Jilly

Attached is a rough sketch of our stable conversion. I'm attempting,to do a foul drain plan. North and top of slight incline is at the top of the page. The sewer runs across our diagonally our paddock to the west and from what I can make out on Thames water ours will be an 'Indirect connection to a public sewer', ie connecting to a private sewer on private land. My back of an envelope design means that the loos etc are on outside walls. NB there are still some errors on this version of the drawings. Looking back at previous posts, it looks like you just draw sewers on taking account of the slight fall. Is this correct? Rookie errors likely...any advice, please? scheme for loadings.pdf

Hi, just musing, but we have a lot of free wood, so I have to look into this, even though I've got asthma.... Any experience of wood burning stoves with back boilers (and even an oven too) that are up to the modern regs? I have a feeling we are going to have sufficient solar gain to hardly need anything except winter heat. I'm not sure how I could prove that on SAP calculations and satisfy Building Control.

Thanks!

No mention of a CIL payment has been made on my planning permission decision. Do I assume my area is not charging it, or should I fill out forms to confirm that I am not eligible to pay it (me being the cautious, cynical type)? The building will be less than 100m2 internally and is a single dwelling. I am just looking thru the excellent VAT advice on here. Can I just confirm that the only time I have to contact HMRC is at the end when I make a claim? Or do I have to register intention to start or something similar? I can't seem to find mention of this. Thank you!

Wow, bet you are looking forward to that!

Make the most of the advantages of the site, orientation, views, etc Then you have to consult with planners to see what they are likely to 'let' you have. Loads to think about.

Gulp, you've made me realise what might be one of my problems...

Or Windowlene?

The stable conversion is block built. Internal insulation would obviously be easiest, but I want to explore the possibility of external insulation. It has black weatherboarding which has to look the same when finished, and we are probably going to keep the roof as it as because it is sound, so there won't be much room. Can anyone send me in a direction of special space age thin insulation with a low u value? The building is so small, I researching how to save space, internally. Alternatively can anyone recommend a methods of insulating a solid block wall? I'm guessing we might manage insulated plaster board with dot and dab ourselves ? We have a lot of glass so will probable end up having to compensate and needing SAP calculations etc

Hi, I hope I am not revealing some gender bias about myself here (!) but I am getting to grips with clearing out the stable ready for conversion (full of junk, rubbish old hay, sawdust and huge cobwebs) and am thinking I need an industrial mammoth vacuum cleaner to get right up into the eaves etc. I've heard hat Big Brutes are expensive but very good. I have asthma and can't do dust (not good for a self-build, I know). Any suggestions/experience etc?

The SE is doing as you suggested and is being very helpful and is going to submit to 3 micro pile companies. I went to the planners and asked about demolition, and they said no because it's against their local policy of reuse and tough, I should have done my homework on the building. I'm not resilient enough to fight for it. Once we are living there and I can recover financially, I can see the value of trying to get pp for an extension and being prepared to go to appeal etc

Hi we are making a tiny bit of progress and I would appreciate your advice (again!), please. The conclusion of another meeting with a structural engineer means that we have decided to go with micro piling the whole structure rather than just the walls which are moving and the the part which has no foundations. Has anyone known of this being done without demolition? The building is not listed nor of value, but we haven't\can't get demolition permission, so have to convert. I believe this has to be done by supporting and then removing each part in order to comply. Should I speak to Building control and discuss how to do it, or am I going to put my foot in it?! Would it be mad to try to get a timber frame kit house under these conditions? I just love the idea of everything being so (relatively) simple...

If you sell the other , you will be liable for Capital Gains Tax, so that, along with the CIL might wipe out the profit...

I'd like to learn to do it, did you buy the software?

Windows and floor layout, the building is about 80m2 and a very small extension. I got incorrect information at a planning meeting, the whole thing can be very frustrating...

I assume you mean the CAD drawings? Assuming all Local Authorities are similar, all the relevant documents to a planning application are public, online and are uploaded (about 35 on ours) onto the website and can be read and printed off easily. There is professional etiquette to for architects to 'ask' permission when a client asks them to take over a case, but if the property has been sold, this may not be applicable as you are a new client. I doubt very much you will be able to get the editable version as they own the copyright. I just had to pay £1500 to have drawing repeated by another architect to submit a slightly changed version (to my eyes!). I have discovered firstinarchitecture website where you can download some free CAD software and so I am busy seeing what I can do myself for free as more needs tweaking!

Can you ask the planning Dept for a delay to buy you more time? We had all kinds of faff over the vision splay and had to submit three plans each one minutely different than the preceding one. I have lifted part of the correspondence we had with the council. You need to get a good relationship with the highways officer if possible (and the planning officer), it was really helpful when the architect made errors. Our now redundant planning consultant had a much worse bedside manner. 'For a 30mph road, as a guide we normally require a visibility splay of 2.4m x 43m. When you submit your site layout drawing, you should show the maximum visibility splay that you can achieve. The highway boundary should be marked on the plan for reference (such plans are available fromhighwayboundaries@hertfordshire.gov.uk for a small charge). Turning within the site is advised, so that vehicles may enter and exit the site in forward gear. I note the position of the school, so would not wish to see vehicles reversing out of your site. Hardstanding areas should be surfaced and/or drained in accordance with DCLG guidance on the permeable surfacing of front gardens (document available online). At HCC, we use our in-house guidance, Roads in Hertfordshire, referenced below, and also Manual for Streets 1 and 2 (also available online). I would recommend consulting Roads in Hertfordshire when designing your access.' https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/highways-roads-and-pavements/business-and-developer-information/development-management/highways-development-management.aspx

We've had a soil survey done, loads of clay. He was meaning if we preferred underpinning to piling, then we have to chop down the offending trees and wait 6 months for heave, to see how the building responds. It's not an exact scent. Piles are a more reliable fix in the presence of trees and clay. No we don't have permission for demolition, but as I understand it, the entire thing could be replaced, but must never come down all at the same time...

We are deciding how to manage two structural walls with subsidence on our stable conversion. They are block, and the structural engineer recommended that we could underpin and keep fingers crossed, or micro pile. Builder imported for his advice advised that rather than underpin, it would be cheaper to support the wall, pile the foundations and then use timber walls. The roof is being replaced due to ugly internal trusses. What are your collective opinions on these suggestions and for the replacement structural walls? They all have to be clad in black timber, and there will only be one original wall remaining when we have finished, rather like Trigger's broom. The council have indicated that reuse rather than demolition is their local policy, so I have decided to stay with that option as I have so many other battles. Sigh. One step forward, two back.

Definitely find out exactly who the covenant is with and if there is any reciprocal agreement that you might be able to make some kind of exchange/release of obligation/ new and mutually beneficial agreement with. As you don't want to live in it, it might be worth getting a land agent on board or a developer who will do some kind of no win no fee thing. The major uplift in value is in gaining planning at the moment. You can also visit the planners, independent of the covenant (unless it is with the council!) and put the idea to them. However, it would be best to pay and get proper pre planning advice, as I have found to my cost that the the free informal little chats are not always reliable. You need everything in writing.

Same thing happened to us when we built our garage many years ago, the steels were incorrectly measured, I realised the moment I saw them (and I can count to 4 when only 3 turned up....). Someone I know who did a self built recommended getting the steels cut on site because measuring with accuracy is so difficult, which saved him an awful lot of money and headache and I think I would do this in future. There are a lot of unforeseen circumstances with building, right right from the first pencil chewing and one bit of legislation seems to fight another, so there are no straight answers in how the solutions are managed. BC are used to working with builders and architects to solve problems, so you will find a way through.

I went to see them to ask if it would count as a NME, and they said no, which was fair enough, it's more than a small change of windows, but I can't understand why they didn't tell me to do an new application. They didn't mention anything about PD. It was a different case officer than the original, and I stupidly didn't get the name of the person I spoke to. Lesson learned.

Ecology asked for bat surveys, and we were allowed an extension of a couple of months to allow time for more surveys. I assume it depends what they ask for. Our application took about 5 months from submission to decision. And the date for our 'to be started with 3 years' clause, was back dated to the date they should have given us a decision... Planners are a law unto themselves. Allow a few thousands for ecology, depending what they find. Ecology is very important. Unless you are the council. In which case you can do what you like and net cliffs at the wrong time of year If you have another property with a mortgage, I would be tempted to borrow against that house again with a mortgage which doesn't have an early redemption penalty, rather than have the stress of trying to get a mortgage on your self build?

Yes, they removed the PD rights

We have planning permission to convert stable to residential dwelling. The building is an awkward shape, so I go to see the planning officers (actual face to face meeting),to see if we can enlarge it slightly. They tell me it will need a 'Variation of Condition' application. 8 weeks later, I receive an refused planning application. It has been deemed that a full planning application is needed for an extension. Expletives. Why didn't they say that at the meeting? The cost of the wasted application is nothing (couple of hundred) in comparison hidden costs of the set of new drawings and the rent which are so annoying (about £3K). . My architect wants to go ahead with the full planning application for an extension as all the drawings etc have been done. My feeling is to get building and wait. I would like a bigger extension later and do it properly and be prepared to go to appeal etc when I am settled in the house and recovered financially. I want to complain bitterly, but I can see I might simply annoy them.