jack

I'm not sure whether it's a common feature of thermostats, but if you can get one with normally open and normally closed outputs, you could easily wire a summer/winter switch so that the right output is controlling cooling/heating.

Interesting. We installed a Fakro roof light with electric opener during construction in 2015. It worked with the supplied remote control when first installed, but as soon as we tried to get the hardwired Z-wave module to work with it (and our home automation system), everything including the remote control stopped working. We put it to the side and I've never actually gotten around to sorting it out. As a result, it's never been opened since we moved in!

There's no www, and in any event you only need the domain (i.e., "site:buildhub.org.uk" without quotes) to use Google with a site limitation. That said, @saveasteading is right: adding "buildhub" to the search term is all that's needed. Very similar to our situation. Found a hideous 90 m2 bungalow that hadn't been looked at since it was built in the 1950s. Started negotiating, and then a developer came in with the asking price and we lost it. Several months later it appeared again - developer got cold feet due to the number of trees. We started negotiating again, and then a different developer came in at full price. This time it was only a few weeks before it appeared for sale again with a different agent. We ended up paying the asking price, although by then there were the beginnings of the property market bottom being in (late 2012), so we weren't too concerned. We'd planned to rent it out for up to a year while we sorted out plans etc. Unfortunately, we discovered too late that our mortgage company wouldn't allow even a brief rental under any circumstances. So we moved into this tiny 2-bed bungalow with two young kids. It was actually brilliant in a way. Both kids cried when we moved out. It ended up taking us over 2 years to get planning and start the build. Worth it though. I'll be following your build with interest!

I don't know and I don't want to advise you in case I'm wrong. I get the impression that HMRC is relying on public records and what you tell them is the date you moved in (the form asks you about this). If the habitation certificate isn't public, HMRC isn't going to know about it to be able to rely on it. However, unless you want to lie on the form where they ask you about the moving in date, the safest thing would be to assume that the earlier of your moving in date and the habitation certificate date is going to start the three month period. One thing you could do is use the habitation certificate as the basis for your claim and submit within three months of that (optional: buy as much stuff for the build as you can before submission). You could then either accept that you can't claim for anything bought after that, or try doing what OP did and add a second claim later while the first claim is still pending. It sounds like you'd potentially have months to do that given the current backlog. Yours is a good example of where seeking help from someone like Andrew makes sense.

As you probably know, the main issue (discussed at length in many other threads in this sub-forum) is that HMRC's own guidance is dangerously misleading. The notes accompanying the form say that they generally expect a completion certificate as evidence of completion, but that they will accept a couple of of other documents at the applicant's choice. What they don't say is that if there's any evidence at all that you moved in prior to completion, or even that the house was finished even if you didn't move in, they'll argue that the three months runs from that date, not the date of the completion certificate. Given the amount of money that could be involved (over £20k for us), it's critical that people are aware of HMRC's tricks. ... and that's why I get on my high horse every time someone says "don't worry, it's easy" in this sub-forum.

What's that got to do with this thread though?

@nod, did you read the first post? This comment alone should make it clear this was far from a standard reclaim: HMRC has repeatedly refused self-build VAT reclaim applications that are far less outside their usual expectations than this one. In short, the process is "simple" only if your situation meets every one of HMRC's expectations, including several that are not listed in the forms or their own guidance and instructions. While BuildHub is generally non-commercial, there's no problem with long-standing members giving honest reviews of their experiences. I know at least a couple of other members have used Andrew with success.

Sounds interesting and you've clearly thought it through. One question re: the proposed 300 litre thermal store. That capacity would be on the small side for an unvented cylinder (depending on the house size) just doing DHW, and seems potentially very much on the small size for a thermal store where you need to use heat exchangers to extract heat and want to maximise the ability to store heat from, eg, a log burner that might be run intermittently. It's doubly problematic if you're using the same store for central heating. I'm no expert, but I'd guess 500 L would be the minumum you should be thinking about for this sort of thermal store, and maybe more.

Dropped my son to the station this morning and we were discussing the differences in snow cover on the houses. Interestingly, he got it the wrong way around at first, and then immediately corrected himself.

Two showers at once would be extremely unusual in our house, so having two connected to one unit (from memory we have the recoup unit linked above) isn't an issue, especially given the flow rate of each shower is less than 10 L per minute.

I don't believe any domestic waste water heat recovery unit is rated to cope with four showers. The one you linked recommends a maximum of 24 L per minute (total) for system types B and C, and only 16 L per minute (less than one of your showers) for system type A. If you want to "save the planet" as you say, then why not use this opportunity to change your family's usage patterns rather than just replicating the current pattern in the new place? Assuming you have kids who are using at least a couple of these simultaneous showers, then the flow rate is ultimately up to you. A few weeks ago I installed flow restrictors on our kids' showers to limit them to 9 L per minute (down from about 12 or 13 L max per minute beforehand) and the showers work perfectly fine. Not sure the kids have even noticed - I didn't tell them and they haven't mentioned it. Depends very much where you are in the UK. There have been hose pipe bans in the south east more than once in the last decade due to water shortages.

I have a Brink Excellent 400, which is in the same family of closely-related MVHR units. I have a ~290 m2 house with probably higher than average volume. I'll have to dig it out to be sure [which I've now done and corrected the following number], but I believe our calculated base rate was 180 225 m3/hr, which seems low compared to what you're aiming for given your floor area. Either way, I never run it on anything like that. I think it's currently set on 80 m3/hr, and stays like that 24/7 unless I manually boost it when cooking or we have a lot of people over. We never have problems with condensation and the bathrooms dry out fast enough that I don't bother with a humidity-based boost (I'd have set it up, but one of the decorators we had in decided to step on a cardboard box to reach something. It collapsed, which caused him to smash the humidity sensor that was in the box. I was only 80% sure it was him when I found it a couple of days later, so unfortunately I wasn't able to clearly place the blame). Can you adjust the rate away from those manual setting defaults? I believe we were able to do so for ours at a resolution of maybe 5 m3/hr.

I'd never heard of him before, but he makes that series imo.

Agreed. I stopped contributing to the thread when it was suggested that developer margins of 25% net are "pretty standard".

Ah right, I understood "pipes" as being UFH pipes. The hot and cold water pipes are embedded within the insulation, not the slab. That said, the top of the pipes (or at least the coloured conduit they're run in) does seem to be in contact with the slab. The pipework being in contact with the slab is going to make the cold water potentially quite warm when the UFH is on. Maybe that's fine (and perhaps preferable to having it being very cold, which might be the other alternative in Sweden where it looks like this house is being built).

As far as I can tell, most people on BuildHub who have an insulated raft have their UFH pipes zip-tied to the reinforcement mesh as shown in this video. It's certainly how mine was done.

Yes, I've spent many an hour in the past looking at some of the stuff that comes up for sale on eBay with similar discounts. In the end, it just didn't work out for us, but I can see the appeal if you can bring together enough of the right components to suit your layout in a style you're happy with.

Do you have any idea (order of magnitude is fine) of a typical cost to uninstall and move a decent kitchen?

I clicked on several. All of them are in situ and need to be dismantled. On that point they're no different to eBay. Apparently you can talk to them about dismantling and delivery - it'd be interesting to see what sort of costs are involved and who takes on the (significant) risk of damage. And it still doesn't solve the other significant issue of finding the right combo of layout and design.

@miike: I don't know enough about costs to contribute much more on that point to this thread, but my general feeling is: if it were possible to build the house you're talking about building for the price you're talking about building it for, developer margins would be a lot higher than they are. As far as I can tell, you're doing very little of the work yourself, which is the main way that self-builders tend to be able to get costs down somewhat. You're willing to buy second hand to save money, but I think you're overestimating how easy it will be to source, uninstall, transport, and reinstall something like a second hand kitchen without signicant damage, assuming you can even find one with exactly the layout you need. Who's going to uninstall it from where you buy it, for example? Kitchen fitters won't get involved in that sort of work. Your builder might help, but are they going to take on the risk of damaging things during uninstallation and transport? You'll also have the issue of going to trades with a picture of your house and having them estimate based on their perception of what you're willing to pay. They'll see what you're building and where, and price accordingly. We had it repeatedly during our build. I don't mean to sound negative, but there's a reason why the estimated build costs for houses are what they are.

Agreed - the price jump when you add in drawers is eye-watering. They're hugely more useful/useable than cupboards for most things though.

TBF, the OP isn't making these choices just to suit himself. In his second post in this thread, OP talks about "ROI" and refers to comparative properties in his area going for £6k/m2. So he appears interested in market value as well as satisfying his own needs, which is what has drawn some of the comments about fittings quality. The general argument some (including me) are making is that, if you ever need to sell a house like this into the market where it's located, many - perhaps even most - potential buyers will have minimum expectations for things like number and brand of kitchen appliances. I don't think anyone is going to care that you have a Candy washing machine, since they'll be bringing their own, but a single Beko oven could very well be off-putting to some. Of course it will sell, but you'll absolutely put off some potential buyers. Having built a very modern house (flat roof, multi-intersecting box type thing that's arguably already in danger of dating), I think it's dangerous to weight things so heavily towards design relative to finish. With sharp modern designs, you can't hide imperfections behind trim boards and decorator's caulk the way you might get away with in a Barrett box. Small imperfections can be surprisingly visible. You therefore need to ensure a high quality finish if you want to achieve the ROI you're looking for, and that rarely comes cheap. I just had a closer look at your renderings. Have you priced the roof structure? There's a lot of unsupported spans and glass. You're talking about some significant (for which read "expensive") engineering if you want to keep it that glassy and open.

Ha, I shouldn't post last thing at night or first thing in the morning!

@Nickfromwales, the issue here is that this is a replacement unit. While a quieter unit will help, any installation issues (e.g., lack of attenuators, undersized ducts) won't be fixed. There may also be issues of matching the connections of a new unit with the main ducts currently in situ. @Yvonne, can you share some photos of your installation? Do you know whether attenuators have been installed? They'll usually be either a box or a much thicker section of ducting between the MVHR unit and the distribution manifold (big box with lots of smaller ducts coming out of it).

@Yvonne, do you know what speed your original unit was set to run at? If set for the normal statutory flow levels it could well have been running faster than actually required. Generally, I think most have found that the statutory rate is far higher than needed. As a guide, I generally run mine at just below half the rate suggested by the rules.