recoveringbuilder

You would only be eligible for zero rated vat if you were building a new build to live in as your main residence, I don’t think what you’re planning would qualify as that.

Yes well I only sent the full pp and got a phone call asking for the planning in principle also

We had outline and detailed planning and had to supply both

From what I have heard recently Scotframe have been having some problems with delivery dates and haven’t been able to give clients a definite timescale, I’ve also heard from people who were getting them to do their building warrant application and it’s taken up to a year, they were taken over by saint gobain and all the problems seemed to start in the transition period. It’s also not ideal that they don’t do erection services. we used claymore timber frame in ladybank Fife and were well pleased with them.

When you think about it the mortgage will be covering everything you buy which will be subject to vat anyway unless it’s supply and fit so I don’t see a problem with that, unfortunately kit firms can’t zero rate unless they are erecting it for you

No definitely want both

Happened to us when we were selling our first self build, built 1992 selling 14years later, day before completion solicitor asks for the permission from Sepa for the septic tank , of course I don’t have it , trip to the local authority office in the days when you could actually speak face to face with someone, rattled off what I was looking for and the very kind lady says it’ll need to come from the vault which will take 7-10 days! Then she said what month and year are we talking I said August 1992 , few clicks on her computer and she said you’re in luck everything from July 92 onwards is on computer, £15 later I had it in my hand!

Thought I’d resurrect this thread again as a warning to anyone thinking of having an installation done by an mcs, Hetas and Recc registered installer, do not be lulled into a false sense of security! carrying on from where we were the installer paid a visit in late January, he spent 5 hours looking over the boiler and making various adjustments however there was no improvement. In March Hetas sent an inspector who very quickly got to the route of the problem. Along with other small incidental omissions it turned out that the boiler had never been fitted with an air intake duct so was in fact a danger to us and was marked as do not use. Hetas have no power to make installers do anything and definitely not to remove and reimburse you which was what I was looking for by this time as the condition of the boiler had deteriorated due to continuous burning. The installer couldn’t supply any calculations as he clearly hadn’t done them but in reality we had found the cause of all the problems we’d been experiencing. The installer wanted to come and install the air intake and as far as he was concerned that would be his obligation fulfilled but we would then have been left to carry the can for all the ongoing repairs it was needing which were going to be a lot so we refused to allow him back and closed the complaint with Hetas. We then moved on to the Recc who at first appeared to be going to be more helpful, they asked what outcome we were looking for and we said we wanted it removed and a refund. They contacted the installer and requested that he do this- to no avail, we were then put on to arbitration, paid £120 for the pleasure, put forward our case, we were no longer complaining about the lack of performance but about the incorrect installation and the fact that our home and our lives had been put at risk. I submitted 19 pieces of evidence including the report from Hetas and photos of the state the boiler was now in, the installer was allowed his defence in which he questioned the nature of the complaint, he believed we were still complaining about the lack of heat, he made several comments about our ability to project manage the build, he accused us of throwing all the trades into the ring to sort themselves out, accused us of not building the house to the spec originally stated, accused other trades or ourselves of removing the air supply, accused us of having no understanding of house building and so it went on. I replied to all of it in the negative and commented that he was questioning the integrity of everyone involved in the build in an effort to save his own skin. I showed everything to various people who could all see what he was up to, everyone apart from the arbitrator! Today I received the award from the arbitrator, I am supposed to allow him back to install the air supply, to install the air supply which he omitted to install nearly 3 years ago, to a boiler which has now been through the mill and is on its last legs, to a boiler that he couldn’t find anything wrong with on his various visits. If I allow him to do this and it still doesn’t work properly he has then to refund me! so I let him come in and make all the holes he needs to install this and then we have to patch it all up, in all probability the boiler would have been fine if he had correctly installed it to start with at the time before plasterboarding etc had been done, it’s also possible that it would work fine if I allowed him to do this but it’s knackered, plates inside are disintegrated, runners off the feed drawer , drawer front broken, screw feed probably needs replaced and igniter, it’s out of warranty now so this would all be down to us. We’re left £14k out of pocket, have 7 years left to pay on a loan from energy savings trust and will have to fork out for a new system. The arbitrator completely ignored the complaint about the incorrect installation and reverted back to the original complaint made to Hetas about the performance which was not what I had asked them to look at. If I want to dispute the award I have to go to the high court in London even although I and the installer are in Scotland. What a mess! I have now bitten the bullet and contacted a litigation solicitor as I am determined not to let this go.

Reminds me of our last house- studio flat above the garage for our son, off he goes and orders a sofa, the day it arrives I’m home alone and there’s no way that sofa is going up them stairs, hubby comes home and it ends up he has to remove the full dormer window and two of them have to climb ladders carrying the sofa with me and the girlfriend inside to receive it! When we sold the house hubby was not removing that dormer again so we ended up having to take a chainsaw to it and remove it in bits!

Well there’s no new plants going in my garden this year, during the course of the last few weeks I’ve visited several garden centres in the Clyde valley all ones I’ve previously bought from and their prices have rocketed! One in particular which sells lovely furniture as well , I’d had my eye on a pair of chairs which they had a year and a half ago and went today thinking they might have put them on a sale price if they still had them, no, they’ve added £200 to them! Two sweet peas in a pot£20 no thanks, think they’re making up for lost time.

I love doing paperwork, love sorting out sets of figures etc!

I honestly would not pay someone to do it, probably took me around 10 hours to do it all and got every penny back, maybe I should set myself up as a vat reclaimer?!

We bought some bags of cement 3 weeks ago and there was no problem, I’ve today been speaking to the rep about some other stuff we’re needing and he said they’re really struggling with everything now can’t get cement, slabs anything at all really, he said it’s a good job you’re not building your house now!

As a matter of interest will you have to double sheet your garage ceiling? Just thinking back to when we built our last house it had a studio above the garage and we had to double sheet the garage ceiling.

As far as I’m aware you shouldn’t be doing anything on site until your planning and bw are through as well as the fact you need your cil exemption approved before starting . Any invoices dated before pp is granted won’t be eligible for reclaim

I get the feeling that a lot of would be self builders aren’t aware of the price rises, all the plots around here that have sat on the market for a few years are now being snapped up. Personally wouldn’t like to be starting a build just now, when the crash comes a lot of these houses will have cost more than they’re worth!

Well , just watched tonight’s episode, I’m sorry to be a doubter but I don’t for one second believe they built that for 375k, I know it took 6 years and he appears to have done all the work himself but still?! I think it’s a bit unfair to show programs like this and make people think they can build a home that’s going to be worth so much more than it cost them, and if Id known 7 years ago that you would get a plot in a place like that for 65k !!

You don’t think it would take too long for the water to reach the taps/showers?

I don’t know where you are in your build but you have to have a building warrant before you do the work, if you had a building warrant and have built differently to what was stated on it you will have to go for an amendment to warrant, I’m thinking this is what you are meaning and you’ll have to get the amendment done to enable you to get a completion certificate, without a completion certificate you will never be able to sell the property. If this is your problem I would see to it soon . You can claim back your vat on a new build with your council tax banding notice though.

I agree with @Carrerahill, our last house had joists, the ufh pipes had a biscuit mix over them before flooring

We have ufh downstairs, it has 13 zones, large rooms have 3 zones each, bathroom 1 and smaller bedrooms downstairs have 1 as does kitchen, utility and small sitting room. There are no pipes under kitchen units or island and we don’t have it under shower tray.

So I’m thinking it’s maybe not the best idea, the garage is detached from the house, pipes would need to go underground for 3-4 metres to get into the house.

Over the summer we will be changing our heating system. The plan is to have the new boiler in the garage and possibly a megaflo as we see no need for a thermal store if the boiler is feeding the heating directly. Would the megaflo be alright in the garage or would it take too long for the hot water to reach the house?

So why are Boris and co so against it then surely if they’re subsidising us it would be a relief to get shot

It will be the will of the Scottish people if it happens but I can’t understand why it bothers the English so much?