newhome

The plot I bought came with PP and an architect had been involved but he seemed to base his design on a Scotframe house and the house next door (external design is the same) had been supplied by Scotframe so we engaged them to supply the frame. We changed quite a lot of the internal layout and they supplied the new building control plans to suit what we wanted and provided the structural engineer for the frame itself. Because those things were all wrapped up in the timber frame supply we were able to reclaim the VAT on the whole thing including the architect and SE work that if arranged separately wouldn't have been eligible to reclaim. I would call your proposed 'office' a 'study' or 'home gym' or something. A minor point and you are allowed a single home office in a house but the more you can do to make it sound like a house rather than somewhere that you might be running a business from the better in truth and that garage space is pretty large.

Welcome. You’ve definitely come to the right place to ask questions. I’ll just pick up on the point about a new build rather than a renovation. Firstly in order for the build to be eligible for a VAT reclaim the planning permission must be for a new dwelling. If it is only for a refurb currently you will need a new PP. Secondly there must be no conditions attached to the build that tie the occupier to a specific business, so ‘to be occupied by someone involved in the business on the smallholding’ for example. If either of these conditions aren’t met you could find your VAT reclaim refused which can be an expensive mistake. My house is a Scotframe house albeit from a few years ago. I found them absolutely fine to deal with. Definitely worth keeping them on your list, especially if you like one of their designs. There are however multiple timber frame companies around so lots to choose from. Turnkey will clearly be the most expensive but if you don’t mind digging in and doing some of the work yourself you may save a fair bit of money. We have self builders on here who have been at opposite ends of the spectrum from turnkey to full DIY and everything in between.

No one takes kindly to cold showers least of all me! I bet @JSHarris regrets selling you his instant water heater too!

People don’t want bigger though. That’s one of the main attractions.

What about something like this? https://mixergy.co.uk/about-howitworks/

Going back to this quote from Sunamp what makes you an ‘early adopter’ and do people understand that they are early adopters? If you go to an event, see a product on display and buy it does it give the company the right to say that there are teething issues as you are an early adopter? Are you supposed to accept this? Is being an early adopter a transparent process?

In my experience whatever the BCO’s pet subject is. They didn’t really ‘inspect’ all of the things you note. Drain test was one of mine, and a few quirky ones: Proper fence to rear patio was needed where there was a circa 3 foot drop and we had put sheep netting as a temporary thing; a mesh cover to a pipe from the boiler on the outside wall; mobility access was a big deal; Some of the things I thought they’d be bothered about they weren’t so it might be worth getting them to do your inspection and then get their list of outstanding issues. You can claim VAT back on the things you buy between getting the completion certificate and sending in the vat claim (within 3 months) in case you weren’t aware of that.

Another eBay 20% off code including a handful of 'house' related sellers. New eBay code PAYDAYFEB gives 20% off selected sellers. Min spend is £25 and maximum discount is £75, limit of one redemption. The code will run until 23:59 on 28th February 2019 Link to sellers and terms and conditions

Reminds me of the sex toy or dog toy quiz that was doing the rounds at some point. The links to that are too crude for this family friendly forum lol (google is all yours if you want something more graphic) so I’ll just put the dog toys here Dog Toys

Slight off topic but I read lots of posts about steels being needed / used. I don’t think there is any steel here. Is that ok?

If you can build the wardrobes in line with the regs for reclaiming the VAT you can get them VAT free. Look for the criteria towards the bottom of this post: https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/6851-a-guide-to-the-vat-reclaim-process/?do=findComment&comment=116306

I have manifolds in cupboards upstairs for my upstairs UFH.

? ? Your wish ?

Steak! No ? though.

What do you mean 'next time'. You ripping it out for a second time?

One thing I can guarantee is that we would have had a 3D printer by now as it would apparently have been something we couldn’t live without according to the OH. Funnily enough I manage quite well without one ?.

Lol, a very small sinister purpose! I thought it looked like a sort of cupboard that would house the computer or toy boxes etc?

Yep, which is why the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is popular (maybe a bit less so now) as the BIK was low even if someone decided never to charge it.

Cripes! Probably explains why the office car park is like a parking lot for Evoques. Seems to be the ‘in’ car at the mo alongside the BMWs, Mercs etc that have long been popular. I could have an Evoque at that money and still have a decent amount paid in cash for not reaching my car allowance! ? I take the whole lot as cash so never look at the company car options as I would rather have my own vehicle. Not planning as I never saw anyone from there but the BC guy from the council drives a tiny little car. Think it was a Micra or similar. Our groundworker drove a variety of restored classic cars when not in his van and has retired to the Bahamas.

Largely depends what people want to spend their income on I guess. I’m not that interested in cars beyond having one that I feel comfortable driving. The car I have now ticks that box so I will keep it until it starts becoming unreliable (it’s 4 years old now) and then replace it with another ‘keeper’. People I work with have to have a new car every couple of years and there are many people (being genderist, mostly men) who seem to covet flashy cars. As @PeterW says there are many 24 month lease deals available that tempt people but they will never actually own a car that way.

I have a downstairs WC / wet room rather than just a loo. Originally that was the only completed bathroom when we moved in as there was nothing finished upstairs and we had envisaged that the shower would just be used to shower the dogs occasionally eventually. Never did we imagine that the downstairs shower would become essential when my hubby became too sick to climb the stairs so it was very good fortune as the original plan just had a loo and a cupboard next door, but we dispensed with the cupboard to make the larger wet room. It also has a separate thermostat with floor probe.

Large developer built houses built just to meet building regs still attract a large RHI payment. The minute I stick the square metres for my house into the calculator the payment increases hugely. It comes out much less for a house that comes out at the ‘average’ size they have for a 4 bed home.

Will be the end of RHI I imagine if ASHPs etc become mandatory in new builds.

Yep it’s crazy. In Scotland they will top up the OLEV grant so we got the one here for nothing.

Ah, I meant had he got a supply and fit quote from them. Pod Point and Chargemaster seem to be charging about £200 - £300 once the grant is taken into account.