ultramods

I watched this series back in 2016 and have just finished watching it again, some interesting ideas. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/inside-out-homes

In terms of aesthetics I would say 2700+, the higher the better (within reason).

@Square Feet Have you looked at Beattie Passive system? it looks like it would be good to use for a DIY project, however I think getting them to design the house is quite expensive. http://www.beattiepassive.com/system.php

For a RIAS architect I think the quote is reasonable. I was around £600 for site survey (0.25 acres), no existing structures but of trees. Structural engineer was £1500 +VAT Have you looked at using ICF if you plan on doing it yourself? @Alexphd1 has done this and might be able to tell you if he would recommend this compared to doing your own timber frame. Also if money is tight don't underestimate the cost of service connections. if the services are not on site it can cost a lot of money to bring them on, depending on where they are. Also if you need a self build mortgage there are a lot of "hidden" costs associated with this.

First of all I would say if money is tight do you really want to be spending money on the old stone building to live in. What would be your plans for this building once your house is built? How much would you be spending on the old stone building building? I am assuming your current rent for a small flat can't be much and would probably be less than you would spend on converting the old building. In terms of the architect are they a proper architect (RIBA or RIAS) as this can impact what they charge? My fees were slightly less for a 326 sqm new build for an Architectural Technologist, however as you point out the quote is for 2 buildings. If the passive house is going to be timber frame you could see if the TF company would do the building warrant for you instead of the architect.

We now have our self build mortgage in place and have received the first release. We would like to request an additional £20,000 to pay for furniture. In terms of affordability criteria and the ratio of borrowing v end value this should be fine. However would the lender provide the additional £20,000 if we say it's for furniture?

I'm not sure how payment for water and sewers works in England as in Scotland it's paid as part of council tax. Are the existing neighbors paying Anglian Water monthly for the sewer, if so you could maybe use that angle - why have they been paying for sewer service for x years when Anglian don't think they own it, could be a costly refund required by Anglian! You might struggle to get a contractor to connect to the sewer without permission from the owner. We are currently in a similar situation, sewer is owned by a developer who in in the process of transferring ownership to Scottish Water. However until Scottish Water own it we don't have permission to connect. Other thing to do it ask your local MP to investigate, my MSP wrote to the CEO of Scottish Water.

The plan would be to build a contemporary 5* 5 double bedrooms, all with ensuites, near Aviemore (Aviemore benefits from visitors almost all year round). Here is what one of the management companies emailed me (obviously I can't just take their word, will need to do a lot more research): We charge 21% commission. We work closely with and can recommend local cleaning and maintenance (including hot tub) companies. We routinely secure over 80% occupancy, some of the lodges well over 90%. We could sell this type of property for 52 weeks of the year in this area and would expect at least 45 weeks to be sold. This size of property, appropriately presented, would return around £1500 weekly for the low weeks to around £1999 for high weeks and £3200 for festive weeks. Cost for chnage over clean would be £200 Annual income would expected to be £80,000 plus

Once our self build is complete I am contemplating starting to build holiday houses (1 at a time) that we would let out most of the year. The budget would be roughly: Plot: £100,000 Professional: £20,000-30,000 Build: £300,000 - 330,000 Assuming we would be putting no money ourselves (we would have around £250,000 equity in our new house), does anyone know the best way to finance such a build?

I got a quote this morning of £7000 just to do the steel for our cantilevered stairs. I replied saying thank you. Company then immediately replied asking if the price was of any use so i replied with the following: Grant, Yours is the first quote so far, however with speaking to a couple of people that have had similar steel fitted for a cantilevered stair it seams very expensive. I had priced the steel previously, think it was around £1200-£1500 for materials, so wouldn't have expected the labour to be £5500-£5800 for 2 - 3 days of fabrication effort. Regards Stuart Strangely I haven't heard back from Grant.

eek, we have just budgeted for Ames taping. What is a typical cost PSM for skimming a new build?

@Ferdinand thanks for the advice on the garage. We would never have cars in the garage. Will mainly be used to store bikes and will have a home gym.

I have gone to a different company for the windows and Rationel wouldn't budge.

The sliding doors are all on the south west elevation. Only one pane slides in each of the four doors. All our glazing has come to £18k do you think the garage is too small at 6x6m?

I thought it was better to offset the toilets so that the wall doesn't need to be thicker for two concealed cisterns back to back. Soil pipes will be the next problem, I will need to speak to the plumber. there were two drops from the first floor to the ground floor.

The exterior would require the windows in current positions

Thanks @Ferdinand I think it looks good.

Our attic should be Ok as it will have attic trusses.

That's what we are planning, a horizontal cylinder.

It will be in the second floor.

Why did no one mention a laundry chute earlier, I have now been given approval for the changes I found the showroom good to see some bathroom layouts. However I am glad I didn't see anything that i really really wanted as it's very expensive.

yeah I thought it could be a linen cupboard however I had to make the middle door the entrance into bedroom 2 as I had forgotten that the landing has a seating area.

I have removed that now.

That's what I was thinking. The wife is not amused.......