Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Hello to self builders. Hoping to join the ranks as a first time self builder, just agreed purchase price on a plot in Herefordshire...every rational thought is telling me no, but I'm pressing ahead anyway... Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Welcome to the forum. If you have just agreed a price you still have time to do any outstanding due diligence checks. Get a 60m tape and do your own site survey, measure it, bang in some posts if the boundaries aren't obvious. Photograph them. Check against title plan. Does it have planning permission already? Services near? Access rights/Ransom strip? Visibility splays? Covenants? Will soakaways work? Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 (edited) Welcome. You will have a well nourished future garden. You can be bricking it later. As @Temp says .. you still have thinking times. Make like Columbo and poke your head back around the door ... just a moment, what about ... Ferdinand Edited December 3, 2019 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 Thanks for the advice temp, it's a garden infil plot with road access, so fairly straightforward in terms of validating plot. There is an electrical post just inside the land. Drainage in road is uphill so might need to put some kind of treatment plant in. Full PP in place, but I'll need to tweak it to suit my (tiny) budget. Cheers Approved Site Plan.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 Will definitely do the pimped up Columbo routine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Sounds good. Relative of mine just has a pump to send sewerage up hill to the main in the road. Seems to be reasonably trouble free. Not sure if you need more than that these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Guess I should check you know about the CIL exemption for self builders? To qualify you must not do any work on site before getting the paperwork done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 Actually I rang Herefordshire planning about that this morning Temp, apparently they suspended CIL in 2016, so my understanding is I don't need to go through the exemption process...maybe a stroke of luck there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Welcome. Check, and double check, that the utilities will actually be able to provide services at a reasonable price. When we first saw our plot, it was advertised as having outline PP and "services available". Electricity and a telephone connection weren't too much of a problem, around £3.5k. However, a water connection was going to be ~£24k and a mains sewerage connection was going to be another ~£14k, plus the cost of the pump and pump chamber. The fact that our neighbours all have mains water and sewerage, and none have a pumped system, was neither here nor there. The vagaries of the way the water company work meant that we were going to be faced with a massive bill if we wanted their services. In the end we had a borehole drilled for water and installed a treatment plant for sewage, at a total cost of ~ 1/3rd of that for getting connections from the water company. Did I mention checking with the utilities? ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 Jeeeessus! That's scary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonshine Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Just now, Coops said: Jeeeessus! That's scary before you part with your hard earned cash, bottom out some of those costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 1 minute ago, Coops said: Jeeeessus! That's scary Yes! It's why checking with all the utilities is pretty critical. We were OK, as I did the checks with the utilities before we exchanged contracts, and when we found out that mains water and sewage were going to cost a lot, we negotiated the price of the plot down. The vendor knew full well about these utility costs, I'm sure, and I believe this is why he hadn't built on the plot himself. I'm pretty sure he got caught out by not checking with the utilities before he bought the plot, and when he found out the cost he just left the plot to get overgrown for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 Thanks Jeremy Just been on the Western Power website to apply for a site connection quote. How much power will I need for temporary power? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 5 minutes ago, Coops said: Thanks Jeremy Just been on the Western Power website to apply for a site connection quote. How much power will I need for temporary power? Best way to do it is to have your temp site supply be your final supply. E.g, on my site, I'm in the process of building the temp kiosk at the property boundary that the power company will bring their cable to. Once the house is ready, I'll dig a trench from the temp kiosk to the house and lay duct and cable. Then it's a matter of taking cable from kiosk to house. So, your temp connection application should be rated for your final demand. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 I did exactly as @Conor has described. I built a fence to hold a meter box, and did not ask SSE for a temporary supply, I asked them for a normal 100 A supply. The only thing different between the two is that whilst the supply is being used as a temporary building supply it must be connected using a TT earthing system (i.e. an earth electrode and 100mA RCD) and when the house is built the supply can then be reconfigured to be (most probably) TN-C-S. Not a problem at all, just a matter of moving the earth wire over and connecting it to the PE terminal in the cut out housing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Welcome @Coops: yep, self building is, occasionally a wonderful laxative. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 28 minutes ago, Conor said: Best way to do it is to have your temp site supply be your final supply. E.g, on my site, I'm in the process of building the temp kiosk at the property boundary that the power company will bring their cable to. Once the house is ready, I'll dig a trench from the temp kiosk to the house and lay duct and cable. Then it's a matter of taking cable from kiosk to house. So, your temp connection application should be rated for your final demand. Thanks Connor that makes total sense, I'll perhaps house it in the existing outbuilding, priceless advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 2 hours ago, Jeremy Harris said: Welcome. Check, and double check, that the utilities will actually be able to provide services at a reasonable price. When we first saw our plot, it was advertised as having outline PP and "services available". Electricity and a telephone connection weren't too much of a problem, around £3.5k. However, a water connection was going to be ~£24k and a mains sewerage connection was going to be another ~£14k, plus the cost of the pump and pump chamber. The fact that our neighbours all have mains water and sewerage, and none have a pumped system, was neither here nor there. The vagaries of the way the water company work meant that we were going to be faced with a massive bill if we wanted their services. In the end we had a borehole drilled for water and installed a treatment plant for sewage, at a total cost of ~ 1/3rd of that for getting connections from the water company. Did I mention checking with the utilities? ? Filled out the online form for a Western Power connection offer??? Now for water and sewerage, what’s the deal there...? Do I go to an approved contractor or water company direct..my water company is Severn Trent BTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Just now, Coops said: Filled out the online form for a Western Power connection offer??? Now for water and sewerage, what’s the deal there...? Do I go to an approved contractor or water company direct..my water company is Severn Trent BTW. Initially go to the water company and get them to quote. With all the utilities (except Openreach) you should get a quote that's broken down to contestable and non-contestable work. The contestable work can be done by any approved contractor, the non-contestable work can only be done by the utility. This means you can sometimes save money by getting one contractor to do all the trenching and making good, for all the services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 2 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said: Initially go to the water company and get them to quote. With all the utilities (except Openreach) you should get a quote that's broken down to contestable and non-contestable work. The contestable work can be done by any approved contractor, the non-contestable work can only be done by the utility. This means you can sometimes save money by getting one contractor to do all the trenching and making good, for all the services. Gotcha..thanks Jeremy?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 And when it comes to water ~ make sure their design includes a valve which isolates your property, and which you can turn off. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 Just now, AnonymousBosch said: And when it comes to water ~ make sure their design includes a valve which isolates your property, and which you can turn off. Cheers AB Just been onto Severn Trent site, they want £137 quid just to supply a quote..! Do you reckon a local contractor might be able to give an accurate estimation? The plot is accessed via a council adopted road which serves neighbouring properties (I think) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 2 hours ago, Conor said: Best way to do it is to have your temp site supply be your final supply. E.g, on my site, I'm in the process of building the temp kiosk at the property boundary that the power company will bring their cable to. Once the house is ready, I'll dig a trench from the temp kiosk to the house and lay duct and cable. Then it's a matter of taking cable from kiosk to house. So, your temp connection application should be rated for your final demand. Conor, what's a temporary site kiosk actually look like? Will they insist on one of those metal enclosures like BT use bolted down to a concrete slab or can it be something a little bit more primative (and cheaper?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 3 hours ago, Coops said: There is an electrical post just inside the land Are there any cables to/from that post that may be in the way of any future build or any scaffolding that would be needed to construct the new house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coops Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 Thankfully no, its not in the way of the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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