Randomiser

What a whopper. But heck, those views were stunning.

If you are staying in the house for 10 years or more doesn't certificate, etc. fall away?

If you make a Section 73 application would that result in an amendment to the CIL?

Really interesting thread I stumbled on here, thanks to all that shared knowledge and experience. You seem a bit of an expert Jeremy I wondered if you had any insight in to what the cost to depth ratio is. So if a 50m borehole is say roughly £10,000, would a 100m borehole be around £20,000 or would it be a lot more as the cost of going deeper rises significantly?

Looking very tidy. Cracking job on weather organisation ?

Pleased to hear it went well.

Personally I think OR is the best answer. We should be encouraging outstanding architecture without it needing to also break new ground in terms of innovation. Something can be sustainable without being at the bleeding edge of technology.

So, did you get the concrete pour done yesterday?

I thought it would be useful to update on this long running saga as there are a few points that may be helpful to others. I have chased SSEN again for an update on progress with planning the rerouting / undergrounding of the cable. The response was an email telling me they are really busy and will not get back to me for a long time, for a second time they said in the email if I want it done quicker I can always pay them to do it. It seems pretty clear to me that they have a clear policy of trying to avoid cost by delay, delay and further delay. As it is almost 6 months since they applied for a Necessary Wayleave I was thinking ahead to notification by BEIS that the 6 month abeyance period had ended. I wanted to check that they would write to me at my current address and would not try to send the letter to the plot. I was really surprised when having left a message for the person I was put through to at BEIS they called me back, I had expected that I would have to keep trying, I could not take the call but they even gave me their direct dial number in the message they left. I was very impressed. I called them back and spoke to them yesterday afternoon, there person I spoke to had taken the time to look up my application before they called me so was up to speed with the application details. They told me the following: I) BEIS has had a massive increase in Necessary Wayleave applications recently. II) The application relating to my site has yet to be validated by BEIS because of the backlog caused by the increase in applications (mine is in the next batch due to be reviewed in the next couple of weeks). III) The six month abeyance period does not begin until the application is validated. IV) That BEIS will write to me when the application is validated and I can refuse to have it put into abeyance - I did not realise this before. Given the experience of some people in the past recounted here, versus my and other's recent experience, I get the impression that SSEN and possibly other DNOs are taking a much harder line now and trying much harder to avoid the cost of moving their equipment. This could also explain the recent surge in Necessary Wayleave applications BEIS has experienced. As soon as I receive notification from BEIS I will immediately respond refusing to accept the application goes into abeyance given SSEN's lack of engagement over the 9 months since my removal notice was served. I will then email the legal team at SSEN telling them I have blocked abeyance and reiterate the offer made to their wayleaves team where they move the cable at their expense in exchange for me agreeing an easement. Given experience to date I will insist that a clause is included in any agreement that they have to carry out the work in a stated period. Hopefully if anyone else is in a similar situation now or in the future they will find this information helpful

Are there any security concerns with using a standard caravan? OK if you are using it to live on site in, but if left empty almost everynight is that a concern? Having looked at site facilities that can be rented they all look more like a maximum security prison building.

Nice work and thanks for posting the blog. Good luck with the pour!

Who owns the land either side of the path? Can you get agreement to create a wider track for a period of time? Is there something you can do for them in exchange for letting you move the fence over just a metre or so for the duration of the build? Then you will be able to get much bigger plant to site which will ultimately save you a lot of time and probably a reasonable amount of money.

Maybe I misunderstood, I thought Bitpipe was talking about the worst case for piling costs. That seems to be driven by depth, but can you guess at what the deepest possible pile may need to be? 10m? 20m? More!?!

That is a good suggestion, but how does one decide on the worst case scenario?

One of the points that has just been made is that the warranty company is likely to need the information from the Phase 2 survey so they can get comfortable with the pile design. I see from your blog you are using Protek for your warranty, have they raised this?

Did the geotechnical survey give you an estimate for the depth of the piles? If so, was that reasonably close to the actual depth of the piles in the end?

OK, so essentially it is risk mitigation. Piling could go ahead without doing it, but that would mean having much less idea of what the total cost would be. Having it done won't change the answer, but it could stop you going ahead with something you can't afford / is uneconomic.

As mentioned before we are likely to be using piled foundations, so I am hoping I can sense check a suggestion being made to me. We previously engaged a Structural Engineer to do work on the foundations for us. As part of that they wanted us to get some basic analysis done on the soil type, water table, etc. which we did. Having had this input the Structural Engineer prepared a piling plan with a required resistance (not sure if that is the right term) for each pile which we used to get quotes from various companies for piling. We have been on pause for a while for a number of reasons, but now getting back on it. It's no been suggested that we should get a geotechnical survey done. But I am confused as to why this is required if the piling plan is already done. I wondered what experience other who used piles had around this, did they get geotechnical surveys done and if so what information did it give and how was it used? Thanks in advance.

I think it would be really risky. Isn’t 6m the increased PD limit for rear extensions on Semi Detached houses? If so, planners may see that as an important ‘break point’ and going from 6.0m to 6.3m maybe a lot riskier than going from 5.0m to 5.3m.

OK, with a willow that close even in the best of conditions you will need some pretty deep foundations I suspect. You could use the calculator link to here with your specific information to give you an idea. https://www.labc.co.uk/news/trees-and-foundations-foundation-depth-calculator

If the only reason to go piled is because of the wall next door I would have thought a new retaining wall with traditional foundations would be much cheaper than piling. Are there other reasons for piling such as ground conditions? If the piles will be driven only a metre from that wall is that not a risk as well due to vibration?

How significant would the increase in height be, half a metre? Why not have an informal chat with planning and see if that would be a big issue, they may accept it given the reason.

I have followed this thread with interest, much of what I would have said has now been mentioned. However, I would reiterate the point that cost is not just a function of size but also complexity, for example, you may well find that by bringing that external gap between the two main bedrooms inside the fabric of the house you actually reduce cost. You have also just answered one of the main questions I had which was about how frequently you would have the visitors you mentioned as you are giving over a lot of space for them. As it sounds as though they are quite regular then that may well be the right idea. You mention that you discounted a second floor because you would not be able to help keep things clean and tidy, but what about a lift? Yes that will cost you extra money, but again you may find that the cost of building a smaller two storey house with a lift is less than a single storey house with its footprint and roof that, for the same square footage, will be twice the size. If you stick with single storey the only other thought that does occur to me is the potential for flexible space. Could you incorporate moveable partitions that can be used to enclose part of the space for a guest to sleep in, but be used as living space when there is nobody staying. Maybe something to explore. I wish you well in arriving at the best possible design for your needs.

Your experience is similar to mine. I served notice for removal and they have applied for a necessary wayleave. They put this on hold for 6 months as they told the Govt. they were in negotiations, which was not true at the time, in about a month's time the period of deferral will end and I will tell them I now want to move to a full physical hearing which they have tp pay all the costs of and have to hire a barrister to represent them, there is no scope under the law for them to recover those costs. I hope this may actually force them to behave more reasonably. They have never had a wayleave for their equipment on the land I own so at some point just erected it without any permission. I am not confident I would win at the hearjng as it could mean cuttjng off power to a few hundred people. I just hope the prosepct of the cost of the process will be leverage enough to get them to the table. My ikpression is that they are being a lot tougher these days than they were in the past.

I know somebody that had issues, but IIRC it was more the surveyors used rather than Protek itself. At the end of the process issues with much earlier surveys came, up that they had not raised before and which were difficult to rectify when the build was finished. In the end Protek were pragmatic and helped him sort it out.