mickeych

Yes - this is what we are doing for a stone barn conversion too. The reason we chose it was similar to your thoughts in that with every quote there were so many caveats and exclusions due to the age and complexity of the project. It doesn't stop you worrying about how you are going to afford it but it does give you a high degree of transparency. For the conversion of an old barn, no matter how detailed and careful you are in estimating or how brilliant a group of engineers and architects are in creating the original tender document, on my current experience there is absolutely no way that any estimate could capture the variables that we are seeing in this build. For example we surveyed the roof and timbers and estimated that 30% might need replacing - In reality the roof timbers were in far worse shape than the original survey suggested and we had to replace and repair a huge amount more than was planned. All in all, the roof finally came in at 125% of the highest estimate range (including the 25% contingency we used) which whilst not great, at least this was not 'an extra cost' over and above the tender quotes that we would have had and we did have some choice in the way things were done. I don't for a minute think that the cost+ is a perfect model, particularly as the contractor is not incentivised to find the cheapest materials so I do tend to get involved with larger purchases. As i see it, I am employing the contractor to build a property not manage my expenditure, and I do get a little concerned that the model relies on the accurate reporting of the teams time on site. We live in a cottage on site so we are able to be involved in making any and all key decisions and this also plays to what works for us. I would rather be over-asked than under-asked and with the cost+ everything is double checked

Sounds like a cost plus basis except you are also supplying the materials! If his rate per M2 is good, he comes recommended and you can see examples of his work I would definitely consider him. If you are paying a very clear rate for the work that he is doing and you can measure the amount of work he is doing IE rate per M2 of brick or block laid, it takes the 'finger in the air' and 'extras/not included' type issues one seems to get when accepting a lot of 'all-in' quotes.

Just use the cost estimator as a guide to show a lender that you understand and are considering the costs in your project. Speak to a good broker (really can't fault Mayflower and we have been working them for 16 months now for a very complex project!) They should be able to guide you as to the most appropriate level of costing/detail you provide to the lender to enable them to underwrite the loan. Some lenders can get a little nervous with the idea of you taking on the work yourselves unless you are in the trade or have prior experience (so I am told). Also - what you get funding for and exactly what you end up doing or who you work with can be a little different in reality. So long as the end result is the same and you get the valuations that you are aiming for to release funding and reach completion all within the scope of approved plans and you are paying the mortgage this is the goal for everyone!

It probably depends on the lender, but in our case they wanted full details on costs and potential contractor long before we were in a position to confirm this, so it was suggested to us that you show as much detail as possible from a QS service and include an outline quote from a reputable contractor to avoid any delays and back and forth. The other things we learned from the process is that the lender has a 'tick-box' that needs to be completed at this point to weed out the hopeful from the realistic self-builders and that means as much detail as the lender asks is needed and no debate!

Oh yes, just 1 thing to be aware of if you are going down this route that no one tells you is that once you buy the land, if you need to provide the title deeds to the lender (which you will), you will have to ask your solicitor to expedite the title registration with the Land Registry as the normal queue is currently 18 months and the lender is unlikely to proceed without a clear title deed.

Ditto that we are using Harpenden through Mayflower Brokerage. From a risk perceptive, lenders prefer to lend against a solid valued asset which you already own (such as land with FPP). By lending to you and taking a charge over the land they are offering a form of re-mortgage. The combination of a fixed value of the land greater than what they are going to lend overall (ie they are only lending you 280K against a market value of 350K) and the prospect of the future value being added to the original asset, make it an easier decision for them to underwrite. Lots of caveats about personal circumstances and loan types and limitations in there ,but this is how it should work in principle.

We had the same issue. Assuming your lender has also asked you to provide Site Insurance with them named as having an interest too, (and probably for a sum that they have specified), then you should be able to point out that requiring the builder's CAR covers this same risk is double insuring. If they accept this then they will accept just sight of the contractors CAR (to show that they have one) in addition to the Site Insurance that you are providing. Our broker at Mayflower helped sort this out for us so I am sure that if you are using a broker they can also advise. Like you we were initially spooked with all the requests for insurance this and warranty that, but you will find a way through it!

agreed and I have a plan to further accentuate the size of the aperture by continuing (and increasing the angle of) the taper as we frame and insulate it. This should in theory give us openings of around 400-450mm on the inside. We are also aiming to insert downlights into the frame to provide back lighting

The whole barn is like this outside and inside the mixture of estate bricks and the rubble stone. It is stunning and such a shame that it will be covered with insulation, but we are limited by the regulations and practicality of trying to make the building an inhabitable space. We are aiming to expose as many of the original features as possible such as the timber 'shoulders' and the trusses and purlins too but as with all these things, we are having to spend a lot of time and money on trying to save the fabric of the building.

Yes they taper out quite considerably so the width on the outside is around 130-170mm and on the inside is around 225-300

I think that this was initially my thought but then as @saveasteading points out they are all on show in the various rooms in the house and in 1 or 2 cases they are the only wall apertures allowed by conservation. At the 'front' of the barn the slots have quoins around them (looks like these were the 'showy' ones) and the others are framed by estate red brick. The outside of the slots have been chopped about over the years too, so we will need to make good the quoins and brickwork and as they taper inwards, we can move the glazing back into the 'hole' to make it fit with 150mm as the minimum width but it may look a little odd. Maybe a combined approach of bonding the glazing directly in to the opening with a very skinny home made wooden frame painted up on the inside?

This is an odd one! We are converting an old threshing barn and have started looking at glazing costs and suppliers and we realised that the 10 breather 'arrow' slits in the barn are too narrow for any standard window. They are a variety of sizes between 125 and 150mm wide and from 600-700mm tall. I am thinking that we can probably have some glazing panels made up (although there do appear to be limitations around the minimum width of panel) and then recesss them in the wall. The question is how?

SE has recommended we look at a fire suppression system as the best alternative. (So I'll probably have to beef up my SA's and HA's 🙃)

Dohhh - Thank you!

unfortunately I posted the wrong plans as these don't show the correct sizes for the GF bedroom windows both of which are existing openings of 1.4x1.4m so these should work as EEW's I think I follow on the Laundry and Boot room etc, sorry for the dum question but the abreviations HAA and SAA?