Bozza

…..and the neighbours are often very quiet

I popped mine hole punched into a ring binder, as documents tend to slide out of those polly pockets. I numbers each document 1 - whatever and used that index number on the claim form. Stapled eg small receipts into A4 paper. Then had a covering letter referencing any documents by red number that required additional explanation. Figured if it made their job a bit easier, which makes claim easier. keep copy of everything u send in & send it via recorded delivery

The vast majority of self builders will have at some time in their lives lived in a home that is too small for their needs. So when we self build we tend to build big, as that makes sense due to the economies of scale. I do however think it is possible to build too big as well as too small. Personally I would find living in a massive house, as a couple, really weird and almost as uncomfortable as a house that’s too small.. Our build 214/216 sqm (I always forget which one is correct) is the biggest house I’ve lived in but I’m not a wealthy person. The house is a decent size for me and wife and 12 year old and we have everything we need and could have even built a bit smaller. We did have the option to build bigger but for us I think that would have been too big especially when my kid leaves home and for us it meant less debt and a greater chance the house won’t be too big for us in later life. What you could do is work out how many rooms you actually will require and use for now and in the future based upon your own lifestyle and needs. Then visit show homes etc and identify the size of rooms you would like to live in. Eg you may identify you want 3 bedrooms 4mx4m, one hobby room 3x4, etc etc etc. Adding all that together will give you an approximate idea of the size of house that you want with optimum room sizes, ideal quantity of rooms, but neither too small nor too big for your needs. If future value is key for you can the discuss this with the local estate agents. From that they may say look don’t building bigger than that doesn’t add that much value, or they may say add another bedroom or whatever. As opposed to just building a house with a arbitrary size. I’ve seen some plans for some astonishing houses with massive volume of rooms and space but TBH even if I could afford them I can’t help but think living in them could be a horrible experience. Up here on the NE Scottish coast I’ve been inside loads of home build by fishing boat owners. Land prices are cheap and they are loaded and build massive awful bland houses as a sign of their wealth. These houses, in my experience, have an awful feeling to them inside, we’re talking lounges that are 10x10 with a couple of leather sofas plonked in. Just hideous. My builder advised me to put in a 4th bedroom which we didn’t need, for economic reasons. So what we did is put that bedroom downstairs to use as a separate 4x4 TV room for use in addition to the 5x5 lounge. Ironically when we don’t have visitors we sit in the TV room because the lounge is too big otherwise.

Report him to the regulators, the ARB. If you don’t there may be future victims. He may well already be under investigation already. If you feel bad about this on a personal level, don’t. He could be ripping people off. If he’s not at it, the regulators will establish that either way. Innocent professionals have no issue whatsoever with being investigated by regulators as it allows them to prove they are indeed professional.

By photographing any packaging & opening all the packaging & checking it is undamaged when it is delivered. As I did today actually when my parents took delivery of numerous sanitary-ware that I will be installing for them but not until March.

Yes. My tree surgeon zero rated my invoice to remove a couple of trees that had to go as part of my site clearance. It did take a bit of back and forth with their admin office to help them understand the rules, including them speaking with their accountant to confirm. I emailed them the relevant text from HMRC website & planning docs. Obviously all that was confirmed prior to them doing the work though. If your tree surgeon did work on trees that remained, I wouldn’t see that as being zero rated as that would just be normal maintenance, but if they were removed entirely post planning approval for your project because they or the roots were in the way, absolutely that work should be zero rated.

Can I just echo @Papillon,s comment @Nytram, appreciate you weren’t asking for layout feedback - I also love huge open plan spaces they look amazing in warehouse & factory conversions and in magazines but they often have high ceilings and assume you ceiling height is normalish domestic heights. As @papillion suggests the likes of a lowered seating pit could give you best of both worlds open plan but with some seating intimacy to prevent it from feeling like an airport lounge or a bland open space. Internal glass walls those with metal black framed ones could even be an option. Or recessed ceiling areas all that with a single flat ceiling could look…uninteresting. Bad interior design choices in that space eg small dining table, could make it feel….weird. Good choices could make it look amazing. This is not a cheap build as you know you so maybes worthwhile investigating getting some internal 3d rendering done I’m sure there must be software to help ascertain natural light levels in the centre of the room. Too late to change once it’s built. If you are committing to that open space perhaps a sensible precaution would be to ensure UFH runs, switch and socket location etc are configured to allow you to easily install internal walls in obvious places in the future. Effectively future proofing should you have any regrets once you actually live in that space. just some wee observations 2nd opinion for thought. The rear corridor ground floor is very narrow unbefitting an impressive house. You can easily make that wider stealing some space from the already generous bed 2 & bathroom. No internal door between entrance hallway and main living space? ok with that ? you could have some lovely impressive full ceiling height glass doors. enough shoe and coat storage at entranceway? Not sure you have TBH. your money / your house of course….

Ooooh fancy. Is your architect happy you’ll get enough natural light into you main living space / aircraft hanger And are you happy you have sufficiently weighed up the pros and cons of having such a huge open plan living space based upon your lifestyle etc.

Good luck. Done be afraid to show us your plans in case you miss something obvious.

Ok so if you’re talking about just lighting, TV, Charging mobiles, fridge freezer,internet that kind of stuff the likes of that generator I have is ample for example. We did that plus a plus a plug in electric heater for the house and it would run for maybes 5 hours between being refuelled with petrol. Generators with invertor technology basically regulates the electricity supply so electronics cannot be damaged. Yes you could plug is and recharge a large battery storage back device to the generator the likes of what you can get on Amazon, then use that to power plug in lights etc for during the night assuming it’s one with a three pin socket. They are quite pricey many £hundreds but handy thing right have if you’re in the country. so basically you run a cable between the generator and your caravan it will have a hook up socket. When the generator is on it gives your caravan power. You can plug a battery storage device into the caravan sockets to inside to charge it (or directly into the generator) Then at night turn off the generator and plug in lamps into the battery storage device which is obviously silent. You’d need to make sure that your plug in lamps are LED. How many hours of usage will depend on the storage capacity of the battery storage device and how many lights you run, but LEDS consume incredibly little electricity. There are online calculators to work that stuff out for you. If thinking about turning off generator at night remember the fridge and freezer. A freezer will keep food frozen for about 5 hours without power. But with nearby family……that may not be needed. Our mains electricity has been off for a total of about 10 days in last year due to storms etc. Living with a generator is a PITA but we did survive it’s just a case of getting into a routine with filling up the genny, runs to petrol stations etc. For us that routine will be easier when we have our generator system integrated into the house mains supply as opposed to running extensions around the house.

Oh dear. I hope you can recover that money. When I submitted my VAT claim there was one or two things that went through that the rules perhaps indicated shouldn’t have been, eg transportation company who I got to deliver some timber, and some incomplete receipts etc. But in fairness that was nominal sums of money. I’m extremely surprised at @nod,s experience per his post that he was able to claim back VAT for wrongly charged supply and fit items - I was certain this wasn’t possible . But the HMRC does have a lawful duty to collect taxes that are due under any rules, and to refund taxes that shouldn’t be (namely VAT refunds). Hopefully you had a good relationship with your contractors , paid bills promptly, and looked after them when they were on site, as you are likely to need their help sorting this out, and be prepared to be in for a long haul to get your money back if it has to be from HMRC. Would suggest not to try to blame contractors for not knowing the rules in some case some genuinely don’t know and some have never worked on self builds from scratch as self builds are comparatively rare. For any newer members at the start of their self build journey reading this, please take note of learning from others mistakes (we’ve all made them). Having a working understanding of VAT rules, planning rules, etc etc is just as if not more important than understanding of the construction side of things. Doing so minimises stress and costs and makes the journey far easier & simpler.

@saveasteadingany chance of a photo of your structure. I’m looking to build something myself & what I’m looking for sound similar to what you did. @puntloos there are lots of systems out there, to keep the feet off the grass, in addition to concrete plinths. threaded rods into concrete for example. Screwpiles. Zoology is not my specialist subject but I would have thought appropriate planting around such a structure etc to encourage animals and birds would be the way, and I suspect there is a lots of websites out there advising best way to attract certain wildlife.

The big challenge you’re going to have us getting sufficient light in to the original part of the house, followed by the aesthetics of an already extended house, plus the reduction in size of what sounds like a modest sized garden. A tricky combination to get right. Popping on an extension could even make your house worse if done poorly, we’ve probably all viewed over extended houses before. plans are inevitably 2D, buildings are 3D so you’ll probably have to post images for us to offer ideas, or alternatively consult with an architect. Another research tip is to find similar houses with extensions in your area, then have a look at their planning drawings to give you ideas.. If you want members here to give up their own time to offer you free and best advice, we can only really do so could you please commit provide far more information namely: budget spec/style site plan even a sketch or google maps image. photos of rear of house and existing space lifestyle, family, circumstances and wish list other than “bigger”. Kids, dogs, disabilities as all are relevant an interrelated to any design. For example ideas for a couple in their 70s who love cooking and host dinner parties with a budget of £100k, are likely to be different than say a young couple who hate gardening but enjoy BBQs and have a budget of £50k.

Are the lean tos Costco sell no use ? https://www.costco.co.uk/search?searchOption=uk-search-all&text=Palram Stockholm Patio Covers&q=Palram Stockholm Patio Covers:relevance:brand:Palram%2BCanopia

Petrol generators can be quite expensive to run , as I found during storm Erwin etc. Have a look at LPG generators which are cheaper to run as long as you are closish to a petrol station that supplies LPG. Look at an invertor generator for your electronics. When building your house get your sparky to wire up a changeover switch, and appropriate hook up so you can use the genny as a back up. didn’t do this, regret it, and will have to do so retrospectively at increase cost. It’s a great insurance policy. Ideally have an accessible undercover, but not enclosed, location for the genny away from the house. An external bin store that can become a genny shed is an option. I have a cheap genny from toolstation it’s fine and has been a lifesaver but it is noisy https://www.toolstation.com/draper-28kw-open-frame-inverter-generator/p54979. Google searches will help you identify the appropriate sized genny for your needs. you ought not to need a huge generator for the caravan, heating is the biggest consumer., obviously. LED lights, telly, etc consumer very little. Static home with family on home build site in Inverness? During the winter ? Good luck !

Don’t rule out demolishing something rubbish & replacing with new. Not always the cheapest option, but when you factor in services connection costs for clear plots, and it’s often quicker and easier to get PP (more relevant considering inflation), it might be a viable option.

Feel sorry for you @KTB. But you are getting 100% confirmation from lots of us that your knowledge is accurate re VAT rules. Sounds like your installer might have a cash flow issue. I’m sure we’ve all encountered contractors who are unfamiliar with self build VAT rules but surprised at a window fitter , unless he’s a small business r never installed in self builds.

Correct, if he is importing them, and you are paying him a price to install and fit the windows, if you pay the VAT to him you have ZERO chance of claiming it back from HMRC. it’s down to him to sort it out, namely for him to pay the VAT and claim it back or whatever businesses do. My windows were imported from Denmark. I chose what I wanted and got a quote which was passed to my builder who ordered the windows. No VAT was ever paid by me. I assume that’s a similar arrangement and you haven’t paid any deposit to the supplier or ordered the windows yourself. Assuming you haven’t paid any money up front you are in a strong position.

“We have to pay”. Is that you or him. Who is paying who for what.

Have you tried https://plumbingandrenewables.co.uk they are based in Alves, are very good & they installed & service my ASHP.

Have you looked into having your build architect supervised (as we did). Might be cheaper. Their indemnity certificate thing is sufficient for most residential mortgages. Sorry don’t know cost to do so as my costs were embedded in a turnkey fixed quote. Appreciate some people value a warranty if selling on though.

1. Start over, mediation can work, if you don’t want to mediate that makes you look as bad as them. If they refuse to mediate it makes them look bad.https://www.gov.uk/how-to-resolve-neighbour-disputes/use-a-mediation-service. 2. If you are building for profit, absorb the costs to sort the wall if is is problematic to your build. Delays will cost you due to inflation. It might be their responsibility but it’s you that has a problem with. 3. Solicitors love this stuff it is a cash cow. Regardless how legally or morally correct you may be with the dispute sometimes it’s just best to walk away from a conflict like this for the greater good of your health and wallet. I follow a mantra of what goes around come around with genuinely horrible people. 4. Recently a chap murdered a couple over a parking dispute. Is it really worth it?

Ryan, Yes you get 20% back google/read self build rules on HMRC website. I’m certainly not an expert but certainly not a novice but spent years reading planning etc plus like you years of refurbing various houses I lived in, then learned load more buildings house. I did mine turnkey. Still get advice here ion the things I don’t know which is a lot. I post quite a bit here because I have a bit of time on my hands, and I like helping people when I can, frankly. And have no life. You have a massive advantage building in NE England where trades are still charging sensible prices, especially if mates rates. Bozza.

Was your build architect supervised? Is your warranty to assist resale of the the property, is that why you want one?

Welcome. Thank you for posting in a manner that can be understood. I’m not going be able to help more than this, my own experience. I’m convinced someone else will give you far better / relevant help than I but here goes. My rural plot had a traditional 120 year old cottage on it. Local council planning policy preferred that original building was retained and refurbished but I easily secured PP to demo and rebuild brand new house. I evidenced that the cottage was in poor state of repair and my new build eco friendly heat pump etc etc and what I was proposing to build was high quality, natural materials, same roof pitch, retained the trees blardy blah. One of my elevation left side timber clad (per profile pic) was directly on top existing building line this referencing the old cottage. Is an option for you build something new that references the demolished building in some way whether that would help or not? Not necessary rebuilding something entirely faux but more a nod to what was there ? Sensitive to local vernacular and all that ? Nice house design BTW. As I make clear my circs are different but just highlighting there can be routes to success. Has the planning officer made any suggestions to you.