newhome

If the new room has never been up to a decent temperature since winter set in then it won’t matter how well insulated you are TBH. Insulation will help avoid the heat in the room being lost but it can’t replace heat that the room isn’t given. You need to get your room up to an acceptable temperature before you can say that the room isn’t fit for purpose. To do that you will need a cheap thermometer to see how cold (or warm) the room is to start with.

I think it just depends on the LA and what mood the planners are in. We wanted a relatively minor change at the back of the house but were told that we would have to submit a brand new planning application. We just did it under PD rights later anyway but something more significant isn’t as easy to retrofit of course.

I had to remove the floor tiles to get my old one out as it wasn’t tiled under the dishwasher and the legs were down as far as they would go. I made sure that the new one had more adjustment in the legs.

You realise that once you’ve changed the bog in the en-suite you will be banned from using it ? ? ? ?

I think it's a great idea but someone is making a shedload of cash out of it. Plus there would be too many restrictions for me personally.

If you have the electrical certificate they want I don’t see what else is needed. I didn’t have to provide anything special for my electric boiler and solar thermal. Why should a heat pump be any different?

Wouldn’t that all be taken care of at Graven Hill? I think Graven Hill puts the foundations in (I don’t think you are allowed to do it yourself).

@recoveringbuilder that’s one of my concerns about changing to an ASHP TBH. All of the installers who have quoted bar 1 live some distance away. I have an electric boiler currently and when it broke down (was out of warranty) I had to wait 3 weeks in Nov to wait for someone to come out to fix it as not many people know how to service them. Out of interest why would you not fit an ASHP?

Sell the second plot to a self builder and split the title before you start?

Are you wanting to apply for the exemption and want 2 bites of that cherry? Or you just want to pay each CIL in separate chunks.

Can I be cheeky and ask what you paid for your install please (assume it was zero rated?). I’m getting quotes for a similar size set up.

I’ve seen on another group installers saying that the vouchers are beginning to arrive. That was 2 days ago. Most haven’t heard anything yet though. I think installers are getting peed off with it as much as customers from the comments. They are not allowed to see a penny until the end of the project either I believe so they are at the mercy of customers not paying up and the government taking ages to pay. Plus they have lots of people saying I want an ASHP and ST and it must all be less than 10k.

Some members have managed to get insurance without a completion certificate from here: https://gsi-insurance.com/

it’s been extended to 2022.

I’m about to get a quote from a Daikin supplier. And a cashback scheme similar to the GHG scheme in England is being rolled out to Scotland now (details being worked through) so I may be less bothered about RHI if the scheme ends up similar to England where the Total RHI is offset by the grant money that can be up to 7.5k for an ASHP in Scotland. Waiting to see if that’s just for people on certain benefits though and how much ££££ the quote is for. https://www.homeenergyscotland.org/find-funding-grants-and-loans/interest-free-loans/overview/

You answer as if it is a new build from scratch. The fact that you have used contractors for some or all of the build makes no difference at all. You could have had a complete turnkey project and only be claiming for a single light fitting - it's still classed as a new build. Fit out a shell means if you buy a shell of a building and then complete it. This doesn't apply in your case. Don't forget that you can also claim for boundary fences, turf, hard landscaping and any plants / trees defined in a landscaping plan (if you have one). Of course those things can also be zero rated if you contracted someone to do them.

Yes that's a great benefit. We moved 400 miles so didn't know any trades. That said we did get some good ones (and a few sharks too).

How would you get hot water for DHW then?

I think if claiming RHI you’re not allowed to do too much in the way of topping up the heating. As you say it’s not the UFH that will be an issue, it’s hot water for showers / baths.

I was hoping to keep the TS but know that it might not be possible. That adds to the cost of course and ROI calculation. I’ve been reading on a heat pump group that apparently the service is about 2 hours and someone posted the link to the Ecodan servicing: https://les.mitsubishielectric.co.uk/homeowners/heating-service-and-maintenance?fbclid=IwAR224i4dvlnDHoc7l9utg41kbknCgPKPrH5lx1JH2E8emVaNqF2lcusaBnA On a different subject can you get the heat pump to just run at the times when the electricity rate is low if you are on a variable tariff? I’m on a flat rate at present but wanted to move to an agile tariff in the future.

Great summary, thanks. This comment was pleasing to read “The thought, time and energy that we have put into this build has created a much deeper connection to the property. Our blood, sweat and tears are in the very fabric of the house. “ To a degree I think that this is one of the major measures of success if you can feel like that at the end of it. Your build process seems to have gone relatively smoothly in general (I’ve been following you blog). I think that when things start to go wrong and there are large overpends, poor workmanship or reliability issues from trades etc. then that’s where the ‘falling out of love’ begins. It’s always good to hear when the journey has been worth it.

I’m going round the loop again looking at whether I should swap my electric boiler for an ASHP. I haven’t got any quotes as yet but one of the installers offers LG and Viessmann ASHPs. I haven’t heard of Viessmann before. Any opinions on them or the latest LG ones? The subject of annual servicing came up. I don’t have any annual servicing of my current system at present. The TS doesn’t need servicing and all I do with the boiler is empty the magnaclean occasionally. With an MCS installed ASHP an annual service is required to avoid voiding the warranty, and apparently one is needed for the RHI scheme too. The first installer I spoke to charges £150 plus VAT but other people seem to be paying up to £400. I’m ok with up to £200 a year but paying £400 seems crazy and makes me start to question the cost benefit of an ASHP.

As @Thedreamer says there a post in a VAT sub forum that you will be able to access once you’ve made 10 posts. It doesn’t go into your scenario as generally we find members have been charged VAT where they shouldn’t and it explains how to get the VAT overpayment back as HMRC will not refund it.

Yes unfortunately they can ask you to pay the VAT. It's probably been picked up by their accountant and companies can ask customers to pay VAT if it's been billed at the wrong rate, or conversely they can give you a refund if they have charged you VAT where it should be zero rated. You could argue the point with them but ultimately you should have expected to pay really as only supply & fit or labour only costs can be zero rated. You will really need invoices with the full VAT included in them to send to HMRC as HMRC will expect to see invoices with VAT applied to them, not a separate invoice for VAT on its own (assuming that's what you mean by a 'bill of 16k'). Maybe as a compromise you could negotiate with them that you weren't expecting this charge, don't have the money to pay it currently but agree to pay it back when you receive the reclaim? If you don't yet have the full kit however they probably hold most of the cards.

@AliG ordered from them as per this post (and some photos further down the thread). https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/164-hello-again-work-has-finally-started/?do=findComment&comment=97044