Demolition & Self-build in East Cambs

[srowe]

Greetings all, my wife and I are just embarking on our first self-build and would be grateful for any advice as the process seems loaded with pit-falls!

 

We are in the process of purchasing the house next door to us. It's in a very dilapidated state and not suitable for renovation, but the plot is quite long so demolishing and building a new building will give a very nice home. We're in a Conservation Area so we've already had a protracted battle with the CO just to get agreement in principle to demolish. We're fortunate to have a local Architectural Technician who's very experienced with the working of the Planning Dept, and he's now started with some outline plans.

 

We're lucky in that we will be financing this ourselves, and we'll be next to the site to keep an eye on things. We're looking to manage individual contractors ourselves, we know a number of tradesmen (active and retired) that we can call on for some advice. There will undoubtedly be surprises (mostly of an unpleasant sort) but we've done many crazy things in our 30+ years of marriage I'm sure we'll be able to conquer this one.

[BotusBuild]

Welcome to the site, and well done for taking the decision to demolish and rebuild - that will remove a lot of unpleasant surprises in the long term. Most of them will now be in the short term as you find out what's in the ground 😉 

Good you've got tradespeople to call on which will shortcut a lot of research time that many here undertake (myself included).

Crack on and good luck

[Nickfromwales]

Architectural technicians are usually less pretentious and much better value for money.

 

I take it you know you’ll be zero VAT rated for a replicant dwelling also?

 

Start asking questions and searching the forum, fail to prepare - prepare to fail.

Much better, and far less stressful, to understand the problem and resolve it before hand vs on the fly when the money clock is ticking   

[srowe]

It seemed to be a no-brainer, especially when we learned about being able to reclaim VAT. The existing house is also too close to a main road, our AT is confident that we can push back the front wall to level with our house, which will give us a small front garden.

[ToughButterCup]

10 minutes ago, srowe said:

...

We're lucky in that we will be financing this ourselves, and we'll be next to the site to keep an eye on things. We're looking to manage individual contractors ourselves, we know a number of tradesmen (active and retired) that we can call on for some advice. 

...

 

Excellent set up.  Same as ours.

Sometimes over the last few years I wished I lived off site - it became difficult to put the job down. But on the other hand you can '... just pop up there  and measure [] ...' 

Its knowing the trades folks networks that is worth more than money.

 

 

Good luck

Ian

[srowe]

2 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Architectural technicians are usually less pretentious and much better value for money.

 

I take it you know you’ll be zero VAT rated for a replicant dwelling also?

 

Start asking questions and searching the forum, fail to prepare - prepare to fail.

Much better, and far less stressful, to understand the problem and resolve it before hand vs on the fly when the money clock is ticking   

 

He's local and was recommended by a retired builder and a friend, he's done hours of work so far and doesn't seem inclined to bill us a great deal yet. I think he regards our battle with the CO as a challenge and is determined to beat him 😀.

Yes, reclaiming VAT is really going to be a financial bonus.

[srowe]

10 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

Excellent set up.  Same as ours.

Sometimes over the last few years I wished I lived off site - it became difficult to put the job down. But on the other hand you can '... just pop up there  and measure [] ...' 

Its knowing the trades folks networks that is worth more than money.

I'm also fortunate to be able to work from home 4 days a week. Once things get busy I'll try and go down to a 4 day working week, that way I'll have a day set aside solely for this mad adventure.

[Buzz]

Welcome along 

At a guess I would say your not too far from our build, we are in fenland but very close to the west Norfolk border. 

Good decision to demolish and rebuild not only do you get the VAT back but your services should be relatively straightforward as well something we had issues causing big delays with.

Good luck

 

[twice round the block]

Great to take on the neighbouring property.

That's one less person that can object to the planning proposal 😇

[FuerteStu]

Next door site.. Very handy. 

 

You can use the WiFi, keep an eye on things in terms of security. Have home comforts when on site and keep an eye on the trades. Perfect arrangement! 

[G and J]

We are about to start demolishing a bungalow and building a house, but not next door. 
 

Some things we’ve discovered so far that I wish I’d known earlier:

 

Party wall agreements can be a real pain.  Not so much in the cost of them, though that’s stupid in its own right, but more in the pain it them causes with site insurance.  Sigh. 
 

Gas disconnection is circa £2k, and unlike gas connection is not subsided.  Senseless.  Bigger sigh.
 

Having the lecky disconnected and reconnected for us means going underground, which for us meant going under the road.  Should have allowed 12weeks to get this booked in, and it also cost best part of £10k.  Huge sigh.

 

An asbestos survey (called something less sinister but that’s what it is) is required before demolition, ours was done by a guy from our local demolition co.  Why not get it done pre exchange if you can.  We were lucky in that nothing dangerous detected, but one never knows.  Grin.

 

Demolition is stupidly cheap for what it is, but it’s wasteful.  We are planning to do some of it ourselves to save money but just as importantly to reclaim materials that would be landfill with a demolition contractor.  The roof timbers, as the best example, are long lengths of 4” by 2” and the wood quality is better than you can now buy.  I can’t use it in the main build, I have to use inferior stuff with paperwork, but I can use it elsewhere.  Chuckle.

 

I would never have believed what peeps snap up when it’s free on gumtree or Facebook marketplace.  The kitchen with cooker and hood went to a good home, they even dismantled it with me.   We’ve a stand alone concrete sectional garage that’s been claimed and is awaiting collection.  I’m told the plastic windows and doors will be snapped up too.  And we are sort of selling the clay French pan tiles too.  All good re-use and less landfill.  Big grin.
 

Being within a metre of a boundary imposes lots of fire related regulations on the design and the build sequencing.  It won’t cost us silly money but there is a cost and it needs factoring in, and the earlier you start the better we have found.  Small sigh.

 

None of this may be relevant to you, but I thought I’d share in case. 

[G and J]

1 minute ago, FuerteStu said:

Next door site.. Very handy. 

 

You can use the WiFi, keep an eye on things in terms of security. Have home comforts when on site and keep an eye on the trades. Perfect arrangement! 

And you get to check your welfare suite (aka downstairs loo) every day too.  Lovely.    :-< 

[srowe]

2 minutes ago, G and J said:

An asbestos survey (called something less sinister but that’s what it is) is required before demolition, ours was done by a guy from our local demolition co.  Why not get it done pre exchange if you can.  We were lucky in that nothing dangerous detected, but one never knows.  Grin.

This is very relevant to us: the roof on the rear is certainly asbestos sheets and the surveyor suggested the front "slates" were too. I'll raise a new thread in the appropriate subforum shortly.

[Russell griffiths]

Can you move the boundary to make both plots better ?

 

why no talk to the co and find out what he would like the front to look like, then build around that style, get him on your side. 
 

look at any trees and large shrubs that might need removal, you will need to submit a 6 week written notice of intent as you are in a conservation area. 
 

Put a pic up when you are the new owners. 
we like pics. 

[G and J]

7 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

Put a pic up when you are the new owners. 
we like pics. 

Oh put a pic up now, why be bashful.  lol

 

And why hang about posting given that you are aware that you’ve got asbestos to deal with, get a surveyor in.  Our survey only cost £350 and we had results from the testing in a week.

[Gone West]

At our last place we lived in an old bungalow and built a new Passivhaus in the garden so we were on site all the time and had services to site. Two things which made life a lot easier. At the end of the build we dismantled the old timber framed bungalow, after all the asbestos sheets which lined the whole inside of the bungalow, had been removed. We gave away all the timber on Freecycle and had the concrete crushed and we used it for the driveway.

[srowe]

31 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

Can you move the boundary to make both plots better ?

 

why no talk to the co and find out what he would like the front to look like, then build around that style, get him on your side. 
 

look at any trees and large shrubs that might need removal, you will need to submit a 6 week written notice of intent as you are in a conservation area. 
 

Put a pic up when you are the new owners. 
we like pics. 

Something we hadn't considered. I think, given our house (no. 60) is right on the boundary, that might not be a goer.

 

The CO has made it clear he'll be particular about what the front elevation looks like. From my experience of him he doesn't appear to have a reasonable side to get on to...

 

There are a couple of mature trees in the rear garden, which we intend to keep. There are laurel bushes that we certainly want gone, will paperwork be required for those?

 

[srowe]

Photos lifted from the Estate Agent listing.

[G and J]

3 minutes ago, srowe said:

From my experience of him he doesn't appear to have a reasonable side to get on to...

May I suggest you assume that they are reasonable, and also allow for the fact that day in day out they are used to dealing with unfriendly, p’d off developers who are intent on getting one over on them.

 

If you read the posts on here you will conclude that East Suffolk planners are all anti-christs.   Our experience is that they’ve been lovely, and very balanced in their views, which we in turn have respected.  This stuff is often far more adversarial than it really need be.  
 

It may not work, but it would be good if it did.  

[srowe]

1 minute ago, G and J said:

May I suggest you assume that they are reasonable, and also allow for the fact that day in day out they are used to dealing with unfriendly, p’d off developers who are intent on getting one over on them.

We started off assuming that (although our AT warned that he could be a bit of a stickler). Our opinion of him took a downward spiral when he announced at the start of the site visit that he'd already written the report saying "no"...

[Nickfromwales]

8 hours ago, srowe said:

Yes, reclaiming VAT is really going to be a financial bonus.

But not as big a bonus as "reverse VAT" on a LOT of things, meaning you don't pay the VAT in the first place, and therefore you don't have to go out of pocket from the get-go and wait until the end of the build to get it back  

[LnP]

10 hours ago, srowe said:

There are laurel bushes that we certainly want gone, will paperwork be required for those?

 

 

The official answer, "All trees with a stem/trunk diameter of 75mm (approximately 3 inches) or more at a height of 1.5m from the ground are protected in a Conservation Area." So no you don't.

We're in a conservation area. You should ask your AT what successes he's had dealing with your planners to check he has a track record of success. You mentioned he was up for a fight and was cheap, which might not be the best selection criteria. We have an architect but also engaged a planning consultant and are glad we did.

[G and J]

11 minutes ago, LnP said:

The official answer, "All trees with a stem/trunk diameter of 75mm (approximately 3 inches) or more at a height of 1.5m from the ground are protected in a Conservation Area." So no you don't.

We're in a conservation area. You should ask your AT what successes he's had dealing with your planners to check he has a track record of success. You mentioned he was up for a fight and was cheap, which might not be the best selection criteria. We have an architect but also engaged a planning consultant and are glad we did.

Good grief.  Thank goodness we aren’t in a conservation area.   I’ve removed many laurel stems well over 3” in diameter and many over 12’ high.  
 

Laurel is generally thought of as disposable I believe, as it is such a thug, but better to be squeaky clean methinks. 

[srowe]

13 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

But not as big a bonus as "reverse VAT" on a LOT of things, meaning you don't pay the VAT in the first place, and therefore you don't have to go out of pocket from the get-go and wait until the end of the build to get it back  

I wasn't aware that it was actually possible to skip paying the VAT in the first place, thanks for the heads up.

[G and J]

1 minute ago, srowe said:

I wasn't aware that it was actually possible to skip paying the VAT in the first place, thanks for the heads up.

I think broadly anything that’s ’supply and fit’ can be zero rated.   Anything ‘supply only’ cannot and at best has to be reclaimed.  
 

As for plant hire, I think that can be zero rated if you hire the operator with it, not otherwise.