Mr Punter

Alu clad uPVC is another option if the planners don't like uPVC. I think the timber colour looks a bit naff.

For warm flat roofs, 100% of the insulation should be located above the roof structure on top of the deck. In practice this does not always happen but you are best to follow the BBA certificate of the insulation manufacturer.

My experience with warn air heating is that it makes the air very dry, making ones eyes and skin feel itchy and uncomfortable. Also the air tends to form currents rather than be distributed evenly. If you could add humidity, this may be OK, otherwise you may want to replace with rads. ASHP will be expensive to run if you do not improve airtightness and insulation. Perhaps a combi boiler with rads is your best option. As you have identified, the solid concrete floor will be a pain to insulate as you probably don't have enough ceiling height to do this without breaking out the concrete, but even 30mm Celotex overlayed with chipboard will make a considerable difference. Blown bead cavity wall insulation is reasonably cheap and cost effective. I am not sure what, if any, insulation is in the first floor ceilings, but if none, this will be and area where you will lose a lot of heat. With the loft part you can just add more loft roll but with the sloped areas you would need to strip the plasterboard if you want to add insulation. All your Immediate items look doable with your budget and although a mile away from the standard of self build new builds it will be a great improvement on what you have.

Cutting in looks neat. Did you have chamber covers? If so, photo please so we can check...

No as it transfers the building loads to the ground underneath. I imagine there is a depth where this could be ignored but it would be very deep and you would likely need an engineer / soil survey etc. and a large safety factor.

You should be able to mount the indoor unit straight on to this as they don't weigh much. For the large hole, you could make a 75mm inspection hole behind the unit with a hole saw, and refit the plasterboard if you caught a stud.

That does not look like toughened glass as it would shatter into far smaller pieces with very few sharp edges.

I have seen some contractors replacing all the glass balustrades on a development near me. They were frameless and recently one of the panes failed, shattered into pieces and fell to the ground. It was only then that it became apparent that the glass should have been laminated as well as toughened so all the panels on the development were replaced. The failure had nothing to do with the weather.

We built a 4 storey terrace next to a river. We piled down 25m but the nearest we could safely install the piles to the river wall was 3m, so the engineer cantilevered the ground beams. Lots of reinforcing near the cantilever, but this was a much bigger engineering challenge. The rear of the houses is cantilevered about 2m and the flood wall a further metre.

If it is just concrete block demolish looks the most sensible way forward. I would not be keen on a "fingers crossed" approach when investing so much money. Get a properly designed solution.

But down the sides they just have soakers that between the slates so even if the window is set a bit high they should still work without kicking them up.

This is in Westminster. If there was a spare 200mm of land, I suspect it would have been built on.

Just go a thick mortar bed on the low spots and a tight bed on the high and you will do it in 1 course.

That is a shame as it would give a really generous room and the corridor is wasted space. I did not see a bedroom on the first floor, so I thought there was no point in a bathroom. Pocket doors are not structural, so I think there may be some confusion here. They can be useful for saving space but restrict the opening width and are more difficult to operate. Your plans show them in all bathrooms and the kitchen on what appear to be non-structural walls.

They need to strip the slates and soakers around the roof windows and re-lay them properly.

I am with @Temp regarding the change of materials so this could be worth exploring. I know you did not ask for comments on the design but I am happy to make some unsolicited! 1. On the first floor you have moved the wall by the bedroom a little to make a wider corridor. If you remove it you can incorporate this into you living room. 2. The bathroom at first floor could be replaced with a WC and handbasin and the 600mm or so of space incorporated into the kitchen diner. You could make the landing a little wider as the WC would not need to be as deep as the bathroom. Also, 3 bathrooms are not needed for 2 bedrooms and losing the window means you cannot revert the middle room to a bedroom. If you want to put up occasional guests, get a quality sofa bed. 3. Not sure why you want the nibs of wall in the living room. 3. Pocket doors are a PITA. Difficult to open and close and the walls can be flimsy and poor at sound insulation. 1 and 2 will give an extra 2.5m2 in the living room, and 2.5m2 in the kitchen / dining. I think the room shapes and sizes will be much better too.

Just get on with building. They do not stick around in houses.

When you replace it could you move it along a bit so you can get to it from the window? Doh! I thought he had a light on the fascia board that needed replacing, not just a gutter clip.

What grounds did the council give for requiring the 200mm reduction?

I think it is worth having a site induction where you include site specific risks. Get each site worker to read it and sign to say they have. I also ask for evidence they have received H & S training, such as a photocopy of their CSCS card. If you have these you may be obliged to have them tested and certified. They are also difficult to dispose of. I have about 8 water extinguishers F.O.C to collector in Lewes if anyone wants them.

We had some Siberian Larch - a splinter fest to handle.

Try https://www.vastern.co.uk/prices/

I have had a Meile integrated bean to cup, which I would not recommend as it was rather demanding, the coffee was not great, and they cost a lot. I have had 3 freestanding bean to cup - a Jura, which looked good and performed OK, a Delongi. similar to the Jura but did not look so flashy and currently on a Melitta, which does the best milk frothing. Melitta is best IMO.

Render on block is probably cheapest. Cedral / Hardie plank type boards or render onto carrier boards is more expensive but you could diy the fitting.

I think @AnonymousBosch would agree with you there. Keep up the good work!