After a couple of weeks away in Portugese paradise we're back and looking forward to the next push towards completion. It's always good to get away but also a treat to return home to somewhere that's not noisy, draughty or stuffy (thanks MVHR).
There's 2-3 weeks left to straighten things inside but rather more externally. Primarily it's the external wall insulation, aiming to start early May, and cladding to complete on the extension. The front porch now has fine looking cedar boarding (rough sawn, square edge, 5mm gap), and the gutters and downpipes are finally installed. As always it's the little things at the end that take the most time. Phenomenal piece by Jin Eui Kim, beautifully set off by Livid from Little Greene, and Miss pendant from Davide Groppi.
We have recently learnt about Section 8 of HMRC's VAT Notice 708: buildings and construction. In a nutshell, VAT can be reduced-rated if the renovation is a dwelling that has not been lived in for at least two years before the work starts. That means 5% liability rather than the standard rate. The house had been empty for at least five years when we bought it a year ago.
Sadly HMRC don't do things in nutshells. The Section goes on to describe what 'qualifies', what is 'relevant', and what 'conditions' have to be met. So the initial excitment of possibly recouping some of our massive overspend rapidly withered as we realised, for instance, building materials didn't qualify as we had procured them, not the VAT registered builder. When will gov.uk realise that part of the current housing crisis could be eased at a stroke by encouraging renovation of the thousands of empty houses through a properly reduced tax liability? It shouldn't be that complicated. Bizarrely, in addition, we were stung with a 50% council tax premium as we were renovating a property that had been empty for more than two years! The kitchen window now has a bit more privacy thanks to frosted window film from Purlfrost.
Still can't believe the improvement in air-quality, even more so now the MVHR system has been properly commissioned. Steve from Green Building Store and Patrick from Enhabit visited in the week and set up the controls and all the valves. It took all morning taking readings for the outside terminals, then optimising flow through each internal valve.
Like everything Passivhaus, nothing is 'near enough'. There are numerous others, but here are the key suppliers:
Windows and external doors: Enhabit MVHR: Paul, via Enhabit. Timber: Stockport Timber Roofing materials: Burton Roofing Rooflight: Fakro Insulation: Rockwool, Kingspan, Dow Internal doors and specialist panels: James Latham Ironmongery: 3v Architectural Hardware Parquet flooring: UK Wood Floors Tape and membranes: ProClima Screed: Foggs Floors Gutters and downpipes: Lindab Cedar cladding: HW Morgan Lighting: Louis Poulsen, Intralite, B&Q, Darklight Design Acoustic flooring: Hush Acoustics Intumescent paint: Envirograf Decorations: Johnstones, Dulux Skips: Marple Skips Stuff: Screwfix, B&Q, Wickes, Brickies, |
AUTHOR
Russel and Anna Hayden
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