Starting Off: Site Purchased (subject to planning)

ChippingSodbury

Hi,
After a long time looking, we have finally purchased a site. The person from whom we purchased needs a quick sale so we will try to facilitate by submitting plans very soon. We have a good idea what we want in terms of house design and have already talked to the Planning Dept in the County Council.
The house will be around 1800-2000 sqft and either single storey or single-storey with part 1 3/4 storey.
We have already spoken to and will probably engage a designer/ planning consultant. He's from the local area and has a good reputation. He has suggested submitting the planning application using one of his previous designs that will be fairly close to what we want and then, if necessary, applying for change of house planning once the initial planning is (hopefully!) approved. Is this (within reason) a fairly straightforward process?

Anyway, the real questions I have are as follows:
1. Should I go for Timber-frame or block construction? I think my preference is for timber-frame. Does this affect the overall sqft construction cost?
2. What type of windows should I install? Are standard double-glazed windows a thing of the past or should I go for triple-glazed?
3. Is it worth installing an MHRV? Do you need to use timber-frame to get the required air-tightness?
4. I would like to install solar panels for hot water. Is there a case for installing PV panels for elec?
5. Are sewage treatment systems dependent on the ground conditions or are there preferences for treatment types?

Are there any ROI calculators out there for domestic builds?

Thanks for any help that you can throw my way. Feel free to PM me if there's any info you want to give that can't be displayed on the forum.

muffler

ChippingSodbury wrote: »

He has suggested submitting the planning application using one of his previous designs that will be fairly close to what we want and then, if necessary, applying for change of house planning once the initial planning is (hopefully!) approved. Is this (within reason) a fairly straightforward process?

Cant see any real problems with that arrangement. I have done this a few times in the past to facilitate clients for various reasons but usually when we were pressed for time.

ChippingSodbury wrote: »

1. Should I go for Timber-frame or block construction? I think my preference is for timber-frame. Does this affect the overall sqft construction cost?
2. What type of windows should I install? Are standard double-glazed windows a thing of the past or should I go for triple-glazed?
3. Is it worth installing an MHRV? Do you need to use timber-frame to get the required air-tightness?
4. I would like to install solar panels for hot water. Is there a case for installing PV panels for elec?
5. Are sewage treatment systems dependent on the ground conditions or are there preferences for treatment types?

To answer the points above and/or give an opinion:

1. Only you can decide that. There are pros and cons and the old timber frame v block build query has been debated to death at this stage. My personal choice would be block build but as I said it will be your choice. Construction costs wont vary that much with perhaps a bit of saving on the labour element with TF but for durability the block build will prevail.

2. You should discuss this with your BER assessor as all elements are taken into account. Double glazed windows will still comply with the 2011 Part L regs however triple glazed, while costing a bit more obviously, would be recommended.

3. Again the BER assessor will probably advise better based on other factors which will be taken into account.

4. Once again its a bit of a personal choice. In my neck of the woods the solar panels would be the most popular choice.

5. Yes, the systems are site specific and are determined as a result of a site assessment.

ChippingSodbury wrote: »

Are there any ROI calculators out there for domestic builds?

There's not really as there are so many variants just as you outlined above.

rayjdav

Basically what Muffler said bar the point of submitting a temporary set of plans????? Why?

I know you said to expedite the process to help the vendor? Why? Take your time as you will have to pay a second time to get the house design you actually want. There would also be no guarante that your revised plans would get approval.

Also, you need time to get budget/finance etc in place. No point rushing to help someone else when you could be left with a big bogey of land thats no use to you... Shoe on other foot he would be suiting his own timeframe and needs, be sure of it.

Just my two cents...

ChippingSodbury

Hi,
Yes, I hear what you're saying regarding expediting the process. But the particular site suits us 100% so we really want it. The vendor is under serious financial pressure and as a result may need to sell without planning if the process is protracted (we wouldn't be prepared to take the chance of buying w/out planning). So, there will be a six month window in the contract for planning: it's tight but with proper communication with the Council pre-submission, hopefully we will either get it or not within the allotted timeframe.

Does anyone have any pointers to sites that have info that would help me to do my own ROI calcs?

One item I forgot on the previous list of questions was on geothermal heating. What are people's feelings about this? Is it a success? How dependent is it on the elec price i.e. what price does elec need to go to before the system costs more than conventional heating methods?

THanks.