Our Victorian/industrial/canalside new build thread...
Discussion
So finally, after two years of preparation and a total rollercoaster ride to get this far, I'm actually able to start a build thread! 
A house move is well overdue for us, as we currently live in a small bungalow that we have totally outgrown, not helped by the fact that I work from home a lot too. We looked around at what our money would get us, and instead hatched a mad idea to look at actually building from scratch. We were very lucky, and grateful, in being able to do a deal with a family member on a piece of land right next to where my other half grew up in an area we both love. Our plot was always going to be very tricky on planning as it's in a conservation area, but we thought we'd give it a go.
To get this far has taken the best part of the two years mentioned earlier. Planning was a nightmare...we were originally told by the council that they wanted to see three houses, ours and two "affordable" units on the plot, where all we wanted was one, for ourselves, as what will most probably be our "life" home. There was no movement on this from the council, so three lots of planning fees, architects fees etc etc later and the first scheme was thrown out with a unanimous "no" from the planning committee for "over-development". Utterly frustrating to say the least as no-one wanted three houses, not us, not the committee, not the neighbours. So we had another go, with a new architect, and new faces in the planning department, better dialogue, and a new design of what we'd wanted all along, just our one house, and it went straight through. In fairness to the committee, they said that we'd gone away and done what they'd wanted to see to the design and they clearly had to pass it. A shame we wasted a year and many thousands of pounds but we got there in the end. Anyway, water under the bridge now I guess.
So, with the usual tendering process and the joy of a self build mortgage to arrange following our PP in the spring, we finally made a proper start this week. Here's some of the details...
This is our plot, outlined in white. We're very lucky to have a rural setting, but with a Victorian industrial feel, and at the same time only a few minutes from town and the railway station.
Obviously because of the industrial/heritage feel of the place, we needed to be very conservative with the design, and we have essentially copied a couple of the original houses in the area. So it should have a nice traditional character feel, but with all the advantages and efficiency of a modern house. Size was always going to be limited due to the planning requirements, and our budget! Double man-cave was always firmly on the agenda though...be great to have somewhere to garage my ageing Boxster over the winter!
We've gone for bifolds to the kitchen and living room, and really want to make use of the patio that will be between the two, and catch the afternoon sun in summer.
The place was seriously overgrown as it had not been grazed for a while. There was also an old farm trailer under this bush of brambles...after a few hours with a hand slasher I was able to drag it out with my old Discovery. Apparently it had not moved for 40 years but amazingly the tyres were still inflated and the wheels turned just fine!
Next was the job of clearing the undergrowth down. There is a lot of soil to come out and be tipped, and we need piling too. I decided the best bet rather than paying for a one off clearance was to buy a somewhat over-specced lawn tractor, which I could use after the build or sell on if needed, so eBay came up with 14hp of Briggs and Stratton powered British engineering, a Countax K14 Twin. (This pic was taken after I'd done the clearing and given it a good clean and service)
I think if I'd just had a normal lawn, the Countax would have been fine, but being 21 years old and a bit tired I'm afraid it ended up being thrashed to within an inch of it's life, and I ended up wearing out the belts, and snapping the transaxle brackets with my slight over-zealous trials-car style bumping for traction! However, it just about managed the job, and is now fully sorted so it should get an easier life now, it's a very well made piece of kit with a very Meccano/Land Rover feel to it.
Got there in the end (iPhone pano shot so looks bigger/distorted in this pic)
And this week, the electricity board were in, replacing some old poles and moving a supply cable from directly over where the house will be...
Nice toys to play with...after all this is PH...
Anyway, that's all for now. The diggers move in soon and the groundwork and piling commence. More to follow!
A house move is well overdue for us, as we currently live in a small bungalow that we have totally outgrown, not helped by the fact that I work from home a lot too. We looked around at what our money would get us, and instead hatched a mad idea to look at actually building from scratch. We were very lucky, and grateful, in being able to do a deal with a family member on a piece of land right next to where my other half grew up in an area we both love. Our plot was always going to be very tricky on planning as it's in a conservation area, but we thought we'd give it a go.
To get this far has taken the best part of the two years mentioned earlier. Planning was a nightmare...we were originally told by the council that they wanted to see three houses, ours and two "affordable" units on the plot, where all we wanted was one, for ourselves, as what will most probably be our "life" home. There was no movement on this from the council, so three lots of planning fees, architects fees etc etc later and the first scheme was thrown out with a unanimous "no" from the planning committee for "over-development". Utterly frustrating to say the least as no-one wanted three houses, not us, not the committee, not the neighbours. So we had another go, with a new architect, and new faces in the planning department, better dialogue, and a new design of what we'd wanted all along, just our one house, and it went straight through. In fairness to the committee, they said that we'd gone away and done what they'd wanted to see to the design and they clearly had to pass it. A shame we wasted a year and many thousands of pounds but we got there in the end. Anyway, water under the bridge now I guess.
So, with the usual tendering process and the joy of a self build mortgage to arrange following our PP in the spring, we finally made a proper start this week. Here's some of the details...
This is our plot, outlined in white. We're very lucky to have a rural setting, but with a Victorian industrial feel, and at the same time only a few minutes from town and the railway station.
Obviously because of the industrial/heritage feel of the place, we needed to be very conservative with the design, and we have essentially copied a couple of the original houses in the area. So it should have a nice traditional character feel, but with all the advantages and efficiency of a modern house. Size was always going to be limited due to the planning requirements, and our budget! Double man-cave was always firmly on the agenda though...be great to have somewhere to garage my ageing Boxster over the winter!
We've gone for bifolds to the kitchen and living room, and really want to make use of the patio that will be between the two, and catch the afternoon sun in summer.
The place was seriously overgrown as it had not been grazed for a while. There was also an old farm trailer under this bush of brambles...after a few hours with a hand slasher I was able to drag it out with my old Discovery. Apparently it had not moved for 40 years but amazingly the tyres were still inflated and the wheels turned just fine!
Next was the job of clearing the undergrowth down. There is a lot of soil to come out and be tipped, and we need piling too. I decided the best bet rather than paying for a one off clearance was to buy a somewhat over-specced lawn tractor, which I could use after the build or sell on if needed, so eBay came up with 14hp of Briggs and Stratton powered British engineering, a Countax K14 Twin. (This pic was taken after I'd done the clearing and given it a good clean and service)
I think if I'd just had a normal lawn, the Countax would have been fine, but being 21 years old and a bit tired I'm afraid it ended up being thrashed to within an inch of it's life, and I ended up wearing out the belts, and snapping the transaxle brackets with my slight over-zealous trials-car style bumping for traction! However, it just about managed the job, and is now fully sorted so it should get an easier life now, it's a very well made piece of kit with a very Meccano/Land Rover feel to it.
Got there in the end (iPhone pano shot so looks bigger/distorted in this pic)
And this week, the electricity board were in, replacing some old poles and moving a supply cable from directly over where the house will be...
Nice toys to play with...after all this is PH...
Anyway, that's all for now. The diggers move in soon and the groundwork and piling commence. More to follow!
Edited by Hard-Drive on Wednesday 12th August 22:50
Edited by Hard-Drive on Thursday 13th August 08:43
Edited by Hard-Drive on Tuesday 18th August 09:18
Edited by Hard-Drive on Saturday 29th August 00:12
BIGDAI said:
Fabulous project - best of luck with it!
From a personal standpoint - was the land included in the council's Local Development Plan?
Yes, although it kinda came under two different slightly conflicting area plans. We went though a fairly lengthy pre planning consultation before we even spoke to an architect, as well as consulting with lots of different bodies as we knew it was going to be tough to get through as well as employing an agent/chartered surveyor as this was the first time we'd done anything like this. From a personal standpoint - was the land included in the council's Local Development Plan?
Go for it. I'd recommend getting a good agent/surveyor on the case though. There's all this stuff about NPPF and SUE etc...pages and pages of it were in our application. The important bit is getting approval that the principle of residential development exists...getting the design done is very much secondary to this.
Hard-Drive said:
Go for it. I'd recommend getting a good agent/surveyor on the case though. There's all this stuff about NPPF and SUE etc...pages and pages of it were in our application. The important bit is getting approval that the principle of residential development exists...getting the design done is very much secondary to this.
Oh pretty sure I'm going to go for it. I've already done one - albeit not from scratch http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...NPPF & SUE are news to me - but I'm in Wales & Google makes me think they only apply in England?
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