Stewpot

That's horrible. At the very least you would be justified in asking him to do that section again. It looks to be in an obvious place, where it is clearly on view, and no amount of caulking is going to hide it. If that's typical of the whole job, you may want to reconsider your options.

I am going through minor agonies trying to think of a name for the place. In fact I think it's probably a good thing to choose something fairly banal, because after all, I hope that the place will be occupied long after I'm done with it, and so choosing something personal or characterful may seem rather stupid in 100 years time. I'd stop short of Dunroamin (or Dunpayin), but actually I think there is something to be said for something as bland as Hillcrest (perhaps it would be better for a house at the bottom of a valley). I did think of Hare's Wood, or variations on that theme, which apparently is a translation of my surname. But I doubt I'll ever see a hare there, so it'll be meaningless for future residents. Burn Bank is the obvious and banal option, since it is beside a burn. A friend suggested Burn Banks, as she is a little antiestablishment, and I'm tempted to add a little 'the' between the two words on the actual name board. Given the way my bank is treating me at the moment, it's top of the list.

No. But with some qualification. There is a good technique of tearing and patching wallpaper - the idea is that the tear feathers the edge, and while the patch won't disappear under close examination, used discreetly it can be an appropriate way to get around awkward situations. A good tear is less obvious that a bad cut. Lining paper will probably make the best of this, and it won't work at all on heavily embossed of blown vinyl papers. Caulking the gaps is a sign of desperation (though there are situations where things do get tricky for even the best decorator). Most caulks shrink a little as they dry, so a second application can be necessary. Some people make the mistake of thinking that the paint itself will act as a filler for small gaps - it won't. Also, many people would say that if proper wallpaper is to be applied over the lining paper, the lining paper should be hung perpendicularly to the proper wall paper - ie. the lining paper is hung horizontally. But why are the walls being lined? Are there defects, or variable surfaces on the walls? If it is simply going to be painted over, then to my mind it will always look like painted wallpaper - I'd rather have a poor wall with a good paint job. If the walls are in poor condition, lining may be the best thing to do, but you will see the joins. But if possible, just paint the walls. If it's new plaster, give it time to dry, then apply a thinned coat of paint to prime it, followed by a couple of normal coats.

That's exactly what I'm thinking. This is not a definite plan yet, but living on site is beginning to look like a sensible option.

If your accommodation during the build is, for example, a caravan, and is your main residence, what do you do about an address? Presumably 'Land Adjacent to the Village Green' is not really suitable. Do you need something official for, say, driving licences, tax returns, etc? Can you register the address of the site before building commences? Do you actually need to register the name at all, or could it be just a question of putting up a name board?

You and me, both at the same thing. I'm a bit too old to deal with several acres, and managed to buy 0.6 of a rural acre in Scottish Borders, with Planning Permission in Principle . I did years of scouring Zoopla, Righmove, etc, and visited places all over Britain. Eventually I realised that my limited resources would go furthest in Scotland, so I managed to line up several likely looking plots, booked a B&B for a few days, and went exploring. I would seriously recommend getting something with PPP, unless you're up for risking an outright refusal, and maybe years of re-applications. Gen up on local planning policies - most councils publish their policies online. They are guaranteed to send you off to sleep, but should also contain their ideas about rural developments - where you may get PP, or where you probably won't. Generally speaking, though, rural development is limited, and is normally required to fit in with existing housing clusters. Maybe a derelict property would be the way to go, as the planning permission thing is already a given. It may be useful contacting Planning Aid Scotland - I haven't dealt with them, but they sound like they could be helpful: www.pas.org.uk/ I haven't yet officially upped sticks and moved north, but I will say that everyone I've met up there has been extremely helpful, supportive and friendly - with one exception - the landlord of my nearest neighbour (he lives seven miles away) who is objecting to my plans. But that's another story.

I wonder it the details vary between districts. Scottish Borders Council's website seems very unforthcoming, but a neighbouring council publishes a guide. This implies harsh penalties for not having a valid building warrant. For example, renewing an out of date warrant will incur a charge of twice the original warrant, and applying for a certificate of completion without a valid warrant is three times the cost of what the warrant would have been. I guess I must seek local knowledge. Apparently yurts can get pretty warm inside - the one I once saw was certainly substantial - nothing like a tent. And their cultural origins in nomadic tribes means there can be no argument about them being a temporary structure.

Yes, that's right. Planning Permission gives you three years in which to start the project. But in Scotland, there is an additional layer of bureaucracy called a Building Warrant, which gives you three years to complete a project. I'm only just finding out the finer details of this, and would be delighted if someone would tell me I'm wrong.

Have any Scottish builders experience of extending a building warrant? In the context of an own handed self builder, three years validity seems very little time, and even extending it will only add another 9 months. Realistically, I am unlikely to be nearing completion by then. Since extending a warrant is discretionary, I'm really wondering how many times the warrant can be extended before a council is likely to start saying "No more". And what would happen if the warrant expires on an unfinished project? Alternatively, what would happen if I just kept building after the warrant had expired?

Is there any chance of the overage being extinguished after a certain time? I could maybe live with a ten year clawback, but not one in perpetuity. If the solicitors can get their act together, and combine both titles into one freehold at the time of the transaction, then I would guess that you're in with a chance of getting a mortgage. I can't comment whether an overage clause will affect things, but if wouldn't surprise me. I think I would be seeking out not only a good solicitor to discuss this with in advance, to find out what is possible, but also a mortgage broker to help with the money. In my experience, a good broker will have access to specialist financing, cheaper loans, will know and understand the variety of deals available, many of which are only available through brokers, and will, to some extent, act as an advocate for you when dealing with the finance company. The good ones are worth every penny of their commission, and do not charge for a consultation.

My flow rate at the kitchen tap (just measured) is about 12 litres a minute. I've actually turned the stopcock down a little to deliberately restrict this, as the water was coming out of the tap too violently. So, I'd say that 20l/m is pretty good anyway, and you wouldn't benefit much from the expense, unless you're filling a swimming pool, which takes days anyway. I think the benefit of changing the pipe that connects to the big mains pipe would be if it serves more than one property. Also, just a thought, if you've ever fitted a monoblock tap with the copper tail pipes, you'll know how restricted those pipes seem to be (8mm pipe has less than a third of the cross section of 15mm pipe), and yet it makes no noticeable difference to the flow of water out of the tap. The water just flows faster through the restriction (although pressure plays a part in this).

I wouldn't want to compromise the OP's privacy by posting the links here, but Google Streetview is quite amusing - one view from 2019, and one from 2014 a little further down the road. I'd suggest the the nearby retirement homes may benefit from an additional bench next to the letterbox, with a litter bin next to it, too. More seriously, contact your local councilors (your elected representatives), show them photographs, invite them to come and see for themselves. I can't see how they could grant PP for a garage if it is not lawfully accessible across the curb. And there seems to be plenty of parking available at the front of the house. Is the house an HMO? Or converted into flats? The number of vehicles parked in the curtilage visible on the satellite view suggests so. If so, how many flats, have they all got PP, is the HMO registered, etc., and is there a danger of the garages becoming more comfortably appointed, with bathroom and cooking facilities? I'm not up on PD rights, but the property already looks to be extended, and the garages seem to be built rearwards right up to your boundary. How lawful is that? I think PD rights are more limited in the case of flats.

My plot was, at one time in a similar situation. This was before I bought it, and it was all resolved by the previous owner, during the Outline planning stage. But yes, the council did consider the suitability of the existing neighbour's driveway as a means of access to my plot. They refused that idea due to poor visibility splays, and insisted that the then existing opening onto that driveway be closed off. That could have been the end of the development potential, because any newly created access would also have sub-standard visibility. However, they eventually accepted that a new access could be created. That took a couple of years in consultation, and I wasn't party to the details, so can't give any tips for a successful outcome, but I'm mighty glad it was all sorted out by the previous owner. But there is more. If your neighbour has a mind to be difficult, then the driveway you want to access could become a ransom strip - that is to say, you will only be allowed to cross that land in return for a sizeable consideration. Properties subject to a ransom strip, or to adverse possession, can be temptingly cheap, so get advice from a solicitor before you buy, and only go in if you are sure about the position. Your plot will almost certainly not get the planning permission you need unless you can demonstrate suitable access to it, and if your agreement with the driveway owner is not watertight, things could go badly wrong.

Yes, I agree, it does need to be safe, and made to a suitable standard; I'm not trying to duck out of that. As you say, 6m of driveway, made to a high standard, would be a reasonable thing to do. But the issue is also exactly as you say - doing what is required in the conditions. In fact the last thing I want to do is appeal against the condition. Quite the opposite, I want the council to apply the condition precisely, and no more. So, what I'm asking, really is: Are the explicit conditions the limit of what the council can require? Putting it like that, maybe 20 minutes with a solicitor would be a good idea.

That's the situation exactly. Indeed. But they seem to have neglected to let the developer know about this. I'll take your comments on board, but you'll understand if I hope you're wrong. Thanks.

Yes, it does, but only in terms of width, position and surfacing: During the current consultation, the roads department have come back and said: It is true that his department recommended these details as part of the initial consultation process, and they got mentioned in the Officer's Report as a proposed Informative. But these are both consultation documents, and the recommendations did not make it onto the Approval Notice in any form. He states "I shall assess whether the submitted plans meet the conditions attached to the 18/xxxx/PPP application." But then it seems he goes on to assess condition 7 by a his earlier consultation response, not by the actual conditions attached to the Approval.

I have a plot in Scotland which has Planning Permission in Principle (Scottish version of Outline) to build a house. Condition 7 says that I have to show the position, width and surfacing of the access when applying for reserved matters approval. There are no other specified requirements pertaining to the access. We've applied for reserved matters, and in the consultation process, the roads department has come back and said: The need for a lay-by, and reference to detail DC-3 is news to us. On the planning portal, documents pertaining to the original PPP show that the above was indeed raised during consultation, but it didn't make it to the Approval Notice. The Officer's Report, available from the portal, concludes by recommending approval, subject to a list of conditions to be attached to the Approval Notice. None of them mention a lay-by or detail DC-3. But then it says: That Informative is nowhere on the Approval Notice. Is the need to construct this lay-by enforceable?

Intuitively, I feel that's not going to work out. Hunting around the web, I find that the Tesla Model S has a battery capacity of 100kWh (smaller cars are available). If you had a 10kW turbine working continuously at nominal capacity, and we ignore inefficiencies and energy losses in the recharging system, it would take 10 hours for a full recharge - in reality, probably two or three times that. And in a domestic setting, a 10kW turbine is pretty big. Depending upon how many miles a day you do, and how windy it is at your place, that sounds a bit marginal. And a turbine of that size is likely to cost several tens of thousands. Sorry to dampen your enthusiasm. An electric bike should be eminently do-able like that, though.

I would say it's a mistake to have cement render on a stone wall like that. The more I find out about lime, the more persuaded I am that this would be the stuff to use in this situation. You will certainly have lime mortar between the stones. Lime breathes (incorrect terminology, since no exchange of air takes place - it is vapour permeable) and that allows moisture to escape the stonework. Normally, moisture can get into the wall in three ways - penetration of rain from outside, rising damp from underneath, and condensation from inside. By sealing up the wall with cement render, you are seriously limiting the ways the moisture has to escape again - the result is damp walls. The moisture needs to be able to evaporate out into the air. I'm not against cement - damn useful stuff, but your house was built before it was in general usage, and building techniques need to be different to use it successfully. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXykJ5odCRo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGuvoDS0aN4

Gad, more delights to come. Actually, the land registry isn't involved yet - that comes later, and hopefully the Scottish land registry won't be affected. Unless there is a good reason not to, I'm going to ask the solicitor to set a date to the 'conclusion of missives' (as they call the exchange of contracts in Scotland). I had hoped to get on site before the nesting season so that I can whack down the jungle that's grown up on site. That'll have to wait, now, but at least it's giving me time to draw up some house plans.

Actually, I've had a couple of really good solicitors in the past, but they stand out amongst a lot of pretty poor ones. I had an on-going issue a few years ago - I got through 5 different solicitors, who were just indifferent and uninterested or incapable. The last one ignored much of what I had told him, and I had to re-write several letters for him to send out, because they just didn't cover the issue. Finally, he sent me a bill - I sent him a cheque for half the amount, telling him how disappointed in his work I was, and that I considered the account settled in full. Never heard back from him. But yes, my opinion of solicitors continues to decline. Some people would tell you I am already.

What is it that solicitors find to do between instruction and completion? It's now fully 3 months since my offer on a plot was accepted, and I instructed a solicitor. There is no mortgage to sort out, no survey, etc. As far as I can see it is just a matter of confirming the title, and getting the searches done. And yet, still there is no timetable for completion. Initially, the solicitor guestimated things might be done and dusted around the end of January. Twice she's asked if I'm ready to proceed, and twice I've said yes. I get the impression that she only does work on the case when I ask her for an update.

That's a much better idea. Good luck.

Why are you thinking in terms of compensation? You can only claim compensation if you have suffered some loss, hardship or privation as a result of someone else's actions. In this case they just seem to have supplied sub-standard stuff, so the best outcome you can hope for is that you come to some agreement, or they replace it with something more suitable. And you have to give them the opportunity to put things right before you can sue them for your money back.

That is, well... it's a bit of a shocker, isn't it? To be fair I can't see the whole of the room, to see its full effect, but it's hardly a decorative centrepiece. Is it possible to post the floor plans of the two floors, so that we can see it in context? Stairs can be a bugger, because you need to visualise them in 3D. What works well on one floor might not on the next. I'm guessing that you have a sloping ceiling on the first floor, which restricts headroom and prevents you from putting the stairs in the position you first wanted. But ProDave is right to ask what you want the outcome to be - that should be the first question you ask before any litigation. If you want the original option, well, it seems that that is impossible, so no amount of suing will get you that. Often, the outcome of any legal action, is that both parties end up being disappointed. Which is not to say that you don't merit some form of compensation. I'm no fan of spiral staircases, but could that be a solution? Because you are effectively dealing with a cylinder, you have some control over which way the top and bottom treads are facing, which may help. And it'd be prettier than what you've got. Or have you thought of asking the second architect (or some other architect) if he could find an alternative solution? Sometimes creative types can see a way round problems that us normal people though was impossible.