Haylingbilly

I would get them to document the offer and as long as it is clear, is completely in line with what you have agreed, and not full of weasel words (ie a bunch of provisos) and signed, then I would go with it. This is a clear agreement from them, and I doubt it would be worth fighting it in court if they reneged anyway.

I don't get why it is so much more expensive to finance a rebuild vs a renovation. I think the advice is that the costs to do the building work are likely to be very similar whichever route you took (granted you may need to fund the VAT until you can reclaim). If you can fund the renovation with a standard residential mortgage then am sure you could fund the rebuild with a self build mortgage - the difference is going to be negligible. I'd have a look at funding options as 230k seems crazy expensive - I'd be amazed if you couldn't do it for les than that. And in all honesty I would imagine it would actually turn out cheaper to fund the rebuild than renovation as it will be much faster and so borrowing money for much less time.

Yes, I would have thought so. You may get the quote you have down, but there will be many other costs you haven't thought about and then many other unforeseen cost. If we understand your build correctly all you are retaining of your bungalow is the foundations and some walls. Without exception the advice you have been given on this forum is to rebuild and if you do decide to ignore it and continue down the renovation route, please do come back in 2 years time and let us know whether you would do the same again...

Sorry, I am another vote for knock down and rebuild, I think you are crazy to pursue the extension route. You will get more competitive quotes for this as builders prefer the simplicity of this and you will get much more predictability on costings. I have a friend doing a not dissimilar major renovation and build and a neighbour doing a refurb - they are both well over 30% above the "quotes" due to unforeseen issues which is causing them no end of stress financially. I have yet to meet someone who has done a similar scale renovation and extension without major cost over run. This is the norm on rennovations and exception on a new build unless they have either budgeted incorrectly.

I would tread very carefully on this one and before you apply for planning permission would get in writing from the CIL team your proposed approach will work. I believe any retrospective applications will invalidate the exemption, with regard to variations - if it is materials /finishes etc then I think you are ok, but increasing the footprint then no you aren't. I had issues with mine and hired a specialist lawyer who had a diferent opinion on commencing development to that from the CIL team!!

Too true. Mortgage company, insurance company (ies), building warranty supplier, Local authority CIL department and Royal Mail also have their own views. But I think for most purposes when building control issue the completion certificate is the default acceptance of it being complete

Me too, was impressed by the quality and more impressed by the price.

"right to light" is pretty vague - I would check with your conveyancing solicitor. In my title deeds one of my neighbours has a right to light expressed within my deeds - but my solicitor said you have to be building very close to them to be able to claim right to light and stop the build - and despite objecting on may aspects they never raised right to light as an issue. But they may not have this as part of their or your deeds and in which case it is not an issue. Or they may be incorrectly referring to overlooking from a planning planning perspective as a right to light and in which case as you have planning then this is a non event (although from their perspective they may still be loosing what they incorrectly perceive as a right to light and therefore is not resolved). First port of call I think is your solicitor and then take it from there....

How believable is it the they will finish their 800sqm passive house plus house at £1.125m as they stated at the end? I suspect they have already spent over this getting to a shell!

I suspect each building control officer is going to look at this slightly differently. Decorating, landscaping and flooring would be no problem (though you will need to demonstrate disabled access). If you have multiple bathrooms then I would imagine you only need to fit one out. But I do think you will need to show a working kitchen and bathroom so you can show an electrical completions certificate, water efficiency calculation and adequate ventilation. You may get away with almost all second fix carpentry though if you need fire doors I think they will need to be installed as will stairs and any balustrades. I would do a list of what you intend to do and discuss it with your building control office....

I got mine from bare metals - www.bearmetals.co.uk

Have you tried Brian Peacock from Gurney Engineers? He did my Nudura build, not sure if he could do the raft though.... http://www.gurneyce.com/ He is in Surrey so in your area

Agree with the spirit off what most people have said. Get it fixed in the most cost effective way possible. Then speak to the designer and see what he suggest re claiming on his insurance...see if you can come to an agreement that saves you both a load of grief going legal on it...

Goodwillies in Waterlooville - have used them twice for delivery to Farnham.

We used metal to make ours too