Andrew

We're in a similar situation so am interested to see responses. I did have a chat with the Ecology BS asking this question and their view was to apply for the mortgage when it's needed as their offers are only valid for 3 months.

Is there any point using passive raft foundation with a single stud wall construction? As I understand it the normal detail is to use a twin stud wall that ends up with the insulation in the wall sitting atop the insulation uptick at the edge of the foundation and the inner stud carrying the load atop the raft. I can't see how this could work with single stud as the stud will have to sit on the reinforced edge of the raft to support the wall. Just looking for a bit of validation and any potential alternatives. Thanks.

Having now spent a few hours playing with @JSHarris heat loss calculator, just wanted to say thank you, it was pretty much exactly what I was looking for and has really helped me understand the impact of the different u-values. As others have said the difference aren't that great and were much less than I expected.

Brilliant - thank you all, I will take a look.

We've been talking to a few timber frame suppliers and there's a bit of a chicken and egg situation going on insomuch that they are asking us for the target u-values we want to achieve. We know we want a low-energy home with high levels of airtightness. We know we want MVHR. We also know that we need to strike a balance in terms of cost and performance as we don't have an endless budget. What I'm struggling with is what is the real world difference between having 0.12 W/m2K and 0.14 W/m2K. I know I need to model the house and I've had a look at the free PHPP spreadsheet which looks unnecessarily complex. What I'd like to find is a simpler model which basically says we have so many meters squared of wall / roof at a certain u-value, for each wall / roof and then the same for glazing but recording the compass direction it is facing so some allowance for solar gain can be made. Out of the back I simply want to know the kWh of heating required per year and then I can change the u-value and see the effects. I know this won't be perfectly accurate but should allow me to the see the relative values of different wall constructions. Does anything like that exist? Or are we looking this from the wrong perspective? Thanks.

Thanks for the replies - we've been quoted £450 + VAT which seems reasonable. @recoveringacademic good point about the size - the plot is about 0.25 Acre. Not in a conservation area and no TPOs (thank goodness!).

Just looking around for someone to produce a topographical survey on our site. I've had back some quotes and before I go ahead, I though I would ask what you would expect to pay for a survey of this nature? The site is in Cheshire. For background this is the specification (I expect this is pretty std) :- Standard survey specification includes (where applicable): Minimum 10m grid of levels depending on ground conditions Permanent Building/Structures including eaves and ridge heights Temporary/Mobile Buildings Visible boundary Features: Walls, Fences, Hedges Roads, Tracks, Footways, Paths Street furniture Statutory authorities' plant & service covers where visible Changes of surface Isolated Trees/wooded areas/limits of vegetation Pitches/recreation Water features Earth works Industrial features Railway features with arranged access These are the deliverables :- Drawings in 2d dxf/dwg Drawings in PDF format Thanks.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. The PP runs out in October 2019. It's probably too early to tell with the solicitors - my observations so far are based on the standard letters / documentation they've sent. They don't have the contract from the sellers solicitor yet and I hope that once we get a bit further they will prove to be competent. I did speak to several solicitors and made a selection based on their knowledge, professionalism and frankly how easy it was to communicate with them. I do accept that, correct or not, it's my responsibility to ensure all the bases are covered and risks that it's possible to know about have been identified. @JSHarris - thank you for the list of considerations, all are covered or under investigation. I am going to commission a soil survey before purchase - if anything untoward is identified then it will give me cause to re-negotiate. There is quite a lot of recent development in the village, including plots across the road and a new house being built in an immediate neighbours garden. That gives some reassurance that there are no fundamental issues, but I appreciate conditions can change in a short distance, hence the survey. I am unsure about a topographical survey - I think the site probably needs to be cleared before we cans do this but I'm going to speak to a local survey company later today and see what they say. I have done a considerable amount of reading, including the Housebuilder's Bible from cover to cover. I've also spoken with anyone who will give me the time of day, including local estate agents (mainly to get an idea of potential value, to assist in my negotiations on the price), the local council building control office to get any insight they may have, the architect who put together the PP submission (obviously working for the vendor) and some of the builders working on the nearby developments. One challenge we do have is that we currently live 100 miles away from the plot, but will move up before starting any work. Because the PP came with the plot. The architect who produced the design for the PP told me himself it was the simplest, most uncontroversial design they could muster to get through planning. There were issues with planning, not with the design, but a question of whether the site was within the built up envelope of the village. It was granted on appeal. As there's no guarantee another design would get through planning we asked ourselves would we be happy with the house as it was currently designed - the answer was yes, but with some changes to the internal layout which we confirmed wouldn't be an issue. However if we sat down with a blank piece of paper the house that has planning is not the house we would come up with. Like everything there are many considerations, including - the house needs to be designed for the plot (the current design sits pretty well on the plot), the likelihood of a new PP submission being approved, the impact on timescale and finally the impact of cost. We have had the current design costed by an estimator service, so we know in theory what the build costs could be. We have a (starting) budget and timescale in mind so when we have the land purchased we will work with an architect or designer to help us, taking into account the constraints, decide what the best way to proceed is. I had a breakthrough on Friday, United Utilities fessed up to being the supplier. A plan is on its way and I'll also get a full quote for the connection.

Thanks, that's a great suggestion. I have asked the solicitors already to ensure that's done as part of the sale, but to be honest I don't think they know what I'm asking for or why. They seem to be treating it like just another normal house conveyance, which as @JSHarris mentions, means the onus is on us to make sure there are no nasty surprises.

Interesting point. The site seems generally quite flat and level, but it is slightly lower than the road / pavement level and there is an initial drop down when entering. I've no idea at the moment whether that's an issue or not. With regards to the survey, the site is only partial cleared at the moment. I've attached a photo to demonstrate, most of the site is like this, except for a corner which is still overgrown. Also, the photo was taken in May and things have grown a bit since then. I had assumed the topographical survey would need to wait until the site is fully cleared?

That's a really good idea, thanks. I will keep an eye out for OR vans and try to have a chat with the engineer when I see one.

Thanks, that's very helpful. I don't intend to complete the purchase of the land until we have definite info about the services. I've largely ignored openreach up to now. The village exchange is about 100m down the road, so I can't imagine any problem getting connected. Is that too naïve?

Thanks for the replies. There is a small brook running down one of the boundaries to the plot and the rough plan was for the outflow from the treatment plan to run into there. I know other nearby properties do this. However I haven't started doing any research into what's involved in terms of permissions, logistics, etc of doing this. It's not a massive plot so if that's not an option then there may be a problem.

No soil survey yet, that's the main one I'm considering. Seller says there is a water pipe running down the road but on opposite side of street. Haven't asked him about the water company, communication is very slow through the estate agent. I want to get a bit further before talking to the neighbors. Both of the immediate neighbors strongly objected to the PP.

Hello, We have had our offer accepted on a plot in a Cheshire village. It has detailed planning permission for a five bedroom house. It's quite a traditional design and we're uncertain at the moment whether we are going to try to modify the existing permission or start again with a new design, but we'll get to that once we've got the land purchased. I've been lurking on this forum for quite a while and it's definitely one of the most helpful and knowledgable forums I've seen. You often get a lot of armchair experts on forums but what strikes me is that there's so much practical knowledge and real world experience being shared. We're very much at the beginning of our journey and so far there's a bewildering amount of choices to be made and knowledge to be gained. To start with I'm sure I'll be mainly asking questions here, but do hope to contribute wherever I can. So in that vein, what would you recommend to commission in terms of surveys before purchasing a plot? As it already has PP there were obviously a number of reports submitted with the application, which we've been able to obtain. These include bat and badger survey, arboricultural survey, contamination report and a design and access statement. The plot is a former orchard, although most of the centre of the site has been cleared. There are a number of mature trees around the perimeter of the site, some of which are earmarked to be removed in the arboricultural report. I've already done a fair bit of research around services and have a quote for connecting the electricity supply. There's no mains sewerage so we'll need a treatment plant and no mains gas so we'll be looking at ASHP. I'm having difficulties getting a plan of the nearby water supply as Welsh Water, Severn Trent and United Utilities all say it is definitely not them and pass the buck to one of the others! Any thoughts on the surveys would be really appreciated. Thanks, Andrew