Ferdinand

Starter for 10:

GBU. But I confused a Clint film with Clint himself in the scene. Just imagine how different it would have all been for Clint had they had your roof window in 1976 .. see 2:55

I think the bet way I can demonstrate the point is to point out that Same Sex Marriage is essentially the same as Same Sex Civil Partnership, yet we now have I think 15,000 same sex marriages that have taken place. Clearly a demand is there. As a society we have taken the route of allowing both options for some of our population, therefore we should follow that route for everyone. I would to an extent agree that starting on a different option with Civil Partnerships vs Civil Marriages for the sake of mental baggage or linguistic ideology of some people is questionable, but that is what we chose to do and we need to be consistent. F

Can you point me at the requirements to get RHi for fitting an ASHP? Is there a minimum EPC like there used to be for solar? So that is saying the next time I renovate a rental I should fit the ASHP first and renovate afterwards? God ... what a collection of gormless f*ckwits. (Feeling pungent this morning as I am working through the implication of the James Brokenshire Housing Minster’s proposal to ban Section 21 in rentals without looking past the end of his nose. One of the obvious implications combined with the fee ban, which bans everything not just up front fees as Scotland, is that if a T uses Jan and Feb rent to pay off a Christmas Credit card, the LL has zero sanctions to incentivise payment of rent except charging interest for 2 months at 3.25% which comes to about £2. I wonder what will happen. The man’s an ivory skulled virtue-signalling moron. Will start a thread elsewhere.) Ferdinand

The implications of this are quite profound, and it will take some time to get my head around. For example, consider the woman who walked out on her partner on the Gravenhill build on Grand Designs: The Street. Had they Civil Partnered at the start, she would now presumably be entitled to half the plot should they subsequently 'divorce'. Had elderly cohabiting couples done a joint self-build, the tax implications of one dying become much different in the way they can be managed. And so on. Ferdinand

This may affect some people on the forum. It seems that heterosexual couples can soon have a Civil Partnership as the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Bill received Royal Assent on 19 March. http://equalcivilpartnerships.org.uk/2019/03/royal-assent-received/ That could change tax liabilities, property transfers, potentially pensions and a lot of other stuff for people doing things with property. Which is us. Note that this is (I think) enabling legislation, which will allow the Government to change the Regulations to actually make it happen. Timescale seems to be the end of the year (ish). https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2019/march/royal-assent-civil-partnerships-marriages-and-deaths-registration-etc-bill-signed-into-law/ Congratulations in Advance to any Buildhubbers who are about to get 'civil partner'-ed for tax or other reasons. ? Ferdinand Elopements to Berwick-upon-Tweed coming real soon now ...

I think you have started the journey to developing a suitable scepticism for overwheening regulation. Anothe 5 or 10 years and you will have a good working knowledge of when you can get away with ignoring it ?.

The MSE Tariff Checker should flag them up for a postcode. They ask for quite a bit of info. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/electricity-standing-charge/ https://clubs.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub/register?target=%2Fcheapenergyclub%2Fresults%3Fsort%3DnoStandingCharge&_ga=2.193843501.1816825784.1555387582-986719153.1552983822

There are lots of suggestions made here regularly. eg Have a facility in your ufh to circulate heat around the slab ie unheated water. Here you might circulate it between Basement and GND. For a basement I would look at using light wells as cooling wells, ie opening high level windows to cool the basement using the stack effect. You need to manage your insulation such that the heat pulse coming in is reversed overnight, with appropriate characteristics to make that more-or-less happen. Wildcard: if your wall is tanked, does it help to have a pond on the other side? To me this feels like too much effort for the potential benefit. Ferdinand

I would guess that a similar looking scheme, or something following local cues, would be necessary. You could argue that the existing is a horrible, disfunctional, inefficent design. Find out the reasons for the conservation area (document: Council website or FOI), and demonstrate that you are enhancing them. Find precedent for such a demolition in a CA. Can you include things like a street-facing clock and a weathercock, made locally? I would also think that you need to find a justification based on technical facts established by an expert not opinion, which would be harder to question, to help get the demolition through. "Dangerous structure likely to fall down" is more persuasive than "Expensive to work with". See if a subsidence-ologist will write a supportive report. I think that in 2019 a simplified pastiche design "classical pilasters made out of concrete but without the decoration" was a 70s approach not a 2020 approach. Consult with the Conservation Officer first, but be a wise owl ... have your ducks in a row (though not necessarily on paper) and a sales strategy in place first. You only get one chance to make a good impression. Check out Council Policies you can show you are furthering eg how many tons of CO2 it will save over the lifetime of your structure - compare what you will build with a Building Regs Minimum conversion in the @JSHarris spreadsheet. Write out a brief problem statement or key question you need to answer. Put them on the wall, and repeatedly focus on them. The argument you need to win is that the development is beneficial in planning terms, and acceptable in the CA context. The former is the Planner; the latter is the Conservation Officer. Canvas some support if you feel able; you may be surprised. Can you get support from the local Heritage Society? Do not mention VAT until after you have Permission?; objectors will beat you over the head with it. F

Care with temporary electrical supplies, and big demands being run off small supplies. Have a fire blanket to hand; they are cheap and can hang on hooks. On the Paris Fire Is it worthy of note that in the UK over scores and scores of major cathedral restorations, and similar things in the 200 (guestimate) or so cathedral size church buildings, there has never been a major fire afaik in modern times during a restoration? And York Minster was caused by a lightning strike, and other fires tend to be not during projects - normally arson or when not occupied. The only obvious difference I can see is that most UK church buildings tend to be protestant and relatively stripped out, and French ones tend to have more stuff and decoration everywhere as befits a Catholic tradition. No idea whether that is sigificant. Ferdinand

I think the issue would be pressurisation and providing continuous circulation ie lack of pumps. Waste some time here: https://fet.uwe.ac.uk/conweb/house_ages/services/section4.htm

I am also wondering about a slipper bath. Then I can pretend to be Clint Eastwood and murder people who barge in.

Yes, but given that efh mats around a bath would put out perhaps 250-300w, will that do it? Looking at the numbers ... maybe. Ferdinand

No, just a grey area where the Council will only enforce reactively, because it is hardly ever a problem. Ferdinand

The only person I know in Wales who got into trouble for boosting their gates was Charlotte Church, and she boosted hers from 2m to 3m high. All they asked for was a retrospective application. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6126122.stm F

Here is a gate I have which I was planning to post as an example of a more modest gate. It was previously a galvanised farm gate, which was destroyed when a branch fell off a tree. This is a farm gate which cost me about £110 a couple of years ago, on the same posts. I just made a hole in the hedge originally and did it. I did not ask anyone before changing it from galvanised to wood. Ferdinand

Possibly everthing. IMO an improved gate that fits the context of a rural village will not get complained about because locals will like it, and it fits in. However, if you have someone bloodyminded, they may complain as a technicality, and if they do the Council may tell you to apply. My personal opinion is that a modest farm-style gate will be got-away-with about 8 or 9 times out of 10, but if you do something that would be ore suitable for Minas Tirith or Helm's Deep, someone is more likely to complain. If you can argue that it is just a like for like replacement, which you can, then it should be OK. F

Possibly

Is it a replacement? If so, that is surely a repair. Personally I would just JFDI that. The policy is nuts in that situation. Is the penalty if you have to retrospectively do an app later more than to do one initially? If so, there is probably little downside. Certainly I would do so if it was a standard farm-style gate. If you were doing a @Onoff Minas Tirith or Helm's Deep style thing, it might be more more risky. F

Not convinced of this. The situation in England is that the Council have the option depending on the significance of the changes. This is Bridgend, and I do not know how to trace down this aspect of Welsh Planning Guidance - though tbh it is the kind of thing a devolved Government would change to convince themselves they are superior with clearer rules. I am not at all sure that such a duty exists in law, or that "objections need to be withdrawn" is a thing, or even that such a comment period would need to be 3 weeks. If it just 3 neughbours you could try and make her email them with 5 says to respond. Not convinced that that is necessary in Planning Terms, either. Obscure should be enough. You could ask her about how a window raised to a point where you cannot see out will permit fire escape? Suspect the answer would be "Abracadabra, sprinklers are compulsory!". I am surprised about the comments. Not publishing them online seems antediluvian. If you need them put in an FOI and they should come back on a PDF attached to an email, which has usually happened in a day or two for me. But I am at the end of my knowledge of Welsh Planning procedure. I would be getting grumpy. [Update: wrt my previous comment, I am not sure what the time limit is for PP determination in Wales before you can Appeal] Ferdinand

We all love to wallow in our chosen bath.

Planning works differently in every place, and on every different day in the same place ?. The name of the game is a design which is "acceptable in planning terms"; finding that balance is a dance you are dancing, and a game of poker you are playing. Here, I think you are being strung along in one or two aspects, and may have given more away than you needed in one or two (depending if the stuff was in anyway in order to give things away you don't need). But that depends on the case - such as whether she is recommending to the committee, or making her own decision. Enough waffle. Specifics. IMO it is time to call a halt. 1 - If the queries relate solely to her and her team, patently she does not need to consult with neighbours. That is probably a search for reassurance or wanting some cover. I would say no on that basis; she already knows what the neighbours think due to the opportunity to object. 2 - I think you could reasonably have expected her to know her own mind, so another cycle of reactions should not be necessary. If you have given them everything they wanted then you should have a reasonable expectation of immediate approval. 3 - I would also point out that they are required to make a decision within 8 weeks, and are now significantly over that deadline, or you can Appeal for non-determination (The exception is if you agreed to extra time), and would therefore like a decision now (bur a statement that strong is a judgement call in the context). Another 3 weeks is taking the P. And they will want a further 2 weeks to think about the answers. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200126/applications/58/the_decision-making_process/8 4 - I would probably have offered half the height reduction requested, obscure glazing in the 2nd Flr window (which is as good as removal in planning terms and gives you light), and have kept the front balcony, or offered a Juliet (surveillance + more active street scene). I would have obscured the window with a stick-on film, which I might have been caught out on. But those are all contextual and there could be good reasons to be different. At this point, if you have offered everything they want, then I would expect an instant approval. Or I would perhaps be a little less generous on the concessions, and still request a decision. I would defenestrate the neighbour consultation request with prejudice. BUT ... I would always try and explore it all in a phone conversation first with the PO. eg "Why do you think you need to go back to neighbours, when you have already said the query came from within your team?". Resolution with a smile. But that is me shooting in the dark on a forum with an opinion, whilst this is your new house. Ferdinand

Cheers all. Sounds like acrylic, then. What was it Norman Lamont sang in the shower whilst the economy was evaporating? Just so I'm ready for the shop...

IIRC Jeremy’s build costs were 2014-2017 ish. Just doing reviews on a couple of 3 year no-increase rental agreements (no longer offered due to increased legislative risks imposed since) I have with a few tenants, which suggests that +10% is a reasonable inflation adjustment to apply for the 4-5 year period, which makes the @JSHarris per sqm total build cost about £1525 per sqm, or 200k for the cost .. ignoring plot, borehole fun and games etc. That excludes BREXIT, extra inflation if any etc. F