Ferdinand

Since post saver cost about £1-£2 each, the difference is not really material, even if the other solution is free. F

Not necessarily - you could just have a variable gap underneath. Or dig out one side. Or put a suitable threshold on, and work to that level. Treat it as a fun opportunity to play with a digger for a day. F

Correct but they all do that. And all the headline stuff is a bucket of bollocks. Back in the 1990s (?) Magnet switched from a price to list to a "everything discounted by x% - might have been a third or a half - off catalogue price" system. In two quarterly lists, everything increased in price by the reciprocal of the new discount. Wish I had kept them. Ferdinand

If you only have a couple to do, there is a consumer kit which comes with a catering blowtorch. Quite a nice little blowtorch with an integrated spark. This would be the one for you. The stuff comes on a roll rather than pre made to defined size. https://www.postsaver-shop.co.uk/special-offer--includes-5-meters-of-wrap--tack-and-hand-torch-save--5-price-including-vat-2999-48-p.asp You then make lots of creme brulees and seared steaks to use up the stuff. Or build a fence. I have the bigger kit because when I do fences I do a lot, and you get about £75 of gubbins for about £50. Do NOT buy these from a retailer as they will cost more than double. Ferdinand

Stair climbing wheelchairs do exist. This one looks a bit tasty.

Absolutely the point where they rot, so... P-P-Pickup a Postsaver (as used by Network Rail). More detailed version on the blog: Or use a fencing repair spurt just to keep wood off the ground entirely. That is my norm for garden stuff if the post is wooden. All sorts of other good ideas, like 50:50 diesel/motor oil, or charring the bottom, or traditional creosote. F

I have seen them but never used one. F

There is an argument for filling post holes with rammed gravel round the posts to stop rotting (Yanks like it, I understand), rather than deliberately seeking to rot the post as quickly as possible by setting it in concrete, but that probably comes under something that would confuse this thread unecessarily ?. F

Presumably the next step is for the security testers to send an email round saying "don't click" with a link to "why not to click", and see who does so.

It's that disembodied hand again - are you the Munsters (or that might be the Addams)? Here's hoping that it doesn't goose the postman. That reminds me of one of my favourite plumbing-sounding words: Prebend. A prebendary is not something done to you before you get an invoice from the Council. It is: Having made the obligatory extend-onoff's-thread contribution, I can begin my day. F

I wonder if the number has been ppublished, or could be an FOI. Interesting little article in the Guardian from Spring 2018, lots of number. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/feb/10/custom-self-build-housing-graven-hill It is interesting that McCloud's own company has retreated from this level of *self*-build, and gone custom, with a lot of the build process in house. F

I would think Gravenhill will have paid perhaps 10-25% of that, depending on the Planning Status, with a complementary overage clause and equation. Or it may be that little comes through for the Council until the sale of each plot. The MoD may have a similar arrangement. It will depend where the project investment cashflow comes from; they will have spend 10s of millions by the time they got anything back, which will have been laid off somewhere. Opinion from @Mr Punter and @PeterWwill be welcome. Information may perhaps be gleaned from the accounts of the company and the Council - the council will not break it out, but it will be so dominant as to be a sore thumb. F Ferdinand

That would be as little as possible ?. A very complicated question depending on the status of the land, as the land value is the thing the absorbs the variations. This post on valuation from Strategic Land Partners is interesting: https://strategiclandgroup.co.uk/2017/03/13/the-essential-guide-how-much-is-my-site-worth/ eg from that post say you get PP for 5% fewer houses on an estate of 140 average selling price 140k, and costs increase 5%. Residual land value swings 30%. Ferdinand

Been rereading about that. It was: Interestingly the Windsor Fire cost £60m in restoration in today’s money. F

You do not mention Planning Gain, or S106. That could be 20% or more of your "land value with Planning Permission". Crucial will be whether you have to pay, and with what phasing. Nor do you mention "Local Plan", or your plot's status. You need an intimate knowledge of how your Council approaches serviced plots in terms, of Outline and Detailed Planning, Obligation, and Financial Phasing. They may well not have a policy yet, so you need to help them create one that works for all sides. F

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