JackOrion

We hired an architect when we bought our plot in late 2018. We got through planning and got our permission in spring 2020. We paid our only invoice to his practice at this time (35% of projected total fee), he’d been really helpful up to this point. Since then we’ve gone through lengthy and costly geotechnical investigations (tricky access, sloping plot) and been figuring out potential piling solutions via civil and structural engineers. The detailed drawings have not yet been done. Some rough sketches from architect and fairly frequent (but short) telephone conversations. The exact position of the house and how it sits on the ground is still unclear. We’ve had some concerns over his competency and communication the longer the project has dragged on, and he moved away from the area a couple of years ago. (One of the reasons for hiring was that he was local). The pandemic also muddied the waters as it allowed him to become unavailable. Real alarm bells: He has asked us to lend money on a couple of occasions. The first request was to lend £100k to another of his clients(!) after which we’d “get £130k back” (!!) - he later apologised for suggesting this when we said we couldn’t possibly do this. The second of these requests was last month, when he asked if we could put a sum into his wife’s bank account as his had been frozen. I said no and there’s been no contact since. We’ve just found out his architectural practice (the one we originally commissioned and paid in 2020) actually went into liquidation in early 2021. He was the director and didn’t tell us it had wound up. I discovered via Companies House after last month’s financial request. So… our trust and confidence in him has well and truly gone. He has done some work since the last invoice in 2020 (a few rough sketches, brief but fairly frequent communication with us, as well as the geotechnical and structural engineers) - however the latest 'napkin' sketches last month showed a house that doesn’t fit on the plot and doesn’t comply with our planning permission. (The one he helped us obtain). We're of the opinion now after input from civil and structural engineers that we'll probably have to put in a new planning application as his original drawings are proving both impractical and too costly to build. Needless to say we’re saying goodbye. There’s no contract and he rarely communicates via email. He's a member of the ARB but seems to me like he's breached their standards of conduct and practice. Any tips on how to sever contact cleanly? Since getting the gist of how he operates financially, we’re very concerned he’s going to try and hit us with a huge bill when we pull the plug. All help appreciated as ever.

We are renovating some old outbuildings to be used for workshop / home-office spaces. It's a primitive (120+ years old) single storey, long and slim brick building separated into 4 rooms (see plan attached), and it's just been re-roofed. We'll be insulating and replacing old doors and windows and it needs to be up to standard in terms of comfort and heating as we'll be working from these spaces over winter (and potentially using them as ancillary living accommodation in future). I wasn't sure which of the sub-forums to post this in, as I don't know what the best option is in terms of heating (this is the question...) We have: • Electricity supply to the building • No gas • No boiler in the building • Large ongoing supply of firewood from the woodland on site. They are small rooms (approx 2.5 to 3m ceiling height), and given firewood is available, we wondered if a wood burner can be channelled to heat up all rooms – maybe via a back boiler? The floors in Rooms 3 and 4 are both stone flagged (cold earth beneath) so will be insulating under there whichever route we take. Room 2 is concreted (presumably over stone flags / earth) and Room 1 is flagged on I-beams with a cellar beneath. Other thoughts included UFH for Rooms 3 and 4. But I've a feeling there will be someone on here with a better insight and more experience of heating a space like this. We have some constraints (no boiler, no gas) but being a small space, with a well insulated roof and (eventually) walls / decent spec doors and windows, hoping there are a few options available... As ever, many thanks in advance for any thoughts. And apologies if this should have been posted elsewhere (couldn't find a more general heating forum)

The driveway access to our plot is raised up by about 15ft via a retaining wall at the back of the plot. The wall and driveway are getting on for 150 years old, and the driveway itself needs resurfacing etc as it's pretty much a dirt track now. We'd also like to get an idea of the strength of the wall to see if we need to impose weight limits etc. Apparently it used to be used for coal truck deliveries so hoping it's pretty solid. Is it a structural engineer we need in order to suss this out? Any particular types / tips as far as this goes? Thanks in advance for any help.

We are re-roofing an old out building. The building is 16m long, sloping downhill, and roughly 5m wide. So the roof is approx 2m from eaves to ridge both sides, with a fairly shallow pitch (16 degrees). We are re-using the old welsh slates and will be insulating between the rafters eventually. We asked the roofer to counter batten in order to get continuous airflow and so insulation could fill up beneath the membrane, but now the bottom row of slates are in place, I can see that continuous airflow doesn't have an inlet at the eaves, where the fascia board is kicked up (and the batten the last slate rests on isn't countered, either) Cross-section attached here – not 100% accurate but hopefully illustrates our situation. Is a ventilation inlet at the eaves absolutely crucial here? (e.g. https://fascias.com/over-fascia-vent-ov10-1m-x-10mm) Some searching online suggests not, since we're using permeable felt, and air will get in-between the slates enough to ventilate. (I will ask the roofer on Monday, he's very experienced and came recommended, and can only imagine he's of this school of thought too) New to this, and slightly concerned it's too late to rectify this now much of the work's been done, so any suggestions / thoughts much appreciated. Many thanks!

Yes, I thought it would have been lime mortar, but the damage to the bricks incurred when chipping it off suggests maybe not... I'm pretty sure a jet wash isn't going to get the mortar off. These bricks I'm attempting to re-use are from an old wall elsewhere on site, so the mortar is on the top, bottom and sides of the brick, not the face. I was under the impression it all needs to come off before they're re-laid... unless anyone knows if brickies can live with a bit of old mortar here or there when re-using old bricks?

The wall of one of our outbuildings needs a course or two of bricks adding to it. The bricks are late 1800s at a guess, and are quite unique. We have lots of the same bricks elsewhere on site that are in decent shape but they have mortar on them which needs to go before the bricklayer comes back to do the work... I've tried with a brick bolster and hammer, and the mortar drops off with a couple of light taps. The problem being, more often than not, the mortar takes a chunk of the brick with it. See pictures attached. Is this down to technique? The brick bolster / hammer method? Or the bricks themselves? (is it realistic to get the mortar off these bricks without damaging them?) Any tips appreciated. Trying to steer clear of the muriatic acid method I've come across online.

Good point, we already checked this and the right of access definitely runs with the land – the question mark was just whether there was a restriction on the access depending on what we needed it for... From the opinions expressed so far, it appears not!

No all services are covered, it's essentially a serviced plot and the service connections don't run under or over the neighbour's land... which makes the question mark over driveway access all the more confusing. It's the only feasible vehicular access too.

We’re looking to buy a plot of land with a shared driveway. The driveway to the plot is on a neighbour’s land. In the deeds it is stated that: "The transferor hereby reserves a right of access with or without vehicles over the roadway now or to be constructed shown colored blue on the plan in order to access the retained land." (the seller previously sold part of their land to the neighbour, and this agreement was made then) Our solicitor is questioning this as it does not specifically grant rights of access for the purpose of work vehicles whilst a house is being built. Is this a valid concern? Could the neighbours potentially block access to work vehicles? I would have thought that the wording 'access with or without vehicles' would be a catch all. Does anyone have any experience of a similar scenario?

Thanks for the replies here. The vendor has agreed in principle to most of the boundary changes, with us granting him access as required, which is good news. The one small slither of land he's questioning moving the boundary on is the only issue now... we're keen to buy it if possible to prevent potential of the next owner of his house extending out into it (this could have a big effect on our outlook). We're not planning on developing or changing this section of land, it would be purely in the interest of protecting our view, which is the main draw of the plot. He did mention at one point we could move the boundaries further whenever he sells up! But don't think he's keen to move this boundary in particular in the initial sale. Probably in the interest of protecting his view, truth be known. Are there any options we could suggest now such as: • we buy it, alongside a written agreement that we won't change or use this section of land while he's there; • we don't buy it now, but have an option to buy this extra section at pre-agreed price when he sells up; • we don't buy it now, and the boundary moves to include this section automatically once he sells up. Are these kind of agreements common in cases such as this? I've a feeling something like this might be the compromise he's looking for. Waiting to hear back from the solicitor for advice, but any other input appreciated as ever.

We're looking at a plot whereby the vendor is selling a portion of their garden. He got full planning permission, and put the plot up for sale, though the boundaries of the plot are very tight around the proposed house to the extent that we (and our architect) believe it wouldn't be worth pursuing as is. We've spoken with the vendor who is open to us extending the boundaries, on the condition that he can access the steps to the park at the rear of the plot (crossing our land to do so) so he can walk his dogs! He is elderly and a nice fellow, who I suppose is struggling with the idea of losing that access (the alternative, walking around our land, would involve a fair climb up a rural road) He is happy for this arrangement to exist only for as long as he resides in his current house. It would not effect the proposed building as it's the other end of the plot he wants to be able to cross (about 15m stretch of our land) Am I correct that this would have to involve a right of way / easement in the Title Register? If so, is it possible for this easement to be targeted at an individual (i.e. not carried over to the new owner of his house should he sell up...e.g. ... "this easement shall exist for Mr Brown for the period he resides at 123 Church Road") Could this be restricted to a certain area of our land? Or would it be the whole area? Any other words of advice here would be much appreciated... a potential minefield I'm sure (!). Thanks as ever.

Thanks for these tips. Mortgage-ability and value is another important point for us to consider... Will do some more research on the VAT question mark too and post any findings here for others' future reference.

Not quite... The permission as it stands is for permanent stationing of a residential caravan on the plot. So within the legal definition of a caravan, we could build something like a timber-framed house up to 20 x 6.8 x 3.05m in size, and live in it / connect to services etc as we would if we built a 'proper' house with full planning. This would be the worst case scenario. Other than this size restriction, I was wondering what differences there are between this and full planning permission, in the event that we did have to stick with the existing 'caravan' permission. ProDave makes a good point re: reclaiming VAT on build costs, but as far as I can see, this and the size restriction are the only drawbacks.

Good point on the VAT, I hadn't considered that. Currently looking into the existing service connections. Electricity yes, but no phone or water. It will need a borehole – it's a couple of miles off mains water, and the previous owner must have managed without somehow (!)... There is an old septic tank up there apparently, unsure what kind of state it's in though. Will keep building control in mind as far as these go. I'll try and look up the Grand Designs episode too, sounds like it would be of interest. Thanks!

We are currently looking at a semi-rural plot of land with a residential static caravan on it. It doesn't have full planning permission (this may be possible, and we would apply for this if we decide to go ahead and purchase it), but it does have a certificate of lawful development for the residential stationing of a caravan. I know that this in many cases this can provide strong grounds for granting approval to a full application for a 'proper' house. However, we need to look at the worst case scenario if, after purchasing, full planning was not possible, and we were 'stuck' with the certificate of lawful development only. I understand that the legal definition of a caravan means that the likes of a timber-framed construction, up to 20 x 6.8 x 3.05m in size, would be acceptable under the existing certificate. This wouldn't necessarily be the end of the world, and would be our fall-back option. Can anyone advise on any other restrictions / down-sides of this over a plot with full planning? Are there other things to consider (besides the obvious service connection charges) before taking the plunge? Is the value of the land / value of the eventual property effected by this kind of thing? Any help much appreciated!