Ferdinand

I think you want to pay very careful attention to your building envelope, but also the overheads of building it, I would be looking at: - Building a half basement in combination with rooms in the roof ... that could give you your extra floor without digging such large holes, and disturbing your neighbours so much, whilst using less material. Half basements are a trad London form. You will still a Party Wall Agreement, But there should be less risk of serious objection. - The potential trade offs between the extra floor area for a terrace vs te extra value of a detached with an adequate side path. I lived in about 5 areas of London and detached did have a significant premium. - But do a gap at least wide enough to get down and build, rather than a cat-trap gap. - Consider things like minidigger access to the back, and avoiding if possible any requirement for needing anything from third party property owners or the council. If you end up with 2 side paths, make one minimal (scaffold min size), and one as generous as possible. i would probably want some sort of advice once I had explored my options, as a sanity check and because in London small things make big differences. Ferdinand

100m2 is at the upper end of the 84sqm to 102sqm requirement under the London space standard (which tries to be generous) for a 2 or 2.5 storey, 3 bed, family house. It says 84sqm for 4 people, and 102sqm for 6. https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/london-plan/current-london-plan/london-plan-chapter-3/policy-35-quality-and 100m2 is a reasonably generous 1930s semi. More is nice, but that could be OK - dependent upon your expectations, unless you are the chap coming from St Ives. F

I am still not clear whether this is for you to live in or to sell:-).

Welcome. It s not clear whether this is self build may for what you want to live in, or potentially to sell. I think that you probably need to cost up your basic core structure (not poor quality, but perhaps to second fit without the gold plating finishes and gadgets you would like in an ideal world), and expect to build to that then consider the rest depending what happens. Ferdinand

Why do you require 1.5 brick thick - I thought up to 2m was 1 brick (ie 225 mm)? Ferdinand

Yes - if you can justify (photos!) "Repairing my Wall" then you are safe. Ferdinand

£2-3k like that? You could save up to about half of the work by building it out of in-out panels where each pair of panels overlap at the ends to make posts. A 9m fence would be - what - about £700 if done by a fence-man? Ferdinand

And there will be elements of politics in it - if the subbie is not in the room, who will get the blame? And the blame makes a lot of difference when something changes. I think that perhaps what is needed is clarity, and then to let other elements adjust. Yet if regulation is not thoughtful and considered, then there *will* be extra costs on the customer. How to avoid simplistic answers because simplistic answers are easy? Is there a 'judge lead' enquiry going on yet? Ferdinand

Or if the battery did a Samsung.

The one Alpha I would have liked to have would have been the Zagato, but funds etc. Had to look up the Brera ... had nevr heard of it and it made me think about rabbits.

Welcome back. Your blog may exist on archive.org.

It should really be the manufactuter who builds to a quality where an inpsector makes no difference, and the trades who catch them first snyway.

Example of detail sweating

Ewi adds an 8 inch shell outside your house. Everything like satellite dishes and gateposts and lights and drainpipes have to move outside that shell or you get holes in your ewi and changes add costs. You do things like mount several things on one panel of wood or avoid things on Walls altogether eg roof mounted flues for your boiler. All about time to think first and sweating detail. F

Suitable top hung roof light in the right place and a telescopic ladder from Aldi... The common one will be sweeping snow, and you want to be secure in such circs.

Could the “modified After Henry” gambit apply? (*) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzQ8YazBG9Y I am am not clear how the nitty gritty of ownership, transfer, and expenses division would work. Although presumably the freehold or leasehold Is being split. Usually the best solution is to keep it simple, which might be targeting the most expensive conversion for CiL, or some other obvious option. Contriving things usually costs more in the contrivance and buggeration. And welcome. Ferdinand * ie Grandmother, Mother and Daughter living in the 3 flats, modified as required for 2x sisters etc, and sell after y years?

Wonderful stuff if you like attention ! For long term security, the National Forest should be a happy hunting ground, as it will continue to transform the area. Welcome.

In Joint Enterprise with the Head of Building Control? Or even the Secretary of State? F

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For many people, the kid's play park would be a plus for kids, and also for active streets / security. OTOH it would depend what the other backed onto. I would probably go for the doer-upper, in the knowledge that I would then know what had been done. For the other, but I would be demanding about the restoration. Wearing my LL hat, I have been offered houses with restorations where the fabric was not done underneath, so they would have to be gutted before meeting expected EPC standards (though as mentioned there will be exceptions). Cavity and loft insulation are usually free or nearly free, and (depending on status) so is a new boiler sometimes. F

I think Central Vacuum is a bit like fully-integrated-rainwater-harvesting, much vaunted but the reality does not match the promise. For your list (and there are lots of threads on things like "what would you do differently"): - Provision for your dotage (eg downstairs full shower room, potential granny flat, strengthened space for lift shaft). - Appropriate access to flat roofs for maintenance. - Outside taps and power points where they will be needed, - Charging facilities for electric cars when they are all electric. F

Your question - How then, shall we live? (stealing a quote entirely inappropriately) Well - how do you live? ? is it a useful trick for you to sketch out a design of your rooms as separates, then just remove all the walls and see if it feels different? Just leaving a wall out (esp. to separate circulation space) can be a creative move. I often shout about *hinterland* - relevant background knowledge. I have the joy that I still have many of my dad's architectural and artistic books, including fantastic stuff like 50s and 60s copies of Domus. Taking a flyer, can I recommend a book by Sir Terence Conran, which are usually available for a few ££ secondhand. There's something wonderful about practitioners from 20-50 years ago who were still active until recently. Terence Conran Kitchens: The Hub of the Home (2002) (Or similar). If it doesn't help, you have only lost £5-10, and can try something else. I would argue that a peninsula plan is a possibility if the flow of a kitchen was that it was a cul-de-sac - eg if there was no exit to the garden or other room at the far end, or perhaps if you have one person who overhwelmingly does the cooking. It creates more of a private domain, while still allowing interaction. We had one of those in a huge kitchen (19x15 ft ish) whilst I was growing up (70s-80s), and it was replaced with something with more open flow later on. Of course, another alternative to an Island is a movable work / storage trolley - an "island on wheels". Ikea also do these. Ferdinand

That's not an Island as we know it, @lizzie - that's the other side of a galley kitchen with the back wall and the end wall removed ! And that's not a quip or a dig - I think that in some ways such a large run has gone beyond being something that is walked around, because walking-around becomes an expedition. It is a different type of thing - equally valid, but different I am sure that usage patterns would be quite different from something say 2m long. F

I use Ikea Franklin models in a student rental I look after for the family. Seats are formed ply, they have backs, come in 2 seat heights 63cm and 74cm, and fold. When they are unfolded it clicks with a feeling like a tomb closing in a pyramid ... very solid. There is a footrest. Cost are £25 or £27 each, and they are in black and white. The ones I have were put in in about 2012-13, and I am not aware that any have been replaced. The only wear I have seen has been through the black along the edges where they are grabbed. Easy to repair (boot polish or spray paint). Recommended - and if you want posho or fashionable ones later then these would be a good interim. But do go to Ikea and sit on them. The back support may not be right for you. Ferdinand

Just off the phone to my EPC man, who runs Energy Performance Consultants of Ripley, and his initial opinion is that one would also need to achieve a good reduction in CO2 output in addition to an increase in floor area to make a significant difference. Which raises the spectre of replacement of the boiler with an ASHP as one thing that may be worth a look. He was very emphatic on the need to analyse and model any changes first because the calculation is unpredictable. Ferdinand