Ferdinand

One who did not want to talk directly, which is always understandable. We are on tenterhooks wrt neighbour relations - they may be too. Or someone who a) did not know the rules and wanted chapter and verse, or b) wanted to harass you. I had a case where complaints to the Council every year were used as a form of harassment. Difficult to deal with if there is no 'vexatious' filter; in place - "we have to respond". F

I think your explanation should be fine. It is a repair. There may be a clearer overhead view in bing.com - photography is sometimes clearer. But are those actually offences, since it is porous? This could just be for form as someone complained. There is also the case that if this is an entrance directly to a field from an unclassified road, you may have the right to create one anyway (or they may not have the right to stop you creating one, even if they do cry into their sarsaparilla). In which case even if it wasn't a repair (which it is) they are whistling in the wind anyway trying to enforce nothing. Perhaps ask what they would enforce on (if you need)? Ferdinand

That looks to be doable, but why are we not being charged for it? What happened?

I might have thought rent a LIDAR for that - it seems to be what the Archaeological TV programmes use now for their Whizz-Bang element , and should be relatively cheap. I like the 3d presentation of the stairs, though (on the subject of 3d visualisations) I see that Richard of Northampton had one of his head displayed in the Norwich Museum. I hope you are better now, after all those years in that car park . Ferdinand

Can you send a newsletter to say that the big noise is done?

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In that case you will be cleaning the walls, not just the Shattaf.

Thought for a minute we were going to have Dorset's answer to Rooster Cogburn on our hands... This subject is beginning to get interesting.

Why not do all of it in Eng. Bricks. They only cost about 20p extra each.

How easy are things like Silestone to work? eg This 30mm Silestone panel on Ebay at £45 - 555mm x 1085mm - is nearly the size I need, but would need 125 mm taking off the back and pipe holes etc drilling. It already has 3 sides polished. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silestone-Quartz-Amazon-30mm-Ex-Display/273450425752?hash=item3faaea5d98:g:NTwAAOSwf2pbhAfe Is that simple to do for me or my plumber? Ferdinand

Corrected ? Room is about 15 x 19ft.

My total worktop length is 89m of 600 deep, plus a 900 x 1400 island, and a 600x600 cubbyhole which used to be a built-in microwave. Plus a 600x600 Ikea moveable trolley which fills in the gap at the end, with a microwave on it. Of that more or less fixed 1m is sink + drainer. 1m is TV and charging gubbins. 1m is range cooker. 600 is kettle, tea, teapot, cafetiere etc. 600 is Gaggia machine. 600 is bread, trays and toaster. Island is used for storage and transient things. F

There is also the possibility of a Superloo from Japan / Korea? Do these incorporate sensor controlled adjustable hydro-flo? Or you could fit a Shattaf (bidet shower) to your loo, which would give you a tool for a long-range loo post-clean. They are used by half the world. (New York Waldorf) Ferdinand

Is there a chance of your piece being 450mm too long lengthwise, or that your hob is 1200 x 450?? I need a 1200 x 450mm piece :-). My local workshops little man in his little unit - "Offcuts will not be that big. I reckon £300-400."

I was in Bathstore the other day, and he was waxing lyrical about "water entry holes all the way round the rim". Or phone up McDonalds and see who they use? Very Hitchhiker, but there it was a Dirty Telephone that killed us off. Try Megabad - I once had a *huge* lecture from a German housemate on this subject, including a thorough examination of the insufficiently cleansed loo. F

Yep. Given you only need a guestimate (+/- 10-20%) as we all have different amounts of different junk in our kitchens it can only ever be comparable meaningfully with those error margins, it was just a nice round way to estimate. I have a big chunk of worktop given over to a Gaggia Coffee Machine, a microwave, a TV, a Lazy Susan, and a toaster - for example. Also you can always play games with hidden worktops or having a recessed worktop where a built-in pven might have gone, for example. Ferdinand

Add up the metre run of all your base units and multiply by .6 or .5 to allow for hobs and sinks etc.

As a cheapskate, I never consider anything except French Doors. Until I build my Para 79 Haese in the Peak District. F

Just buy some bloody spiral bricks. https://www.ibstockbrick.co.uk/kevington/specialshapes/spiral-bricks/ If you really want to do it properly, build it solid out of blue engineering bricks, then carve it by hand into statues of a pair of bobbing dogs, and 2 sausages forever just out of reach. F

I think the one in the case already had Planning. And I think that conceptually the SDLT thing would come under ‘matters not relevant’, as do eg neighbour disputes about boundaries.

it is actually quite spread out, but the test is ‘suitable for use as a dwelling’ on te day of purchase, for residential SDLT to be applied, and it was a 150k transaction including the 3%, I think. The HMRC came up with lots of tangents. The applicant made this case, and the place had had an intrusive asbestos survey, and white asbestos was exposed: It s a good read. Expect ‘suitable for use’ to change to ‘capable of being used’, to try and catch more in the net.

I refer my Honourable Friend (and all the other Honourable Friends) to the calculator I mentioned some time ago ?. Yes... by the lorry. It was me started on bulk bags, as I happened to have the numbers in my head.

That is interesting. I wonder if other factors are at play? Perhaps the thing they are avoiding is the 3% Supplementary SDLT for a second Property?

One of these might help http://www.pavingexpert.com/calcall.htm However, I make it 8m2 per bulk bag at 50mm deep which is approx 10m2 at 40mm, so that gives the quantity ish of bulk bags. On driving over pavers, is it possible to do something really simple like start at the other end? Alternative might be to get 90% of sand, and accept barrowing the rest .. or have project B waiting for any leftovers. Ferdinanf

This is potentially relevant to Buildhub users who have purchased, or are purchasing, existing properties (derelict or habitable), in order to repair or replace them. It concerns whether you pay the Residential Rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax, or the Non-Residential Rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (which are lower). (Gird your loins - slightly - for this, and get a cup of whisky plus a couple of Jaffa Cakes.) This post is General Information only, and does *not* constitute advice in any form. It is about a Court Ruling from January 2019 in the First Tier Tribunal Tax Chamber called HMRC vs Bewley, which changed the Liability for Stamp Duty Land Tax in England in one case where the property was found to have been unsuitable for use as a dwelling, and so the (lower) non-residential rate should have been applied. This level of Court is not automatically precedent-forming though decisions may 'be taken into account' by other Courts; the Upper Tribunal, where a case goes when Appealed from the First Tier Tribunal, is precedent-setting. For two groups of Build Hubbers, it could affect people who buy buildings on plots to demolish, or perhaps people who want to pass a plot or building-on-a-plot on for the purposes of developing more than one dwelling. There is potential, for example, for the vendor to sell the property in an uninhabitable state by doing various things, and the price varying to allow for the lower amount of Stamp Duty which may be due, or perhaps for an indemnity against a higher tax bill considered (if such an agreement is lawful). The status of a building would be changed by an application to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). On Buildhub we have had conversations about what makes a property uninhabitable in connection with liability for Council Tax, for example the absence of a potable water supply. This conversation is similar, and eventually will be about what prevents an empty or derelict property from being suitable for use as a dwelling. I am not launching into my own discussion of that, beyond noting that factors that may end up coming into the future guidance which may eventually be published by the Tax Authorities if necessary may include things such as "is there a kitchen", "is there a bathroom" (both of which affect 'mortgageability'), and potentially "does it have planning permission yet". I will simply post the summaries of the Ruling. What about the potential impact? The difference between the Residential rate of SDLT can be substantial. The potential savings for people buying expensive plots look to be quite tasty. Note - these rates quoted below are basic, partial information for illustration; there are exemptions and special cases by the bucketload - and you do need to check properly. Residential SDLT Source :https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates Non-Residential SDLT Source: https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/nonresidential-and-mixed-use-rates HMRC vs Bewley Summary and Resources: The full decision is here: http://financeandtax.decisions.tribunals.gov.uk/judgmentfiles/j10915/TC06951.pdf The existing VOA Guidance relating to Council Tax Liability for Properties in Disrepair or Derelict is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-domestic-properties-in-disrepair-or-derelict/council-tax-domestic-properties-which-are-in-disrepair-or-are-derelict Some notes from a 2018 meeting of Tax Authorities on the meaning of "residential property" subject are here: https://www.tax.org.uk/sites/default/files/SDLT Section 116 FA 2003 meeting 11 June 2018 summary points FINAL.pdf (document itself) Winding Up It would be useful to have some of the Buildhub hive mind on this, especially as this is not an area of specialist knowledge for me. We have discussed this issue wrt Council Tax, and mainly at the end of the build, for example in this thread by @vivienz. But we have not - that I am aware of - considered so carefully unsuitability for use as a dwelling at the start, and with respect to Stamp Duty. Another category I am not aware that we have discussed is Stamp Duty liability on properties gifted. In general this is one to be aware of, and then probably discuss with advisers. The difference in SDLT liability in the case discussed was £6k. I have discussed this wrt England (and probably Wales if they have not changed that bit yet !), but the "Notes form a 2018 Meeting" link above shows attendance by Tax Authorities UK-wide. For example: Has anyone successfully applied to have derelict properties defined as unsuitable for habitation and removed from the 'register' at the VOA, and subsequently reduced their SDLT liability on that basis? Has it been done with kitchen and bathroom removal, rather than roofs and windows?