JohnParf

I'm building a house with large east facing standing seam 15 degree rooves. My architect is keen for me to consider an integrated standing seam PV system. I also have a flat roof area above the bedrooms that is hidden from the front elevation that could house a conventional flat roof PV system. Does anyone have any experience of the standing seam PV systems and the relative costs compared to a more conventional panel system. Is it like PV slates where the aesthetics blows the payback out of the water.

We are submitting plans to replace a poultry unit next to a stand of woodland on our land with 2 dwellings that we plan to build and live in sequentially. Our planning consultant says because of the 2 dwellings we are not self build and need BNG. Because the woodland is within the red line for use of the properties the environmentalist is classing them as ‘gardens’ resulting in them having to be declared as a loss and resulting in a massive BNG net loss. Anyone else with experience of this type of scenario with BNG ?

We’re serial renovators , but this is our first new build. I’ve done a pretty much knock down and rebuild of a family home, a grade 2 listed farmhouse renovation ( our current home) but this is to tick that ‘ Grand Designs’ box on the bucket list.

Hi, We’re about to submit our planning for two houses to replace a disused poultry unit on our paddocks. I want to get a fairly detailed costing spreadsheet and cash flow estimate. I seem to remember that there was a service advertised in Homebuilding and Renovating that gave the sort of thing I was after but can’t find it now. Obviously at this stage it wouldn’t be accurate, but it would be useful for me to plan my approach to the build, to think about choices like which build system, finishes, and probably some cost engineering on the design. I’ve got a great architect on board, but I think she’s driving toward high end , award winning design, and I want to make sure we can afford it. I could start building something myself but I don’t want to miss line item costs and I’m not that great with build spreadsheets. Anyone with experience, or preferably recommendations ? Regards John

Hi, It’s been a long planning journey but we now have light at the end of the tunnel to demolish our poultry unit and replace it with 2 dwellings. We previously got planning to convert it, but it was so constrained that we didn’t want to proceed. A change of use and a failed application later, we now have a positive pre app and are submitting for planning. I’m now trying to map out how we will proceed post planning. We have some savings, but ultimately we’ll need to sell our current home to complete the build. The dream is that we end up in our dream house with a substantial sum towards our retirement with the proceeds from the second property. John