Square Feet

I sold my soul to DeWalt some years ago and I haven't regretted it. The batteries last forever and stay charged even if you don't use them for a couple of years. The tools are very robust and well made and purr along like a sewing machine. You can pick up second hand tools and they will still work fine, even if the outside shows them to have had a hard life. They hold their value well for selling on later if you find you no longer need them. Some of the more simple tools like torches and sanders you can get aftermarket versions of that will work fine with the DeWalt batteries. As others have said - pick a good brand and stick with them.

I forgot to add a bit about sewer pipes and water lines etc. Most underground pipes or cables can be identified on-site by looking for the marker posts at the edge of the road. Access to the proper asset plan should always be a part of the conveyancing and health and safety policy for your plot, but if you want to check before you get too carried away and invested in a plot then you can access these maps online for a fee. If you were buying a plot at auction then you would want to do this anyway before you bid. In Scotland these used to be available for free from the Scottish Water website but they seem to have farmed them out to three private companies who now charge a fairly modest fee for this. Here's an example https://www.cornerstoneprojects.co.uk/scottishwaterplans/ This company charge £35.50 +Vat for a same-day service.

Thanks that's very useful. Would you do the plastering differently if you were starting it now? I totally get what you mean about getting it 'good enough' so that you can move in but I want to try and avoid doing things twice if possible.

Well exactly. I like to be nice, but if someone is taking the p1ss then they aren't going to be my friend for very much longer.

I don't know where you live, but here in Scotland we try to be nice to our friends. It's likely to cost less than the price of a bottle of wine and is the least I can do if someone is helping me out. Also if they come to visit me then it's nice to be nice. I honestly can't stand the mentality of 'what's in it for me?' Just be a nice human.

Yes that's what I meant by a dead neighbour. Poor old guy was lying there for six months over the hot summer of 2020. The first policeman to break into the flat came straight out and threw up on the pavement after. For months I'd been trying to find the source of the grim smell - it wasn't the drains or the sewer or the bins but smelled a bit like all three. Sad business.

Is there a void that an animal might have crawled into and died? I know there shouldn't be with airtightness regs but the last time I had a smell that I couldn't find the source for it turned out to be a dead neighbour 😌

My van has a 40kwh battery. If I was your friend and stayed over it would cost 40x7p = £2.80 to go from completely empty to completely full on overnight rates. I'm very unlikely to arrive with a completely empty battery, so I'd probably only need a quid or so worth of juice. If you've got spare solar then it's free.

But someone who comes to visit you might.

EV charging can take place via a 3-pin plug if the outlet socket is correctly rated. If you do it through a regular one it can melt them over time. Is this just a regular 3-pin 230V house socket that is marked so that you know it's safe for EV use? Otherwise you don't need a special EV charger for each brand of car. An untethered 6kw wall charger with a type 2 socket on will be fine for all vehicles. There's a few around that still have Type 1 charging (mostly Nissans) but they just use a Type1 to Type2 cable to get around this.

Hi Mike, I just finished reading all your blog to date. Thanks for writing it, I've found it really useful. The IKEA wardrobes are not beyond redemption - you can push the backing off from inside so that the nail heads stick up a bit and then pull them out with a claw hammer. Then get it square and renail. Having them squint like that would drive me nuts! Can I ask a question about your wall finish? You've done what I plan on doing and boarded it out yourself. Have you also done the taping/filling of the joins yourself and if so were you able to do that without sanding? Is there a final finish coat of plaster to go on top after that stage? I hope you don't mind me pointing out that there's a couple of dodgy bits I can see in the plaster around your rooflight reveals - are these getting edged and skimmed later or have they been done but just got bashed during construction on site?

Thanks Dave, yes that was all covered in the deeds and planning consent. The reason I wanted more info about surrounding landowners was to check how robust some of the agreements are. I'm sorry that I can't say any more at this stage and am being a bit cryptic, but I'm not wanting to give the location away! There's nothing there that's causing me concern re the water, drainage or services though. I know it all needs checking to make sure it's still current but it seems good so far.

I've spent the last few days carrying out some desktop due diligence on the plot I want to buy. I thought I would detail it here in case it helps anyone else on their plot buying journey in Scotland. I've accessed as much information as I possibly can about the plot from the following sources. Most were free, but two were paid. In total I have spent £9.60 on this. ScotLIS - Scotland's land registry. You can search the index for free and may glean some information, but for to access the title sheet, deeds and owner info you need to pay £3.60 (£3 plus VAT). The download to your email is instant. WhoOwnsScotland. This is a privately run website that allows you to map search for the details of significant landowners. I used it in addition to the above as the plot I am interested in is in the countryside and surrounded by farmland. It costs £6 for one month. (I happen to have an annual subscription for this already which works out at £1 a month, but if you just want it for one thing it's £6). It doesn't show small plots below a certain size which is why I needed the land registry info too. Council planning portal. Free. From this I have been able to view the existing (lapsed planning), and read all the documents, view plans etc. I did the same for earlier planning applications on the same plot and also neighbouring houses. There's a vast amount of information available. I now have a pretty good idea of what kind of house will be allowed and what won't and also a steer on the council's likely response to road access, archaeology, environmental, services etc. I also found the owner's email address which they had neglected to redact. National Library of Scotland. Free. I used their 'side by side' feature to view historical maps alongside the existing google aerial view. This allowed me to compare the 1800's map with the present day to get some insight as to any old buildings that might be on the site. Google Earth. Free. I used the Historical Imagery button to enable me to go back through earlier satellite images of the plot. This allowed me to see if any modern buildings had been on the site since Google Earth started recording imagery in 2009. Companies House. Free. The plot is owned by a limited company so I was able to find the owner's details including age and address. This allowed me to get a better idea of who is selling the plot and why. I could also see what value had been given to the plot in the company's balance sheet. I now feel as though I have a much better feel for the plot and the reasons why it hasn't sold so far. I still haven't heard back from the agents but I will try again with the benefit of feeling better informed to begin negotiations in order to make an offer subject to planning. Of all I've read today, the only thing that concerns me is some of the clauses in the deeds, which I can't interpret without the help of my lawyer anyway. I won't bother them though until I have an informal price agreed with the agents as there's no point getting carried away if the seller won't budge on the price. There were some things that I learned today that I hope will give me leverage though. Please don't tell me that I have to be careful regarding a plot that doesn't have planning - I know this already. I'm not about to throw a large wedge of cash away on a plot that can't be built on so of course I will make sure I am completely covered and have plenty of legally binding get-out clauses before I formally offer on it. If I missed a useful source then please feel free to add it to the comments below.

Some good ideas here, thanks - definitely some things to think about. I have been to see the agents so I'm just waiting to start the conversation with the sellers. Yes, I've done a lot of research on the plot and I fully understand why it hasn't sold. The reasons happen to align with what I do for a living so I feel confident that I at least know who to speak to and what would need done to deal with those issues. I don't think they are a problem, but I can see why it has put other potential buyers off - especially when there were other local plots available without these issues. I haven't put a load of time into it yet as this plot may be a non-starter, but I should reassure you all that I am not a naive dafty who is completely new to all this! I just didn't want to go into the issues too much in my original post as I don't want to give too much away in a public forum. I suspect the sellers have been fairly relaxed about renewing permission as they didn't think it would be a problem. They may have made a mistake there, but we shall see.

Yes, it's pretty common here too with plots. Very often here there's wiggle room for the buyer to get out of the contract later on if the planning that is approved isn't completely to their liking. It's not a nice thing to do to the seller and it won't win you many friends but there's usually a get-out in the contract that can be exploited if needed.