SarahG

Ah ok, we do have the utility right next to the kitchen. So maybe that will be best place.

Should have asked here first and saved myself some extra pre Christmas stress 😂 I'm just going to leave it with Thames and see what the builder wants to do. Thought I would try and help him out by getting all the services sorted. I think we just crack on with the demo and use existing supply and he can put it where he wants/thinks is best. Probably don't need a garden tap where our supply comes in, so maybe we run a new pipe next to the kitchen and have the temp supply there and he can just connect up once the house is up.

No we don't want a meter, it's Thames saying we should have one. Seems like they want us to foot the bill for their side, which seems unreasonable. We could definitely do this. I guess I am just worried about getting in trouble! I think I'll just ignore them for now and chat to the builder in the NY

I'm getting the figure from here - https://www.thameswater.co.uk/media-library/home/developers/charges/2023/charging-arrangements-for-new-connection-services-2023-24.pdf So a new 4m connection looks about £6-7k now on pg52 (I'm sure it was less when I was looking last week). So for a new 9m connection then surely that would be even more? They need to dig up road and traffic light it. So I assume that is going to be where a lot of the cost is coming from. Maybe I will check with them. They have now come back and said I need a new supply as they can't fit a meter to the existing one. If it's going to cost silly money then it's going to make far more sense to use the lead replacement scheme. It does seem ridiculous for them to charge us for a new supply when it's their pipes that are lead, agreed. Yes this is what the Thames guy was suggesting for the new supply, sounds sensible to do. Thanks for the meter recommendation. Yep I will. They can't really complain when the advice they give is completely different depending on which team you talk to.

It says this on the website - We can’t install a pipe with a larger than 25mm diameter under the free lead replacement scheme. Which I think is fine as 25mm is industry standard. Or do you mean distance from boundary to main? For us it is 9m from boundary to main they would need to replace, so should be ok I think.

Yes this is what I am now thinking I should have done, thanks for the confirmation. They seem to be telling me to do that anyway and I think I can probably now just get lost in the system as nobody I talk to on the phone seems to care that much anyway. They even told me to use my neighbours supply, which it says on their own website is illegal! I'll chat to builder when he comes to site in the New Year. We are sorted for gas and electric at least. I guess water is the less risky bit!

We are currently living in the property we plan to start demolition early next year. I spoke to Thames Water and seem to get confusing messaging about using our existing water supply as a temporary builder's supply. I had a chap out from Thames Water who tried to tell us because we have lead pipes we should get a completely new connection, at our expense. Assuming around £5k for this. I've since found out there is a lead replacement scheme we can use to get them to replace from boundary to main free of charge, then we replace the pipes on our land. So I now want to use our existing supply for the build. Called up again and got put through to operations team from developer services and he said our builder can just turn off the outside stop cock and connect up a stand pipe and then turn back on. I don't think this is right as we have an unmetered supply and would think they would want to put on a meter at least and sign off our standpipe. I've emailed developer services again anyway, but wondered what others have done in this situation? Can we just crack on ourselves? I want to follow the correct process, but not keen to get an unnecessary new supply when we already have one!

Any recommendations for a conveyancing solicitor for self-build mortgage? We already own a property on the land which has a small residential mortgage. I thought I had found one for a bargain price of £325, but just received the small print and they charge another £1200+vat for a self-build mortgage- I have no idea if this is about the right price or if I need to find someone else?!

This is what I was leaning towards. Would rather use my hard earned cash to pay for something “real” and the mortgage can stay in the cloud or wherever it is!

Really hoping this will be my last post on mortgages and we can finally get started in the new year! We have been hit by various delays with my father being extremely unwell and very sadly one of the builders we were talking to died in a car accident. Please everyone take care when driving around in the early hours. We do now have a builder and hopefully enough finances 😬. We have an existing mortgage which is up for renewal in January. So question is should we use our funds to pay off this mortgage which would leave us with enough to just about cover our contingency fund only or should we use the self build mortgage to pay it off as our land purchase stage payment and keep all our cash so we can pay for our contingency fund and initial project costs and foundations stage? The rest will then be mortgage funded.

Our architect has spec'd the following cavity wall insulation: 100mm. cavity with 95mm. Xtratherm Cavity Therm CT/PIR insulation plus 5mm. residual cavity Just wondering if anyone knows a good alternative. One of our potential builders seemed concerned about the price of this one, we really don't want to make the walls thicker just to fit in some cheaper insulation. So just wondering if anyone knows any suitable alternatives. One of our contractors has quoted us for Celotex Thermaclass 21 Full Fill Cavity Insulation 90mm instead, is this a good alternative? We could potential get one with a slightly lower u-value and re-run the SAP report I guess.

We have buildings reg sign off so the drawings are pretty detailed and (I think) our architect was very good and has given lots of details around specifications. We don’t have electrical plans and a few other bits which have been excluded from the quote. Now I think about it this probably makes it easier to compare. I’ve been very honest with all three builders and I like them all. So it will be difficult to decide if all quotes are similar! One thing we are particular on is having a very good brickie, so would like to see some of their previous work. I’ve not asked that yet though. I’m keen to waste the least amount of their time as possible.

That’s why I was asking on here what my expectations should be before I go back to the builder. We will work with what we have that’s no problem.

Thanks @nod I did wonder that, as you can’t really ever be that accurate as you would need to account for fluctuations in labour and material costs. This quote came in at £2081 m2 so I’m pretty happy with that. There are quite a few exclusions like demolition which I am sure I could ask him to give me a separate estimate for. We have certain materials we need to use as in a conservation area so I just want to be sure we are accounting for those extra expenses and costs won’t start to spiral. I guess most builders use similar software so hopefully the next estimate will be similar format and won’t be too difficult to compare.

So we have the first estimate through from builder no.1, awaiting estimate from builder no.2 and meeting builder no.3 hopefully this week. My question is around the format and expectations of an estimate. The one we have is pretty much the same as the customer copy we got from estimators online and feels quite generic. Windows are all per sq m. Quite a few exclusions i.e lead canopy porch, log burner. I was hoping for a more detailed quote specific to our requirements i.e cost of bricks, windows, insulation- all we have provided exact requirements. I guess I feel it’s all quite generic so hard to understand the real cost. I want to be sure what should my expectations be? Am I expecting too much? I guess when I have the next quote through it will be easier to compare what they send me. Hopefully that makes sense..

Well we will see when we get the quote. He is keen to get in to housebuilding and is well known and recommended so it seemed sensible to have a chat and give him the opportunity to pitch for the business.

Yes there is an expectation that we will be doing some of the work, which we are fine with. I don't think a turnkey solution is within our budget! He is fairly new to the house building game, so there is an element of risk involved (which we hope will be reflected in the price). It is an area he wants to get in to and is very competent (we know previous clients). We will be asking to see previous work regardless. It's given us a starting point anyway.

Probably around £2500k per sq m. We are planning to do a lot of the interior work ourselves P&D and bathroom installs. Could do kitchen, but would rather not. Landscaping we will do ourselves so would leave that out of the quote and see how much money we have left at the end.

I think the air tightness is the most daunting as it seems purely based on the builders competence, so really important they are on board with that. We have our insulation specified and it’s pretty high grade, more than required for BR. But surely that’s just a case of buying the one we have detailed, so not so much of a concern. Difference in opinions on here with regards payment stages. Totally get the builder is not there to bank roll. Also I don’t really want to be buying too much myself due to VAT implications and also I would imagine a builder could get a better deal or know more suppliers. The builder we met yesterday seemed keen if we find suppliers to get them to fit and supply, as they would then guarantee the work. So that is something I need to clarify with him when he provides the quote. How much and what is he expecting us to purchase? Really interested to see how this compares to other builders.

Yes of course. Let me know if he’s interested, no problem if not. Thank you.

Thanks @Thorfun that would be great. Meeting went well today but obviously would like to speak to some more builders. I know a few people have had West Sussex builders in the area, none that want to do a full build though! Would be great if you could do an intro. Do you want to DM me?

Thanks @Temp those are all really valuable tips. We are going for ASHP and UFH. Our architect has provided a lot of detail on our specific insulation requirements- which the builder has so that is a good question to ask him about that and also air tightness tests and the photographic documentation stuff. Even if the builder isn't doing the work himself he still needs to be on board with the requirements. As @TonyT said a list or an idea of his sub-contractors would be helpful. We will be taking out a self build mortgage which we have the agreement in principle for and there are requirements for JCT contact and structural warranty that I will ask him about also. I am not clear if we take out the structural warranty or if that is something they would do. I need to make my own list now before he arrives!

Meeting our first builder on site tomorrow. What sort of questions should I ask, topics to discuss? He has sent off our drawings to his estimators so hoping he will bring his quote along tomorrow. He is the second builder we have spoken to and comes highly recommended. The first didn’t get very far as his communication was so bad I gave up. Clearly wasn’t interested. Don’t suppose there are any builders on here interested in a new build in Surrey are there 😀

Perfect thanks @nod. Doing a bit more research on JCT contracts now..

My mortgage advisor is in the process of getting us an agreement in principle from Saffron BS. They say that a JCT contract is mandatory for all builds above £200k (which ours is). We don't yet have a builder as we wanted to be a bit more confident in what we can afford before we go to tender, also not in a major rush but would like to get on! Anyway.. my question is can anyone shed some light/experience on getting a JCT contract? Is this a straight forward request for a builder? I don't want to go with Saffron and then find I am struggling to get a builder who can offer this. We can always apply to another BS if this is not appropriate for us.