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I wouldn't expect you to need planning permission for either a small porch (if you're keeping the front door) or a garage conversion. Building regs would be needed for the garage conversion but again, not the porch. You may be able to look at your neighbours planning& building regs applications online to get a better idea what they did

Sounds like a good deal for the developer then, to get over some hurdles - will they at least also cover your legal expenses? Are they also going to insist on a covenant to prevent you switching windows back to plain glass? (I'm not 100% clear if the problem is you'll overlook the neighbour, vice-versa or both) Legals aside, have you considered how this deal might affect any future buyer if you ever come to sell? It sounds like you're losing being able to see out of three bedroom windows (presumably others still have a clear outlook?) in return for a discounted patio (say 2-3k saving)? That's not a lot if it puts off future buyer. It sounds like the developer is pretty keen that you don't object - unless there's other sums involved I wouldn't be too swayed by the discounted patio for something that affects your future enjoyment or price if you sell.

I'd go dmev, not PIV. PIV pulls fresh air in, which is good, but it's pushing the humid air out via gaps and holes in brickwork, around frames etc. Forcing damp air through the building fabric doesn't sound a great idea

Isovit e-cork is used as a mortar/adhesive for fixing cork insulation board to masonry. We've used it for sticking wood fibre boards (internally) and it worked very well

I'd echo getting a planning consultant to argue this for you and do it at the planning stage, rather than leave it to appeal. I think point 10 from that appeal is helpful to you ... note that an extant planning permission is in place, which I consider is a realistic ‘fall-back’ position. You'll want to argue that the semis were acceptable to the council and also to the appeal officer, and what you're doing now as a single dwelling further reduces intensification (fewer cars etc). A planning consultant will help you strengthen the argument to the planning officer that if they refuse now, they will lose at appeal. At least the officer is engaging with you so seems somewhat open minded - give them policy backed reasons to approve. At first glance I missed you'd lowered the eaves, perhaps lower the ridge correspondingly and give the bungalow to your left a bit more room - that would emphasise how much you've reduced the mass versus the outline of the original permission.

I like elements of your design and you sound very committed to renovation but the VAT saving on knock down and rebuild for a project this size would be substantial and, as others have said, simplify any build. It would probably be easier to get builders to quote for and those quotes might be more reliable too. Are you sure you've explored that option fully?

Our garage floor sloped away to the outside so check that as you may need to level (we did framed floor for this reason). Building inspector wanted a couple of courses of brickwork under the stud wall to prevent spills in the remaining garage contaminating below new floor or creating fire risk. Dpm is cheap and saves risk of more expensive problems later

Perhaps to fix a future garden studio issue you're putting a bit too much emphasis on this toilet/utility? Possibly to the detriment of the rest of the downstairs layout? With around 5.5m total width onto the garden, toilet/utility will take around a third of the space next to the garden, rather than the kitchen/dining etc having better access to outside and more light. You need to design for your own needs first but @ETC' first suggestion would probably appeal more to future buyers. A dedicated WC in your garden studio would probably be more usable too (if you're working there on a wet day and need the loo!)

Sounds like a span better suited to engineered posi/i-joists. Plenty of span tables online. Have you tried contacting local joist suppliers? Given a set of plans they'll probably spec out the depth & spacing you need for free when quoting. Deeper but wider spaced may be cheaper if you're not height constrained.

If Luis applies to extend, before purchasing, and it's turned down, the house would then be worth less to them as they won't be able to get the living space they want. I'm suggesting a way of getting certainty about a planned extension before finalising the purchase

This is the largest purchase you'll make so you need to consider the worst case - if you couldn't extend then is the house still suitable for you? And would you still be happy with your offer price? How about you or the owner puts in a planning application and you make your offer conditional on it's approval? In about 8 weeks, as the rest of the sale process continues, you'll have certainty. A house you definitely can't extend is clearly worth less. It's unlikely you'll get the condition removed, the extension looks reasonable to me but planners may feel differently.

Congratulations if you're recovering anywhere close to 88%, that sounds above alternatives with much larger heat exchangers (but until your products are listed in the Products database used by SAP it's hard to know if it's a like for like comparison - are you saying you outperform PowerPipe for example). I still think 'easy retrofit' sounds a stretch though, and the pre-heat will be a barrier for some potential customers. Isn't your obvious route to market a licence or tie in with a major shower manufacturer? Have you approached them? I agree renovation is your main market but regardless of energy efficiency in markets like the UK I think you'll struggle to persuade customers to replace their shower with one that has a lower flow rate, and also risk unhappy customers when their new shower is weaker than the old, so I'd focus here on pitching at least the same flow rate, but for much lower cost. Good luck with your product, it would be great to see more energy efficient products reaching the mainstream.

For opening up kitchen/diner @ETC's option 2 looks easier to build (less steels, all single storey), plus it keeps direct natural light into the rear reception room

Some stone cills are available with an upstand. For example a pic here. Depending on the profile of the R9 you may be able to sit them far enough forward on the upstand so they drain through the bottom of the frame. Thorvertone stone do something similar too

How about burying most of the glycol loop a metre or so underground below the path/drive, where the temperature's ~10 degrees? A very no-frills ground source heat pump

This sounds like something you could address with a section 73 application, assuming there's a condition along the lines of being built according to approved plans. Does the description really need to change? I assume it's along the lines of 'a dwelling house ...' - some have basements, some don't. Section 73 has been interpreted pretty broadly recently in favour of changes that sound more substantial than you're aiming for. (I'd echo that a new full application after commencement puts your CIL at risk)

A plan showing existing and what you think is covered by each of the PD and PP would make it much easier to understand exactly what you mean, I can't really follow what's going where! On the face of it though, if you couldn't get planning approval for the whole scheme it seems pretty unlikely you have permission for the whole based on the sum of two parts, as it sounds like each was approved without regard for the impact of the other. Did your neighbours object during the prior approval process for PD? It sounds like they'll be looking at a lot of your wall and losing a lot of light.

Have you tried contacting your supplier, rather than the DNO? They can move meters a short distance internally.

We didn't have this as a specific separate condition, but did have a pre-commencement condition to provide a construction method statement with 'wheel washing facilities' listed as one of the points to cover. In our CMS we said: ... and that was good enough for approval in our case - hopefully it'll be similar for you as a self build. It's in your interest to do something along those lines anyway, to avoid disruption for neighbours and the risk of accidents if dirt is dragged onto the road. (There is an appeal process against conditions that are too onerous - it doesn't seem proportionate to add a £1500/week overhead on a self build)

We also used estimators online. I thought they were good value at £200 for a single detached property. You get costs broken down various ways - materials, labour, what you'll need when, broken down by build stage that you can view online. All the information can be downloaded as a spreadsheet so you can tweak it later too. Yes, 'sanity check' is probably a good way to put it.

This sort of approach, embedding something to fix into, may work better than the cut troughs and help you rely less on the strength of any adhesive. You mentioned the tiles are already down - what about using a circular tile cutter to get a neat cut out and then gluing in, say, a same sized circular steel plate to fix into?

This certainly sounds like fire protection - do you have any bedrooms with window openings too small to escape from? They're nice doors but would be an expensive mistake if something fire rated is required. If you don't need fire protection, I know Jeldwen also do some glazed room dividers (though we actually ended up doing pocket doors, in a smaller opening)

When you say 'plot' I assume at those prices you mean land without planning permission? I'd expect a plot with outline permission to cost several times more than that, so bear in mind that without planning permission, the price reflects the risk/likelihood of obtaining permission at all and you'll also need to factor in the time and effort you'll need to invest in attempting to get permission to build at all. Also, don't underestimate what neighbours and planners may object to - it's unlikely your home will look like the rest of the street scene, so even assuming you get permission to build at all, you'll have another battle to get what you want. For many reasons, not least because they buy a problem site - if you want to complete a build in a reasonable timescale you may need to consider allocating a much larger proportion of your budget to buy a plot with planning permission. Good luck with your project, but I wouldn't get too wedded to a particular design until you're sure of the site you're building on and your remaining budget at that point.

It's not totally clear but I assume you mean 'less than' 6m from your home? In which case the Party Wall Act may well apply but if what you're seeking is to force them to stop piling (by injunction) you'll definitely need to get qualified legal advice first. Take the earlier advice and document both the piling process and the condition of your own property with photos and videos. I'd also put your concerns in writing to the developers, mentioning the PWA and asking them to either clarify why it does not apply or voluntarily cease works until your property can be surveyed - both by recorded post to their offices and by hand to the site manager. They may fob you off, but if you've raised issues early and documented that, then your position will be much stronger in the worst case of discovering damage later. You could also ask for a copy of their seismometer recording. Your aim is to emphasise the risk to them of continuing unchecked and the likelihood you'll take action as a result.

We used the cheaper end hollow PVC panels and on their own I think they'd have felt a bit too flimsy straight onto the stud even narrowly spaced. Higher end solid core panels would probably feel fine. We screwed 10mm insulated tile backer boards to the studs and then used adhesive between that an the hollow panels. Those boards are light, insulated and another layer of waterproofing, esp at corners and around the tray, but would be pricey if we hadn't had tile backer spare.