guyspartacus

Morning all Progressing slowly with the planning stage of my build and working on services I've had surveys done by Openreach and UKPN regarding putting our feed's from overhead to underground. Waiting on prices for ducting from both for us to put in ourselves before asking them to pull cables only. Openreach was a strange one, they said they needed £338 to do the survey and sent me an invoice but when I went to pay it - it said it had already been paid ?‍♂️ There's also a BT box on my property with fibreoptic cable but Openreach can't actually provide me with access to it as they can only replace like for like. Can I expect extortionate prices for 22m of grey ducting from them and from UKPN? Also - I'm not sure where our water main goes, it pops up to the rear of the property in a small iron pipe and there's a meter at the front. Can I run a new 32mm pipe to the meter and get it changed over by the provider? That would be ideal as we would know where it goes and that it's man enough for what we need. Thanks,

Morning all I've recently purchased an old pub for renovation/conversion. We had a survey done pre-purchase to highlight any possible issues. They mention in this survey that they couldn't lift all manholes/access covers so suggest a full drainage survey to find any issues. We've since found 2 very large wells/tanks to the rear of the property - one of which is enormous and partly under the property itself. I've highlighted this to the surveyor that carried out the survey and they're quoting their report where they suggest that a drainage survey would have picked these up. The thing is - nothing drains into them, they are redundant. I've had a drainage survey and had to show the drain man the holes otherwise he wouldn't have seen them. The smaller of the two is under a very poorly fitted lightweight cover that was clearly visible but no attempt was made to lift by the surveyor. The larger one is below a brick plinth with a large slab on top so it's understandable that this wasn't lifted (though there is clearly something there which wasn't investigated). Am I on a fools errand chasing the surveyor for compensation/partial refund?

But he would be using the materials on my project - only that I would have paid for them. Seems slightly odd that I can pay5% VAT for a contractor to supply and fit (and put a markup on materials), yet can’t do the same if I’m managing it myself?

Thanks. Say I find a friendly builder that’s VAT registered, surely I can pay him labour only and pay his invoices for materials? Would he then claim back the additional VAT on the materials?

This was my plan - but then newhome suggests I wouldn't be able to?

I'm getting nowhere with this to be honest! I've spoken with HMRC who state that it is a decision between me and the contractor as to what rate of VAT applies to my project. I tried to argue that when I apply for a refund of 15% on materials, then it becomes their decision but it got me nowhere. According to VAT notice 708 - 5.3.1; * Public houses and shops where any private living accommodation for the landlord, owner, manager or staff is not self-contained - normally because part of the living accommodation, such as the kitchen, is contained within the commercial areas rather than the private areas This applies to my property which means that it is not currently a 'single household dwelling' due to the above clause. Now, According to VAT notice 708 - 7.3, reduced rate applies if; A qualifying conversion is carried out when the premises being converted is a building, or part of a building, and after the conversion the premises contains a greater or lower number (but not less than one) of ‘single household dwellings’ (see paragraph 14.4), but not where the number of ‘single household dwellings’ in part of the premises is unchanged (see paragraph 7.3.1). A qualifying conversion includes the conversion of: a property that has never been lived in, such as an office block or a barn a multiple occupancy building such as a bedsit block living accommodation which is not self-contained, such as a pub containing staff accommodation that is not self-contained any dwelling which had previously been adapted in its entirety to another use, such as to offices or a dental practice So - as it is my decision, I can pay reduced rate to any contractor I employ for any works to install building materials (as well as reclaim 15% of the VAT paid for said materials) - except for carpets, appliances and the myriad other things not deemed 'building materials'. Am I going to have problems claiming back the VAT paid on materials if I'm purchasing them myself and paying a contractor to install them? Thanks,

Good Point Current bricks appear to all be fairly consistent imperial stock with a strange bond in some areas (stretcher, header, stretcher, 3 x header) and standard stretcher bond & garden wall in others. I might try and tidy up with a wire brush before getting any professionals out

Yeah - I did think that it might look good as bare brick. It's been painted since it was built in 1720 I believe and our current material schedule for approval shows painted brick again.

Cool - I'll look into this There's no chance this will just blast the soft bricks away?

Hi all I'm renovating/converting an old pub into a house and the existing brickwork is covered with several coats of thick white masonry paint. I've been pulling the electrical fittings and wiring from the facade and it's making an awful mess. We're going to be changing some windows and doors, adjusting brickwork here and there as well as building new walls - all to be painted. What is the best and quickest way to remove this old paint from brickwork (some of which is 18th century) to give a good surface to repaint later? Thanks,

Will do, thanks Change of use and planning etc. already granted but will look into it.

Thanks - yeah. We’re hoping to be sold in the next few months so well within the 3 year limit. VAT wise I need to do a bit more research but some will be standard and some at 5% I believe

Hi all, just introducing myself as I'll be on these pages a lot in the coming months. I've just exchanged contracts on an old pub in a Kent village - just down the road from where I live now. Plans are to extend the first floor and ground floors creating a 5 bed detached property with detached new build double garage. This is our first foray into any form of building work though I work in the construction industry myself so I am definitely going to be on a steep learning curve. Architects are currently drawing up building regs drawings so we can then get firm prices from builders. Just wondering if anyone has any advice right off the bat ref anything they wish they'd done sooner or wish they knew earlier? We've bought it as a second property temporarily while we sell our current house so we're getting stung for double stamp duty (that we can claim back once ours is sold). After that we'll be in a caravan on the site. Thanks in advance!