catrionag

It does look like that might be the best option at the moment, and if we have to do that then we'll just suck it up and clad the eaves walls. I'd mainly like to exhaust our other options before doing that!

Many thanks for this comprehensive reply @Gus Potter, definitely eases the mind a bit. Funnily enough, I hadn't even considered a broker so I'll ring around a few places as you suggest!

Cheers Dave, that's really helpful! They look like exactly what we would need.

Happy Monday evening all! Does anyone have any experience of getting a mortgage post-build with a timber-frame, 100% timber-clad building? We've now had an offer accepted on a plot (hooray!) and submitted planning today (hooray!) and trying to get our head around financing. It looks like Ecology will be a good option for us for the mortgage during the build, but seeing as we're only likely to reach an SAP rating of B (according to our Architect), their post-build mortgages aren't looking particularly attractive compared to the rest of the market. We had also been looking at BuildStore/BuildLoan, but today I received an email from them to say that their lenders have all decided that they will only accept a maximum of 50% timber cladding. I'd really like to avoid having to change the appearance of the house at this point as I'm pretty attached to the idea of the larch cladding, but if nobody will actually give us a decent mortgage after we're finished the build, rendering half of it might be the only option. Another concern is finding an insurer who will insure our house once we've finished, given that it's non-standard construction (SIPs) plus the timber cladding. All in all, a bit concerning - does anyone have any similar experiences? Who are your lenders/insurers?

That would be very much appreciated, yes please!

That footprint is enormous, wow! Who are the groundworkers you're using, if you don't mind me asking? I'm still trying to decide who to use, your guys sound like a decent lot!

I've realised that I already have a quote for a new connection which includes a local site plan from SP Energy: it shows that there is nothing major under the plot. They gave me a number to call with questions in any case so I can double check with them. Thanks for this - all things I probably would have just taken for granted.

Haven't checked that, no. If the plot already has full planning, is that something that would have been flagged up at that point? I'm thinking it might be worth giving BC a quick call. Thanks!

Hmm, that could be an issue - can't see what it is due to hedges. However, on streetview, there does seem to be a wire from that pole outside 16a already going in almost exactly the direction we would need (over the bottom of 27b's garden), so I'd hope something similar would be OK.

This is really reassuring - thank you so much for taking a look, and also for pointing out the 'flying wire' exemption - it looks that that would fit perfectly! I'll keep pestering them just now, and maybe by the time the timber frame is going up the line might be out of the way ?

Cheers @Bitpipe, that's a good shout about getting a groundworker to quote for it - then at least I'll have some sort of idea of the costs. Used my amazing skills in Paint to draw this up. The thick black line is the current overhead phone line. The three yellow dots are the positions of existing poles that I can see on street view. My thoughts were that they could switch to using the other pole - however, that looks like it'd cross the garden of 27b which would presumably require a wayleave...

The neighbour is not the owner of the plot. The current owner of the plot is the previous owner of the neighbour's house, if that makes sense? She split the land from the house before selling, sold the house but has not sold the plot (it's been on the market for 2+ years at this point). I only mean that I'm not actually sure how to get in touch with them at the moment, since there is no way to contact them by phone currently and I'm getting no response to emails! I'd estimate the current span is around 30m. They would almost certainly have to close the road for the erection of a new pole - it's narrow, and all of the existing poles are on the other side in the grass verges there. Going underground may be the more practical solution, yeah.

As of yet we still don't own it! This is one of the last niggling costs that we're trying to establish before taking the plunge. Naively I thought it might be one of the easier costs to figure out (ha ha). If OpenReach ever deign to get back in touch with me that's also a great idea - I suppose I'll just need to sit tight and wait.

@joe90 Good advice, thanks Joe!

That's an excellent idea, actually! I did see some previous posts in my search here where people "accidentally" damaged the line to get them to sort it quickly, but I feel that might not be taken so well by the nice neighbours... So, the plot is a garden plot that's been sectioned off from the neighbour's house. That means that when it was installed, presumably they didn't see any issues with it as it was over their own garden. The house was then sold. Would that still require a wayleave, since when the line was installed it was all one property? The kit house company we're using have said it's definitely at a height that will interfere with the movement of their telehandler and the scaffolding. I wonder if it can be temporarily relocated, hmm. That's something to double check with OpenReach if I can ever get back in touch with them!

I dread to ask what the cost of this might be. It's a single line that crosses our potential plot diagonally at a height of around 4m, and it'll need to be moved in order to proceed with our build. All I'm looking for is a rough idea of the cost. Contacted OpenReach, who proceeded to phone me at 8am on a Sunday morning (which obviously I missed, being a millenial who never has my ringer on). I emailed back straight away and have heard nothing. I did try calling them back but apparently due to "the current situation" they've shut down all their call centres. Has anyone does something similar? How much did it cost? I only need a rough idea so that I don't have a heart attack down the line, really. Met the neighbour the last time we visited the plot and he seems like a friendly enough chap - I had thoughts that I could ask him to contact them directly about getting it moved (and then we would pay).

@Iceverge thanks! Yeah, they're really nicely thought out - very impressed with the architect, we barely needed to make any changes to the standard designs, just positioning of a few windows etc

That would be fantastic, thank you - soil survey is something that I'm currently gathering quotes for and the variation in price is a bit boggling. Feel free to PM me.

Hi Ali, I would be incredibly grateful for any contacts you might have at pretty much every stage, but especially for groundworks. Sinclair Plant Hire and Abacus Groundworks have both given me quotes that fit nicely with our budget, but I'd be willing to cough up extra for a company that are going to do the job well.

Hi Ian, Yes, they are, and they have flagged this as a potential problem. Planning is being drawn up as we speak and the eaves wall closest to the boundary will be 2.7 metres away - the plan is to apply a non-combustible coating to the cladding on the eaves walls, and if they're still not happy then we'll have to just accept that part of the house will be clad in cement board and render instead. Not exactly what we would want but not the end of the world.

Hey Gus - thanks so much for that link! It doesn't look like it'll be an issue for the plot we have our eye on since it's a tight infill plot in an already built up area, but I'll make sure we're doubly certain of that since it is near historical mining operations. We're up nearer Penicuik, nice and close to Edinburgh for commuting (hence the price...). We did look at getting a joiner to do the work but getting the kit sorted by the company just works better for us since we both work full-time - having them deal with the majority of the superstructure means that we won't have to be as hands-on at that stage.

Hiya John! Bad luck with the weather this year - it's been horrendous here too. Hopefully with the advent of spring things'll start going more smoothly? Kore look great, but with Brexit complicating things now I'm less keen on the potential issues with import charges/delays etc. Looked at both HebHomes and Caber but neither were really what we were after. Ended up going with a smaller company - Model D. Their designs are long and narrow and seemed to fit much more nicely on the plot.

Hi! Sure thing - here are the elevations & floorplan. Good to know about the heating - the main thing we want is simplicity, so getting rid of the need for central heating really appeals to me. Cropped Elevation.pdf Cropped Floorplan.pdf

Thanks! Yes, I'm hoping collective knowledge here will help me avoid the worst of the cowboys... Mainly it'll be groundworks, internal fit-out, sparky and plumber as the majority of the work will be done by the kit company.

Hi all! My partner and I are hopefully the soon-to-be owners of a long, narrow garden plot in Midlothian (Scotland). Once we've got over the eyewatering cost of the land, the plan is to build a modest (110sqm) 3 bed timber frame & SIPS house to be our forever home. It's just us (no kids or pets) so it seems like we'll have plenty of space. I'm a metalworker, but was previously an architecture workshop tech, so although I'm fairly handy most of my experience is in making tiny models of houses! Looking forward to scaling it up a bit The house is a kit home, designed, built and erected by the same company. Fairly straightforward rectangular footprint, completely larch clad plus a concrete tiled roof. As complete novices to the self-build game, it seemed like a straightforward way of getting the shell up to wind and watertight + roof and cladding with minimal fuss. I know it'll probably end up being more pricey this way, but for me the trade-off for less stress and also having someone who is actually invested in the airtightness + quality of the build from the get-go is worth it. It'll have MVHR, PV panels on the roof and a small woodburner, plus a couple of towel rails in the bathrooms and electric rads in the upstairs bedrooms. No UFH or ASHP, which I'm sure some of you will think is madness! We like a cool house but getting the place airtight will be a priority (and we can always tack on an air-to-air ASHP if we regret our choices down the line!!). Since we're in Scotland, the number of days where we reach temperatures above 20 degrees are few and far between enough that we're less worried about overheating. Still getting a few details & costs sorted out at this stage, especially related to groundworks and passive rafts - they seem to vary in price so much! If anyone has any wisdom about the general quality or service of one company over the others I would be very grateful - leaning towards ISOQUICK at the moment because of the promptness of their emails and thorough quote, as well as the availability of various thicknesses of the foam. Looking forward to getting stuck in, and hopefully benefiting from your collective wisdom C