ykhan16

Wasnt sure where this thread should go- hopefully this is a suitable place. I had been chatting to someone about the new government Green Homes Grant (due to start this September). Details arent completely clear at the moment but vouchers up to £5000 are being made available to support improvements made to homes in the form of insulation or low carbon heating. Was just wondering if anyone knew where self builders stand in all this? Would we have to complete the build- THEN apply for a grant to help pay to install something e.g. ASHP? Cheers!

Haha contradictory but i'd do the same if we had a basement! 😅Honestly I didnt know placement of the MVHR was so critical- just assumed the unit could be anywhere as its connected by ducting. Might have to read up on this. Well yes the loft could house it but was hoping to dedicate that space for storage (squeezing this to a minimum in the general living spaces) and potentially down the line a loft conversion.

Thanks for linking that thread. The mention that you're still solving the issue almost 3 years later has given me pause for thought! But it seems like we were thinking along similar lines though my plan was to have the enclosure annexed to the house to reduce potential problems. To me it just sounds sensible to have meters/MVHR/PV battery/control systems all accessible and in one place without taking up indoor space (which for us is actually a bit of a premium)- but I suppose there must be a reason why everyone doesnt do this. Am I right in assuming the biggest problem is condensation due to the temperature differences?

Currently in the design phase and having discussions with the architect. One of the things we're thinking about is to have an exterior plant-room (though not an actual room but just a walled off enclosure next to the house) which will contain gas/electric meters, and all the other bits of kit. Reasoning is to maximise the usable interior floor area and allow everything to be easily accessible. May also make this a touch bigger than necessary to store tools, paints etc. I have searched the forums but I cant seem to find any instances of this being done. I'm wondering if there are any disadvantage in having equipment housed outside- i'm thinking along the lines of having to work in a non heated environment (in particular the MVHR).

Hi, we kind of had a fairly similar issue. A plot came up but even with our savings we were short on funds to buy it so we had to get money from the equity held in our house. We didnt remortgage to do this but applied to the lender for "Further borrowing" on the house. The lender did ask what we needed the money for and we told them it was to buy a plot. Then we just chose which product we wanted for the borrowed amount (2 year fixed) and keeping within the total LTV of the property. All got sorted in a few weeks and now we have a mortgage comprising both the original product and the new product with both the repayments paid together. Not really clear on the 2nd part of your plan- selling your home then starting the build. In my case I am planning to go through build store to get a self build mortgage. As I own the land outright that should make things easier as I should be able to get a mortgage that pays in advance so we can stay in our current home whilst the new one is built.

I'm really liking some of the plans on this thread especially Re. dressing rooms/ensuite layouts *steals ideas*. Personally I wouldnt be too bothered by what people say/think- if you probably dont think you need an ensuite then maybe you shouldnt try to squeeze one in. (I would actually like my new home to have an ensuite mainly because with 2 kids theres a lot of bathroom traffice and me and my wife need to wake at practically the same time to get ready for work- atm I have to wake up 15mins earlier just to free up the bathroom! ) Have you considered modifying your first idea about the single bathroom (between master and bedroom 2) but with two doors- one to the main bedroom and one to the hallway? You can get a simultaneous locking system fitted to both.

@TerryE That sounds sensible. Can you confirm you didnt put UFH in your upstairs bathroom? My upstairs will be carpeted but will tile the bathroom and ensuite so would worry about them being cold to feet and slower drying. Many thanks!

Thanks @ProDave I will try to dig this up!

Not that cheap in comparison to a gas/boiler system is what I meant. IR system looks interesting to me given that it heats solid matter as opposed to air etc so effective efficiency should in theory be higher. I'll need to price it up and do some calculations but you are right and I need look at it objectively!

Hi @christianbeccy we're actually in a similar position as you -just starting out and considering designs, heating options and finding an architect. I was quite keen on ground source pumps at first and then air source but now i'm re-evaluating them. I'm not really sure what your priorities are but i'm looking for the best value system so I can have UFH in the home and its cosy throughout as well as, importantly, bathrooms staying dry (kids always leaving puddles around atm grrr ). I've kind of concluded that air-source is better than ground source, but its actually not that cheap to run even taking RHI into account. Atm i'm drifting towards solar heating for the hot water (no running costs, low maintenance + RHI) and maybe with a small boiler. Underfloor heating i'm now thinking along the lines of Infrared mats which are electric but very energy efficient, zone-able and also healthier (apparently!).

Eeek that doesnt sound very enjoyable @Sue B- glad you've made it through to the other side though! Homebuilding exhibition was good- mooched around the stands, spoke to some suppliers and listened to some experts. Came away feeling upbeat and positive about the road ahead- which i suppose the show is designed to do! Got a few ideas now and some pieces of the jigsaw seem to be slowly coming together in my mind - time for more research! 🔎

I was up round there a few months ago. Honestly its such a lovely place- shame its 400 miles away! :0 @Thedreamer You sound ever so organised- did you get any guidance on this side of things? Someone today suggested that I should go on the project management course run by the NSBRC (https://www.nsbrc.co.uk/the-nsbrc-guide-to-project-management/). Do you think its worth it? Or does anyone know someone who's been on it and what their thoughts were? Its £165 but if its going to prepare me well then the cost should pay for itself I would have thought.

I have two boys aged 9 and 13- youngest is gearing up for 11+ entrance exams and my eldest will be in year 10 next year so beginning his GCSE's. Dont really want give them too much disruption- I know I would blame myself if they underachieved after living through upheaval or none ideal conditions. But about the caravan idea- well definitely my wife's not keen on it. More than just the lack of space, there is a real stigma (in asian cultures at least) of living out of a caravan which some people might find hard to understand. Personally i'm not really sure there's a huge benefit of selling up and caravaning. A year in a caravan would save £5k on repayments and I would get maybe £20K from the sale with the current equity. Is it not a better option to stay at home- ignore the landscaping, leave the ensuite unfinished, keep my old furnishings etc (i.e. equivalent short term sacrifices as you put it)- then finish up on these things after moving in and selling the old place? Anyone can suggest if this is realistic or is there something i'm not considering? (which is quite likely! ) It is definitely frustrating though. We've saved for such a long time, bought land and even with decent jobs we're struggling to build something thats not in the least bit extravagant. Oh well i'm going to the Homebuilding and Renovating show tomorrow in Harrogate. Hopefully i'll pick up some useful info there! Maybe see some of you there!

I'll look into that- you're the 2nd person to suggest going to an architectural technologist. My constant fear is going through this whole process with all its associated hassles- and then ending up with something that looks/feels like a boring developer home. Time isnt really a constraint as we'll still be living at our current home till its complete so perhaps I can maximize the benefit of that somehow- more reading required i think! Thank you all for some good tips- feels like i've already learnt a lot from my 2 days on here!

Is this a common issue with flat roofs? I was hoping to go flat/near flat to trim roofing costs- is it just going to cost me in the long run.