ProDave

I thought that while you agreed those bribe payments at PP stage, you did not pay them until work started? So giving PP and the site sitting undeveloped does not give the council those funds?

Can the councils or government not see the flaw in this "deliverable" measurement? Surely if 5 years worth of PP has been granted that should be enough, and the press should be used to demonstrate it is the builders restricting supply to maximise profit, rather than a failing in planning policy.

To solve this land banking issue, all that is needed is a policy to blanket refuse applications from major developers who already have land with PP that they are not developing. Of course if that were implemented then they would get round it by an entirely "new" company applying for permission I guess.

The mortar bed must be a regional thing. When I was down south they did that, but both builds in Scotland the wall plate goes straight onto the blocks (they do take time to ensure they are all flat and level)

The OSB is the racking layer to give the building strength. How does the Populair compare to OSB in that respect?

http://www.rugbyadvertiser.co.uk/news/long-itchington-couple-ordered-to-demolish-home-disguised-as-garage-1-8156294 What I don't understand is why they tried to disguise the new house as a garage? They bought a "crumbling house only fit for demolition" so why did they just not get permission to demolish and rebuild, which would most likely have been granted.

Exactly why our OSB racking layer is on the inside. Be warned, a whole host of passers by will tell you that you have put the frame up inside out.

A properly installed oil boiler will NOT produce any smells inside the house. In our old house it i in the utility room without issue.

When we were in Australia, on the Gold Coast, there amongst all the new posh high rise developments sat an old wooden single storey "Queenslander" house. It was painted bright yellow, and had the name "asbestos manor" painted on it, and was for sale for $5 million I see it has gained some notoriety http://likeacheshirekat.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/asbestos-manor.html

The day I laid off my builder (nearly 2 years ago now and thankfully amicably, he knew the situation) when re realised it was the only way to stop the project bankrupting us was a sad day. There has been a lot of soul searching, agonising, hatred for the financial "situation", hatred for the people that made it so, despair that the house might never get finished, anger at the sheer number of problems that lie ahead to be solved. You WILL find a way. We have. Our build will be completed, 99% by me and SWMBO by our sheer grit and determination. It will take longer, a lot longer. There are ways to find the finance, sometimes from unexpected places, but we are resolute, we will NOT borrow, I would not wish to give any bank the pleasure of collecting interest payments from us, I still hold them in too much contempt to add to their profit. When it is all done, and the old house eventually sold, we will have our nice low energy comfortable house. It will have cost us less than we expected but the payback for that is I will have done a lot more of the work myself. Your end game remains the same. It's just how and when you get there that has changed. Take your time, don't make decisions in a hurry, you will find a way. Like most problems that have been thrown at you, one day you will thank the banks for the fact they saved you so much in interest charges by declining your business. They are the ones that will be poorer in the end as a result of their choices.

Pic of your meter / CU? I wonder if you are on the "Total Control" tariff, something I think was unique to SSE areas and no longer available a a new install. The give away will be a comlicated looking CU with 3 main switches often labelled "A circuits" and "B circuits" If you do have that setup then one bank (I forget which one) will be specifically for "heating appliances" and will be available and metered 24/7 at the cheap rate. This is where you connect focal point heaters, the immersion boost, showers and towel rails.

Sorry to hear of the predicament. You are not the first to be shafted like that from lenders, it happened to us (in a much smaller way) a few years back. At least name and shame the lender so others can choose if they like, not to give them any business. (for the record it was Lloyds that shafted us) I am sure you all know our predicament, the inability to sell the old house that should have been financing this one. That is now let to a tenant and our new build is edging along ever so slowly on virtually a materials only basis as and when we earn enough to buy a bit more. At lest doing more yourself means you will in the end get a cheaper house. Don't be scared, whatever task you are confronted with, someone here will be able to guide you, that's what buildhub is all about. Do as we did, complete all the heavy landscaping, drainage etc so you have finished with the digger early in the project so you can sell it (there are not many people with a new house barely at first fix who have been regularly mowing the lawn for over a year now) I hope you have better house selling luck than we did. Get a static caravan ready for when you sell the cottage

There's a lesson here. If you are going to take a long time, leave one room completely bare and not first fixed. Preferably one at the front that any nosey parker can look in and see a bare room.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Whatever you buy, make sure it has at least outline planning permission. Some plots are serviced, some are not. that's not a big issue as long as the price reflects it, and you are sure services ARE available. (note the recent Grand Designs house who left the water connection until last, and only then found it cost £40K) Building a house for £200K should be possible, I am trying to do that including the plot price.

Is it just an inspection chamber for rodding, or is there a branch at this location? (take the lid off and rake a picture?)

I believe I heard that a croft can have 3 "caravans" on it's land. this was told to me by the owner of a croft camping site who would take any number of tents, but only ever 3 caravans at a time.

I bought from this seller in Germany on ebay, works out about £14.50 per roll http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20-Rollen-proclima-TESCON-VANA-All-round-Kle-be-band-30-Mtr-x-60-mm-/381452848613?hash=item58d05c8de5:g:DG0AAOSwwbdWMxxx Better than the £20 or more per roll that all the UK sellers charge.

Don't screwy's sell individual lengths as well? I have a feeling they do in the shop but only sell the packs mail order? I guess it's a long drive to get to a shop? What to the BM's on the island have? The downpipe seems a standard size I definitely mixed makes, using the bends in TP as they could more easily be shortened than the ones I got from BP plastics

I suspect there may be a fireproofing issue, effectively having a garage and the house linked by ducting through what is supposed to be a fireproof wall. Perhaps if you had a fire alarm and fire dampers?

That's them. I placed quite a big order a whole load of drainage, inspection chambers, gutter and downpipes. Delivery was quick. I ordered underground drain pipe in 6M lengths as that was cheaper. they phoned me to say there was an issue with delivering 6M lengths and would I accept twice as many 3M lengths instead (which would normally cost more) so I said yes.

Then 2 the same, 112.5 Either will do, it just puts the "return" piece at a different angle. In my case because the soffits are so close to the wall with little overhang, I had to choose the make of joint carefully so it could be shortened. You wait until you try and get a sloping down pipe around a corner and find nobody makes the "correct" angle to do that without some "straining" With tin roof I would use the high capacity gutter as the run off will be quite fast. I got all mine from BP plastics on line.

Not sure about "vapour control" but for air tightness the cheapest I found was Protect Barriair

I think it's largely down to how reasonable your council is. Some seem reasonable, some seem to want to grab every penny they can even if it's unreasonable but "legal" Ours did not seem bothered charging CT for the static 'van until we actually moved in. Others seem intent on charging it as soon as you are able to move in regardless of whether you do or not.

If it's on the list in your name and you extend it, then the valuation and banding does not change until it changes ownership so you night be better off just paying it at the old rate. If as pointed out you get it off the valuation list, then you can be sure it will be in a higher band when it is re listed later on. Our static van is on the list now. If we suddenly moved out to live back in our old house, I can't see any way to get that off the list short of removing it from the site so that is stuck on the valuation list now until the new house is complete.

195 frame filled with frametherm, 100mm wood fibre and render outside, OSB, service void plasterboard inside. U value 0.14 allowing for bridging.