Ferdinand

Gaggia Classico YES !!! Did someone mention tiles?

Suggest the first break for any should be at pass / refusal, including the bod dealing with queries and modifications, as you will not be able to ramp up to speed if minor modifications are needed etc. You need to be clear that your designed is expected to manage the interface to the planning officers. He should ideally be familiar with the Council already. Also consider including a possible Appeal in case you need one. Again if it is done by the bod who knows the design it will save learning curves. Consider an incentive of say -10% If they do not get permission and +10% if they do or similar.

Here you go, two pics. Scruffy, white brick wall after 40 years After restoration, painting and anti-vandal paint. now on a 5-6 year painting cycle.

I would say look at glazed white bricks. With standard white bricks there is perhaps more to think about wrt detailing, staining, and long term wear. White, like white paint and white cars, look very scruffy as soon as they get slightly mucky ... it is less tolerant and may need more mantenance. You also .. depending on location ... need a strategy for when Johnny Plonkalong comes past at 2am and spray paints a bright purple 6ft tall phallus on it in paint that sinks into the brick. White brick also perhaps has something of a negative historical association ... community centres and shopping malls on sink estates and so on. You also need to think how you are using the material, whether as individual bricks or more as textured surface. If if you have a fairly protected or secluded location then there is a lot of potential, but everything needs to be considered. I have a white non-glazed brick bungalow built back in 1970 as my dad’s architectural studio, which you can see in its 40-years-later state here on Streetview. As you see it looks scruffy. It has now been restore and has a combination of a painted and clad finish. So I would is ncourage you to pursue it, but to do it with care and thoroughly.There is potential for an outstanding result. Ferdinand (Need to update that link. Will post later. Sorry) .

A further idea is to deal with the security issue by having a roller security blind on the outside. They are unobstrusive and relatively inexpensive if built into the lintels when you do the build. I have PMed you come photos of one that a friend installed around the millennium. Ferdinand

So who introduced the turning space for larger lorries requirement? On the basis of this comment you may get that modified out or made a little smaller. Or you could eg propose a turntableor other solution. There is nothing to stop you talking to the person who made the comment in Highways. The would probably like to get it resolved so as to not waste time commenting every couple years until doomsday. Find out the engineer’s name and give him a ring. He may be a jobsworth but equally he could be very helpful.

I think there have been one or more Grand Designs done in that genral area with ICF. I think I recall an older lady building in her garden with a round tower, and also somebody with a BFO build with a huuuuuuuuuge basement, F

Welcome.

Welcome.

Your answer to that is in the reason the condition was as imposed, and that may be in the informational points on the Decision Notice, or in the Officer Report. If it is not, ask. Only then can you find a strategy eg it may be Fire Safety because you are more than x metres from where the engine can turn, but you may be able to mitigate with sprinklers. PS there is lots of Chinese-puzzle style caselaw about Unadopted Roads, but I see no need to dive into that shark-infested custard until you actually need to do so. The easy way will be to understand the condition, find an alternative that is acceptable, then apply for the condition to be removed or modified. If it can be met by an alternative means, it should fail one of the basic tests of a condition of being necessary, or you should get approval for a specific alternative proposal. I would talk to Planning over this, as they may be helpful. Another alternative is to go through with the full purchase then do your garage under permitted development, so the Planners can go jump in the lake. Different versions of risk vs reward vs time vs cost. take your pick :-). I would research then try and find an agreement with the Council then do a variation or removal to the condition. Ferdinand

I think the process is that the Applicant certifies that they have served notice on the Owner. In any case, a PP simply does not address land rights or civil legalities, very wisely (!). Those must be negotiated separately. Ferdinand

I do not see how Adverse Possession can possibly apply, as the previous owner has already admitted that it is owned by someone else and has acknowledged that fact in writing by making an offer; he has already shot his own fox. Adverse possession is x years of open use, as if it belonged to you, with others excluded and unchallenged. The other one ... establishing a right to use the access by long use ie a Prescriptive Easement .. May be a possibility. I think that requires 20 years of open ie not secret, documented proven use, without the owner’s permission. Ferdinand

Write down your questions before or you will miss one out. 80-20 listen-talk. Record it discreetly. Have a notepad, and use it.

I think OSB benefits from the correct type of screws, which are discussed elsewhere. I think the Reisser ones work well.

TBH if it Surrey you will Perhaps be into 6 figure uplifts on the plot just by getting Planning, so imo you need this to be watertight and to do it properly unless the quote is outrageous. Do you need to consider that against trust level. Would they turn away £200k or more when push comes to shove and they have the opportunity to keep it and only upset you? I do know people who I think would not exploit a loophole if it came up, but I also know people I trust for whom a loophole like that could be a much more secure retirement so in one sense I would not blame them as it would almost be force majeure. In one sense it needs to be tied up more tightly if they are a friend; protects the friendship. And it potentially gives a document to resolve disputed that is at least clear, so you get to blame the document or the solicitor as well as your friend. Ferdinand

Do it like posh speed cameras, and engrave the lines on your glasses, then wear a starched collar.

My quote was in answer to a quote along he lines of "if I were to create a normal but customised option agreement on the purchase of a piece of land to protect while trying for PP, what would your fee be?". This was a couple of years ago. I was asking the property specialist in a 2 or 3 branch local practice. So not small, but not regional either. My experience of well-known regionals (say 200-300 staff) is that they want to think of themselves as aspiring-London and it costs a lot of money. F

A few years ago my solicitor quoted me just under £1000 to do one, if that helps. F

Yes it does apply in Scotland.

Surface attaching picture hooks behind the TV, and thin wire or fishing line?

On Residential In terms of reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions rapidly, I think a focus on newish builds - whilst regs and EPCs are certainly a thing that needs fixing - is a bit of a red herring. It is the 10% not the 90% in carbon emissions terms, All the houses built in the last decade comprise only approximately 5% of the housing stock. Going back to 2000 only comprises a little over 10%. And those are the most efficient portion. According to *this* 2010 (ish) report "F & G banded homes in Great Britain - Research into costs of treatment" done for the Energy Saving Trust, there was 19% of our housing stock in bands F&G. That is now down to less than 5%, all of which is either in the social rented or owner occupied or an exception or being rented illegally if in the PRS. Looking at these numbers from the English Housing Survey 2017, I think I would argue for an initial +2% on Stamp Duty for Fs and Gs, and a +1% on Ds and Es, to keep the improvements happening - perhaps hypothecated to energy improvements on Hard-to-Improve properties. F

An interesting graph on Carbon Reduction I came across. This is provisional data from March 2018, so there may be an updated version around somewhere. The first is the sector mix in uk greenhouse gas emissions. I had not twigged that it was nearly half since 1990. In my head I thought perhaps a little more than a third. The main caveat is that this excludes 'outsourced emissions' eg manufacturing moving to China. There is an interesting discussion thread. The numbers in the graph are sourced from the latest Govt stats. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-2017 The main conclusions I draw from this is that the sectors needing to make a really significant contibution to reduction next are Transport and Housing. In Housing that imo mainly means grasping the nettle of the the older (pre-2000?) owner occupied stock (regime already in place for Private Rental must be EPC-C by 2030 so more change difficult to assess; not sure about older Council Housing but it has had money thrown at it and has better reported standard). In transport that means electric powered by renewables and in my dreams effective cycling infrastructure, and perhaps things being done with air travel and public transport. I have not seen numbers for public transport. Thoughts? Ferdinand

It could be a benefit later were you to want separate meters eg if you were to plan to rent out an annexe or sell off a garden building plot. In thse circs it could be worth several thousand as a saving. Presumably whilst they exist, one can be run on a zero-Standing-Charge tariff if not used so much eg a workshop or garden building supply.

I would now use Multipanel unless I discovered a very good reason not to do so, for reasons of longevity and ease of maintenance; I have one rental where it has been in since about 2012 and is still fine. But I would really love to about potential alternatives if you discover any that are better. Ferdinand

Why are you making "bullsh*t" signs at yourself? If anything I use a carpenter's soft pencil, and look at the far end of the line.