248 Mobile: 07816 825248 Email:andrew@vat431.co.uk

..as in factory fitted. They are directly connected to the UVC by the plumber as the first thing off the UVC, if you're not going manifold / twin TMV ( one for the house and one for just the bath(s)) setup etc. You can mount them anywhere, but for max efficiency you keep them as close to the hot water outlet as possible to reduce losses.

So true, everybody wants to help others get on the housing ladder .... unless its going to affect them. Put interest rates up, saving is profitable again, house prices come down because borrowing is more expensive.

We have a housing site where the builder offers Habito boards as an extra All the rad kitchen cupboards and tv brackets are fitted to them without pattress Only drawback is you can’t use collated screws or Dot and Dab with them

In Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain he describes the Town & Country Planning Act of 1947 as one of the most significant pieces of UK legislation, it is the reason we live in a green and pleasant land not blighted by ribbon development along roads as seen in the US. I now think that green and pleasant lives should trump a green and pleasant land. LA's do what Central Government and Acts of Parliament dictate. If there was a political will to flood the market with building plots valued at 10% of build cost it would happen though I don't think people would appreciate the resulting 30% fall house prices.

Dont know anything specific regarding Habito but the space at the bottom depends on location. Ground floor, concrete, kitchen etc. where water could be present then generally lift clear. Office space with raised floors etc. generally have the PB touching the floor .... makes for an easy install again

Yes! makes for a very quick install on job-and-knock or price/metres jobs.

Depends how valuable your time is really. It's not a complicated process and the collective intelligence on this forum removes much of the guesswork. I'd ask your accountant how experienced they are in this area and how many of these they have done before. And as @markc says above, you'll need to do much of the legwork to provide all the raw information and they will only know what you tell them. During my build I lazily stuffed every physical receipt / invoice etc into a shoebox and then when the claim deadline approached, spent a few hours over a few weekends sorting them, printing out the online ones, chasing up missing ones etc. The completion of the form and filing of the receipts took another few hours. Scanned everything in in case it went missing etc. Would I have paid £1200 to get that done? No, especially since 80% of the work would still have been on me. Doubt I'd even pay £350 + VAT but again it's what your time is worth to you.

Ah that is good to know. I plan to use an UVC but didn't realise they have a TMV fitted. That should keep BCO happy he was suggesting every basin, bath or kithen tap had to be thermostatic type. EV panels will power immersion for legionella cycle assuming the sun shines otherwise E7

An accountant will have no idea who you are, what you have been doing etc. So they will want you to pull all your receipts together, explain what they are for, how you paid etc. so basically you will do all the work needed for the reclaim and pay them to do the addition and form filling.

I believed i had registered several times, even had a confirmation email. While badgering Barnsley Planning i was informed of the register, told them i had registered several times over the last few years - sorry, we cant find your name anywhere, but you are on the register now!

big inaccuracies!!!!!, you could ask them 1, why they changed their mind ? 2, how can you overlook through obscure glass?. IF you get a sensible answer well and good, if not go straight to appeal, bets of luck . Might be worth telling them you are definitely going to appeal as it costs them time and money (which they are already short of!) and keep us informed ?

The metal I studs are a fair bit stronger than the C studs, if you want a freestanding wall. We used it to line a tanked basement. The metal frame guys can put the stuff up very quickly. I / we can't.

Although I live in a picture postcard conservation area village, I agree with that. Planning controls amplify wealth disparity. If the Government decreed that a building plot should never be more than 10% of build cost and flooded the market with approved build plots to reach that 10% target, the result would be a better country.

You would put the same amount of pattrress in timber as metal for rads kitchen cupboards etc We use Abito boards on May of our jobs So no need to use pattress Screw directly to the the boards The versatility comes in that mf come in a range of sizes and lengths Every length is true No sorting Quick to load also

Only if you apply again for planning permission but not necessarily if you appeal. With my appeal the original “issues” were deemed not valid even though they were voted on by committee, not just one planner.

Stuff the objections. Seriously, stuff em. The only thing that matters is the Decision Notice. Address the issues listed there, and you stand a chance. Post the Decision Notice would you please (copy / paste). Thanks

I went to appeal after 3 failed planning attempts, did it myself. Found it easier and more user friendly than app.lying for planning permission. The appeal officer threw out all four objections even telling our planners they were not following their own guide lines. I even got what I originally wanted without the compromises I made for planning application no 2 and 3. Just do it ?

Did you go for a pre application meeting at the outset? That would have given you a feel for the lie of the land. I had to pay for the planning officer and the conservation officer to be present. They love you to take mock up images to react to. Another tack would be to submit a revised application after a pre app and taking into consideration the objections. Have you got any Permitted Development rights? There might be another way round it to increase your floor space without planning permission. A garden building for working from home perhaps? Can you change the internal layout or extend into the loft space? There are some members who have gone through appeal, who should be along later. Good luck!

An appeal inspector is much more likely to look at it objectively. Don’t skimp on the appeal though. It’s worth getting a Planning consultant with expertise in appeals on board.

If you can't get the answers here, I'd recommend emailing Grohe. They have been brilliant in answering me within a few days. I actually got my Grohe frame delivered today

I veed the Celotex where the pipes run in my walls. Then foamed and fitted the top section of the V back in. Foil taped over the top.

So they are putting up £150m for a scheme that hopes to build 30,000 self build homes. That's £5K per self build home. That level of "subsidy" is going to do somewhere between nothing and not very much at all to help self builders. As noted the problem is finding a building plot. Solve THAT problem and more self build houses will follow. How about on all big housing developments insist a percentage of plots are sold as serviced self build plots at the SAME average cost as it has cost the developers?

I honestly would not pay someone to do it, probably took me around 10 hours to do it all and got every penny back, maybe I should set myself up as a vat reclaimer?!

But that’s your email address and phone numbers @joe90 - you trickster !! ?

I thought they were kept in power by something called democracy. I believe we are spectating on the end-game of liberal democracy but things must be moving faster than I thought.

All credit to you for having that approach. Knowing why you are not doing what you and others might reasonably expect you to do is challenging, healthy and stops the '.... Why didn't you do it like this ? ...' question dead in its tracks For what its worth, my stock answer to that - often ill-intentioned - question is ' Because I'm not you ' (and add whatever epithet needed to get rid of my annoyance under my breath) Often TFFT. ? Wecome . Ian

Morning. My external timber is cedar, brought for the colour and it’s longevity, I now want to put up a timber ceiling in the front room but I would like to avoid the cost of the cedar, any thoughts on a timber to use that I could stain to look like the cedar I have outside. Comments from @Nickfromwales not needed. ☕️☕️??

For those of you who are not in the know, I am trying to obtain permission to connect my proposed 5.12kW photovoltaic system to the mains electricity using an inverter which would limit the feed-in to the mains to a maximum of 3.68kW thus avoiding having to obtain prior permission (and possible costs) from the distribution network operator (DNO) under G98 rules. The question I am trying to find the answer to is whether this design of a system; able to produce more than 3.68kW, but with an inverter set up, which limits the amount that can be fed into the mains grid to a maximum of 3.68kW, is OK under G98 rules. Latest DNO reply: Thank you for confirming the information below. I have forwarded your email to our MCC Generation Team, if they are not able to assist I have requested that they let me know and I will locate the correct team that can answer your query. Regards

You will solve the "how big" issue if you draw some furniture on there and try moving it about. Re "we" agreeing on the kitchen. When I pushed too hard on adding input to the kitchen design, the response was "who does most of the cooking?. Do YOU want to do most of the cooking?"