Wadrian

Thanks for the reply. The extension will be outside of the RPA of the trees.

Hi i am Looking to build a 4m rear single storey rear extension on a detached house. It is in a conservation area. Will be built using similar materials to house. I have checked the LPA website and there is no specific article 4 removing PD rights. I also have the added issues that there are TPOs in trees on the site (RPA areas etc). I have discussed with planning consultant. He says if I apply for planning, likely to get turned down because of proximity to TPO trees. also said if you do the extension under PD rights, don’t have to factor trees in. so there is the conundrum. He says If I apply to council for Full planning. Likely to turn down because of TPO trees or I just build it under PD rights. any thoughts?

Hi everyone just broke ground yesterday for our self build. I Informed the building control that we should be ready in next 2 weeks for the foundation inspection. I had an email from building control to say they will not come to site until they have receive our M&E design (heating, ventilation, hot water) is this something I would get a company to do? We are having a Grant ASHP and the manufacturer has designed a suitable tank and cylinder etc. we are also having UFH. Please can anyone advise on How do I go about getting an M&E design? Is it one design or does it require multiple plans from various trades? thanks for any replies in advance

Many Thanks for this. That makes a lot of sense - at least having an address means we can get everything correctly addressed in terms of banks, driving license etc. We move into the caravan on Monday - so hopefully haven’t left things too late! So you suggested the house name when you registered for council tax and they accepted that. Think we will be having a house name as the house we sold(next door to our building plot) also has a house name. Was the process of registering for council tax easy?

Hi all we are living in the caravan while we do our self build. What is the situation with our car insurance? Can we still get covered and what address would we use given that we do not have a postal address? Thanks for your help

Thank you to the individuals who took the time to respond to my request. As always it is do good to hear of people individual experience. MVHR seems a really good system to install and relatively inexperience if DIY install.

Really interested to hear from anyone who has installed MVHR on a self build in last couple of years. I am building 250sq m house. What costs am looking at for system and also what has been people experience of it - would they install it again?

I have heard that MCS installers may simply bump up the price to take account of the grant - is that what you are saying in your last point?

Thank you for recommendation

Hi we are doing a self build in Manchester and are opting for ASHP. Is it better to have the ASHP in a ‘separate plant’ room away from house or stick it on the side of the house (noise for neighbours). What is impact on costs and efficiency of system on where you site the unit. Can anyone recommend a good MCS installer for ASHP that could install in Manchester? thank you

Hi everyone For our self build, architect has suggested maybe having an GSHP instead of ASHP. He says customer feedback has been that ASHP have been noisy and struggling with getting to heat rads in colder days. I know ground source lot more expensive, but would you install ASHP - noise, lower temp etc we are based in Manchester. Really keen to hear from anyone who has used ASHP and whether they are happy with it or if given the opportunity they would not have installed ASHP on their project.

Many Thanks everyone for your comments - looks gas will be a no, no for me.

Hi all we live in central Manchester and are building a house in side garden. Had a quote of £9,500 for water connection. This 6k(9m connection to main) and £3k(temp traffic lights/close 2 bus stops). Really surprised at cost, have tried getting other quote from self-lay register but everyone saying UU would be the ones they would use. Is it case of that’s the quote and we have no choice but to go through with it. Incidentally quote for 3 phase supply was £3k

Hi everyone we are soon to be starting on our self build re: services connection being one of first tasks. I know the regs are changing re gas heating - boilers etc and the need to have heat pumps installed. With that in mind was wondering if it is still worthwhile having a gas connection to the property?