Mulberry View

Yes, that's what we're inclined to think. I'm of the opinion that it's nice to have the choice, but I suspect we'll use the original guy providing we still get on well with him at that stage! He's been reluctant to give me a guide price on the Technical stage as we have no real idea at the moment, but I'm expecting it to be around £4-5k based on his pricing for the previous stages, does this sound about right?

Oh, I definitely will. You'll be sick of the questions. ?

So, we've seen a few Architects now and it's pretty clear that there's a polar divide between them in cost. I have to admit that none of them have really wow'd me in any respect. Some have been frighteningly expensive, but with some ambitious designs in their portfolio, while others have been more modestly priced, yet might still deliver what we want. I wish I could afford to get a concept design from more than one Architect! Anyway, I've spoken with one today that has inspired me. He has a website full of stunning designs, of varying levels of complexity and imagination. He comes from a big practice background, but now works as a Husband and Wife team (that resonates well with us). He has tangible projects that I can look at and have been able to view one of the planning cases of one of the more complex ones to see how he deals with planners and was pretty inspired. We are looking for someone who is happy with our desire to be VERY hands-on, he is very flexible. He isn't local, but has costed in a site-visit and a promise of a functional working relationship for the duration he is involved. His fee is £7500+VAT to get us through planning. There are some ancillary costs, such as 3D modelling and CGI, which I would like at least a bit of. In essence, we aren't looking for a basic square build, we are looking for a balance of creativity, but not over-ambitious. My theory is that if a good design comes out of this that makes such good use of space that he saves us even 5 square metres compared to a 'cheaper' Architect, then he has paid for himself. Am I being rational there? He is pretty much double the price of our 2nd choice, who isn't anywhere near as inspiring. He hasn't costed up the Technical design phase, he has said that as much as he would like to do that, we are free to out-source that if we wish. Is this a normal thing to do? Presumably an Architectural Technician locally will be happy to work with his design in the unlikely event that we don't use the original designer for that next phase?

Is that a possibility?! I hadn't realised it could be that big. We'll have the rubble from the double garage, along with the concrete base, but also potentially whatever is beneath that.

Great. Thanks! In all honesty, I don't really know how it works at all, so cannot say about the overflow. All I know is that if I pull the lid off the main chamber, the level is pretty high (about a foot from being 'full'). One of the other chambers is the feed in and that looks fine. I have no real idea what's going on in the third.

The house we're currently living in was built in the 1950's property and is served by a Septic Tank, I'm certain it's the one that was installed when the property was built. It looks to be brick built as far as I can see, though can't be certain what's going on underground. I'm no expert, but it's condition worries me. It was sited in an area that is now a highly mature garden border which has a number of conifers and a huge Laurel close-by, but there's a beautiful 70ft Swamp Cypress growing almost literally right on top of it. Of the 3 inspection covers, 2 are on one side of the trunk and 1 on the other, no more than 4-6-feet from the trunk! Perhaps the position is why the tree has done so well! Anyway, I'd like to look to decommission the Septic Tank as I've had the opportunity to connect to the mains. As I understand it, the normal process would be to get it pumped out, then break the bottom up to make it no longer water-tight. I don't think we can risk caving the sides in, so what could we fill it with and might it have an impact on the tree? Rubble is an obvious choice and since we have to take down a garage to make way for our build, could this be the best option?

That stonework is lovely, the year plaque is a nice touch too. We'd love some sort of stonework, either inside or outside.

Come on! Now THAT is a view! I'd love that, but I'm a Southern softie, so couldn't deal with the cold! You seen the Velux Cabrio window?

That looks unusual. Would be good to see how that fits into the exterior? How will it be glazed? A fixed pane?

That view!! Absolutely sensational. Our plot doesn't really have the prospect of a distant view like that, but we're lucky to be very secluded and with mature plants/trees all around us. Part of our challenge is to design something to make use of some of the unusual trees we have, particularly our ancient Mulberry. When we split the plot, we're hoping we can encourage a buyer for the original bungalow to honour the gardens, which are too good to lose.

I love that. You're right, it does give a 'cottage' feel for sure. Did you see the one they did on 'Ugly House to Lovely House' recently where they angled it the other way? The plasterer didn't get it at all, but it carried across from other features in the design.

...single favourite design feature. Whether you're only at design stage, or fully built, what is your favourite feature? Come on, let's see what you're proud of!

...and this highlights the importance of a party wall agreement!!

OK, that's fine. The solicitor I spoke with had nothing to gain, but emphasised it very strongly. I think it was more from a tax-efficiency standpoint. I do have a small Ltd company already (unrelated to this), an accountant for that and also a daughter who works in finance, so I guess we'll be fine.

A solicitor I spoke with a few weeks ago advised that we onboard an accountant for our self-build project as a priority. Is this accurate? I think I've also read about some people creating a Ltd company for it too?

Now there's some great advice, that I'll definitely be exploring.

Show us then!!! ? I love seeing what others have done.

I completely understand what you're saying. It's just trying to gauge what others that have done it think we might achieve with the description I gave above. I'm trying to estimate within a wide parameter, perhaps really the question I'm looking to answer is if it's a risk that we might exceed £2000/m2, or if there's a chance to build for around £1500/m2, which it looks like we probably can. I know a lot of this will rely on us being smart, we are bound to win some and lose some, but it's the average I'm worried about.

Yes, we know about you! Your build is the one I always refer to in conversations about the lowest £/m2. ? I have to be realistic about my ability, but I'm always keen to do whatever jobs I can. Though I want to keep the cadence up so have to be sure to find the balance. In our renovation project, we struggled to find trades we trusted, hence learning it ourselves. It might take me 3 or 4 times as long, but I'm usually pretty happy with my finish. Whereas I've had tradesmen make c'ockups, then lie and cover them up (badly).

That's encouraging. I had in my mind a target figure of £1500, I think if we can get a design we like at around 200-220sq/m and get somewhere close to £1500 all in, I'd be happy. Hopefully that figure can allow for us to be a little more fancy in some areas. I was worried in case £1500 is tight and we end up slipping closer to £2000 and that would be a problem. I think we'll have about £280k to start with, along with anything else we can put in organically over the build (perhaps pushing the budget to just over £300k?). Ideally we don't want to borrow, but could tolerate a small mortgage if we had to in order to finish the drive, landscaping etc if we'd blown the budget on the main build.

We (theoretically) own a 0.5 acre plot in East Anglia. Needs some clearance (some already done), no services at present. It'll need to have a long driveway, though 3/4 of it can be done in a bulk low-cost solution (gravel or whatever) before reaching the 'gate'. Slightly tricky access, might need to consider piping concrete or smaller trucks. The house is likely to be a 3-4 bedroom Chalet bungalow with double garage, modern style, open plan with a fair bit of glass and a nice bespoke staircase. Likely to be around 200-225sq/m, give or take. Finished to a good standard, to keep not sell. We'll have UFH, ASHP/GSHP, fabric first approach, we want the place to be warm and cheap to run. PV if beneficial. We won't bother installing gas and are undecided whether we have a mains drain or a treatment plant. I am not a tradesman, but would describe myself as an advanced DIY'er. I can do most electrics (have a good mate who can/will help and/or sign off), most plumbing, kitchen and bathroom fitting (have done already to a good standard), plaster-boarding and I can graft too. I cannot lay bricks or plaster, I cannot drive a mini-digger (yet), nor do I own one. I do know my limits, but am able to self-teach what I don't know as that's what I've done so far. In fact I wired up the whole 4-room extension on our last house, including consumer unit with my sparky mate only coming to test and sign-off (which he was more than happy to put his word to) and removed/relocated the PV system onto the new roof. The OH is a grafter, who can also do a good amount and we're jointly good at procurement, we shop hard and smart. If anything, a little too hard (bordering on procrastination, a quality I need to work on). We'll be living onsite in a caravan and have plenty of room. I could be potentially close to full-time on it if it pays to do so. What budget do you think we need to expect?

That still only shows actual properties, it doesn't help with pockets of land. Here is a MapSearch output, you can see title numbers of all pieces of land and search for them by title number.

Good to hear that. I'm not hell bent on spending £15k by the way, it's just finding something that is 'nice'. There aren't a lot of statics for sale really and everything I've seen for £4k ish is quite ropey. I'm very happy to do some decorating of the 'van, but can you make an impression on a ropey one?

I've got that, but the MapSearch is a different thing. It's being able to view a map of an area that shows all the title numbers. For example if you wanted to find who owns a piece of land that doesn't have an address.

We would, but we don't think it'd be a good idea to get the current divided property on the market until we have planning permission in on the build. I know we're running out of time, but do you think the stamp duty holiday might be extended?