One of the major benefits of building your own home is that you can reclaim VAT using HMRC’s VAT431NB form. This includes materials that are fixed into the house. The interpretation of this can be complex. For instance, you can reclaim VAT on timber

• Ensure planning permission has not expired and is not about to expire. There is no guarantee that reapplications will succeed. • Keep an eye out for access. If doesn’t extend directly up to the adopted highway, there should at least be a legal righ

We were in a dilemma about whether to plaster or dryline our walls. Both have their pros and cons, and neither really outweighed the other, in our opinion. Plastering ‘is just what you do’ to the traditionalist, whereas drylining minimises the moistu

ARCHITECT Ellis Williams Associates: www.ewa.co.uk MAIN CONTRACTOR/BUILDER Hooga: www.hoogalowenergy.com AERATED CONCRETE YTONG BLOCKS Xella: www.xella.co.uk TRIPLE-GLAZED WINDOWS AND DOORS (manufacturer) Gaulhofer: www.gaulhofer.com;supplier: Eco

MICHELLE GUY is Assistant Editor. She is an experienced homes journalist, and has just completed her kitchen renovation. She’s currently lining up trades to decorate the next room on the reno hit list! NATASHA BRINSMEAD is Associate Editor and has

Tim is an expert in sustainable building methods and home energy efficiency. Contact him at Tim@ weatherworks.co.uk. Architect Lydia is creative director of award-winning practice Design Storey Architects. She has a particular interest in historic

DESIGN, PLANNING, OAK FRAME, WRIGHTWALL ENCAPSULATION, FACE GLAZING AND GARAGE Oakwrights: www.oakwrights.co.uk MAIN CONTRACTOR AS Keogh: www.askeoghconstruction.co.uk ROOFING AJR Roofing: 079 6703 1887 GLAZING, DOORS Kloeber: www.kloeber.co.uk S

ARCHITECT Gareth Gazey Architects: www.gazeyarchitects.co.uk BUILDER TBS Tutka: www.tbslimited.com KITCHEN WORKTOP Lowinfo: www.lowinfo.com INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL TILES Valverdi City: www.londontile.co.uk KITCHEN Benchmarx Kitchens & Joinery: www.

While modern panel timber frame is fully accepted as ‘conventional construction’ by mortgage lenders, they still mostly ask the surveyor to specify where construction is timber frame, as opposed to masonry. This is because unless the outer leaf is bu

There are two significant costs when building your own home: the building plot and the build itself. There are also a few additional costs that you’ll need to factor in — see the box below. You’ll need access to money to buy a building plot, to pay f

Generally mortgage lenders want a timber frame to have a cavity, be modern (post 1960s) and have appropriate cladding to assure durability. There are some rules like no more than 75% of the structure can be timber clad, for example. MARK STEVENSON,

Not being honest about your project budget is one of the biggest mistakes a client can make. You need to trust that your architect will get the most out of the amount you have available. Only with an accurate picture of the construction budget can th

The government has pledged 600,000 heat pumps to be installed in homes every year by 2028. Green energy expert David Hilton believes the rollout is a positive move for a greener future, but he adds that the scale of the proposed rollout poses a huge

Only a short time ago, a number of heating manufacturers discontinued their air source heat pump products. At the time it seemed rather bizarre and a bit of a regressive step. When I looked closer it was clear that the air source heat pump market, an

ARCHITECT SOUP Architects: www.souparchitects.com MAIN CONTRACTOR Homefield Services: 01481264048 STRUCTURAL ENGINEER Babbé McCathie: www.bmlgsy.com CORIAN KITCHEN WORKTOP R & D De Jersey Surface: www.rddejersey.co.uk KITCHEN Channel Island Ceram

In the summer of 2017, Savills estate agents listed ‘a rarely available opportunity to create a fabulous countryside home’. Located in open countryside on the border of Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire, this ‘opportunity’ comprised a dilapidated form