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I think I would find a local Structural Engineer to come take a look. Ask him to quote for a visit and verbal opinion.

https://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/knowledge/articles/2016/01/indemnity-insurance-building-regulations/#:~:text=The indemnity insurance is designed,t comply with building regulations.

Council near me says same.. https://www.east-northamptonshire.gov.uk/info/200162/existing_applications/1526/outcomes_of_a_building_control_application "Rejection notice If you do not provide enough information for your plans to show compliance with the Building Regulations we may issue a Rejection Notice. You may still start work if your plans have been rejected but should seek assistance from us before you commence. You may also re submit (resubmission) your plans with no further plan charge payable."

Google found.. http://www.benfieldattgroup.co.uk/knowledge-centre/advisory/building-regulations/building-regulations-application-refused/ "What if Building Regs Application Refused If your plans do not comply, you will be given a Refusal Notice. The reasons for rejection will be stated. This gives you a choice to put things right and resubmit. The refusal will not go on record (unlike a planning rejection) and resubmission is at no extra charge." But would be nice to find the same on a .gov website.

Ideally you would have all the bricks on site from the start so you can mix bricks from different pallets to avoid colour matching issues. Seem to be some Forterra bricks on ebay.

We have a lot of oak outside on our house with different finishes... Our paddock gate was untreated and took many years to go silver, along the way it went black and grew green "stuff" on the top rail. You might have to wait 6 years or more before its all silver. Our front door is treated with Sadolin. Coat of Sadolin classic light oak and several light coats of Sadolin Extra Satin Clear on top. Seems to last very well but it doesnt have any horizontal surfaces and those weather faster. We also have a lot of oak beams and posts (holding up porches and framing windows) i really want to keep these a nice honey colour. These were originally treated with Danish oil but that's a right pain. It needs recoating every year otherwise it starts going black as if untreated but slower. I ended up sanding it all off back to new wood. Gave it one coat of Dainish to colour it then three of OSMO UV Protection Oil. This is expensive but seems to last much longer than Danish oil.

Are the agricultural buildings suitable for conversion? More than 10 years old? There are permitted development rights that allow some agricultural buildings to be converted to houses.. https://www.burges-salmon.com/news-and-insight/legal-updates/permitted-development-rights-change-of-use-of-agricultural-buildings-to-residential/ Even if you don't want to convert them, the fact that you could might help a planning application to replace with a new dwelling.

+1 Its not the ladder its your shoulders that are the limitation.

Some go down as low as 38cm opening width. https://www.toolstation.com/werner-aluminium-loft-ladder/p40397?store=U2&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&gclid=Cj0KCQiAy579BRCPARIsAB6QoIb8tiyFh0KrswOeW3itXoH80wP8mZBxcvwSCmfR3M78BowFT0RrIKQaArTZEALw_wcB * Minimum loft opening width 0.38m (1'3") https://www.toolstation.com/telesteps-loft-line-mini-loft-ladder/p53636 Mini hatch opening: 520 x 600mm https://www.toolstation.com/tb-davies-envirofold-loft-ladder/p63295 Loft Opening Length x Width:1200 x 550mm

Yes, the Self Build VAT reclaim scheme is only for people building a house for themselves or a relative to live in. However if you employ a builder to do everything (eg buy materials and build the houses) then he must zero rate everything to you. So in that case there would be no VAT to reclaim as none would have been paid. Many people employ a builder to construct the building to water tight stage and then they finish it off inside themselves. In that case the builder zero rates his bit to you and you reclaim the vat on the stuff you buy. Yes if the second house is for a relative to live in. The reclaim form notes at the back state: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/828064/VAT431NB_form_and_notes.pdf Note its your intention at the outset that matters. If they intend living in the house but something happens to make them change their mind then they _may_ still allow the reclaim. For example if their financial or work situation changed and it was no longer possible for them to live in it. No doubt each reason will be considered on its merits. The point is you cant go telling the bank one story and HMRC another as they might check You also need to be aware that the CIL exemption requires you to live in the property for three years after completion. It might be wise to split the land when its sold to you. There have been reports that it is difficult to get the land registry to split land at other times because of the law on covenants or something like that (you cannot enforce a covenant on yourself?). Otherwise you could split the title when/if you sell the second house. If you need a loan the bank may have a view on this. When you apply for planning permission it would definitely be better to get planning permission for both houses to be separately occupied dwellings. You don't want one lumbered with a condition making it a holiday home or preventing its separate occupation/sale.

Also worth mentioning that poles can affect visibility splays so mark your driveway and visibility splay on any plans you give openreach if that's an issue.

The details can make a difference but typical cost is £300 for a survey/quote and perhaps £2000 to do the work. However it might not be possible to find a location where the new pole can see the same points on all five houses. You should ask them to quote to provide your own connection at same time. If the pole is near your boundary you could consider running an underground cable to the pole so you dont have an overhead to your house. Then you can choose where the master socket goes, where to put your modem etc. If the work is necessary to allow your house to be built then I believe they should zero rate the work to you. See VAT notice 708. That would only be if you already have planning permission fir your house.

If you are subject to the CIL get your exemption paperwork sorted before starting any work on site.

Are we sure the DHW tank isn't being used as a buffer for the UFH? I think some systems put hot flow into the tank and take it out to send to the UFH via the same pipe when the boiler is off.

Got to wonder why they didn't get pp in 2019 to change it to an separate dwelling? That ight make it more valuable and it could still be let out. My guess is they were advised they wouldn't get it. Beware. If you do manage to get planning permission while under offer whats to stop them pulling out of the deal and selling it to a third party at a higher price? To prevent that you could talk to your solicitor about an option to purchase contract but that might cost as much as you could loose if they bail.

Partly vented.. The boiler - store - UFH circuit on mine is vented but it can be dosed with chemicals to prevent legionares. The mains - heat exchanger - shower run is mains pressure and flushed with fresh water every time its used so i figure there is no time to grow bugs. Its no different to an electric shower I think. The burner in an Oil boiler always runs flat out. For some reason they dont/can't turn the size of the flame down (aka modulate) like a gas boiler does. To reduce power output to match the load an oil boiler has to turn the whole flame on and off instead. This is called cycling. Rapid or short cycling can be inefficient (ike driving a car in stop start traffic) so to prevent that I have the dial on the boiler right up and run the boiler to store pump quite fast. When its working right the store calls for heat and the burner makes one long burn until the store is satisfied.

Kingspan withdraws insulation fire test admitting it is 'not representative' of product on market for 15 years. https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/home/kingspan-withdraws-insulation-fire-test-admitting-it-is-not-representative-of-product-on-market-for-15-years-68461 "Kingspan last week wrote to the Building Research Establishment (BRE), which carried out testing on its Kooltherm K15 product, to withdraw test reports it has used in its marketing since 2005."

Problem is boilers can cycle for different reasons. Its unlikely to be due to the weather. Its usually because the boiler is too powerful for the load. For example when just one (or two) UFH loop is calling for heat. That can happen when the house is upto temperature.

Ours is an oil boiler and we had cycling even with a 300L store. My solution isn't applicable to a gas boiler without a store. What i did was turn up the boiler pump speed so it extracted enough power that the boiler never reaches the temperature set on the boiler dial. That means the burner runs continuously until the store is satisfied. It also reduces the flow temperature. If the minimum your boiler can output is more power than the load needs then the flow temperature must increase until a sensor somewhere makes it cycle to reduce power output. To prevent it you either need to reduce power output somehow (Smaller jets? Smaller boiler) or increase the load (thermal store or buffer tank). Another possibility might be to link zones so that you always have at least two loops calling for heat. However you get less control that way.

I believe Clearview have a direct air kit for some of their stoves but last time I looked they had two vents on their stoves, one on the bottom that could be fed from outside air and one on the door that took in room air. This might have changed as its been awhile. Ours burns room air.

The Clearview Solution 400 fits with both old and modern styling. Love ours. Its possible to control the air so you get lovely slow flames and the glass doesn't tar up as fast as other makes. Ours is in a traditional recess with the chimney to one side.

My feeling is that you could do with a pump speed between medium and slow. Not so fast that the flow is too cold. Not so slow that it cycles.

I have a similar system but with a bigger boiler. I run my store at about 60C to keep the return to the boiler low enough to be in condensing mode. My understanding is that the knob on the boiler sets the peak flow temperature .. the burner runs until it hits that temperature then shuts off. It will cycle lon and off like that if you let it until the store stat is satisfied. My preference is to not do that. I turn the boiler right up and increase the pump speed up until the boiler never quite starts cycling. Then when the store calls for heat the burner runs until its satisfied without cycling.

Try hinting you work for HMRC, perhaps as a VAT inspector ?

See the table column "Pence per kWh (after boiler efficiency)". https://nottenergy.com/resources/energy-cost-comparison/ They still reckon oil or gas is cheaper than an ASHP but its possible to argue with their figures. How much do you pay for electricity? They assume 19.4p/kwh.