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Hi all, anyone have any recommended ICF contractors in the SE/ London area? want to get quotes in as tbh would much prefer someone else doing it faster and better then I would. thanks guys,

I'm in the early stages of a project to demolish our family home and rebuild the house on the same plot. I've already got planning permission and am in the process of getting building regs through as well as party wall agreements with neighbours etc. I'm lucky enough to own the current property outright, but will need a mortgage for the build. One of the problems I hit when I looked into this is that I am a freelance contractor and finding a lender who will lend on both self-build and to a contractor is quite limiting. I started looking into this in May and found a specialist broker for contractors who would also deal with self build. However, he was only able to find one lender, Halifax, who would lend to contractors on a self-build. I was a bit concerned about this but went with it. Since then, he's done virtually nothing and I've had to push all the time. I've provided a full credit check and lots of other details, but I'm trying to push to get to a stage where they're got enough information to make a formal offer so I can move ahead with the project and plan accordingly. I have still not had anything written from the lender at all to confirm the terms, the amount they will lend or even whether they will lend at all. I've only got from him that they will only lend on 75% of each stage. Is this reasonable when I own the plot? I'm getting to the stage where I would like to bin this broker and go for something else, but I don't know of anything out there. I'm wondering if anyone else (a contractor) has had a similar experience, whether there are other lenders or sources of finance out there? Alternatively, is there anything I can do to speed things up and / or get some certainty? Thanks.

We have found our preferred builder and he has given us a huge list of former clients to speak to for references... would love some ideas on what to ask. Guess it is good to know strengths/weaknesses etc so we can keep an eye out and head off any issues before they arise. Any tried and tested questions or things that you have found useful? Thanks!