ProDave

So just what is next doors conservatory sitting on? It looks like the remains of a dry stone wall or some rubble just piled up. Honestly that should have been sorted right at the start before you even laid your foundations. My suggestion is build some formwork and pour a concrete slab against all that rubble to stabilise it, but whatever you do it needs some prefessional input. Who's vent pipe and AAV is that? It will become inaccessible.

Or rather than argue the case, just pen a letter saying that you are self building and intend to live there for a very minimum of 3 years. It sounds like by sending this letter there will be no mention of CIL and all the hoops you have to go through for self builder exemption and none of the sully worry that if you do some "work" before the exemption is in place of having to pay the CIL.

A simple tap won't reduce the pressure, you need a pressure reducing valve for that.

Seeing your pipes makes me shudder. It is unbelievable where static caravan manufacturers source such horrible looking pipe fittings. The reason I shudder, on the first build I connected the water, and then one by one over the next few days each of those cheap and nasty plastic fittings burst as they could not stand our high water pressure. That van I completely re plumbed with all internal above floor pipes. If you last picture is the water connection your first task is find a fitting to join onto that as they have not even left you the nut. So more likely replace that tee. Bit it should be easy to check where the pipe going up through the floor comes out above and what it connects to. It is equally possible that is another drain off point. Your first picture also has a similar connector, also missing it's nut. You would not normally have two separate cold water feeds which makes me certain one is another drain off point. The waste water as well as the small pipe for sink drains you will have the larger pipe for the WC waste. A little waste water plumbing is needed here. If that is your gas connector, I would get a gas safe engineer to check it out. It looks like they had a hose from that to a regulator on a single bottle. The washing machine tap won't be gas that could well be the water in, though it would be unconventional. Do you know a friendly plumber, whoever disconnected it from the last site had no regard to anyone wanting to re connect it.

That spec appears to be the normal trickle vents and individual extract rates for a house without mvhr. Once you choose mvhr all those trickle vents and individual room extract rates do not apply and you design the mvhr to a different set of constant flow rates that are also listed in building regs.

Insulating between and under the concrete beams will reduce heat directly down into the garage but you will still have the beam ends onto the cold garage wall While I like UFH, I think this is a lot of work just to not have a radiator on the wall in the bedroom.

The other neat thing there in the last picture is a roof tile with a "tunnel" built in to allow the satellite cable to enter the roof space. Would work equally well for solar PV cables. There are a few houses around here that seem to have a roof ladder permanently left on the roof to get up to a chimney.

What makes you say that? Putting boards as you show is how 99.99% of lofts are boarded. Yes the ceiling joists are skinny which is why you need to be careful how much load you put on them, but they are normally okay to walk on and store light stuff on. It is when you are doing a full loft conversion you have to beef them up or fit new joists.

This is where I disagree with the details of the green belt planning law as written. Of course we don't want to cover the green belt with houses, but to deny this is just mad. Here in the Highlands the policy is general presumption against building but with sensible exemptions, one being infilling a plot between existing houses. Perhaps wait a while wile the Labour planning reforms come into force which they say will make it easier to build on green belt land. Plots like this should surely be the type of thing that should be allowed that won't destroy the green belt. If you are a shrewd player and not risk averse, perhaps buy it now but wait for the planning law changes before proceeding. It all depends how the plot is priced.

I doubt you will find a "handbook" It is a case of follow each pipe to where they end up. But also consider doing a lot of re plumbing. They are originally designed for summer use and little thought was given to freezing pipes, hence the drain valves to empty all the water in winter. If you want to use it all year consider a complete re plumb with all pipes inside not under. The gas typically connects to an automatic changeover valve and 2 hoses for 2 cylinders.

There is usually a reason why a property is sold at auction rather than a normal agent.

My low opinion of MCS was confirmed when a recent post here showed a quote for an ASHP and water tank etc for about £8150 So if that is the true cost, why are BUS grant quotes with the £7500 grant deducted not routinely coming in sub £1000 to the customer?

Building regs could be tightened to get close to passive house without needing any input from MCS (I am beginning to detest MCS) but the mass market builders would have to learn how to build properly.

What actual sizes are your door frames? WHO specified them the size they are?

So that is ONLY heating DHW in your original plot, not space heating? If that is so you must be using a lot of hot water or it is losing heat from the tank and regularly topping up?

For the wanting "cool bedrooms" this is where no heating at all upstairs works. Some heat will leak upstairs but it is easy to keep a bedroom at 18 degrees with the downstairs at 20. Manage the heat flow upstairs by keeping bedroom doors closed when you don't want any more heat going up.

Our ASHP is on the south facing wall, almost by accident as that is the best place for it at the back of the house. But in winter on a cold still sunny day, the front of the house can retain frost all day due to no sun and little air movement, while the back of the house is frost free and can actually feel warm in the sun. I refuse to believe the ASHP is not better off there than on the north frosty side of the house. Re "plant rooms" I don't have one. What was supposed to be the plant room is now my office / workshop. It has the MVHR unit and some plumbing controls and a pump. That is it. the hot water tank got moved out to a far more sensible central location to optimise short hot water pipe runs to the points of use, that is in a cupboard in the corner of the spare bedroom. Consumer unit is in the utility room. on the wall. all network and AV stuff in the cupboard under the stairs. If space is tight, I recommend distributed services like that sited in the best place for each, rather than one plant room full of stuff which (from what I have seen) often puts things like hot water tanks of far from optimum places.

Then he will have 2 short levels. Win win.

£8117 with no grant. So WHY are people eligible for the BUS grant of £7500 not routinely being quoted £617 total price to them?

The pipe will be 25mm but the actual meter, probably in a "boundary box" reduces it to 15mm for a short bit inside the meter.

So there is no need to dig up the verge. Connect to the pipe under your entrance and run the pipe through your land to the plot. All work can be done from your land avoiding a road closure. Get the water supplier to agree to that route and re quote with you digging all trenches on your land and no need for a road closure. Do you know exactly where the pipe is?

But that is road CLOSURE no traffic at all either way while works are in place which means giving notice to all the affected houses that the road will be closed for a few hours. Not just traffic lights. the only heavy traffic we get are bin lorries, oil delivery lorries and occasional heavy delivery lorries. It would make sense to inform neighbours not to book their oil delivery that day. @flanagaj will there be any other services that need connecting on our under this road? Who owns that entrance? could they be persuaded to allow the pipe to pass under their land and through to your plot?

If I am reading that right, the pipe is under the existing entrance (is that yours) has to be dug just a few feet along the verge, and onto your plot through the hedge? there is clearly room for the digger to pull off the road when a car needs to pass.

Post a picture? If it is single track and they are only digging in the verge, then traffic lights will do nothing. They simply need to put up some roadworks signs and when a car wants to pass, drive the digger out of the way. It would mean they could not pile the spoil on the road, but that would apply anyway even with lights.

We got away with no traffic management because it was a single track no through road, and Scottish Water brought with them a "road plate" and when a car wanted to pass, they slid that over the trench and drove the digger off the road onto our plot.