oldkettle

Thanks, you are right and it's unlikely to be viable commercially. BUT It's just impossible to buy a house that would be the right size, good quality construction and a reasonable location within our budget. I know because I have not stopped my old Rightmove alert and keep checking what's on the market. So I expect to pay for the pleasure to live in a house that I actually like in a place that works quite well for us. It's not a business - it's personal :-) I had a quote from MBC for a full build (I wish I could take it) and a couple of quotes from other vendors for extensions. No timeframe for extension was provided. As I said, I am planning to talk to a professional project manager to discuss our options. When you say "slow and expensive", what are your expectations? I am not hoping to do the whole thing for a 100K and in a month. I fully expect to live in a partially completed house for an extended time.

:-) It did cross my mind that "three years to start" would mean we could wait until the last year of the fix and bring the ERC down to almost nothing with overpayments - we are allowed 20%/year. I want to build something while kids still need it. In 10 years time they won't. By the way, as a part of the build we will need to do some demolition. Would it count as the commencement if we gave notice (for CIL exemption purposes) and say removed the chimney stack?

We may yet to go down this route (I assume you mean the whole house), but the main issue is the mortgage. We are in the second year of a very cheap 5-year fix. Paying the exit fee and switching to a self-build mortgage will cost (my estimates) close to the amount we may save on VAT. i.e. +5% difference in interest/year * 300K mortgage (I guess - that's to cover the outstanding amount and hoping that we have enough savings to complete which is not at all guaranteed) *2 years is 30K already. I am looking into ways to cut the ERC but it's going to be a few K as well. + living in a caravan for 2 years rather than moving back into a hopefully watertight shell after a few months as all services are already connected. I am going to contact a project manager to discuss this further, but I feel it is unrealistic to expect to complete (i.e. get a completion certificate and switch back to a residential mortgage) within say a year unless we pay much more than we have, say, 2K+/m2.

Thank you, @Ferdinand, as ever Ideally I would pull the garage within insulated envelope, but I suspect it will require demolition as it is unlikely to have a deep foundation and the wall is single skin. On the other hand, demolition would give us a useful access root for the early stages of the build. I need to investigate what kind of foundation can be used for the garage as I would really want to avoid having to deal with party wall notices. Saying that, we'd need to think about it for the gym anyway. The neighbours are on the higher ground and are probably less than three meters away from the boundary. I suspect that I can assume that the bottom of their foundations is about level with our ground level, so we probably should be OK. The front door is West side of the house and we already have a window above it, but it won't get that much light as the sun will be too low behind the trees for most of the year. About PD root, I thought about it, my concern is the gym would be a side extension, but not only along the original building (as we are extending at the back by 3 meters on the shorter side), my understanding is that is not PD? I was also thinking could I put in the foundation and the slab for it but leave the walls for another PP later, but again the issue here is I kind of want the gym ASAP to stop paying for it to someone else while I still hope to use it for another 10 years to recoup the expenses.

I actually had the same question. Turned out, 20v version has a smaller 1.5ah battery.

So, now that we finally have PP, I want to make up my mind WRT may be applying again to fill in the space behind the garage that will otherwise be mostly unused (well, we can store the bins there but they are nicely positioned on the other side, next to the kitchen and the side gate, where the drains are shown). I've marked the space in question in purple. The internal size would be approx. 2.5m by 5.5m, I guess we could also eat into the existing garage a bit although not sure it's particularly helpful at this stage. That would give me a space for the gym and as the garage needs a new roof anyway both could be covered with a single slope from the house outwards (see below). I'd lift the eaves a bit as well but can I do it without planning? If so, by how much? I do admit I keep thinking that in 20+years the garage+gym could be turned into a granny annex... North is at the top here. The other change I am contemplating is at the front. The existing bungalow has a bay window which I don't like at all and to try and please the planner and at the same time get rid of the bay we cut it off completely for the now approved plans. Old: New: The current front view image is attached. If occurred to me that as there is work required to build a couple of meters of foundations at the front anyway, it may be not much more expensive to increase the footprint at the front rather than reduce it: I think it may just give us enough extra room to move the stairs to the right, South side (would be U-stairs instead of the straight we plan now). I still need to model it in Sketchup to verify. If it works, the hall will be much more spacious and get significantly more light (we'd add a window above the landing). The question is: is it worth the hassle? I could probably get somebody to amend the drawings relatively cheaply over Skype or may be even do it myself, but 1) Does it look like it can provide value for money? 2) Is there no easier way to build the gym without going to planners again right now? I do appreciate we have enough garden space for a separate (sips type?) building, but if there is a space that can be within insulated envelope it seems a waste to build somewhere else as well? As usual, any thought are greatly appreciated.

@Mr Punter Attached is the cut-down version of the decision appeal decision.pdf

I will try to over the weekend, I don't think there is anything too revealing there.

Thank you Surely this is why I am thinking of another application : to delay the inevitable.

Thank you, @CADjockey, and good luck with your appeal! Although unfortunately the bastards won't pay anything, it's just another application fee for us if we decide to try for more ?

Well, finally an update. We won the appeal. The inspector pretty much confirmed what we were saying all along about "overdevelopment" and visibility ("intent observer" wouldn't be able to compare the houses in the row due to vegetation) and the neighbour's houses not being the limit the plot can take. Happy days. Big thanks to everybody for the support and advice during this process. On the back of a recent post by @Big Jimbo and following a quick conversation with Mr Luxton at one of the shows I am seriously considering putting in another application that utilises space behind the existing attached garage to form a gym (ground floor only). I do want to bully the bastards who pretty much stole a year of our time - if I can. More questions to follow :-)

Should have added it to the foam gun order! Well, at least the collection point is just around the corner.

Thanks, that's what I thought. No Lidl anywhere close, really hope they follow Aldi and start delivering. Anyway, I do have a primitive old gun, it will have to do for now.

All three ordered as well as the Fugi kit. Read about isopropyl alcohol - it is safe on skin, will bear this in mind. Can this gun be used for silicone/CT1 as well?

Will white spirit not do?

https://www.toolstation.com/professional-foam-gun/p93227 seems to be the same gun - just cheaper ?

ah, exactly what I wanted to look for - a proper gun. I remember there was a discussion here sometime last year, will find it. Thank you!

Thank you, @PeterW, I did think it was used "for access" at some point! I can't see either hooks or wedges - will attach the pics shortly Do you reckon there is no need to replace the hinges - just install one of these?

Never seen it. Will try to find it. The adjustment video link was here not a long time ago. In the mean time - pushing the corner of the window from the outside made a massive difference :-)

It pays to pay attention. Why didn't I look at this gap on a hinge side before? Not sure it is clear from the picture but there is at least 3mm there! I did adjust the handle side recently but completely ignored the other one. It seems new hinges will be required...

Thank you, @Onoff This one is certainly quite old, it is much worse than most other windows in the house. I'd guess they replaced an old window which was probably a different size and might have decided to change the height. The draught is mostly felt when I lower my head to the work surface level, I do hope this is due to these gaps below the window. With my limited skills and time wouldn't want to destroy anything around. It is also clear the seals withing the unit have failed and I certainly need to apply a layer of (silicone? foam first?) on the inside at the bottom.

I have a day off work and finally found time to take pictures of this nightmare. Our kitchen window is not installed well at all and standing inside next to the floor kitchen unit I can feel the draught from it, especially as it is so cold outside. I wonder whether I should just go buy a can of a foam and seal the whole thing from the outside - over this breaking concrete? It is supposed to be a temporary fix as the whole thing will hopefully go when we get our planning one way or the other, but if it is an easy improvement then why not.

Well, I understand why certain items, such as electronics, tend not to be repaired. But here we have a 50p piece of plastic that takes 5 mins to replace - and there is no need to even get a plumber to do it. Very disappointing. Still I'd rather not buy their stuff and find some other manufacturer than have the government introduce another legislation requiring them to provide spares.

Thank you, everybody It seems there is not much I can do - will have to buy used for now (still hope in a couple of years we won't need all that :-) ) It does work with no impeller on the cold water side albeit with a slightly hot water output. We can live with it until the replacement arrives.

yes, checked the link as well, the kits are well over £100 (???!!!) and not available for Showermate anyway. How the market allows them to get away with not supporting their products properly for 10 years I don't quite understand.