Advice please

[Mikeh789]

Hello

We are looking to relocate from Cumbria to the Isle of Mull and are exploring our possibilities for a self build and were wondering if anyone had any experience or views or simply knew of anything about this company outside of what their website says?

http://www.sceniclets.com

 

Thanks

[ProDave]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

 

Are you looking for a permanent home or a holiday home?

 

The site you linked to I would say are aiming their product at holiday homes. You only have to look at the layouts, no proper kitchens just a kitchenette. And the price per square metre, particularly for the smaller units seems a bit high.  I think you could do a lot better with a traditional timber framed design which we are good at up here.

 

Do you have a plot already? if not that is your first goal.

[Nickfromwales]

Our own crofter has a great blog about his 'wee hoos' here...

And welcome to the forum . 

 

[Jeremy Harris]

The title of this thread reads exactly like an advert for this company, any chance it could be edited?  I'm not a fan of unsolicited adverts, plus it's against forum policy, unless we've decided to change it recently.  If it's not an advert, then can we just lose the web site title and the hyperlink to the manufacturer, please, as all that's doing is gaining them the oxygen of publicity every time search bots pick it up.

[Mikeh789]

Hello everyone, thanks for the welcome and the replies

 

ProDave; We are looking for both really, we've seen a building which is 'T' shaped - a two bed house with a one bed owners accommodation attached. We are exploring this design and hope to get some ideas from the timber frame companies as to whether or not this is do able. As for land we are in contact with the owners of some land for sale, it has outline planning permission at the moment. Obviously we don't want to purchase until we know we can put something on it.

 

Nick, thanks for the discussion regarding my post. When I get 5 minutes I'll take a look at that blog.

 

Again, thanks for the input

 

Mike

[Jeremy Harris]

If the land has outline PP, then the principle of development has been approved, so there isn't a risk of not being able to build on it, the only risk is that the detail of what will be built has to be agreed in the application for approval of reserved matters.  If you want to build something that is outwith any constraints there may be in the outline PP, then you might need to submit a new planning application, but in general this would only be the case if there are tight conditions on the outline approval, and in general there shouldn't be, and any conditions there are are likely to also be applied to the final approval of reserved matters, anyway.

 

One key things is that any building needs to be designed to fit the site, and it's quite rare to be able to take an off-the-peg design and just plonk it on a site.  The site plays such a massive part in everything, from the location of doors and windows, to the position of service and drain runs, that it will influence almost every aspect of the final design in practice.

Edited June 15, 2017 by JSHarris

[ProDave]

Re the outline PP (actually called Planning In Principle up here). You need to read the small print and conditions of the PIP carefully.  There is a "trap" the owner may have fallen into.

 

When we found our plot, it had long lapsed PP (from 1980) so we made an offer to buy it subject to getting PP for it, and then submitted a PIP application. The application was very scant on details, just a very rough idea of the size and very rough position of the house, but no details.  The PIP came back with a set of standard conditions relating the the "housing in the countryside" local policy about being no more than 1.5 storeys, white render finish, 45 degree roof, natural slate roof, vertical emphasis on windows etc.

 

Now this was fine for us as that was what we intended. We did argue the point about not using slate at the detailed plans stage, and instead used the only one "slate like" concrete roof tile that the planners would allow.

 

But if you want to build a really contemporary house design, it may be allowed, but you really want to state the details as early as possible.  Applying for something contemporary when the PIP conditions say traditional, and it may well be refused.

 

It definitely sounds like you want a bespoke house built to your design, so looking at a company that makes a few standard designs is not going to get what you want.

 

A Tee shaped house is what we built last time and is very common up here so you won't have issues with that.

 

Re the land purchase, do as we did, make an offer to buy it subject to getting planning permission for what you want. If the seller is happy to accept that sort of offer then you submit a planning application (you don't need to own the land to do that but you must serve notice on the owner that you are doing that). Then the buying process goes on hold until the planning is sorted. If you get the PP you want then you "conclude the missives" (Scottish equivalent of exchange contracts) otherwise if you can't get the PP you want, you walk away and the deal is cancelled. You must use a Scottish solicitor to make an offer for property in Scotland, preferably one that is experienced in building plots. There are lots of other things to consider like access, location of services, waste water drainage, any deeds of servitude (easments) required if any services have to cross other land to get to your plot etc.