lizzie

Lots of chat on other threads about vat reclaim. Just do a search. Its a big subject!

My Velfac 2g quote was 10k less than the Internorm 3g.............big difference 47sqm glass

Then get someone to design to your budget the forever home you were looking to move on to. If you can do it to the size you want (your smaller end size) with budget you have why not just do that and stay there.

@Cazza with not a lot of cash for a build of the size you are talking about if its just something to turn and make a profit you might be better spending your time and a bit of money and selling on undeveloped with a permission. Make a bit - low risk in terms of expenditure.

Thats where we started from.....2 years on LOL

@Juj part of me regrets I did not go for the Velfac windows. Lovely slim frames but only 2g. They assured me the u values would be Ok for my build but I was hooked on the holy grail of 3g and went for eye wateringly expensive Internorm LOL

Hi Cazza and welcome. If it were me I would have a chat with a local planning consultant about it. Save yourself a lot of hassle. What was refused - a new build or an extension? 200k is not a lot of money to build a house unless you do a lot of the work yourself. The Potton type offerings can be very expensive as turnkey and they do need you to do quite a bit yourself if you have a tight budget. Has your architect given you any ball park figures for what he is suggesting. You could easily find demolition/site clearance and prof fees take up 50k of your 200k. Is a new bigger house in that particular location you want or just a new bigger house that could potentially be funded by the sale of your existing to a developer.

@SteamyTea and @JSHarris I have just built myself a bungalow because I could not find one to buy and need single storey living going forward.......I hesitate to call our 'grand design single storey residence' a bungalow though architect would have a fit!

@Juj I agree with @Dreadnaught about the west facing aspect. I have overheating problems and am currently trying to sort out a solution. My South facing windows are not too bad, I could live with that but the West facing ones are a major problem, I didnt think they would be I thought south worse but no. Look very carefully at the west....I have majority of my large glazed area on the west side?

Jeremy i so envy you I am sitting in a house that struggles to drop to 25 overnight even with windows open.

I usually do a recce and sift out OH hates looking at properties so only looks at final shortlisted ones. When I used to act as a buying agent for ppl it was very usual to just have the lady out on her own to do first viewing

.? 30 hours

The photos are a tool to get people through the door. There are stats for rightmove where people flick past properties with unappealing photos. These days Estate Agents are generally too lazy to actually work at getting people in the door and rely on the internet pics. Dont underestimate the value of good pics for getting people round to look. If you are not happy with them ask for them to be done again. Also ask for the main intro pic on internet sites to be swapped every week or so to keep it fresh. e.g. An internal or garden view may catch the attention of someone who passed over it a week before as they didnt like the look of it from previous the intro pic. Not everyone clicks through to look at all the pics. Once you have them over the doorstep then at least you have a chance. Good luck to all who are selling!

@newhome I think you need a plumber LOL Not sure exactly where you are (I know its tricky borders) but this site may be useful for local recommendations - might be one you have not tried......https://askyourneighbour.com/start.php

@newhome loving those nails!

all internal 838 wide doors, I’m single storey. This wide to cater for poss wheelchair in future. I have only one door in my living area and that is kitchen to utility all other doors are bedroom/bathroom doors. I have an open square arch to my snug which has been sized to take double doors in the future if ever we felt the need. I have no thresholds or steps internally and all level thresholds at external doors again to future proof. I would go as wide as you can without compromising your wall space or your overall look.

Our windows were hugely delayed and we were building through the wettest summer last year. They were putting 1st fix stuff in with water pouring through the roof boards and then we had black mould growing on the frame after we weatherproofed the window gaps. It was heartbreaking and horrendous as because of the slab problems we had lakes of water inside. Once the window gaps were weatherproofed with plastic it created a humid greenhouse effect with water still coming through the roof, collecting on the slab and then we had to get dehumidifiers in to try and dry the place out. I used to go almost every day and sweep out the huge amounts of water that collected in the big dips on the slab. I cried every day for weeks and was in despair at the utter mess of it all. Never mind the worry of all that expensive stuff going in a wet insecure building. The MVHR unit was fitted and shrouded in plastic to protect it. Shudder when I think about it. It seems complete madness now. For the window weatherproofing our carpenter made wooden frames to fit the window gaps and then nailed on heavy duty polythene. He was the superstar in the complete shambles. He was a one man band trying to get the roof trusses on at the time too. Concentrate on your roof first and take it from there. This dry weather cant last...can it.....the worry of all the mvhr etc being in an insecure building.....insurance wont cover you. We were lucky not to have any real damage or any nasty visitors - I would wait til it was dry and secure if I had to do it again. Can you do some landscaping or drainage instead of 1st fix. As you say you cant render or clad fully without windows in.

@Tony99 Incidentally we sold our house moved into rented so the cash for the build was in the bank........build took a year longer than planned and went hugely over budget. The best plans etc.......

@Tony99 I think people like Ecology expect you to remortgage once build finished. Even if you have a mortgage that is over a longer term you can pay it off early - just check the penalties - of course that depends on you being young enough to have a mortgage over a longer period..........If you are looking for a loan for a year that is almost a bridging. The repayments on that would be sizeable. I am not sure anyone would do an interest only 'mortgage' for a year (and undoubtedly you will need longer), I think - and I am not qualified to give financial advice - best bet is to investigate an interest only mortgage with lowest interest rate and cheapest early redemption penalties, as long as you have the income to qualify for the loan. On the sort of numbers you are talking about above you are looking at about 80% loan to value on your existing house...assuming it values for mortgage purposes at what you think the sale price may be. The sale/marketing price and the mortgage valuation are rarely the same. Go talk to your bank or a specialist broker if you don't want to explore the self build mortgage route yourself..

Hi Tony and welcome. Agree with proDave, unless you can support a loan of that size etc it could be a bit tricky. If you have a good income and as you own the plot you could go down the self build mortgage route with chunks being released as you complete stages of the build. That may be a cheaper route as you only pay on what you borrow. Ecology or Build-zone may be worth looking at for a self build mortgage. You need to fund build stages and get paid in arrears generally though. The building in the garden route can also be tricky on selling. If you are selling and then building afterwards make sure the site is fenced off and as unobtrusive as possible from existing house or it could affect a sale. Who wants to live next door to a building site and pay top dollar to do so. Building first and then selling is a safer option. @Hecateh is building in her garden...sure she will be along to tell you about it. Good luck...in my experience it will cost a lot more than you think and take a lot longer but it's a bit like childbirth (so they say) all forgotten when you actually achieve the goal.

Not yet....will be on list now @Ferdinand

Cost has not been a factor, until quote comes in no idea on price and I only have one quote as other supplier declined to quote as risk factor too high (not sure what their product was) . I have not found a supplier of the 3M range. @JSHarrisDo you have one you could suggest to me please. thank you for your valuable input as always

@JSHarris I am going round in circles with the film people by the seem of it then. They call the film they suggested THE80 but on their website it is titled Vista 80X http://www.sun-x.co.uk/products/clearview-solar-film

The film suppliers say the almost clear film is absorbing not reflecting. The silvered stuff is reflective and our glass would be ok with that but we would have the planners down on us like a ton of bricks. We are on a ridge and would be reflecting clear across the valley. It is a definite no no we even had to ensure non reflective roof covering.

This is an external film and the problem is with our Internorm glass spec which is laminated internally and externally. We have never considered an internal film as we knew that would cause problems. They are quoting on an external film so we don't have any confusion on that - unless all are singing from different song sheets ......... and I will go back and check with them again but it clearly states external film - the spec is very clear, its the same film from the company that Peter used. We have been through the detail of the glass and it is deemed not suitable for the particular type of film because it is not toughened glass and is very thick and has a fairly high solar absorption rate which makes them say they think it is likely to crack. 2 separate film suppliers (different films too) have now come back with the same answer for external film on our windows. I think if you have laminated only on one pane then the problem goes away. I don't understand the glass spec but this is it. We have triple 48mm coated clear glass 22b.2(laminated)/16Ar/4/18Ar/b22.2(laminated. (O.5w/M2k, 35db) (3GW-JL) They tell me broadly there are 2 different categories of non reflecting film - transmitting, which is pointless - and absorbing which the one we are looking at - and then there is reflective, the mirrored finish that we can't have.