Costings

Have spent all day going through all the various price estimates to analyse the changes. The total project price is actually pretty much the same as when we started. However the problem is it should be around 50K cheaper due to costs which we have removed. I actually worked out 50K costs had been added which almost exactly compensates.. of these 34K were unexpected. Need to have a long discussion with the builders about this and come to an agreement. At the moment there is no signed contract .. so they are taking a risk. However, as the work has started it is now hard to change suppliers.

A day of drama

I had already planned to work from home this afternoon as I had a meeting with the NHBC inspector booked for 3pm.

However I got a call from the architect saying the tree officer had been on site with "all guns blazing" - and said we could not build with 9 metres of the tree trunk. The current plans show the house edge within 6 metres. If this was the case we would not be able to build or would have to very signifiantly reduce the size of the house making the whole project not worthwhile and the land next to worthless. He also said there was a drain running across the land which might need to be diverted and we would need a camera survey to assess whether it was actually used.

Both bits of news came as a shock but I had another read through all the correspondence and it seemed clear that we could build near the tree providing piled foundations were used. I called the architect back and explained this and he said he would speak to the council and get clarification. To cut a long story short it seems the tree officer got it wrong and we can build as designed as long as we take the right precautions. However we need to split the ground floor across two levels so the back of the house is 50 cm higher than the front ! The architect was confident he could work around this without spoling the design. He would need to check the impact on the higher floors. Oh and about the drains.. it is most likely they are disused which means we can probably just ignore them. However this still needs to be checked ofcourse.

The NHBC interview took all of 5 minutes and it seems this is fine and the policy has been activated.

Work Starts at Last

Today we had the water supply fitted and also started on site clearance. At long last some activity on the site.

"Knot" so good!

We recently acknowledged that there is a rare plant growing on our plot "Japanese Knotweed" and from the title, obviously it is causing alot of problems. Japanese Knotweed can grow through practically anything including brick, and there is a risk of the building being destroyed and if not dealt with before the build, it's growing, growing, gone!

The Knotweed has hollow stems with distinct raised nodes giving it the appearance of bamboo, therefore it is easily confused. The builders should be able to take care of the problem so we can start the build as soon as possible. It shouldn't delay the build very much, but its still a problem and it's "Knot" so good.

Completed At Last !!!

By completed I mean we have completed on the purchase of the land. So really this is step one of the long road between now and having the house completed so we can all move in. Due to the delays we expect the build to now complete early in 2010 - probably around Feb/March. This is later than we wanted but it is a good time to put our current house on the market either to lease or sell. I just spoke to Keith (the estate agent) and he should be dropping the keys (to the gate at the front of the property) soon. Nothing too interesting but once we get the keys we will take a few more pics of the site - which no doubt will look no different but at least we will know we finally own it !!

What the "h" !

Guess what .. we are getting ready to complete on the purchase of the land and got a panic email from the solicitor saying we need a revised mortgage offer issued because the building society mis-spelt Rizwana's middle name. They made is Shanaz instead of Shahnaz. Who would have thought a missing "h" could cause such a big problem. Anyway we got the new paperwork through today so we are still hoping to complete next week.. as long as nothing else goes wrong ofcourse !

More delays !!!

Just heard that my solicitor is not happy to complete until after he
has received a letter from the neighbours building society saying they
agree to the connection to the drains !!! They have agreed to write
the letter.. but so far no letter has actually been produced. I
personally think this is a small risk so will be pushing for
completion anyway. Lets see what happens.

More site pics

This shows the site after some of the rubbish clearance work has been done. Does not look very big in these photographs.. and we know we are going to have a tiny back garden - but plenty of room for the house - and a good driveway for at least 4 or 5 cars at the front.