newhome

I did this, not because I couldn’t be bothered to finish but because I had a change of circumstances. The HMRC policy didn’t seem to have altered when I applied for my VAT refund so I had to wait to get the completion certificate that took several years. Money in their pocket, not mine. Main issue was insurance so I sourced a specific policy through a broker to cover this scenario (although they wouldn’t cover me for accidental damage). Also the warranty that I couldn’t get until I had the completion certificate. I wasn’t looking to sell however so it wasn’t a particular issue for me. I didn’t have a mortgage on the property so no issue there. OTOH my neighbours bought the house next door that a small developer had built and it wasn’t signed off (didn’t even have a temp habitation certificate). They didn’t know for 10 years (their solicitor cocked up) until I got my house signed off so had lived with standard insurance all that time. When they then had to get sign off they had to make changes to the property as they had made a few changes that didn’t comply with building regs. So that’s another issue, you need to keep your house building regs compliant until you request sign off. There is also a risk that the council could decide that as it had been so long you may need to be compliant with the building regs at the time (they don’t do this currently afaik but it’s a potential risk) so you may have to reverse engineer things that you don’t yet know about.

The best option would be to do as Christine says and relocate ASAP and get new jobs, or maybe you could sell up, move into rented accommodation for a while whilst keeping your old jobs, secure the self build mortgage when needed and then relocate. Might be better for you to relocate one at a time if that’s possible so you aren’t giving up all employment all at once. I don’t know your circumstances but to save money you could maybe rent a static caravan or something cheap in your existing area for a while until you find the perfect job to move to. Above all else get saving what you can. Anything to get a bit more cash in the bank when you come to do the build. You had better check that you can get planning permission first before you do anything. You might want to check the capital gains tax position wrt the ‘free’ land transfer too as your parents will be liable to pay that and may want you to reimburse them. One of the things that will affect the budget is whether your project is eligible for 5% VAT or zero VAT. That will make a big difference to the cost.

There is also some important info in that thread to help you avoid your claim being refused.

You can put down the main description so if it's plumbing and timber just put first fix plumbing and timber (or whatever). There is a detailed guide to the VAT reclaim process but it's in a restricted 'regular members' forum and you need a couple more posts to be able to see it. Once you've posted a couple more times you will be able to see the full guide here. There is lots of advice in there about how to complete the form, how to file invoices, what each invoice needs to include etc.

Assuming the plot isn't being sold by a self builder wouldn't the CIL payment have to be made when the development commenced and thus it should already be paid? If not the OP could maybe insist on the CIL being paid by the vendor since starting the foundations has made plot almost certainly ineligible for the self build exemption.

I get that on and on but there is a farm behind me so not that surprising. Doesn't happen constantly though as it's just a 'country smell' afaic but wouldn't want it in the house!

NHBC were hopeless in my experience. Just kept referring us back to the developer who was also hopeless and completely ignored all snagging issues as they were simply getting on with building more sub standard houses. The whole development covering many different house styles had multiple issues and the developer and NHBC weren't interested in addressing any issues. Never did get my snagging list addressed. In the end we had them all fixed at our expense as it just wasn't worth the time and effort continually fighting them. We decided that life was too short. We used to go most weekends when the house was under construction to see how things were progressing. One day we arrived to see the lintel above the back door not even reaching across the other side. It was a few inches short so completely useless. NHBC would still have been happy to sign that house off as they wouldn't even have known but WTF! Where is the quality control?! We reported it and it did get addressed. We didn't get our cavity wall insulation installed even though we had been handed a guarantee for it. It became evident later on when the OH put a vent for a tumble dryer in and then installed an outside tap on a different wall and there was no evidence of any insulation in the cavity. The developer tried to say that it was 'settled' so there would be areas of voids but we made a huge fuss so they sent a surveyor to appease us in the end. He drilled holes in every wall and looked in with a camera. His face was a picture when he found no evidence of insulation anywhere and they did address that issue and filled with beads. Told our neighbours who checked theirs and it appeared that a whole batch of houses had been missed but the developer maintained it was just our house and they were simply ignored.

The VAT position is fine. I bought a similar plot with foundations already in. VAT reclaim is a non issue because you can buy a whole building 'shell' to fit out and still retain the ability to reclaim VAT up to the point that the completion certificate is issued. The issue with buying a plot with foundations is that you are pretty much tied to the house style in the plans (we made internal layout changes) but if you are ok with that then press on. I had full architect's plans and a building warrant (Scotland) in place (and paid for) when I bought the plot but we didn't have the right to the architectural designs. That didn't matter in the end because when we engaged the timber frame company they drew up new plans to our amended internal design. The original external design was based on one of their houses anyway! We kept the main external design of the house as planning were insistent that we put in a new application if we wanted to change some things externally such as some larger windows at the front and we didn't want to delay starting. The other slight gotcha is that if you need a warranty (I assume you will if you are getting a mortgage or want to sell the property within 10 years from completion) then the development counts as 'commenced' and we had to pay an indemnity fee I think it was (long time ago now) to cover the fact that the build had started before we took out the policy. When we bought the plot we also got a structural engineer's report before purchase to check that the foundations had been built properly and to be covered by his PI insurance if there was an issue at a later date. There are a few members here who have used Ecology. It gets a few mentions here so maybe worth a read. Mentions Ecology

No way of obtaining an exemption on two properties afaik. You also need to live in the house for 3 years or they can cancel the exemption. You cannot stick a spade in the ground without sending back the CIL exemption form or they can cancel the exemption too. CIL Exemption Warning You also need to consider what evidence you will use for completion as if you aren't getting a self build mortgage or a warranty that leaves only the VAT claim to evidence completion without which they can cancel the CIL exemption too. As you are building 2 properties I would be careful with that as you won't be eligible for a VAT reclaim on the second property regardless and HMRC may not like the fact that you have built 2 properties and try to refuse the reclaim for your own house. They might not but you are risking not having the completion evidence if you aren't getting a self build mortgage or warranty. They do seem to be applying new and unexpected criteria these days. Also consider when HMRC may decide that the 2 properties that aren't your principle residence will be liable for CGT. They seem to be tightening up the rules for CGT too although there is no evidence that it has hit self builders in an unexpected way just yet, but they do seem to be a law unto themselves. Lots to consider. As to when to send part 1 of the exemption form I don't see an issue with sending it with the planning application but I don't think that precludes you from being able to apply for it later. Might be worth asking the planning office what they would prefer.

‘Simple’ vanity units are allowed, so the ones that support the sink and maybe have a cupboard underneath. More elaborate ones that are much wider than the sink and contain drawers to the side for example count as furniture and are not eligible.

Don't try to hide the fact that Grindr is saved in your bookmarks!

Mine is timber frame. If we were doing it all again and the OH had heard of ICF I think he may have wanted to go down that route as he wanted to be really hands on but couldn't do as much of the main construction with TF. I would change the layout slightly, upgrade the bathrooms, most definitely put more insulation in the slab (a biggy!), get someone who knew how to install the bloody heating system from the get go (and probably choose a different system), lose the central vac (never use it), add solar PV, and probably go for triple glazed windows. I would also build a much smaller house as it's way too big for me. If I was building again (unlikely) I would probably choose a different style of house. I've seen lots of plans on here and have a vision of what my perfect house could be.

I heard it was Grindr

Aw, get a room you two! ?? A BH bromance. How sweet! ?‍❤️‍?

Wow! I reckon you had the work experience boy checking yours ??

Not sure Nick will accept spawn of the devil as payment ?.

It’s good to see a council encouraging self builders.

Thursday 20th June Lancaster Self Build event

Welcome to the forum. Some photos and a plan would be great as others have said. We love seeing what people plan to build on here.

Lovely looking house. Welcome to BuildHub!

Invoices are fine. You don’t need to send receipts (I didn’t) but the claim form says that HMRC may ask you for proof of purchase. I logged my invoices in a spreadsheet as I went along (that was later used for the reclaim) and added an extra column to show how I paid the invoice; credit card, bank transfer, cash or whatever. If there had been a query then I had the details to hand. I haven’t heard of anyone on here being asked for proof of purchase TBH. I suspect that might be more likely if you have a VAT registered company as they will want to ensure that you haven’t paid the invoice through the company, or if you had reimbursed the company for the purchase.

Just leave it until something else needs doing and someone comes with a decent ladder or scaffold tower. No point in trying to kill yourself over something that you just don't like the look of. Life is short enough without trying to shorten it!

Good news! We need photos though

I imagine the reason is ‘because they can’. I suspect they are taking a much greater risk with a very old property than a relatively new one. They’d be better off insisting on a full structural survey than the silly mortgage valuation affair.

I have no idea what the mortgage companies think they are getting as have any of these policies ever paid out? The house has to be pretty much condemned for NHBC to pay out.