Just getting started

[KayleyH]

Hello, we are just at the very beginning of thinking about doing an extension, single storey, I am hoping for basically one big room added onto the back of our house.  (We are a bit rural and back onto farmland so there are no houses around us).  Has anyone got any advice regarding how the process works overall and how their experiences have been.  Hubby is trying to prepare me for the extent of upheaval while it all happens.  What are the worst bits?  Our next step is to speak to some architects to see the type of thing they would recommend, so we are only at the very, very beginning of thinking about it.  Would be grateful to hear your experiences.  Many thanks.

[ToughButterCup]

2 hours ago, KayleyH said:

... What are the worst bits?...

 

• Thinking that (local) Planners care about your planning application
• Neighbourhood objections
• Listening to idiots on the Parish Council citing invalid objectings to your development.
• Waiting for a planning application Decision Notice
• Failure to plan in sufficient detail
• Architects designing what they want , not what you want
• Charlatan trades folk.
• Trades who do not answer the phone, or return your call in a timely manner
• Weather
• Changing your mind about important stuff after you have started building your 'dream' extension
• Any trade  that does not do what it says it will do, - on time - on budget - on specification.
• Invoices with so little  detail that even a saint would become suspicious
• Builders who charge VAT on a self-build supply and fit contract - and who will not be told that domestic clients are not charged VAT
• Not having a sense of humour

Welcome by the way!

That'll do for starters.  Waste time on BH. Time well spent.

[nod]

25 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

 

• Thinking that (local) Planners care about your planning application
• Neighbourhood objections
• Listening to idiots on the Parish Council citing invalid objectings to your development.
• Waiting for a planning application Decision Notice
• Failure to plan in sufficient detail
• Architects designing what they want , not what you want
• Charlatan trades folk.
• Trades who do not answer the phone, or return your call in a timely manner
• Weather
• Changing your mind about important stuff after you have started building your 'dream' extension
• Any trade  that does not do what it says it will do, - on time - on budget - on specification.
• Invoices with so little  detail that even a saint would become suspicious
• Builders who charge VAT on a self-build supply and fit contract - and who will not be told that domestic clients are not charged VAT
• Not having a sense of humour

Welcome by the way!

That'll do for starters.  Waste time on BH. Time well spent.

Brilliant Ian ?

[KayleyH]

think my hubby is going to enjoy reading this, haha ?

[Gone West]

7 hours ago, KayleyH said:

we are only at the very, very beginning of thinking about it

Have a look at permitted development rules and then maybe you can forget about the LA Planning process.

[cowsgomoo]

The worst bit is the volatile industry right now, and architects, structural engineers, building control and builders are all incredibly busy. Double the amount of time/money you expect it will take, then add some more!!! 

 

Maybe someone else can suggest the best bits tho?! i just havent got that far ?

[KayleyH]

?

[ToughButterCup]

4 hours ago, cowsgomoo said:

...

Maybe someone else can suggest the best bits tho?! i just havent got that far ?

 

Just clearing the site today and it occured to me as I filled the skip (last one?)

• I know what I paid for every bit  of 'rubbish' I threw away ?
• The early evening sunset on the cladding

 

• knowing everything about a house
• knowing I can pull myself up from major disasters

 

• being grateful for all the friendship  of the vast majority of (chatty) passers-by.
• the banter on BH
• knowing what some locals really think of the house, as opposed to what they say in  public fora
• all the well-meaning advice from everyone who offered it
• the silence from those passers-by manage to read my non-verbal cues
• @SteamyTea, @PeterW, @Stones, @ProDave, @Dudda, @jack, @Moonshine, @scottishjohn, @pocster, @Onoff , @Jeremy Harris, @Construction Channel, @the_r_sole, @Crofter, @Ferdinand, @MikeSharp01, @newhome  , @Declan52, the Mods, The Foundation Group (I've missed some I'm sure) , all people who have bothered to give me their time and thought
• my mates who come round and (mostly) help. If you buy a digger, they just want the keys.
• the ability to keep going under pressure: if I didn't have that pressure, I'd become a fat(ter) slob 
• the knowledge that I'm probably over-priviledged: at least very very lucky. Retiring the day we got PP and done nowt else but this for the last 5 / 6 years. I've lost count of the passers by who stop and talk wistfully about their dream of being able to do what I have
• That gorgeous lass who jogs  past the site in top to toe super-tight lycra, smiles widely, says Hi. She melts my withers every damn time. 

That do ya?

Edited September 27, 2021 by ToughButterCup

[SteamyTea]

2 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

knowing I can pull myself up from major disasters

And your trousers up from minor ones.

 

Now this jogger, does she jiggle.

[Pocster]

I’m famous ! Thanks for the mention !! ?

Edited September 27, 2021 by pocster

[Jilly]

This will give you an idea, an easy read: The Haynes Home Extension Manual 

 

 

https://haynes.com/en-gb/home-extension-manual-3rd-edition

[Ferdinand]

3 hours ago, pocster said:

I’m famous ! Thanks for the mention !! ?

 

You were added by a mod in a moment of madness,

 

Maybe.

 

[Ferdinand]

The music. Especially the Planning Officers’ song, when you ask ANY question.

 

 

[ToughButterCup]

11 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

...

Now this jogger, does she jiggle.

 

That's the delight. No. It's her smile ....

[SteamyTea]

33 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

 

That's the delight. No. It's her smile ....

On a more serous note, you were keeping a spreadsheet of your costs.  I know I teased you years ago about the upfront costs before building started, but I am genuinely interested in this barrier to entry for self builder.  Especially as the governments pretend to promote self building as a potential cure for the housing crisis.

So how is it getting on, any numbers worth looking at?

 

And

 

[ToughButterCup]

1 hour ago, SteamyTea said:

...

So how is it getting on, any numbers worth looking at?

 

Yes, but the details will have to remain private. If I could annonomise our detailed numbers, I would publish them. But it feels like inappropriate disclosure to detail every small transaction. Its too 'exposing'. Many people lurk on BuildHub.

 

Broadly, - taking out the costs of the collapse -  we are on target for £1745:00 per square meter (More than double  @nod's figures) Dunno whether - for an complete novice -  thats good or bad . It kind of doesn't matter because once you start the project, there's precious few exit points. You just have to keep going.

 

Discussion of costs is always complex because there's no standardised way of accounting for them.  What is a legitimate cost centre for a self build? Phone bills? Garden gnomes? Travel to Planning Department Council meetings? So you use the HMRC list (of allowable costs for VAT purposes) as a basis, but that misses out very large cost centres.   

So I used @Jeremy Harris's model as a starting point and adapted that in the light of a couple of other spreadsheet models.

The other thing  - of which I'm certain - is that I've made errors in calculation. How large they are, I'm not sure, but tiredness alone will account for some - or many - errors. 

 

Now, those errors don't matter. We're nearly done building, I'm already looking for something else that pushes me really hard.

Its got to be both hard physical work and intellectually challenging.

 

To answer @KayleyH directly, the good bit isn't stopping, it isn't the house on its own,  its the process of getting from idea to reality.

 

Once I  'get there' , I for one have to find something apprpriate for a 68 year old to keep pushing myself. 

Edited September 28, 2021 by ToughButterCup

[Ferdinand]

Since we are on music videos, do not forget your seasonal management, and ways of creating firm ground.

 

 

If you get too much of it, you will be the Pablo Escobar of Kayleyland.

 

[epsilonGreedy]

On 23/09/2021 at 09:15, KayleyH said:

(We are a bit rural and back onto farmland so there are no houses around us).

 

 

One gotcha that I encountered in the past was a rural property with a nice plot, however most of the back garden was still classified as arable land from a planning perspective. The official ornamental back garden was tiny which might have hindered building an extension.

 

I suggest sounding out your local planning department to assess what is permissible before advancing with detailed plans. 

[Ferdinand]

54 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

 

One gotcha that I encountered in the past was a rural property with a nice plot, however most of the back garden was still classified as arable land from a planning perspective. The official ornamental back garden was tiny which might have hindered building an extension.

 

I suggest sounding out your local planning department to assess what is permissible before advancing with detailed plans. 

 

Good call.

 

If part of it remains farmland, or you want farmland to be a 'part of your garden', there are things you can do.

 

eg You could make it an orchard, or a meadow where you exercise your right to do non-farming things on it for 28 days each year.

 

What you don't do is make the agricultural bit look like a garden. 

 

Can do all sorts of things with the 28 day rule.