Alan Ambrose

I didn’t take it as clickbait so much although it is good marketing (in the sense of getting their name out) for the insolvency co. And they don’t have much incentive to fiddle the data or narrative - it’s not as if the article will cause a load of businesses to go bust (and thus the need for their services). A graph would have been good tho.

>>> Beamshield Huh, interesting. Jeez their website is hard work, a labelled drawing would help. So, the usual blocks are replaced by formed EPS? What provides the structural strength? Oh, I see ‘“and a layer on which to lay the structural concrete topping”. So, you cast a normalish slab on top? How thick typically? Presumably the EPS supports the wet load without any further propping? Reinforcing? If you’re doing UFH, do you use an additional screed or try to do it in the concrete and powerfloat?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9vmrpdrk4eo Worth bearing in mind if you’re due to fork out a big deposit.

The blocks are partly taking the loading from people, furniture etc, so that’s probably the reason that solid blocks are assumed. I suppose, in a pinch, you might fill some hollow blocks with concrete - but you would be fairly off piste from the manufacturer’s designs.

Yeah sounds an expensive way of buying a door mechanism 🤔. Thanks @JamesP - every day is a school day apparently.

Great to see the result - often here, we get to see the question and discussion but not the final result. You must be pleased. Is that wax finish on the birch ply?

>>> Use solvent weld PVC vs push-fit too, as they aren't reliable IMHO. For us beginners - is that ‘don’t use’ or ‘are reliable’? p.s. really appreciate the detailed explanation and recommendations.

(this was from a house on Rightmove)

Yeah, I think just turn the heater stat up to a higher temperature. We have towel radiators on thermostats which are positioned outside the bathrooms the rails are in. To get a straight timer schedule only (the stat manufacturer we use for everything else doesn't have a timer-only version) .... I just set the 'target temperature' to 'high' and that sorts it. (Actually 24C on the basis if its generally that hot we don't want the rails on anyway.) But it could be 34C.

Well the BS position seems to make sense - you are asking for lending on land which you don't yet own and don't yet have 100% PP on? It sounds like you need the loan, then complete the deal, then complete the PP - is that right? Maybe there's another source of funds that is happy to process your application to the point where you can close all 3 legs simultaneously?

I only get the headlines rather that the full article, so we'll have to wait until it's picked up by other press...

Reading the deed, a bunch of things don’t make sense to me: + it mentions a charge on the title but doesn’t specify an amount. I guess that’s just possible and maybe the LPA can put a hold on a property sale while they demand a ransom for BNG or similar. + under ‘commencement’ a bunch of things are mentioned that would not normally trigger ‘commencement’ - site clearance, ground and archaeology investigations etc. + ‘The Owners warrant that no person other than the Owners has any legal or equitable interest in the Property.’ - llike a mortgage company, for instance? + ‘that the Dwelling shall be constructed only as a Self/Custom Build House’ - as if there’s a separate category of housing akin to agricultural dwelling. Does it stop being a ‘self-build house’ when 3 years are up? How does it change this official status? + I thought there was a clause which said ‘this all falls away if the house is sold’ but I can’t see that now. More questions that answers, I might be inclined to figure out exactly what the implications are. All-in-all a fantastically complicated mechanism to lock down BNG for self-builds. As a neighbour of mine said yesterday re BNG - you don’t have to be a genius to figure that, before you apply for permission, you should raze the plot removing any flora and fauna …. so that you can claim max ‘gain’. Unintended consequences of badly thought-out ‘rules’?

Interesting, I hadn’t seen the Meanwhile limiters. I think they just switch in a resistor for 1/3rd second and limit to 26A tho? https://www.meanwell.com/webapp/product/search.aspx?prod=ICL-16L#1 18kW of heaters tho will cost about a fiver an hour.

FYI you can still take this to a lawyer at your leisure and attempt to recover the CIL.

Enforcement is going to insist you live in the property, even if you’ve been totalled by a no 10 bus? 😅

@ToughButterCup Good point - from Planning Daily’s feed (I’m not a member, but get the headlines). Mostly LPAs and consultants as customers, I think.

If this is the same company… https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4773288

What I don’t understand from the deed is (a) what you’re gaining from the deed (the permission?) and (b) in the event that you both die and your only remaining relative living in Australia doesn’t want to move to the UK (or some other possibility) … what the penalty/result is? Would be interesting to ask a mortgage company what they think about having this charge on the register. Another waste of resource for us and the LPAs - it’s not as if either party is short of resources, huh?

So, for a S78 appeal, we had: We lodged our statement - day 0, month 0. It took us maybe a month to write it. 2.8 months in - it was 'validated'. 5.3 months in - the appeal was 'started' which I think means assigned to an inspector. 5.5 months in - the LPA filed their questionnaire. 6.4 months in - the LPA filed their statement - this was the first time we got to see their exact arguments at appeal 6.9 months in - we filed our comments in answer to the LPA's statement. The LPA didn't file (presumably as they didn't have any extra info). I figured the decision was due about 9.6 months in. I was wong. 12.4 months in - the decision arrived.

Yes, they will file a questionnaire and statement. I think they get copied to you by the appeals system (can’t quite remember). They may or may not file final comments, probably not, because they won’t have any more information by then. You probably will want to - to counter their arguments and that’ll be the first opportunity after you have seen their case. I remember though that some docs didn’t get copied to us, so look out for updates on the LPA’s site.

I wonder whether @craig has any thoughts? Also how you tell a good window from a bad one? We were at the Farnborough housebuilding show yesterday and looked at windows from Internorm and Norsken. I remember Internorm being on Craig’s good list, but actually we preferred the look of the Norsken ones. The question we had in our minds was ‘what makes the Internorm ones better’? Something with the mechanism or seals or insulation?

Yeah the Lizzie line is very good. Someone was smart enough to use trains and tunnels bigger than the standard tube line and not to stop every 1/4 mile. Fantastic work. Victorian in its boldness and quality.

This is specific, but the '20 questions' nature of planning (and now BC), is ridiculous. LPAs get more revenue that way, but it slows the process enormously. Will this work ... many months delay ... no. OK, will this work then ... many months delay ... no. etc Some LPAs and case officers are more sensible, but this is the default state.

>>> I'm going to prepare for the worst though and continue trying to get a response from the LPA I'm guessing that the LPA shelve your application as soon as they know it's gone off to appeal. For 'non-determination' I expect. Others should comment, but I think there's nothing to be lost by submitting the same (or a very similar) application to the LPA. That way, you have both in parallel rather than sequentially. Next time I do planning, I may do 3 or 4 parallel applications simultaneously.

>>> it needs to be much, much thicker This is my material crib-sheet. It suggests, that for the same U-Value, Foamglas needs to be twice as thick as, say, PIR.