Happy Valley

As we too are finding....unfortunately!!

Thanks all. Spoke to our insurers as we have legal assistance. They said try and negotiate - if no agreement get a survey done and see if the surveyors can mediate and then if necessary go legal. I haven't made a decision yet but a solicitor straight away has not been ruled out.

This issue has raised it's head again today. Neighbour says the survey hub is definitive and is going to peg it out on 17 May and reclaim his land. We would let him have one meter only!

Just been speaking with an insurer and a retrospective policy could be in the region of £8000 to £10000! Like all insurances - it's up to you whether you want to take on the risk if you don't insure.

We have Structural Warranty quote of £1900 premium and £1700 for site visits. £3600 for a build less than 200 sq m!! It is supposed to be our forever home but you never know what life throws at you so luckily as no mortgage is involved we will not bother and if we have to sell will look at buying retrospectively if required by the purchaser.

I have a quote now from SelfBuild Zone and for the Structural Warranty they want just short of £1900 for the 10 year policy and £1650 for site inspections for 192 sq m build. How does that fair with others?

Which Structural Warranty provider have you used for ICF construction please?

Does anyone if Protek will offer a Structural Warranty (when offering policies again) for ICF? Or what do other ICF builders use for their Structural warranty?

Just spoken to SelfBuild Insurance and they will not insure ICF construction ?

I have a quote from Zurich insurance - just awaiting a call back before confirming. This appears to be passed onto a firm/subsidiary called SelfBuild Insurance

I am looking into Site Insurance at present as the build is due to start in 10 days. As the build is within the boundaries of our current home I am going to check if the current policy will cover us for Liability which is my main concern.

People use a planning advisor to obtain planning. Why not get the neighbours together and employ one to assist in rejecting it.

I raced a lot in the Solent and offshore from 1986 to 1994 and luckily never nose dived but been close many times. I'm sure I have done it once or twice racing dinghies but that is almost 40 years ago now!! Reminds me of the famous Beken picture of Silk II with the pink kite up.

I am finding this thread fascinating and is turning thoughts towards changing to electric UFH to the en-suite and bathroom of our new build from the piped UFH.

Must have been one hell of a nose dive if you're sailing 40 feet under... ?

House is stepped up a slope but about 98 sq m is effectively at ground level. The wills heater intrigues me and if we can get the U values down enough will certainly consider it. Do they have a maximum floor area for UFH?

Thanks for your input. Since this was done I have a quote for Velfac windows with a U of 0.79 to 0.82. Shall discuss the ground floor with the architect.

I have been provided with the following information as part of the SAP for our 160 sq m new build: This is the initial draft for the design Summary of input data Basement floor and Ground floor 0.13W/m²K Basement wall and Main wall 0.2W/m²K Roof 0.13W/m²K Thermal bridging - used ICF details and PSI values where possible Windows u value 1.4W/m²K G factor 0.63 Doors u value 1.4W/m²K Ventilation MVHR Envirovent energiSava 380 extract to Kitchen + 4 other rooms (assumption only because the SAP default is not compliant with building regs. this can be updated when the proposed is known) Air tightness 4.0 m³/hm² (I have kept this quite low because it enhances the MVHR performance and ICF is naturally air tight) Main heating, Generic ASHP supplying underfloor heating with time and temperature zone control. Design flow temperature 35ºC Secondary heating - none Water heating - 250 litre cylinder with losses of 1.67 kWh/day from heat pump 100% low energy lighting With this information is there a way of working out what sized ASHP is required?

Welcome LnP - we are in East Cheshire. We have planning and are about to start our new build house in the garden to the side. Total is about 200 sq m including the integral garage. The design was driven by us. So far we have been lucky with our architect costs and he does not charge for meetings but will have them as and when necessary. We are just over £5000 to date with planning and construction drawings. Costs to date are around £17500 ex VAT all in for: Topographical survey Architect up to construction drawings Planning Consultant (including post planning discharging of conditions and application to remove conditions) Structural Engineer Ecology Survey Environmental survey Soil survey Drainage plan Landscape plan Application fees and disbursements to planning authorities and utility companies We have budgeted for £25000 in professional fees but currently looking currently like it will come in under. By most accounts this is very good value. Good luck with your project.

We have applied to have our Permitted Rights restriction removed also. One argument is on the basis that all the other houses on the close (8 of them) have it so restricting just one is unreasonable. We have employed a planning advisor throughout although not as costly as mentioned above. Awaiting a decision but as the new build is next to a conservation area I am not sure how this will go.

We have full planning. It is odd as they have objected to 2 removal of conditions that are not related to boundary but added this in as part of their objection. Clutching at straws or a clever first move?

They haven't officially raised a dispute but added the survey to a planning objection for our new build. So it is so far purely a statement to the planners and not an official dispute raised directly to us. We do know that a dispute is coming and I want to be prepared when it does. In the meantime we are not discussing it with them.

It was placed there new in 2000/1 when the previous owner of our house built a new house behind and split the plot. There was no boundary prior to that - just an open field/garden.

The survey was done physically at the location and not remotely. The information also states: "The Title Plan shows multiple discrepancies with the boundary" "These measurements are not definitive, as the Boundary line has been traced from the Title Plan. These plans are only produced as a guidance to general position and fitting to match a topographic survey will always introduce scaling errors" Boundary issue.pdf

Yes - both sides of the boundary have titled land that is registered to the neighbours and ourselves. ie there is no unregistered land. Thanks for your response.