newhome

Plus electoral register? Depends how determined they are I guess if they get suspicious.

Sadly I’m not surprised. And send it by recorded delivery and confirm that the council has received it https://www.blakemorgan.co.uk/news-events/blog/cil-commencement-notices-proof-postage/ And ensure that you use the form, not an informal method https://blogs.lexisnexis.co.uk/content/built-environment/self-builder-stung-with-huge-penalty-for-invalid-cil-commencement-notice And a LA view and reference to a check of self builds that have started without submitting the form. https://www.khub.net/web/planningadvisoryservicepas/forum/-/message_boards/message/29966092

I think your greater concern may be the property attracting CGT if it’s not your principle residence.

That sounds great @lizzie. BuildHub delivers in spades yet again and you’ve found someone decent to get the system physically working. Just a pity the previous guy couldn’t do the job he was paid to do. Fingers crossed for the UFH!

Not generally as they will almost certainly be over the limit of 30k

Mine didn’t change schedule as such but the dates of first and second fix materials were more fluid as they were dependent on how we got on with the previous stage. The first delivery got us to watertight so the pressure was then off to a degree. The second fix payment varied from the original quote as it included things like internal doors and we upgraded a few things before second fix delivery was due. It was all done completely transparently however with the additional costs agreed to.

Notwithstanding the position with the regs if you are intending adding the 'kitchen' to a bedroom it may be much nicer to provide better homely facilities (sofa, desk etc) if there is room and leave the kitchen facilities where they are. You could still have a kettle, small fridge and possibly a microwave but full cooker and a sink is likely to change the use I imagine. The kitchen isn't a room used all the time so I doubt that most people who are 'living in' would mind sharing a kitchen. Given a choice I would choose a private bathroom over a kitchen every time.

What’s wrong with your UFH @lizzie?

Thank you, would love to borrow it. Do you just set it up in different rooms and take a reading?

I have been thinking about getting one of these. Any recommendations please?

Lol, the building was a bit taller than that!

I remember being in Chennai at my hotel watching this huge excavator thing on the roof of one of the neighbouring high rise buildings. It appeared to be demolishing the roof with the excavator on top of the roof. Looked crazy dangerous plus we were sitting there wondering how they got it up there!

I am deffo not watching that!!!! ?????? ??????

Not energy but I’ve made a fair bit of cash over the years swapping between different things; credit cards for the welcome bonuses, current accounts for the switching bribes, 12 month bonuses on savings accounts, sign up bonuses for a number of different things etc. As time goes on I can be bothered less and less tbh but these things are there for the taking if you are organised and can be bothered.

Tell them HMRC is going to contact them if they don’t issue the VAT invoice and this is the final time of asking before you ask HMRC to proceed. Put that in writing and send by letter. And I think you can complain to HMRC actually.

Ironically my address isn't on the council database [Scottish Borders] despite it being them who allocated the address, but they still manage to charge me council tax sadly . I think the council was probably happy with you starting to pay council tax from when you moved in as you got quite a crack on with the build and finished it relatively quickly. They tend to want council tax prior to the house being completed if the build is on a slow burn. Some councils seem to want to charge you before the house is even really habitable. I believe that @joe90 had a bit of a fight with his council over it.

Sorry to hear your news @Roz and I hope that your section 75 claim is successful. Indeed a good reminder to people to trust their gut and maybe now is also the time to walk away from sellers that are not prepared for you to pay even a small amount of the cost by credit card.

Have a read of this thread. It mainly covers new builds but most will apply to eligible conversions too. The difference being that you will need to pay 5% VAT on supply and fit arrangements or those that are labour only and then claim the 5% back through the reclaim scheme. This is different from a new build where you cannot reclaim VAT on supply / fit or labour only arrangements as these must be zero rated for a new build. And here is another relevant thread to read.

Welcome. A new build that involves a demolition that includes asbestos removal qualifies for zero rating so on that basis you should qualify for 5% VAT if a VAT registered trader does the whole job. Some conversions qualify for the DIY Housebuilders reclaim scheme too. Have you checked whether you are eligible for the reclaim as you should get the 5% back too if so.

As @ProDave says continually search for good prices for materials and then fit them yourselves or get someone to fit them. Ebay can offer decent prices but ensure that the seller provides VAT receipts or that the discount is bigger than the ex VAT price of buying elsewhere. The downside buying materials yourself is that you will need to pay the VAT upfront and reclaim it through the reclaim scheme whereas supply and fit arrangements are zero rated. Read this thread and then read it again to ensure that you understand all of the rules about reclaiming VAT and when things should be zero rated etc. Money is at stake if you don’t know how things work. If you are from the area where you are building you will have an advantage as you should be able to use your network of friends and acquaintances to employ decent builders who won’t rip you off. If you’re not try to establish who the decent builders are before you need them by looking at recommendations on the local Facebook groups or asking for recommendations yourself. For that sort of budget you are looking at doing a fair bit yourself however as others have on here. @Christine Walker and her husband still did a fair bit themselves.

And he got 4 years! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-47457412

When I bought my last house in Kent I refused to complete on the day of completion and told the developer exactly that. We visited the site the weekend before completion and all of the houses due to complete later that week were far from finished. I went down at lunchtime on completion day having instructed my solicitor to wait for me to say so before completing and the house was still far from finished. The bathrooms weren't finished, the kitchen appliances hadn't been fitted (the oven was in a box in the middle of the kitchen) and various other things weren't finished. The site office was in meltdown as people arrived with their removal vans and furniture and couldn't get in as builders were still trying to address a million and one things. I instructed my solicitor not to complete and went to the site office and told them. They said that they would sue me and I said I have photos of the house and the debacle in the street so go ahead. They didn't of course and we completed 2 weeks later. We had the luxury of not moving in on completion day however as I still had the old house and we planned to move in later when the fencing etc had been completed. Those people in a chain who had moved out that day had no choice but to move into an unfinished house. Despite that we still had a cricket score of snagging faults when we finally moved in. We weren't the only people to refuse to complete we heard later. It was the developer's end of half year so it was a finance / results based decision rather than when the houses were actually complete!

Can't you get someone to make something like that to suit?

Not this one? ? https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0096BJCAI/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Looking good @vivienz!

I think I lived here for well over a year before they charged me council tax. Happy days!