Sue B

The alternative if you haven’t already started, is to add all sheds etc. onto the plot before commencement. The withdrawal of PD is only in place when the planning permission is commeneced. Therefore you can get all PD work carried out once PP is given but not commenced. A work colleague had an architect discuss this with them the other day. It had never occurred to me that there was a small window of opportunity to get this stuff done. I’ve checked our planning history and our’s has already gone so it’s no help to us.

My permitted development revocation actually talks about sheds so i’m not so sure: Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 and the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 or any subsequent re-enactment thereof, no extension, to include the insertion of dormer windows, nor shall any outbuildings, to include garages, sheds etc be erected without express planning permission first being obtained from the Local Planning Authority. Reason: To preserve the openness of the Green Belt.

How big is the new house - I can’t see the sq m anywhere - just your expected build cost.

Fantastic! Who knew just what a difference the MVHR would make!

I’m giving you worst case scenario and the scrap scenario is probably more of a concern as it could indicate just who has owned the plot in the past if you get my drift - building a house and living in it without the required permissions would be common in my experience locally. Hence us all telling you to ask the local planners - albeit without too much information given out.

I know where we are is unusual but this picture is of the “stable” next door to us. The owner of the land next door has just died and his nieces and nephews are all fighting over the land. They all have dreams of selling in the land for a huge profit because of the potential self build possibilities. A neighbour further up had a small parcel of land next to them up for sale. They would listen to all the potential buyers visiting the site, planning where the house would sit, where the garden shed would go etc.etc. Neither plot will allow anyone to live on it. Anyone looking at the stable next door would just assume that it could be replaced with a nice house. Planner just say no.

We have one freezer that every now and again makes a funny noise for a while. It is a sign it’s about to go wrong. Then it just stops freezing. I empty it all out, turn it off, give it a clean, talk nicely to it and turn it back on. It works fine again for another 6’months. Weird I know and i’ve never confessed to anyone else that my freezer does this as I know no one else would believe me - they’d think i’d cracked up. Strange but true though.

I loved a concrete floor upstairs. We’re doing the same again this time.

We have quite a nice curry house a little further south, near the sea which just happens to be near a new build in need of expert plumbing advice later on in the year. Not as as good as my home town of course but growing up in Hayes, next door to Southall, where curry houses are 10 a penny, I have been through a few to find one I like.

Looking very good - glad to hear there is a good plasterer in Dorset and hopefully will travel down to the sea.

Summer of 2017 - photos of the paddock near the stable. Our daughter wanted wild flowers for her wedding but she then brought the day forward from June to May due to another family wedding clashing. The flowers looked beautiful on the original wedding day but were not out on the wet and wild day she actually got married on.

Have you done a search in the council planning portal for that house? Have they got the records of the house that is on that site?

Assuming that the building has permission as a dwelling (or you are able to prove that it has been lived in as a dwelling for the required number of years to enable you to get permission, you would then need to know if permitted development rights have been removed. All green belt land round here, or New Forest National park land, has permitted development rights removed as far as I can tell so anything we do, has to have permission. Lots of questions for you and no answers unfortunately:

A few questions first: What part of the country? Is the land green belt, SSSI, AONB, national park etc. etc. What is the planning permission on the building and is there an agricultural tie on it? For example - next door to us is a “stable”. They have permission for a stable and built a very sturdy stable. Then put doors and windows into it and tried to live in it - permission was refused and enforcement served. I’m sure others with some advice will be along soon.

I have always put the cheapest extractor hoods I could find into kitchens as I never remember to use the things. Then in the last build, we had the hob on a penisular with a breakfast bar behind and we needed the extractor hood for building regs. So I bought one of the things that rises out of the worktop. It was great and caused no end of amusement. Not sure it worked particularly well and from memory was over £2k but I do love a gadget. It could be set to extract outside or to recirculate and we chose the extract out route. The main reason for choosing this type of extractor was that Peter is forever bashing his head on anything and everything. Most island cooker hoods are within range (albeit with a bit of effort) of his head, he is not very tall, just creative when it comes to hurting himself. Add that to the weight on the ceiling - in that house I was concerned about that additional weight in a central part of the ceiling which had a very wide span - a rising extractor seemed sensible. I can see that the price has come down now and there is one on here for just over £1k at the moment (10% off with save10) voucher) https://www.theappliancedepot.co.uk/brand-new-de-dietrich-dhd1500dg-86cm-dark-grey-premium-downdraft-extractor?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrs22gvOI4QIVir3tCh0X4g5kEAQYAyABEgKYWvD_BwE So it seems likely we will be using the same type of system again.

Loving the plan of the ICF blocks although I just can't see the logic of what they have done. If I'm reading it correctly, blocks marked as (for example) 5, 27 or 28 are all the same block, just in a different location? Can they send you an editable format so that you can find and replace at your will until you get all blocks of the same type, with the same name? There must be a reason for their labelling system but I just can't see it from first glance. When we were at the training course for Isotex recently, I did jokingly ask if they sent a colour coded plan of which blocks to use when ( and there are nowhere near as many block types available as with your build system). Who knew it was a possibility!!!

Hi @SiBee Welcome to the forum from another relative newbie. We are on the south coast so not close but are planning an ICF build later this year or early next year. We will be building ourselves (hence using ICF) and it’s going to take us a long time. We started off looking at the various polystyrene versions of ICF and then came across Durisol at one of the homebuilding shows. That led us to looking at the other woodcrete type ICFs and we are now pretty decided on Isotex. Isotex (Insulhub) and Durisol are both at the NEC at the end of the month. Both run free, one day courses, on building with their system so that you can compare the two products. One of my blog threads is about our decision making process over which ICF we should use.

Very sorry Moira - the house will be his legacy for you to enjoy once it is completely finished.

Last house had a metre+ wide path down the side of house. To create our disabled entrance we left the front door completely alone - it had the normal step up entrance. We had folding sliding doors at the back of the house with a low threshold entrance. We just made the pathway down the whole side of the house a slope. Wheelchair access was therefor into the back of the house but it complied and was very useful for getting stuff in and out.

Our manifolds in our last build were in the garage. It was the hottest room in the house.

Let’s face it, a ramp that long may need, for a man “of a certain age”, a little rest and a pee stop half way up. Just need a little picnic bench and my Dad would have been happy to use your ramp all day long.

Thanks @Ferdinand Now I have the picture of the new house in my head, I'm a girl on a mission! Our local council is also in the middle of a merger. Our planning is currently controlled by Christchurch but from 1st April we will come under the new authority of Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch. It may backfire but we are hoping that in the confusion and turmoil, we stand more chance of getting PP through than normal. I was complaining about a parking issue the other day and the explanation for no action was partly blamed on the re-organisation, but also on the fact that officers are all trying to take their annual leave before the end of the year, else they will lose it - the end result is that resources are in even more short supply than normal. It's worth giving it a go now just in case it helps. The offset front door is going to be a fairly standard double front door - I'm pretty sure that when we get the samples through for pre-commencement bits they will be fine with that (hoping so anyway!) I like the window seat idea and agree about the height issue and cleaning. I have ummed and ahhhed about the doors in the living room swapping with the window but decided eventually that I want to walk into the garden rather than down to the paddocks. We currently have a shed / carport that has a dog shower and place for the blaster ( a powerful hairdryer that blows sand and other debris out of fur as well as drying them) when they get home from the beach. In the plans that you haven't seen, we are replacing that structure with a new "garage" that will never see a car inside it. Half of it will be my sewing room, the other half will be split between a shed and the dog shower etc. It will also have room for a shower and toilet for people for when we have friends camping on our paddocks. From there, we will walk into the back garden and into the kitchen. The door will be openable from outside. I realised last night that the door into the bedroom had not been moved - not sure if it will be a sofa or a desk in that landing area but it will tuck into the space that is currently obstructed by the doorway. Peter wants access to the roof from inside, I don't want anything that is likely to increase the chance of a leak - we are in "discussion" about it along with the walk on rooflights. I'll do the budget shortly and then start cutting bits out. Luckily I don't have expensive taste when it comes to kitchens and bathrooms - B & Q level is fine for me. I HATE painting so the render is going to be an all through render that just needs washing down every once in a while. Thanks again Ferdinand - all good issues to query and work through in my head.

Our “garage” is going to be my new sewing room plus a dog shower / people shower / outside toilet plus a small shed. Maybe i should put used cotton reels into the floor and varnish over ??

I hadn’t thought about bird boxes around the place before but starting to love the idea. Our elderly cat rarely ventures out so for the first time in our lives, we are safe to encourage birds into our gardens. Currently putting out fat ball things which is attracting all kinds of birds (and squirrels) and going to collect the dog fur when they are trimmed for nesting. What a lovely thread - has brightened my morning on a very dark day in the world.

I will be getting a quote from Juice broadband when we are nearer our contract end date next February. Neighbours are very impressed with it - our speed is very slow here and I believe it is better. It is a satellite system and local to this area I think but no doubt there are others around the country.