Ferdinand

Can we go all Georgian, and tax bifold doors?

I ran across this post from @SimonH from 2008 over on GBF this morning: http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=994 What are the big factors and impacts now? The context is that my Little Brown Bungalow renovation for rental of a 1966 3-bed semi bungalow will be given an EPC value of about 76 in the C band. I have done everything to a good standard, including underfloor insulation of 100mm rockwool + 25mm PIR, but not EWI (so walls are still filled cavity ~= 0.55 U-value) and 2G not 3G. The tenants energy bills are likely to be under £500 per year. But I see from Stroma that adding relatively little PV solar would bring it up to a B or even an A, which is a little bizarre. Ferdinand

(Keeps quiet about the subtle double-entendre).

Highish for a developer house ie better than average eg ufh, an ensuite, and all double bedrooms in the 4 bed. I need to get the gumf as it is quite close. The detailed planing ref, including specs etc, is here: https://www2.ashfield.gov.uk/cfusion/Planning/plan_view_docs.cfm?reference=V/2017/0534 There is an earlier Outline. The site backs onto allotments and has a few mature trees, so it will be pleasant. Given that *this* is the site as of 9am this morning, there is scope for negotiating changes: F

What about a rotating one on the roof (or at a low level) as part of a weathercock for new Builds? Could have a modern version of the Sisyphus myth with @Onoff making his bathroom in cut-out sheeting .

New cul-de-sac development near me with highish spec finish, including .. wood burning stoves. http://www.broadleafclose.co.uk/

Cheers, so already exempt.

The technique is to talk to the EST helpline, and ask for your local organisation involved. 0300 123 1234 There may be some wrinkles around new build vs conversion, occupation etc. You need to check. For rentals iirc I have to have a tenant in situ before I can get it done, but once you ask them it is an inspection then install within a few days. They work quickly, so if eg you have gables that are walled off that you want insulating then make them accessible before the survey. When I had the Little Red House I just mentioned on the other thread done, they were in and out within 20 minutes. I last had one of these at this time in 2016. Given that your building is idiosyncratic, I am not sure how it will pan out. If you can update us with your experience that would be great. F

Sorry ... 'tis for small detached houses. I imagine that the way they measure it is the same as they do when calculating EPCs. Title edited.

PS There was a thread about work I have done on it on Green Building Forum back in 2013: http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=11560

This is mainly for @Crofter, depending on how Wee the new Hoose actually is - put here in case anyone else finds it. In England, detached buildings under 50sqm are exempt from having an EPC done. https://www.gov.uk/energy-performance-certificate-commercial-property/exemptions If it is also so in Scotland, that could save you a little money and hassle - if you are under 50sqm and so minded. I have one under 50sqm - the detached 48sqm cottage my dad was born in, which is now a rental. I have the EPC number up to 51, and the half of it which has been drylined since about 1984 (25mm eps) was ignored by the EPC man, but that is about the limit of what is achievable practically. When push comes to shove in 2026 I will rely on the exemption rather than make a "too expensive to upgrade it" argument. Ferdinand

Before I did my latest but one we did an Osb pathway / platform to the boiler under the top layer to help gas engineers, and insulated the pipes up there. Also what is your current insulation level? Under 100mm ( or if you reduce it) and you can probably get it done free. Guess where the rockwool under the floor of the LBB came from.

Since when did Tories do "fashion" ?

So quite an effective filter for the outside environment then .

Have not seen that one, but beds with sheds will not get widespread post-approval, unless they are if a decent quality. Plenty of regs can be used to close them down, and the issue is too high profile to fiddle imo. There would be hell to pay. He did promise to plant 2 million trees in London, but that seems to have evaporated.

Edited.

Here is the Association of British Credit Unions Ltd (ABCUL) "How to set up a CU" page: http://www.abcul.org/credit-unions/setting-up-a-credit-union

I am a member of our Nottingham CU, which operates County-wide. When I sold my big building site one of the things I tucked away in my head was to at some point in the next decade try and create a local initiative for this CU, since at present we are a town of 50k people with no local offline Credit Union facilities, and I know that Provident Financial have something like half a dozen full and part time doorstep lending reps in the town, each with hundreds of clients. The demand is driven by "I need money this afternoon" type needs. One interesting thing about CUs is that they can lend perhaps 20-25x the amount of capital they have received, if it is the right sort of capital (basically: unencumbered capital which is not removable savings). The ABCuL CU trade body is very good to talk to. One of the things I was exploring was to make a capital loan of a smallish (compared to the money we spend on building houses) amount to the County-wide Credit Union, and help them provide facilities via a local community organisation leveraging off that capital. But another is that the trend for the last 15-20(?) years is to CUs offering bank-like services, and consolidating. That was driven That suggests that a small, niche CU may be against the trend (why?). OTOH it may be that a tiny CU with a very focused common bond and specifically offering only simple services (eg not online current accounts) to keep the operation lean could be a good complementary new trend. Another way could be to find an existing CU with a broad Common Bond that we could all join (eg if there were one for Co-op members - unfortunately there isn't), and create a Special Interest Group. I do not see us really wanting to provide large amounts of organisation infrastructure as overheads would be too great, which is why I have been jabbering about piggybacking on other people, or using a very lean organisation. Just my musings. Further musing: could we work with Ecology BS? Ferdinand

If you missed it, @Grosey used them to finance his build. One thing that could make Folk2Folk suitable for a "Pilot" is that they can - I *think* - take ISA transfers in. From the investor side even though unregulated it is quite well protected because they secure on a property at a less than 50% exposure ratio. It also mitigates one aspect of the F2F model, because I think your money sits on its bottom doing nothing until a loan request comes in. OTOH, getting into a newbuild a year or more earlier could save 10s of £k where the loan costs could be <£5k. But for many people there are cheaper options available than Folk2Folk, such as mortgages or zero interest cards or maybe even the best personal loans (eg banks currently down to ~3.0%). At F2F you will be paying around 6% plus fees, so the flexibility has to be worth it. But that is also less than half the interest rate of bridging finance, and you get more flexibility. I wonder if there would be scope to ask for a slightly lower rate of interest, if both sides requested it.

Never found anything in Milton Keynes for the blasted trees. Except when I revisited the Futurehome 2000 estate, which I went to first time round with dad.

I think that depends what you are funding. If it is the funding of an entire build, then it would be much more than 100k. If it was setting up a Credit Union, then it would be much more and take several years with regulatory hoops. But that is perhaps a different fish-kettle to helping people who have hit a financial brick wall or quagmire half-way through a build, where the numbers might be "25k to get us in to save 2 years more rent or caravan freezing". One other option (losing track of threads here) would be to ask Folk2Folk to do a la carte deals case by case - we know that they lend for self-build. Say "We have *this* project, and *these* investors" - will you do the admin via your normal processes for your normal fees at X rate of interest?". One advantage is that they are structured to let the investors have it in an ISA wrapper. One disadvantage is that they start with investments of 20k+. But perhaps we need to try different mechanisms in the early stages, and may actually be a catalyst for other people to widen the range of market options for different circumstances. If we create things we do not end up running, that is surely a good thing and a win-win?

Were something to be done via BH, another issue will be where to get the infrastructure. I that informal + trust may work as a 'trial' - though perhaps the various efforts for @recoveringacademic may count as testing the individual action impulse (imo proven), though not coordination. The question then is whether and how to organise something around here, or by borrowing a platform. There is nothing to say we couldn't use one of the established crowd-funding platforms as our "outsourced admin" - that then comes down to reliability of the platform and cost of using it. Were we to look for a wider initaitive, things as available such as building our own platform or organisation (overheads?), collaborating with an existing setup, or other option. Possibilities could include forming or piggybacking on a Credit Union or Peer to Peer investment organisation. But I do not think we really have the scale of numbers yet, and the better option would be using an existing Crowd Finding platform to manage each project would be the most flexible practical at present. Due to too much going on at present, I would sit this out for now.

AIUI peer to peer funding setups gain their 'insurance' by one or more of : 1 - Splitting an investment across a number of loans. 2 - Putting a small levy aside into a pooled fund to repay losses. 3 - Use of guarantors for borrowers (eg Amigo). 4 - Securing against property (eg Folk2folk, who limit the loan to 50% of value and roughly match one lender to one borrower. They already do self-build, as we know from @Grosey.). I think the record so far is on the whole quite good. ISTM that the challenges here are: 1 - Deciding where we are on the altruistic ... commercial scale. Different in each case? What return is expected if any? 2 - Getting a balance between complexity of admin and size of each stake. 3 - Being more effective than other sources. At present it is probably more effective cost-wise to take a 1-2% mortgage or balance transfer credit card in most circumstances. 4 - Capacity. Ferdinand

Upthread I said I was now going for Livyn Luxury Vinyl tiles from Quick-Step. After a visit to B&Q this morning to buy a pack of "badoingg" door-stops that has now changed back to Quick-Step Uniclic Laminate, as they had a pile of 12 of the 1.7 sqm packs of the Andante Oak high end stuff at £4.00 per pack for clearance, that is about £2.25 per sqm. That was pure luck and going in lots of times, and just the one branch. I think that is a pricing error and they meant £14.00, which is a price I have seen before a couple of times. i think there more opportunities with this B&Q Flash Sale strategy that has been running for about 6 months. I have been playing hide and seek with B&Q flash sales on flooring all summer, and missed at least 3 by a matter of days. Perhaps we need a thread to talk about B&Q a little more - they seem more competitive more often on more areas than previously (eg sheet materials, flooring), and have a lot more opportunities for good savings than previously. It is interesting to compare the Quick-Step with the equivalent top own brand product. Photos are on a phone, so not quite as clear as could be. QS are far more varied, and even have a cross-ribbed texture which simulates saw-cut feel.From my sample, B&Q still seem to be playing with variable graining. Quick-Step B&Q Ferdinand

Just an OT note at @JSHarris' comment. There has been political talk of keeping pensioners paying NI, as a way of redressing the alleged generational impbalance. Whatever your view, keep a weather eye on it. I think something like that will happen in the next 10 years; there is a lot of unnuanced campaigning on this issue, and they want changes and symbols.