Bitpipe

I disagree - revenge best served cold. Go get formal planning permission and build what you are legally entitled to.

You'll need to bite the bullet and go for full PP then (unless PD is an option) and unless grounded in planning policy, neighbour objections are politely ignored.

I don't buy that - every neighbour on our street, including one who is a conveyancing solicitor and quite knowledgeable, objected. LA rebutted all of their concerns and raised their own reasons for rejection, which we were able to address. Is this a full planning application or is this permitted development?

We have no string timber stairs internally (basement set are more standard). They use a hidden fixing into the structural wall on one side. Agree with above though, well made and installed stairs should not creak or move, whatever their design. We have one external concrete staircase from the basement exit door to ground level. We've clad it in the same pavers that we used for the patio and it looks good. Concrete team built it in situ vs using an offsite made one, took quite a bit of labour time to do it.

We have baths in two of our bathrooms and the MVHR deals effectively with the steam, neither room ever becomes stuffy, I double ducted the extracts so well in excess of BR flow rates. All of our 'feature' windows are non opening - they are either horizontal or vertical slot style windows so have relatively little glass. Bedrooms all have full sized opening windows / balcony doors as do downstairs rooms. Basement has non-opening units - one opening would have been handy for stack ventilation in summer (there is an external door but not comfortable having that open at night!!) Main pain of non opening windows is cleaning them, all of our openers open inward so easy to keep clean! Maybe in a power cut but aside from that it's unlikely.

Do the plots have appropriate vehicular access and what about services (water, electric at a min, sewage & gas also)? You can't assume that you can 'tap off' services to the existing house as there are all sorts of rules that may require paying for a more expensive connection. How 'buildable' are the plots, flat and level, easy for construction vehicles to access? Is any site prep needed? You need to cost up these 'preliminaries' as they will come out of your budget before you spend a penny towards the house itself. Any mature trees that could get TPOs or complicate building works? Good rule of thumb for the build itself is £1500/m2 for decent finish - smaller dwellings will cost more and bigger ones less due to economies of scale. Hard to drive that cost down much unless you undertake a lot of work yourself (what is your time worth) and very easy to spend more, especially if there are tricky conditions or the spec runs away with you. As a self builder, I'd not expect to make a profit and perhaps even a small loss against current market value as you're building a one off for your future enjoyment (vs sell on). If you employ a main contractor, they will expect to make a profit on the build. Often, the best way to get a plot is to buy a dilapaded or tired house on a nice plot and flatten it. While you write off the value of the original dwelling, you gain from established services and access.

My experience was that people who weren't familiar with the scheme (and us self builders are still quite rare) thought I was chancing my arm and I know businesses are very wary of fiddling VAT more so than any other tax. When I presented it as a formal note with PP, HMRC weblink and relevant excerpts attached, it went much more smoothly and they usually sent it to their accounts dept to get the once over. I was blissfully unaware when I paid for my ground investigation though and failed to get them to retrospectively refund & reclaim the VAT - that one is a bit grey but the guidance does say that any work done with tools (vs walk over or desk based surveys) that is intimately connected with the construction and after PP is granted is eligible for zero rating. Had I known, I'd have made them zero rate a good chunk of the fees before agreeing to the SOW, live and learn etc.

Plastic hot tubs with jets etc are normally not my thing but the lodge team were there every morning checking the chemicals and as we left they did a full drain and replenish, filter change etc. My teenager was in it all weathers, even during the howling gale that we had at the start of the week. I was inside watching TV myself. The other half has just seen this though and is very excited https://www.tuin.co.uk/Log-Cabin-Oval-Sauna.html I do fancy one of those Canadian log burning hot tubs https://www.tuin.co.uk/Barrel-Hot-Tub.html And it's all DIYable too. Just need to get my lottery ticket.

Spent quite a bit of time on that site - really like their chatty, open advice on all the requirements and challenges. Having spent last week in an A-Frame holiday lodge in St Andrews with private hot-tub and sauna, kids now have high expectations of our suggestion for a summer house at the bottom of the garden...

As a new build I had mine in place and the tackers boarded around them. At this point I should have cut them flush with a multi tool as it would have made the plaster's life a lot easier and got a smoother finish. However it did not matter as the cowls that clip over them have a generous overlap. Therefore, as the raw cut is not on show, you could maybe drill holes and use a padsaw to remove the section?

You usually need to provide a copy of your planning permission to show that you're eligible for the appropriate scheme and then send a link to the HMRC website. This link is pretty simple and is what I sent to any wavering contractors. https://www.gov.uk/vat-builders

So there are only two possibilities here. Just follow the money 1) BM is supplying goods to you (you pay the bill, your name, and address is on invoice). These will have VAT applied which you can reclaim at end of build. The installer also invoices you for their work and this is zero rated. i.e. you have a direct commercial relationship with two parties, two payments, two invoices etc. 2) BM supplies goods to installer who brings them to site and does the install. You will received one invoice and make one payment only to the installer. This whole invoice needs to be zero rated for VAT. If merchant charges VAT to installer then it's the installer's responsibility to either get that zero rated or claim of their own VAT bill. Clear?

Welcome, you're going to do well here Depends where you draw the line at structure. if you mean up to the point of first fix commencement - i.e. externals complete (i.e. weather tight) and all interior walls present, then I think we had spent about 50-60% of our budget by that stage? This excludes landscaping. Challenge with the post first fix stage is that the original budget can inflate again as you're dealing with more discretionary items and things that you'll actually see - kitchens, bathrooms, floor finishes, stairs, lighting etc etc. We definitely upgraded some items like stairs and doors to get the final finish we wanted. Usually, although we increased our original approved footprint by 50% by adding a full size basement once we'd secured planning for the above ground portion. No issues at all with that from our LA. You can always find a story to scare yourself with but I've seen a lot of basements and all are beautiful warm dry bright spaces that enhance the property no end. Like any other part of the house they need to be designed and built properly. if you have challenging ground or access then the cost may outweigh the benefit.

Depends - my 120m2 basement cost £100k in 2015 so no more expensive, if not cheaper than the rest of the house structure. It is of passive standard and constructed from warrantied waterproof concrete. The electrics, plastering, joinery and decoration were additional but not excessive and there were economies of scale applied with the rest of the house. We now have an amazing space that comprises two soundproof teenage TV rooms / dens, / music rooms (one has a drum kit and guitars, amps etc) a gym and a large library / craft room. Plus a plant room for services, all of which frees up the rest of the living space. Planners tend to turn something of a blind eye to basements (ours did anyway) as they don't impact massing or bulk or impact the street scene so if you're restricted in spacer those reasons they are an excellent option. However there are a number of caveats that will drive the cost of a basement, mainly ground conditions (inc soil type, bearing capacity, water table levels etc) and the access you have to build them. A full footprint basement will also act as the foundation for the above ground structure so you're justified in removing that cost from the basement - in which case I could knock off another £30k or so.

Hmm, I know plenty of good people that have had lots of bad things happen to them and vice versa but I get what you're saying, it helps take the pressure off regardless. Me, I just try and 'shake it off', watching the Taylor Swift video always helps and I try to let the miserable people just get on with it. You're absolutely right that creating a mutually beneficial community is invaluable and increases the stakes of being selfish for an individual.

We have a vaulted ceiling in the rooms in roof - we put a small bulkhead (50mm) down the centre of the roof and put LED strips in angled conduit either side - works well.

Completely agree. I believe the psychological term is cognitive dissonance - if an individual does something that they know goes against social or moral norms, they will subconsciously create a narrative that justifies it and just keep doubling down on it when challenged.

Fair enough but if its basics like foul pipes, chambers etc then an evening on the internet will sort you out. Appreciate that blocks, concrete, type 1 etc will all be more locally supplied and those vendors may be less willing to deal with a newbie.

As an alternative, get the supply list and organise it yourself. Many trades do not get that spectacular a discount from suppliers as their main concern is deferred payment / credit on account etc to manage cashflow. The client ultimately pays the bill so the trade is not that price sensitive, some may add a small margin on the materials. I guarantee you will match or beat his prices, if you shop around and play a few supplies off against each other.

I bought a lot of material during the landscaping phase - my trade used to walk me into his suppliers, he'd negotiate his usual price and I'd put in on my card there and then. Supplier was happy as they got paid on the nail (vs on account) and issued me an invoice in my name to my address to ensure my VAT reclaim was all good.

That's nice but they don't need to source them, pay for them or install them You pay them to do what you want, so go do your research and if a tweak to the design makes your life easier then just get them to do it. Supply and fit as a package is the only way to go - numerous advantages namely there is zero VAT applied (vs you paying VAT and then reclaiming later), supplier is also responsible for the windows on site until they're installed. Make sure there is no ambiguity over what handling equipment is required and provided either as part of the quote or by you - no good a team of installers arriving and expecting a tele handler that's not there. Have you/architect done a draft SAP calc to see how that amount of glazing impacts the house performance? Have you/architect calculated overheating risk (extends from spring to autumn, not just summer) and designed in provision to minimise (external blinds, bris Soleil, recessed frames, solar film etc)? As a happy owner of a MBC house with Gaulhofer windows (including two 4.5m x 2.2m sliders, fingertip operated) they are unforgiving when the sun is shining through them. We specced external electric blinds for the east elevation and use internal drapes to reduce west sun in the evening (plus external blinds on the Velux roof windows).

That's just a slower form of demolition

Knocking down does feel like a drastic step, I remember watching the machine inching towards my old house and thinking 'what are we doing?'. However for some builds, it makes perfect sense and is the most economical option, if planners allow it.

Sounds like my limestone pavers - very smooth on the surface and not much rougher underneath. Landscaper laid them on a full bed of wet mortar - a few have popped due to water ingress and frost (we used the easy join stuff to fill the gaps) and I've bonded them back down with a few dabs of CT1 - seems to have worked.

No design, just happy accident. We have high level Integra Velux in the roof over the central stairway / atrium and I just open the GF slider that sits over the basement lighwell / mezzanine and lock it at 6". As it sits behind a Juliet balcony, there's no real security issue. Had I designed it, I would have had the air coming in via the basement somehow per Nick's suggestion - there is only one door down there but it can't be securely opened. That said, basement is lovely and cool this week, daughter has been sleeping down there in her TV room.