Ed_MK

I hope this is the right place to post this ....and i hope you "pro's" dont think I am cheeky ....but here goes. I am in the process of submitting Full App for a house and its has already had losts of unexpected costs and stuff (i wont bore you with) ....So I have tried to save a few sov's ...whenever i could . Teaching myself the basics in Autocad ...and reading up on Surveying and the like ... So when on the Pre-App it also said "site levels would be an advantage" and also mentioned "spot levels" I of course sat in front of youtube vidoes and read some free PDF on my ereader about basic surveying..back sight, fore sight, temporary datums and how to represent them on autocad . So i went to a pal that i REMEMBERED had a level and staff ...but he has flogged it on the old eBay, last year. a lovely Basic Leica Model with Tripod and 5m staff too ...he only use it for a week ..DAMN. So what I am asking is does anyone have a functional or spare set for sale ? Feel free to call me a cheapscate, blackleg ..or whatever the terms are these days LOL

Nooooooooo! I hate it when i waste money Please tell me you also do Soil Surveys Phase 1 Desktop Ones .....Pretty Please LOL

Adopted might be the wrong word ....but it is what they used to me on the phone. Basically PRIOR to declassification (From a Major A Road) - National Speed limit ...I needed to talk to the Highways Agency ..and I was doing so ....with little success due to the restrictions they had for driveway access onto faster roads. But in April ..I was told the road was now "declassified" and a new speed limit of 30mph ....and also 20mph for schools that have/are opening further along its stretch ....When I asked could i now re-apply ...I was told that the "road is now fully adopted and maintained by the local council and no longer the HA, SO I should address all enquiries and applications to them" In the past i was trying to get "secton 278?" IIRC ...but after rasing the issue at the Preplanning Application meeting i was told that now all i had to do was to "inform the council of my intent to access" ...PRIOR to Full application submission ...I think the phrase they used was ...give notice? In fact i just found the PDF and I have attached the relevant section ...I hope I am not breaking rules by posting a official document ..If I am please delete

I hope that is not the case I take it that if the council do agree the access and house is built that later on it technically would be the COUNCILS right to pay any fees levied, as it was on their advice and instruction that a build was carried out

ah... the days when markets still thrived ! before eBay and Amazon and them pesky "pound Shops" the one near my old house changed its name from "PoundWorld" to "Around a Pound" as I believe trading standards were objecting as they sold items for mostly 2.99 and 3.99 and even leccy lawnmowers for 29.99 LOL

Well the plot at moment does not have access ...and probably never did (at least not in 100 years) If i look at old maps it was in a parcel of land bought by a developer and in the end became "islanded" and was sold to my inlaws as part of their land, and they used it to grow some fruit trees and exercise a pony ..a long time ago. It was "gifted" to my wife and thats how we got it ....At the time it was just for making an allotment or something, as there was NO CHANCE of getting access to build something as the highways agency would not consider allowing a connection to that side of the road whilst it was 60+ MPH... to b honest they were tearing up there FAR faster So i dont think I would have liked to have to emerge either !

Sorry Peter, i think thats what i bought and received ...it cost about £500. Very nice chap, he certainly knew his TREES! and he measured and plotted them and stuff and even looked at neighbours trees adjoining and stuff. there are no BIG trees on the plot ...in fact no trees at all, but there are those hawthorns at the border (albeit on the other side of the fence) and one ash tree that is regularly cut and trimmed anyway on a neighbours land

Hi Ferdinand, I am not sure i get you on this Our land is sandwiched between my inlaws house... and what was a 60mph A Road through Milton Keynes. What happened was about 10 years ago MK council started to develop the land on the other side of the road and its now all an estate with semi-detached 2/3 bedroom dwellings on it ...i know the land there was bought by a developer and across the road... I could not connect to any of the services that feed that estate as I was told (for example) that the services were not yet "adopted" by Western Power, or Anglian Water yet ...as they are technically still building houses there! Lots of new houses in MK Ferdinand ! But the Road was until early this year "controlled" (if thats the right word) by the Highways agency ...who at the time were reluctant to grant more accesses due to the then high Speed limit ....but in April this speed was reduced to 30mph and the road was formally adopted by MK council...which has meant getting an access agreed a LOT easier, as traffic has virtually dissapeared due to management schemes and the like that have been put in place and now they use the parallel A road that is still high speed. I was originally speaking to the Highways agency (last year) ...but am now told that the Road, The verges, Trees planted there et al ...are all now the responsibility of MK council ...well they are on my side anyway ..hope that helps

Hi Peter. The trees are actually on the council's land. They are growing on the fence line to me..currently over hanging and encroaching. We were asked to do a tree protection survey as the only initial objection was to the removal of 3 of them and how we would protect the existing treeline whilst building. ..it probably doesn't help that we are RIGHT next to a conservation area either. At present they also require a desktop soil study...I am still working out the most economical way of doing this as I do think it's a little over they top. Due to the land history. .sigh I know from speaking to neighbours that they are HOT around here...so I suppose grin, pay out, and sit tight?

Hi. Both the verge and the trees growing on it are the property of MK council I am told. They recently adopted the road. From the preplanning advice letter they don't have issues with access over it..and I have been told to submit that on my plans and inform the council roads department before .. i.e. soon of my intention.

Thanks Ferdinand ... It probably better that is how you an EARLY drawing of the house in situ. and a pic. Later ones are full of all-sorts of lines and some are now DXF files with layers ...as you can imagine. This was one I measured did last year (at the outset) and there are some errata, apologies it is in Imperial ....that's me! ...but now for the sake of others sanity ...they are in M or mm. The photo was taken a few months ago ...it's a mess I know! ....but it's now all been cleared, ivy at the bottom removed? and hawthorns cut back ..it's deceptive and it is larger than it looks ..trust me! For reference the photo was taken standing on the area that will be the new rear of sunroom and looking over the land the house/base will hopefully sit on. On the drawing ... C (The House) is now reduced to 39' Deep by 40' Wide This gives us almost 6 foot on each side to allow for a path and the like (service trench etc) A (The Verge) is a VERY large verge which is between our land and the now adopted Rd (30mph) It is ...believe it or not almost 24' wide and is mainly rough grass but DOES have a line of Hawthorn Trees (10-12ft tall) all along its length closest to our fence ...this was the main concern with the planning environmental and eco officer, hence the need for a tree survey. But we actually LOVE the trees and they provide natural cover ....but of course 3 or 4 will need to come out to facilitate the access ...but there must be 30-40 still along the fence ...they are not THAT mature either (It seems) and the trunks are around 5mm-7mm diameter ....but i have been advised that regardless this makes them a tree B (My In-laws Land) These (and all the neighbours) have decent/large plots ...and what you can see is effectively the FAR end of their BACK gardens ..i think the closest actual HOUSE is still 40m or more away. D (Driveway / Access) We are still playing with this ..and may move it further to the house to allow for turning circles (as advised) Not sure about the width though ? as I notice the Planning Application advice as for the ability for large (I am presuming construction) vehicles to enter and leave the plot. PS The house is a 1.5 storey "low eaves" variety and the only piece that actually "crosses over" to the rear of a neighbours property "eye line" is the sun-room/conservatory ..seen at the top in the image ... PPS The planned route of services (I am hoping) will be around the "sunroom" area and directly to the in-laws at the top-right corner (as you look at the pic). I am trying to minimise and work in and around the border with the Hawthorns and try to avoid being labelled a nature-hating philistine ...Which I am not PPPS (if that even exists) Just so you know the actual WIDTH of the land the house sits on across that point is between 50' and 52'

Thanks Dave, the land is literally "connected" to my In-Laws Garden ...and was once just an extension of it... No Flood Risk here at all as far as i can gather from looking at maps ...if anything it is a rather "dry" area ...the soil composition is dark and peaty ..going down to stony/sand stuff ....and it drains REALLY fast ...unlike my old house which had clay close to the surface. Excavated soil ..we can DEFINITELY use as the very far REAR of the plot ....that will form the end of the back garden ...DOES have a slope off and we could lose a few tons at least there and grade it out with no ill effect ...its good soil. Its good you mentioned drainage and services though ...sadly due to the adoption of the land directly opposite ...it would be costly and complicated to connect to the OBVIOUS close points. But as we have a Wayleave? being drawn out ..we do plan to put the services effectively THROUGH the in-laws garden to the front of their property. We have consulted Electric and Water and Gas and all these seem to be in agreement and have sent us plans of proposed "routes" ...I am hoping to do the digging myself as of course we are trying to save where we can . The only "sticker" is the waste water/sewage ....Around here most of the older properties (prior to 1990) are on private cesspits. For this reason I have had to look at practicalities of either a sealed unit or a water processor and soak away ..WE have also though long and hard about actually connecting the sewage in the same way as other services, and in turn we could effectively connect our in-laws house "on the way" and both share the benefit ... But its a big pipe and we are talking 50-60m from our site manhole (when it is in) to the fron of our in-laws property ...So I am not sure about falls and stuff and dont't want to litter my wifes parents land with copious manhole covers ....sigh. Regarding the "finished levels" ...I am at a loss as how to know this (perhaps I am daft) ..I mean in a few days i will know the site levels and I will be getting the foundation/basework information from Pottons Contractor so i "suppose" together they would give me this ? As you can probably see I am trying to do a fair bit of the management myself as we only have so much money to play with here ...and you can blame that on the NORTH SOUTH divide My recently sold detached house in Manchester (in a half decent area) with big drive way for 4 cars wouldn't not even get me a 2 bed flat here with ONE parking space ...I am SERIOUS ... But my In-laws are not in great health and my wife wanted to be close to them as they are of advancing years and so I up-sticked and threw my lot in with this project. God Help me

Thanks Rich, that is as much as i was planning ....and capable of to be honest. Fingers crossed

Good Morning Steamy! regarding energy usage, i am of a belief that Potton/Timber/SIPS should be quite good, definitely better than my old 3 bed semi-detached in Manchester ...very chilly in t'winter the house will be rendered on Panel on the first floor with brick clad on most of the lower storey. Triple glazed UPVC. We did look at the pressure treated triple glaze wood that Potton recommend ..it is beautiful ...but rather pricey after we worked it all out ....and these days of course I was suprised you can get PVC in a myriad of colours and even surface textures My wife wants it to be cosy and plans to have standard GCH upstairs and (if we can afford it, and nothing big crops up ....underfloor downstairs. That's all I know as yet, sadly I am no expert. I will make sure the roof is well insulated and plan to spend a little extra on quality felting and stuff if required. The covering will be variegated concrete tile / a fairly good mimic of terracotta (as far as I can see) The house plan we went for is the Caxton J ...and there was a VERY similar house built a few years ago in the adjacent county ..I have attached a piccy

Good Morning All, I am glad I found this forum ! ..and a big hello to you all I hope to get some learned guidance and in turn (perhaps) help others ! Me and my wife are about to submit a full Planning application for our small plot of land to build our house (it will be a Potton Design) We have had a favorable Pre-Application advice ...BUT of course with this application has come a slew of OTHER things we need to consider and submit ...Tree and Ecological Survey (Done) Soil Phase 1 Desktop Survery (Still looking for a low cost one, as the land has ALWAYS been pastureland ..it seems un-necessary ...but it has been asked for) Also on the advice letter it mentioned ...site levels and spot levels Now this site is SMALL ...and the bit we are building on is VERY flat ..the footprint of the house is 39x39 feet. As money is tight (isn't it always) ...I was reading up on doing my OWN site levels ..I am certainly NOT from the building trade ...but I could borrow a dumpy level/ staff..and have been reading about "temporary datums" etc ..would this suffice ? I mean we are not in the middle of nowhere and there are houses all around? If anyone has experience on this, I would be grateful for advice ...i think the words used in the letter were "site levels before and after" ..well I can of course get the necessary information on foundations ....as its a timber frame / SIPS construct and submit this with a grid of the land with readings from my borrowed dumpy ....but would this be enough?..from what I can see there cannot be more than several inches from the low to the high points ..If necessary i could take a shovel and make it as flat as a pancake for them LOL your advice is appreciated