Temp

Seems you may need both PP and Highways Consent... https://www.essexhighways.org/applications/vehicle-crossings-dropped-kerbs https://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/info/56/request_a_dropped_kerb_h_bar_or_skip_permit/589/dropped_kerb_-_applications_conditions_and_limitations/3

In our case there was a partly "piped ditch" along/under our side of the road. We proposed connecting to that. The EA said they "wouldn't want us to make flooding worse". So we proposed a rainwater recycling tank with overflow to the ditch. Planners approved it without going back to the EA. My builder also said that in the past he had turned the trench for the foul drains into one large soakaway that conveniently runs off site. He said the main sewer was also beded in gravel so the whole village became a soakaway. A soakaway mound might also be an option if there is enough space and the ground isn't totally impermeable.

Yes and no... There are three ways to get things zero rated... 1. Build a new house on an empty site or do a knock down and rebuild. If the latter you have to demolish pretty much everything with the possible exception of the front wall if the planners want it retained due to its architectural value. Labor is zero rated to you (nothing to reclaim), materials are standard rated to you (and you can reclaim it). 2. Refurbish a house that's been empty for 10 years. The property must be refurbished by a VAT registered builder. He can zero rate everything to you. I don't think there is an option to do any DIY and reclaim the VAT on materials. The builder must start before you move in even if only by a day or two. Move in first and fails the "empty for 10 years test". There is also a scheme for houses that have been empty 2 years. 3. Convert a building from something else like an office or agricultural building. You pay 5% VAT but can reclaim it at the end.

We built in a small village/conservation area. Before we submitted our planing application I called up both neighbours and the chair of the parish council. I asked if I could drop in one evening to introduce myself and show them our plans. I arranged to visit each individually at their house as I didn't want to be out numbered. In the end everyone was welcoming and we spent more time talking about our families and the local school and village life in general. Even then one neighbour objected. The plot already had PP for a house and our proposal moved it further away so i've no idea why they objected.

The CIL rules don't cover every eventuality. Some cases/situations will have to be resolved in court. I'm not sure we can predict how it might go. The council might argue that as you didn't finish in accordance with the approved plans you are in breech of planning. They might suggest you make a retrospective planning application for a refurb instead of a knockdown. However the CIL exemption is NOT available for a retrospective planning application. https://www.pallantchambers.co.uk/blog_post/july-2021-cil-payment-exemption-is-not-available-for-self-build-houses-granted-retrospective-planning-permission/ Have you calculated the CIL liability?

Welcome. Did you consider the options for getting it zero rated for VAT?

If you notify the planners in writing (recorded delivery copy the legal department) and they continue to publish the libel I suspect that makes the planners liable for damages for negligence.

Most terrace houses are alowed to extend back 3m under Permitted Development eg no planning permission required. They can also extend back 6m without planning permission if they follow the Permitted Development Prior Approval Process which involves consulting you. They can extend all the way to the coast if they apply for full Planning Permission and the planners approve it. This process also involves consulting you. You do not have to respond to the consultation but if you don't they will take it that you aren't objecting and they will be allowed to build to 6m. I'm afraid you will have to decide what you can live with. I recommend doing that and telling them. You can say I can live with 5m? 4m? meters but any bigger and Im afraid I will object because I think it will be too overbearing, sorry but that's how you feel. In that case they will have to decide between... Scaling it back to what you have said you can live with or. Submitting a planning application for what they really want. Bear in mind that might be 7 or 8m not 6m. You also have rights under the rules of trespass (nothing must overhang the boundary not even gutters, so the wall must normally be built 6" to 1ft on their side to allow for that) and possibly the Party Wall Act.

I can't find anything difinitive about materials but VAT 708 does say that some services are standard rated if carried out before PP is granted eg demolition and site surveys.

Personally I wouldn't rely on this just yet but it might help anyone that has made a mistake and missed something.

https://www.rossmartin.co.uk/vat/vat-cases/5833-multiple-diy-housebuilder-claims-permitted It also appears you dont have to prove completion....

My understanding is no. The development has to be lawful and qualify for zero rating when the materials are purchased. i recall a case where someone got PP for a granny annex that couldn't be seperately occupied so wasn't eligible for the VAT reclaim scheme. Then half way through building it they got the planning condition removed making it eligible for the VAT reclaim. HMRC decided only materials purchased after the condition was removed could be reclaimed. I don't know if it went to appeal. Edit: or maybe it just has to be legal when the materials are incorporated into the building?

Bit late but.. Normally the grippers are fitted about 8-10mm away from the skirting not right against it. The carpet is hooked over spikes on the gripper then tucked down into that gap. See this vid.. Skip to 1:48...

Ideally run cable straight out if wall to TV with no connectors ? Otherwise use F type.

A booster amplifies the signal. A distribution amp splits the signal multiple ways. A true distribution amplifier doesn't really amplify the signal much (Normally just enough to correct for losses in the "splitting process"). However some products that look like distribution amplifiers do amplify the signal to varying degrees. So you may or may not need one of each. Given a clean slate... you want as big an aerial as possible/needed so you don't need an amplifier. If you already have the right type and size of aerial and signal strength is still an issue then you might consider an amplifier. The best type is a mast head amplifier that goes at the top of mast near the aerial and is powered up the cable coax cable. Then if you want multiple outputs you use a distribution amp that doesn't amplify the signal much. This overall approach of putting the amplification close to the aerial minimises noise on the signal.

Also.. https://github.com/home-assistant/operating-system/issues/245 snip Hope that make more sense to you than it does to me.

I only speak Arduino but perhaps.. https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/ebapu0/psa_in_raspbian_mac_addresses_are_set_on_first/

See if there is an incoming fuse and what its rated for. What your supply can deliver varies a lot. I think the modern standard is a 100A supply but sometimes fitted with a 80A fuse. Some houses are lower. If not obvious get an electrician to advise. Fuse if there is one can be near the meter rather than the CU/fuse board. Have you purchased the cooker yet? If your supply needs upgrading you might consider switching to an LPG gas hob on cylinders and electric oven instead. We have Bretannia multi fuel set up. It's normally the rings that draw a lot. Ditto electric showers - a 10kW draws around 44A.

Nothing a crate of beer can't solve I suspect.

In my experience the "working height" specified for scaffolding is a foot or perhaps 18" optimistic. Eg you can reach that height with a paint brush but not look down into a gutter that height. Personally I don't like the type that extend up above the hinge.

Forgot to add that we got our architect to do BC and some construction drawings because our place is pretty complicated. Concrete first floor for example.

I think it might be a bit too late in the year to get a bat survey done. Think they can only be done May to September but might be wrong. Get on the phone ASAP. Personally I like builders that make such suggestions. Suggests they have thought about what the job might involve or they are anticipating what BC will want. Ideally speak to Building Control, tell them where your plot is and see what they want/ expect. For anything complex involving steel beams or non-standard construction they will want drawings and calculations. You might get sent a standard list or useful comment. Hard to tell. In some areas you will be lucky to be able to get hold of them. The gold standard for a new site requires test pits be dug and a ground condition report compiled so a structural engineer can design the foundations for Building Control Approval and your builder to work to. In some areas on known good ground that would be overkill and you can just copy what other builders have done or go with suggestions from the BCO. .

I consider man made climate change to be settled science. We know C02 is why the earth isn't -18C. We know we have and are emitting vast quantities of CO2. We know what happened to temperatures last time C02 levels were high. We can see the climate is changing. We can see and measure ice melting. We can measure the sea level rising. Can predict the consequences of doing nothing.

It works with any system that has a pressure gauge in the pipe to the stove. Think it was just part of the installation procedure for the auto change over.. You connect everything then open the bottle to briefly pressurise the pipe to the stove then shut it off and leave it overnight to see if it falls. If there is a leak you only loose the gas in the pipe not whole 47og bottle.

Just for info.. our regulator/auto changeover has a pressure gauge which can be used to test for leaks. You just turn off the gas bottle and see if the pressure in the pipe to the cooker falls overnight.