Jilly

More Noddy questions: I need to create an entrance, the location of which is indicated on our planning permission and has been approved by highways. Is it usual to create a temporary one, before the one which gets approved by highways withour dropped kerb application which has to be done after the driveway is finished? (!) Which obviously we would do when the build is done. Any suggestions on how to do this cheaply, please? Incidentally a dropped kerb isn't actually needed as there is no pavement... It has to go over a ditch and hedge (which has been chopped, but not grubbed out).

When does council tax become payable? I would like to establish an address for deliveries etc and so have enquired about address allocation (costs £75 here) but will that make me liable for council tax? It doesn't look likely that we will live on site during the build, but I assume if we do, that does make us liable?

Ha ha, no have paid £1.5K already. They were cheaper in the first instance, and I assumed the would be average for the follow ups, probably wrongly, but I had agreed by then. Lesson learned. It's 80sqm. We are currently finding out if it would be possible to demolish and rebuild, as seems to be the received wisdom from you guys, which means we have to delay getting a licence (even though it has to look exactly the same, so all the bat boxes, tiles etc will still apply.

I just received this from our ecologist. Please note, this is an extra fee on top of the £4.5K it will cost for the Preliminary Assessments, Reports, multiple Surveys etc etc ... 'I just wanted to advise you of a change that is being implemented by the government agency Natural England in regard to wildlife licencing because it might affect you. Up until now the process of applying for a protected species mitigation licence was free but this week Natural England have announced that a charge will be made for bat applications received from 22nd April 2019. They have not confirmed how much the charge would be, but when they conducted a consultation on this issue a year ago they mooted the figure of £500 for a non-complex bat licence. This is out of our control and will apply across England.'

Has anyone used this company? I want to try to get triple glazed units if we can afford it....

I don't see why it would be a problem to remortgage one house to finance a build, you are securing the loan on the building which is standing. People remortgage to invest in their businesses, which is potentially more risky. I would go for it.

Really...? Is that the same here in England? No one has mentioned that, as I'm in a Conservation Area, and have to nurse the bats ...

Only a few weeks, so I am still researching all the options

We only have planning permission for conversion not demolish and replace, so I need to try to work round it...

Just at the stage of taking through options and had a builder out today. My budget is very tight, so can I have your thoughts? The roof has ugly trusses so I am considering having the roof off to have something more attractive. This will give both head height and the illusion of space. (Unless anyone can suggest an attractive option for the trusses?) The floor is solid concrete, so the options are to dig down etc etc insulate or just to go on top. Obviously the latter will be quicker (cheaper) and passable if we improve the ceiling height. What are the pros and cons? I like the idea of loads of insulation and under floor heating.

Thanks

We've got full planning. We had to withdraw a PD application as we didn't have an existing separate entrance. Could you explain about NMA, please? I can't seem to find out any info on my local authority website>

I would like to alter the windows and internal layout of our stable conversion from that which the architect designed for our planning permission. I believe this is a Non Material Amendment (NMA). I can't find the form on the local council website so have Emailed the original case officer. does anyone have any advice/experience? I'm in a conservation area so intend to be conservative with my changes.

Zoothorn, just feeling sorry for you and saw this product: Under rug heating, 'Rugbuddy' from www.bewarmer.co.uk, might be worth looking at.

Wow, these are a great idea, I want them everywhere!

Not sure where best to post this, but I am toying with the idea of getting a shipping container for our site to store furniture and stuff for the build. I'm in a conservation area, should I just do, hoping that it's part of our project (full planning to convert stable)? Or might I need further permission? I'm of course hoping that we can convert it to a garden room/studio in the future, but that's another story.

I naively thought I would sort this out easily, but to fill in the form for the sewer you need to have had you Bulding Control drawings done as detail about the pipe diameter etc is needed (unless of course, you know these things...)

We have water and electricity from the main house which can be used for now, so it's not essential to be done early. The entrance will be across a soft verge and part of a ditch. The searches were done donkey's years ago when we bought it...no idea where they are now. There is a manhole cover near my entrance but I don't know what's under it, will need to check...

No, the extension will be for another time...

It doesn't ring any bells, so I am rushing to find out...thanks

Thank you, that's great info.

My small barn conversion has a decent roof but is constructed of ugly trusses which mean even a small mezzanine is impractical and too low for building regs. I'm going through what appear to be my options. Could anyone give me an idea of price (80 sq m)? We could put a ceiling in and use the loft space. Boring but practical. Could re roof and change the trusses to something amazing to make most of a bit of ceiling height to give the building some character and 'wow', but seems likely to be expensive? Is there an option to insulate and keep the trusses but make some kind of a feature? Could they look good simply painted?

Hi, my first job is to create an entrance. The trees which will go are in the conservation area, but not beautiful, just overgrown hedge species. Should I check with the tree officer or just do it as we have planning and our new gap is clearly marked on the changes to the conservation area recently proposed in our village? I need to sort out services, so this needs to be planned and done at the same time to save digging up twice. Please could someone talk me through what the procedure is? When do we start having to pay council tax etc and create an address (I saw the other thread about the cost of this)? Thanks

Hi, yes, we do have full planning permission, but I don't recall any mention of sewerage disposal, which I why i made the assumption we could join the one on our land. I will look into it though, thank you,

I understand your frustrations, it's really easy to waste a lot of money, I spent a lot on a planning consultant who simply alienated people (including me) and put the wrong applications in and I felt very lost, but I'm starting to understand the process. And the cost of bat surveys is eyewatering... Forgive me, but building can be very stressful and it sounds like you may have other things going on that are adding to your frustrations. Do you have a friend or neighbour who has had an extension who might let you look at their build and explain the process to you and recommend a builder?