Ferdinand

I would add in schemes to encourage renovation, though I am not clear how to avoid the problems associated with centralised schemes - which can double costs through overheads. Though the current third party insulation schemes seem efficient. The escalator came back in after a few years. IIRC it started at +3% over inflation, then +5%, then TB made it +6%, then they protested when it was maintained when oil prices started shooting up. I think that could be called cackhanded politics rather than a fundamental failure. However it worked. Also remember the CO2 banded road tax that had to be replaced with the current scheme because more than half of cars were in the <£30 bands within about 10 years? (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/716075/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2017-revised.pdf) Give it enough time, and the impact will be significant. For energy I might suggest 1-2% per year, with strategic improvement schemes funded thereby. It would be critical that golden-goose-killing pillocks be kept in their matchboxes. And that it be done gradually over perhaps 15-25 years. Given that the LL schemes are now happening after 7-8 years warning, we have a way of judging. Ferdinand

Not sure. For landlords renting out too poor properties in England you can get a Civil Penalty of up to 4k. Plus there may be routes through H&S regs, which apply to occupants as well as the fabric. They tend to be handled differently in different areas of the law and I am not reading the 110 page document to find out, but normally a Civil Penalty is the Council as Policeman, Lawyer, Judge, Jury and Executioner. And they get to keep the cash. Potentially this could be forced into Landlord Selective Licences in England, which are already full of God-knows-what (Nottingham tried to force LLs to supply an EPC for rooms in a HMO, which do not even exist in EPC definitions!), and Banning Orders etc. No idea if it would go that far - though it has already in the Tenant Fees Bill dog's breakfast, so who knows... I would do it like the Ecology, with the carrot/stick of higher SDLT, and perhaps a rebate on energy bills. F

I think 1 is the wrong question. In this I would support a Pigouvian tax (designed to change behaviour - not my normal view), though I would argue for a single carbon tax applied to everything. The fuel duty escalator did not kill us. I think increases depend how it is done ... pushing prices over a generation would be doable. F

That is good to see. The last I heard it was 2040 and they were still consulting. https://www.gov.scot/publications/energy-efficient-scotland-consultation/pages/4/ F

My take on this would be to put the insulation in, even at the cost of a compromise somewhere else, because 1 - Even though the calcs may say 20-30 year payback, at some stage house values WILL reflect the insulating quality of the fabric. 2 - This may happen sooner than expected, because we are within about a year or two of owner occupied becoming quite obviously the slum sector for energy efficiency as shown in government data due to regulation of Landlords by EPC. 3 - Domestic energy prices are too low, and probably need to double or treble. That will have an impact on your calculations. 4 - It is the right thing to do. Obviously look for a cost effective way of doing it. Personally I would like to see the fuel duty escalator as applied to petrol and diesel put onto domestic fuel. The escalator is one reason why approx 40 million uk road vehicles in 2018 emitted fewer Greenhouse gases in total than did a little over 20 million in 1990. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/790626/2018-provisional-emissions-statistics-report.pdf Transport is well on the way to fundamental and mass change; resi is not. With significant carbon reduction targets in place, someone will be coming knocking on all our owner occupied doors before long. That will transform your calculations. So I say put it in as far as you humanly can. F

Bet you are glad you did the risk management. The first 5 minutes of the video are frightening. Him - "I have taken an all-in bet on Audrey". Ouch.

Something I ran across today, relating to Grand Designs S 12 Ep 6 - the conversion of a Recording Studio in W11 (Holland Park). The full programme is embedded below. The project was done in around 2008/9-2011 (ie probably before the recession) by a couple who are a fairly senior City Trader, and an Interior Designer, Jeff and Audrey Lovelock. They bought a ground floor studio flat in Holland Park, which came with a 3000-4000 sqft ish basement, including an .. er .. squash court. They bought the place for under £2 million, and spent at least as much again on conversion. I estimate that it was actually rather more eg the kitchen worktops were made of something called Leathered Granite which was probably getting on for £400-500 per sq metre. Here is the 2015 photoset on Zoopla. This is what happened when they tried to sell it. May 2013 in the Sunday Times: Followed by: Fortunately, City Boys can afford it, if with some cost of pain and loss of reputation. As it was described in the press: There is a fuller account of the renovation here. I have some sympathy, though tinged with a little bemusement. I certainly think they were slightly ambitious (verging on reckless) in trying to develop a "superprime" quality flat in the cheapest-per-square-foot area of Central London, so it was marginal anyway, and did not have parking or security as would be required. But the unpredictable thing that really hurt it was that George Osborne whacked an extra 5% of Stamp Duty on it, plus +3% for anyone for whom it was a second property, plus an Annual "Enveloped Property" tax of £100k+ per annum on rpoperty in certain forms of ownership valued at over over £10m. The economics of that are that ... for a property with a rental yield of perhaps £15k per month (ie 1-2% yield on the perceived price), just the Stamp Duty on this thing would pay to rent it for 6-8 years, and the potential ATED Tax would double that length of time. And so much of the potential market evaporated. And it eventually sold for less than half of the initial asking price. Which brings us to the famous quote "Events, dear boy, events..", said by Sir Harold MacMillan when asked what would be most likely to blow a government off course. Someone should perhaps now be nicknamed "Icarus". Lots of lessons to be learnt for us relative minnows.

No one on BH can give a clear answer to that, as the values are so close that it is hard to separate and the true deciding factors need to be what will make you all happy, rather than a few 10s of k in 10 years time, when external events could have changed it all anyway. If one of the houses is tired, then you may spend 40-50k in the first 5 years bringing it to be what you want. What value do you place on hubby and child getting an extra 15-20 minutes a day at home rather than walking to work / school? OTOH, what value do you place on avoiding the disruption of a project? And do you prefer houses or bungalows? Will you actually get 3 good doubles to fit a desk in too from your bungalow? Both houses compromise on bedroom size for bed 3 and bed 4. So - your decision, I am afraid ! Things you can do - Get Estate Agents in to value your current bungalow as if you were selling. Is it worth 400k? - Work out the costs to the LL of you leaving. Refresh + find new tenants will cost him 5-6k after a few years of a single tenant. Refresh + selling it will cost him the same. Plus hassle. Should be worth 10k off the price. Plus the "we have been good tenants for x years; give us some consideration" line. - Make up a big list of pros and cons for each option, and split them into "Showstoppers, major and minor" to help get a feel for your decision. But to my eye House 2 with added John Lewis is better than House 1, because 1 looks more basic. Could you work in that house 1 kitchen with that cheap tap, gas hob not induction, and that top built in oven at head height? Or would you need a new kitchen? But what way does house 2 garden face? In a good area good houses should always be in demand. Ferdinand

Interesting - that does not chime with me personally, despite one of my favourite themes being simple modern styles with exposed materials. I think that for me it is neither one thing nor tother. That is too many materials all trying to be themselves such that none of them get the space to be their best, so it comes across to *me* as a bit too "smorgasboard", almost "tartan". If I was to live with the busy grain from the ply, I would want the rest to be very quiet. So I might have gone eg for simple black doors. Not a criticism; more a different perspective. I have perhaps been conditioned by medieval church interiors in England stripped to stone and plaster having visited so many; if you put me somewhere like the Pugin Gothic Revival Roman Catholic church in Cheadle I find it impossibly busy: Ferdinand

I would try a different type of fixing. You could perhaps rout a "picture rail" groove into it, or attach something industrial-looking to do the same job? I posted a piccie recently of a scaffold plank feature wall being used by my Lettings Agent in a decor scheme from a professional HMO in Nottingham. I am still undecided, but it is an attractive option as the surface is not pure. Now seems to have vanished as presumably the room is rented, but like this: For hanging things or posters etc, I have never done better than the cork tiles I used for a whole wall once. They included partially black cork, so it was a texture. Ferdinand

Check the type of ducting. Some of the stuff that gets used as "ducting" is somewhat rigid eg stuff designed as water pipes (which we used years ago for a 100m phone run up our drive). Ferdinand

That also depends on your house form and plan. So I think you need to put that into the JSH spreadsheet, and compare the models. http://www.mayfly.eu/ link at top. Ferdinand

I would go for the type of gravel that rats and other do not like digging through. Someone will know what it is. Assuming that you have drainage sorted. F

Two further thoughts then work. Both of these are more to go on painted raw plasterboard. My previous house had a wall done with gold coloured flock, which was interesting. There is nothing stopping anyone using a custom printed advertising billboard poster, which are either robust internally or weather resistant. The prices seem to be quite competitive - though often subbed as part of a package - but anything between a few £ per sqm and £20 per sqm seems to be the ballpark. Lots of potential. Could even print it with a William Morris wallpaper design or a selfie. Ferdinand

Corrugated :-). https://www.themodernhouse.com/sales-list/chandlers-reach/

What did Walter Segal recommend?

I was thinking that would be an impact of the camera trying to focus on a texture. Needs a pair of well-deserve contrasting deck chairs and a table with some beer for the camera to focus on :-). F

Is this one for Hedgehog too afterwards, if it may be vulnerable to leaf blocking? HH tends to keep the leaves on top and create a channel underneath.

Hmmm. Trying to think of things. In my house I only have plasterboard and brick and tiles ie the raw material. I wonder about some of these materials used for facades and for 'sharp' modern houses - various glass things, but also for example the 'hang on' white terracotta tile system used in the GD "Thames House" design in S12 Ep 4 where they replaced a boathouse and upset all the neighbours. I recall it was very pricey but sharp and maintenance free. I have occasionally considered using external (poss. self-coloured) render where appropriate. I have also seen checker-plate used (eg for splashback) or copper sheet (which I think rather nuts bearing in mind copper and fingerprints). There are also tiles simulating other things which my BM has been shouting about eg simulating those walls made from chunks of slate to give the idea of a cliff face / slate mine. And of course concrete. Ferdinand

That is a really good tip, @PeterW. Thanks. My experience with hole saws has sometime not been a happy one.

Looking good. Ferdinand

Isn't that what the bloke says who builds you a leaky roof and wants you to go away? Welcome. F

I suggested keeping the kitchen at the back because that us adjacent to the current kitchen services, so you are taking things through a wall rather than either right through the house or round the outside. Moving several services a distance can easily add 3-5k and is sometimes not thought about until the plumber says "got to run all these pipes through those 3 rooms, Guvnor". Ferdinand

That is often true, however on this one I think it fits in and enhances the streetscape, and is in keeping. So I would be optimistic. It might be worth an informal conversation with the duty planner, or satisfy yourself that the other would work and keep this as a wildcard. You make the valid point that the orangery would likely be permitted development, however. It is very difficult to guestimate cost of either without knowing how much you could do yourself. After all if you get it for 25k under that will add 50% to your budget :-). @the_r_sole is an architect so may have a better guestimate. But any numbers are +/- 50% at this stage on the guessing and it can also be +/- a third on finishes and variability of quotes. I would probably do the extension last, and swap kitchen and bed 3 first, and do bathrooms - that would still be liveable and give you the core of your need. Then pause and reflect. At that point you could still choose to do an orangery or my suggestion. I would aim to bring in room swap, knock through current bed 3 and lounge, bathrooms and complete kitchen for 15-20k to a decent quality in this area and doing some myself. But I have done a number of renovations, and a main contractor would happily charge you 60k+ just for that. Ferdinand

Thanks. A lot of planning involved ?.