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Our electrician has mentioned Social Energy as a company that, although not supplying electricity now, does supply batteries that are cheaper than Tesla and their export tariff is - up to 20p. It looks like they are staying in business for this side of things.

I have heard good things about Octopus customer service and, as an aging numpty, it might be important to me to have a supplier that answers the phone! ?

If the original one has gone missing, which I think it has, then we can donate ours now that we have finished with it. We are in Norfolk. How do tool items get moved around the country?

Trying to follow this thread. My old brain is struggling. UK Power are coming next week to lay our 3 phase supply to our cabinet. I am pretty sure our electrician told me that I had to contact a supplier but have forgotten why. Does he mean I must choose a supplier like Octopus or Eon? If so which is best? We have a large array of solar panels and would like to export back to the grid after we have used what we need. That is the extent of my knowledge!

Can't speak for that one but we went on one run by Potton the timber frame people. It was free! We are doing a traditional build but the principles of project management are the same for both. We found it very helpful. We have, since, gone on to project manage our new build bungalow.

Just a thought. Does the SE know the elm trees are being removed? Will he believe you if you tell him or is it his brief to design on what he actually sees on site?

No other plots involved here. Our site is a single plot to the rear of our our existing property. There is an AW main running down the, private, access road to the new property. It serves our existing house and the house on the opposite side of the road. The private road is a shared one between us and the farm next door. The new supply comes off that main. I imagine the solicitor will be aware of the nature of the track ownership. We did tell her about it and she was going to register it in both names as it is, at the moment, unregistered. Our neighbour is amenable but not sure if it is top of his list of priorities.

Update Could not believe what the AW agent said the other day so phoned again. This time I have been told that our plumber can access the pipework on "our" side of the boundary and put a standpipe in. Once done we have to ring them and they will come and fit a water meter. Phew!

I saw a couple of plumbers on a site and asked them If I had heard it all correctly. They were not surprised @CalvinHobbs we are fine with the organisation (or have managed all the battles so far - do a search on water main running under site ) Our main aim is to not look back and say "wish we had thought of that". I think the favourite option is to plan a move onto the local camp site and hope that we can manage to stay put. The electricians are here and working on getting us connected. UK Power due next week. We could run a hose from the existing house, as we have been up to now, but would have to lag it in the coming weather or keep rolling it up!

Great suggestion above thank you so much. While on the phone to Anglian Water he said something about a trickle feed from the water meter. Something about a blue plastic tag. Anyone know what he is talking about? Husband was shouting obscenities so I missed half of it Of course the new owners could supply us with water at the site too. If they want to move in before Christmas we could make it a condition. We had already asked them if our sparky could run a, metered, supply to the bungalow. They did not say no. I think we are going to end up on the campsite up the road as the most stress free option. We are experienced motorhomers so I am sure we will manage. It does not have a laundry, Jilly, but there is a launderette in the nearest town and I am sure our friends would not mind us popping in to do some washing occasionally.

A phone call to Anglian Water to finalise the water connection (it is all laid up to the new bungalow) resulted in ne getting nowhere this morning. They refuse to do the final connection until all the second fix is complete and every bit of sanitary ware is installed and ready for "inspection". How is it that we can get connected to electricity without all our appliances being "inspected" and to the phone line without having a phone installed but not to a water supply? I asked about a temporary supply (we have been using a hose from the house) but that, apparently, requires a new pipe to be laid!

What a kind lot you are. Thank you so much for all the lovely words. Renting with a dog is nigh on impossible. We may find a let but doubt it will be local or in a decent condition/location. We cannot complete the new bungalow without selling the house. Having lost three buyers we feel strongly that we must hang on to these. They are cash in the bank buyers. As they are also going to be neighbours they tick another box of being nice people. Yes the fifth wheel, though smaller than most (Celtic Rambler, made in Wales, if you want to have a peak), is comfortable and we spent a winter in it a few years ago. Husband has refused surgery (permanent stoma was the negative that made him do that) and has had intensive radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy. This all coincided with a break in building due to running out of funds. He is recovering at the moment but we do not know how effective the treatment has been yet. Surgery may still be necessary. He is adamant that he is never having the radiotherapy/chemotherapy again! Great advice on the aggregate around the caravan. Our farmer neighbour deals in it so we have a local supply. Synthetic grass sounds good too. Fencing has also got to be very secure for us to relax when the dog is let out. Three sides are fenced but we need to put up a temporary dog proof fence all along one side running to about 35 metres with a natural pond to factor in. When travelling in the fifth wheel we use windbreaks to fence the dog in.

Our house sale is looking likely to go through before Christmas. New bungalow on plot to the rear is not finished. Second fix plumbing was under way when plumber husband got diagnosed with bowel cancer. He is undergoing treatment with results not yet known. We have a fifth wheel caravan to move into and are hopeful that UK Power will have us connected to the grid. Openreach are a nightmare but they may have us sorted with fibre to the premises. Drains are behind schedule i.e. not started due to contractor being super busy with Covid related problems. Our buyers are in a worse state than us i.e. living in a rented, freezing cold, caravan on a site that does not allow dogs. Their two elderly dogs are farmed out with one in kennels. We have a couple of options for immediate relocation. One is to stay on site surrounded by mud etc with our dog. Another is to go to a, nice, campsite just up the road for £20 per night. Do we put all our furniture in storage or use the, dry, bungalow for storage? Tips on how to organise the stuff i.e. in one room or in dedicated rooms? Should we get the utility room sorted so that we have access to washing machine etc? All above are doable (?) except drainage. Should we dig a temporary septic tank? There are our old compost heaps nearby - if we don't use chemical in the caravan could we compost the caravan toilet waste? Any tips for stress reduction given that husband is not allowed alcohol and I am abstaining in sympathy?

No one has mentioned the planet yet On the subject of kerb appeal I have to say I hate the look of most installations and resisted retrofitting them to our old cottage. If installed inset into roof tiles they look much better. We have even had compliments on our array that cover the whole of our South facing roof.

In our area (Norfolk) farmers seem to get away with building houses for "Farm Managers". Amazing how many "managers" they need........