John laing easiform house

[Pujan]

Good evening everybody.

I own a john laing easiform property. I have already done some tweaks to the house such as new windows all over and added 400mm Knauf insulation to the loft.

Now it come the big project that i want to do. I am planning on knocking down both external and internal walls of the house and raise new walls made of block and brick with the cavity. The house its a semi detached house, 78sqm2 of liveable space, 225sqm2 in total.

Would i need planning permission and party wall agreement with my neighbour to do such job?

And what are some realistic figures to complete such jobs?

Kind regards,

Pujan

 

[^woody^]

Yes, you need planning consent (external walls) and building regulation approval for all. And likely a structural engineer's input too.

PW notice if you are working on the party walls. Not for the external walls. Or new foundations, maybe.

 

[Pujan]

Yes, you need planning consent (external walls) and building regulation approval for all. And likely a structural engineer's input too.

PW notice if you are working on the party walls. Not for the external walls. Or new foundations, maybe.

I wont be touching the party wall for now. Just the 3 externals and internal ones. If the current foundation its still good, and the new walls will be raised on the same place the old ones were, whats is a realistic ball park figure for such job? I am insisting on a price because the 2 quotes i’ve had are so different.

thank you

 

[Pujan]

Yes, you need planning consent (external walls) and building regulation approval for all. And likely a structural engineer's input too.

PW notice if you are working on the party walls. Not for the external walls. Or new foundations, maybe.

So you are saying that if i dont touch the party wall, just a possible new foundations or external walls i wont need party wall agreement?

 

[^woody^]

It's all down to the detailing at the party wall/ external wall junction as to whether you need an agreement or not.

You are proposing significant work and you will not get any meaningful cost details here or anywhere. You need to provide detailed drawings, specification and schedule and someone needs to sit down for hours or days to come up with a cost for doing it.

Fundamentally, the better your design drawings, schedule and specification are, the more accurate the quotes you will get. So that's where to spend the money in the first instance.

 

[Pujan]

It's all down to the detailing at the party wall/ external wall junction as to whether you need an agreement or not.

You are proposing significant work and you will not get any meaningful cost details here or anywhere. You need to provide detailed drawings, specification and schedule and someone needs to sit down for hours or days to come up with a cost for doing it.

Fundamentally, the better your design drawings, schedule and specification are, the more accurate the quotes you will get. So that's where to spend the money in the first instance.

Alright, think i understood it. Basically the first bit i need to take out of my way and be done with its the paperwork bit. After all its done and approved, then i can start search for a builder with the appropriate drawings and see what they say.

does planning permission has expiry date if approved? Thanks for the help so far

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

It might make more financial sense to sell it and buy a building plot. Seriously.

 

[Pujan]

It might make more financial sense to sell it and buy a building plot. Seriously.

If I were to do that why not just keep my own? It has roughly 230sqm2 . If my house was built in here, I assume a new one could too?

But it’s not really an option since I’ve bought my house for a cheap price. I believe with such work done and dusted, the price of what I paid for the house plus the price of the work would still be under the average UK house price by 20k, and I would have a big plot of land, driveway and big yard if I want to extend it one day to the back. It makes sense to me but I might be missing on something.

Thanks

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

It must have been staggeringly cheap if the price of buying it plus the cost of basically replacing it is less than it's worth.

Was it mortgageable with a standard lender when you bought it? If not then it's unlikely to be even if you rebuild it, if it's semi-detached. So it will remain difficult to sell so will be hard to add value.

I'm pretty sure that our house would cost more to rebuild than we paid for it, if I was to pay someone else to do it. And that's ignoring the value of the land. You're probably better off just buying whatever it is that you want to end up living in.

 

[Pujan]

It must have been staggeringly cheap if the price of buying it plus the cost of basically replacing it is less than it's worth.

Was it mortgageable with a standard lender when you bought it? If not then it's unlikely to be even if you rebuild it, if it's semi-detached. So it will remain difficult to sell so will be hard to add value.

I'm pretty sure that our house would cost more to rebuild than we paid for it, if I was to pay someone else to do it. And that's ignoring the value of the land. You're probably better off just buying whatever it is that you want to end up living in.

It must have been staggeringly cheap if the price of buying it plus the cost of basically replacing it is less than it's worth.

Was it mortgageable with a standard lender when you bought it? If not then it's unlikely to be even if you rebuild it, if it's semi-detached. So it will remain difficult to sell so will be hard to add value.

I'm pretty sure that our house would cost more to rebuild than we paid for it, if I was to pay someone else to do it. And that's ignoring the value of the land. You're probably better off just buying whatever it is that you want to end up living in

ye house was mortgageable with a standard lender. Guess it depends what matters to people.

I wouldn’t mind to go over 20k or 30k of what the house is worth if the house fills in all my must haves and I love it. In the end I don’t have intentions of going nowhere. I have seen houses more expensive than mine but with significant less land. Why would I pay more for that house? Just because of the location? Doesn’t make sense to me.

Thank you

 

[cdbe]

Maybe start with a specialist survey.

I'm no expert but from what I've seen with similar types that are classified as "defective", there is often a prescribed course of remedial repairs, eg re-skinning, which once completed and documented renders them a "going concern" in terms of mortgageabity and saleability.

I think the point I'm trying to make is that if you spend £50-60k on works that you have "designed" and that house type is subsequently (due to ongoing deterioration) reclassified as defective then your homemade solution could be worthless.

I'm about to start a DIY underfloor insulation project on my house - I've decided not to involve building control because I'd rather spend their fee on insulation. I know that when I get a new EPC that without any paperwork I will get no "credit" for it - but in this case the effect on future resale value is insignificant and I'm doing it for my benefit - I wouldn't be playing so fast and loose with potentially tens of thousands at stake.

Maybe some ewi and render/cladding is all you actually need.

 

[Pujan]

Maybe start with a specialist survey.

I'm no expert but from what I've seen with similar types that are classified as "defective", there is often a prescribed course of remedial repairs, eg re-skinning, which once completed and documented renders them a "going concern" in terms of mortgageabity and saleability.

I think the point I'm trying to make is that if you spend £50-60k on works that you have "designed" and that house type is subsequently (due to ongoing deterioration) reclassified as defective then your homemade solution could be worthless.

I'm about to start a DIY underfloor insulation project on my house - I've decided not to involve building control because I'd rather spend their fee on insulation. I know that when I get a new EPC that without any paperwork I will get no "credit" for it - but in this case the effect on future resale value is insignificant and I'm doing it for my benefit - I wouldn't be playing so fast and loose with potentially tens of thousands at stake.

Maybe some ewi and render/cladding is all you actually need.

I had a 15 min talk with a structural engineer and asked a few questions. One of them was if I could just knock the outer leaf of the external wall and raise a block and brick one against the old inner leaf of the external wall. He said if the inner leaf of the external wall it’s made of concrete too, then you will need to remove that one aswell in order to be considered of standard construction. What I didn’t ask but I will is that if any interior wall its made of concrete, even if the outer and inner leaf of external wall are made of block and brick if the house would still be considered as non standard. I don’t think so but never know, better always ask.

I could do external wall insulation. But imagine I have problems with the concrete walls and need to replace them? I would spend money on EWI for nothing. Is your house Laing easiform aswell?

Thanks for your opinion