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I've seriously got to consider living on site. The travelling is getting to me and the days when I get there and the weather turns means I can't get much done and I've wasted fuel and 2 hours of driving. I'm thinking get through this winter at home and then as soon as the really cold weather ends, move onto site into a caravan. My mate reckons good used ones are around £3  -3.5k plus haulage. Other option is rent a place locally but I have a dog so that's not always easy.

 

So I'm wondering for the people who've done this:

 

How bad was/is it?  

 

What did you do with all your possessions?

 

How do you organise getting your post with no formal address?

 

How does this affect insurance?

 

Am I right in saying you start paying council tax at the lowest band?

 

Cheers

 

Vijay

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9 minutes ago, Vijay said:

I've seriously got to consider living on site. The travelling is getting to me and the days when I get there and the weather turns means I can't get much done and I've wasted fuel and 2 hours of driving. I'm thinking get through this winter at home and then as soon as the really cold weather ends, move onto site into a caravan. My mate reckons good used ones are around £3  -3.5k plus haulage. Other option is rent a place locally but I have a dog so that's not always easy.

 

So I'm wondering for the people who've done this:

 

How bad was/is it?  

 

What did you do with all your possessions?

 

How do you organise getting your post with no formal address?

 

How does this affect insurance?

 

Am I right in saying you start paying council tax at the lowest band?

 

Cheers

 

Vijay

 

On the address, the Council had the address here as "The Caravan, xx xxxxxxxx Lane ..".

 

I think once you are assessed as Band A Council Tax, you have an address.

 

F

 

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It's normal to include temporary permission for a residential caravan as part of the planning application for the house. I suspect you would be okay even if you didn't as there is some law that allows temporary buildings related to the build.

 

You pay band A council tax. We had the council tax valuer sniffing about very early on, I met him on site twice.  When we did finally move in and I contacted him, he said "let me get your file...... Ah I see I have been to your site 17 times"  I recon he must have been visiting monthly so see if there was any sign we had moved into the caravan.

 

Re post. In our case there is not even a street name, so all houses just have a house name, the village name and postcode.  We chose a new name for the house and started using it, first on the utility bills. We have no problem getting post delivered.  when the council tax man came, he put it on the valuation list as "caravan, house name, village....." he said that was so that when we occupy the house they can delete the caravan from the valuation list and add the house name on it's own to the list. This is the only post we receive addressed to the caravan.

 

You can get a used static for as little as £1000 but you will probably want to pay more for a better one. We paid £4000 for ours but that was because it has a very unusual layout that suits us better and suits future use of it better, so it was buy it at that price while it was available. It was probably a fair price, it is in good condition.

 

They will be very cold and damp in the winter (we are hoping to start sleeping in the house before Christmas to avoid the worst of the cold) You can mitigate that with lots of heating and accept your heating bills will be high, but offset by road fuel savings.  I have just put a wood burning stove in ours so at least some of the heating is free.

 

What I found here is buying from a dealer is easiest (there are two within 10 miles of us) as they will deliver a 'van they sell for free.  Neither of the 2 dealers are very interested in delivering 'vans they do not sell.  When we sold the last one from our previous build. the buyer had to get a haulage firm from 50 miles away to transport it as neither of the 2 local dealer would move it for him.

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My understanding is that building workers are allowed to live in a temporary building onsite without planning permission. The reason some people need planning permission is because their partners or children aren't, or can't be, classed as building workers, so their use of the building isn't "in connection with the operations being carried out on the land". 

 

From the GPDO..

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/596/pdfs/uksi_20150596_en.pdf

Page 50 says..



PART 4

Temporary buildings and uses

Class A – temporary buildings and structures

Permitted development

A. The provision on land of buildings, moveable structures, works, plant or machinery required temporarily in connection with and for the duration of operations being or to be carried out on, in, under or over that land or on land adjoining that land.

 

 

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It is also worth mentioning do you have a use for the 'van after the build?

 

We do. I want it to remain as a studio and workshop. The planners were not initially happy with that. But then I pointed out that on the day of completion, I could remove the 'van from site, then immediately replace it in an identical position, then it would qualify as a permitted development garden building.  they then changed the condition to "habitational use of the caravan will cease upon occupation of the house" meaning we can keep it as a studio, but can't use it for accommodation after the house is occupied.

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Seeing as I'm building it and it's just me and my dog, so I'm guessing my the statements above I wouldn't need permission.

 

Won't need it after the build but to be honest, I think it will be quite a while before I get a habitation certificate for the house. I only want it to basically sleep and allow me to walk into my house to work

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1 hour ago, ProDave said:

In storage in our old house (rented out but loft space and garage not included in rental)

Can't do my loft as it's converted but will bare the garage in mind. Not sure I'd even be able to get everything in my garage though.................................

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We also didn't move out of the old house until the basic shell of the new one was complete. So the loft of the new house is already full. We have the washing machine and tumble dryer set up in the house (you really don't want that shaking the caravan) and I have my office set up in the new house, where I am typing this.

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7 hours ago, Vijay said:

Jesus, I'm years off that!!! lol

My mate needed an property made 'habitable' ASAP as his girlfriends parents stumped up ~£54k for them to buy a non-mortgageable house at auction ( cash sale only then ) and they needed to pay back ASAP plus draw on the equity to refurb it. 

  • Second hand kitchen for a few hundred with electric free standing cooker, scrapped at the end
  • Same for bathroom, just WC basin and bath, no shower. No tiles or paint. 
  • Handrails ( cheap and nasty / used ) could be secured to some plywood strips over the stud work and still comply. 
  • Electric pamel radiators would get you through or fire up your Ufh with an Ellis heater. 

Do you have services yet? Can you connect a WC? 

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9 hours ago, ProDave said:

For a certificate of temporary habitation the house must be basically safe (i.e handrails on stairs in place etc) must have heating, one working bathroom and toilet, and a working kitchen.

What about plumbing and wiring. In order to be safe does it have to have a Part P certificate and a G3 certificate if needed?

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2 minutes ago, PeterStarck said:

What about plumbing and wiring. In order to be safe does it have to have a Part P certificate and a G3 certificate if needed?

 

Yes, is the simple answer, at least in England and Wales (not sure about Scotland and NI).  

 

The Part G3 sign off should be easy, as it only relates to the pressurised cylinder and its control group, but the Part P bit might be harder, as usually the sign off is for the whole installation.  You can separate this out, though.  I did, in that I had our initial electrical installation (that was just the temporary site supply wiring and the treatment plant outlet) signed off as one installation, and then had the main installation signed off later, once the house was complete.

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21 hours ago, ProDave said:

For a certificate of temporary habitation the house must be basically safe (i.e handrails on stairs in place etc) must have heating, one working bathroom and toilet, and a working kitchen.

What's the reason a kitchen is on their "must have" list? I could easily manage with a sink, fridge and a small halogen oven. Don't really need cupboards.

 

Bathroom is pretty easy to all plumb in with temp pipes and push fit fittings.

 

Does the whole house need to have electrics??

 

Is it the BCO who would issue a certificate? I'm guessing I should contact them to find out exactly what they expect.

 

 

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I think they are trying to establish it has all the basic needs for you to live in it safely and perform all usual functions you would expect in a house.  I am sure there is a great deal of flexibility.

 

We intend to start sleeping in the house soon, but will still be using the static for cooking, washing etc.

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Why not buy a camper van and avoid any issue at all with permission? As long as you have a chemical toilet, loads of room for man and dog! Fit a diesel Eberspacher and you have full central heating. :-) 

 

I had the BCO out this week as we look to a Temporary Habitation Cert. Says his boss doesn't like issuing them without good reason but as we have the garage to complete won't be an issue. Def need full electrical sign-off but if bits can be missed completely I. E garage, outside lighting he's not bothered. G3 for UVC. Handrails can be temporary as can steps and handrails to the house. At least one apartment must be heated. All smoke alarms must be fully operational. Kitchen. Use a Le. Utility and washing machines not needed. Doors to be on generally with facings to avoid jam hazard. Internal sills must be fitted. One operational bathroom - he accessible one I. E not the ensuite. Drainage tested. Soffits to be fitted and downpipes. 

 

Btw @VijayI'll be in Northampton week after next for a few days, might bring car down if you're about?

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