Month: February 2020

CONTENT SUPPLIED BY ALIWOOD

Roof lanterns offer a great way of bringing in extra light into your renovation, conversion or extension. Distinguishable from skylights by their custom design, roof lanterns enable natural light to enter from above deep into your floor plan, maximising light in your new area.

Roof lanterns can be designed in a variety of shapes and sizes – they are commonly made from timber, aluminium, UPVC or a combination of materials. The best type of roof lantern for your build will depend on a number of factors, and shape is a pertinent consideration. 

There are benefits to each roof lantern shape, depending on the function of your room and its architectural design, and knowing what to consider will help you make the most suitable choice for your home.

Square Roof Lanterns

Square roof lanterns are perfect for use in smaller or square-shaped rooms. Not only do they add a wow-factor – especially when installed in the middle of a room – but their perfect symmetry helps to add a neat, contemporary feel. 

You can also utilise a square roof lantern to draw attention to specific areas (such as a kitchen island where food is prepared) or dining room in a larger open-plan room.

Aliwood’s square roof lantern draws the eye in the middle of this dining room

Rectangle Roof Lanterns

Rectangle roof lanterns are derived from Victorian glasshouses and orangeries: they’re a classic. They’re also the most prevalent roof lantern shape, perfect for very long rooms, such as hallways or living rooms, or for defining pathways in larger spaces. 

This classic rectangle roof lantern shape from Aliwood is perfect for a very long room

Octagonal Roof Lanterns

Visually breathtaking, octagonal roof lanterns often look like a dome, and add an elegance to both circular and polygonal rooms.

With eight glazed sides reflecting sunlight down into your room below, they are functionally optimal for north-facing properties. Enabling intricate designs, octagonal roof lanterns can transform a space and the architectural style of your build. 

A Combination of Shapes

If you feel just one roof lantern isn’t sufficient, you could double or even triple up with multiple lanterns joined together. 

Not only does this allow for complex interiors, helping to elevate a room’s aesthetic benefits, but a combination of roof lanterns can help to separate different areas of living space, such as a living room, kitchen and dining room under each lantern.

It’s more work, and of course more expensive, but multiple shapes offer an attractive solution when a single roof lantern might obstruct a window on the first floor of your home.

Pick the Shape For You

There are benefits to each common roof lantern shape, but remember to consider the architecture of your entire home before committing to a shape.

Ultimately, a well-designed roof lantern should complement the architecture of your home, blending in and appearing like it was always meant to be there. 

Content supplied by Oak Frames Direct 

Many homeowners choose to build their own homes using an oak frame and for a number of good reasons. It is a strong, sustainable material with natural insulative properties that make it a great choice for those where sustainability is at the heart of their build. The material ages beautifully over time and the frame can be erected quickly on site.

Oak frames are also precision-manufactured in a factory and delivered to site ready for erection. This not only means that build delays caused by bad weather are completely avoided, but also that you can achieve a degree of precision that would not be achievable when building by hand on site with bricks and mortar.

As with any house building project, you will need to work with your architect or designer to create a design, secure planning permission from your local authority (if your proposed work falls outside of your permitted development rights), and ensure you have sufficient foundations to support the new structure. 

As well as using an oak frame to build your dream home, you can also use it for supplementary elements of your build, including:

1. A Garage

If you want to build an oak frame garage to complement your home, then it pays to consider how you will use the garage for years to come and not just how you plan to use it now.

• How many cars you will need to park?
• Will you need somewhere for storage?
• Could you do with a workshop or man cave?
• Could you do with some extra accommodation space?

All of these considerations will help you choose the right design for your oak frame garage and ensure that it can adapt along with your lifestyle. 

2. A Porch

An oak frame porch can be a great addition to your home regardless of whether your home is more traditional or contemporary in style.

A porch will not only be practical, offering shelter from the elements when you are entering your home but, depending on the design you choose, can also offer a convenient and attractive storage solution. 

3. A Garden Room

Due to the large amounts of glazing that are achievable in the design, a garden room is a great place to make the most of your garden views and sit and enjoy the sunshine.

Garden rooms are also increasingly popular with homeowners who need additional space for hobbies or work. A garden room is a great location for a home office, gym or workshop where it is beneficial to have a small sense of separation from your main living space.

To enjoy the garden room all year round, you will need to consider heating, lighting and ventilation as well as any sockets you may need. You will also need to check that your garden room is within the criteria of permitted development, or apply for planning permission. 

4. Pergolas and Gazebos

If you are looking to create a real feature in your garden then an oak frame pergola or gazebo can be a great addition. Both are particularly useful if you need to create spots of shade in your garden, but can also be used to cover pathways, areas for outdoor dining, ponds and hot tubs.

Visit the Oak Frames Direct‘ website for an instant quote — choose from standard sizes or your own bespoke dimensions.

The Scottish government has pledged to commit £300m to ensure the delivery of affordable homes continues once the current parliamentary term ends. 

The government hopes the announcement in the Scottish Budget 2020/21 will assuage fears over funding for affordable homes following the next Scottish Parliament election, due to be held in May 2021.

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland were among the organisations calling for the Scottish government to commit to financing the development of affordable homes post the 2021 election.

As well as pledging £300m to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme post-2021, the Scottish government will also invest £840m into the Programme in 2020/21, a £17m increase on the fund in the 2019/20 budget.

“Ensuring everyone has access to a safe and affordable place to call home is at the heart of our ambitions,” said communities secretary Aileen Campbell.

“Importantly, our spending plans also include a £300m commitment to guarantee that affordable homes continue to be delivered beyond our 50,000 target, ensuring councils, housing associations and the construction sector have some financial certainty ahead of the spending review in June.”

The budget also outlined measures to tackle energy efficiency, with Scotland’s Energy Strategy designed to “make homes and buildings warmer, greener and more energy efficient.”

Affordable Homes Are a Priority

With house prices increasing by 11% on average since the Brexit referendum, it is imperative that housing remains affordable in the UK, especially for struggling first-time buyers.

Last year it was revealed that the average two-bedroom property now has a national asking price of £193,103, and this could increase to £482,741 over the next 30 years. 

The relaxation of Permitted Development has faced criticism for preventing more affordable homes to be delivered, with the Local Government Association arguing that offices converted under Permitted Development could have potentially resulted in 13,500 fewer affordable homes.

First-time buyers struggling to get on to the housing ladder may find that self build offers them the opportunity to build their dream home, and often saving up to 30% on market value.

An ex-councillor has been fined 12 years after he demolished a listed farm building at his home and replaced it with a new property. 

Greg Cropper, 62, was found to have made illegal changes to his rural home in 2008, breaching planning permission rules. He was fined £1,500 with a £150 surcharge, and also ordered to pay costs of £1,448.33.

The unauthorised building work only came to light when Mr Cropper applied to change the use of a listed farm building at his property to a dwelling. When a listed building inspector at Kirklees Council visited the property, he discovered a much newer building than expected.

Mr Cropper had submitted a prior application to turn the original farm building into a residential property. When this was refused, he had it demolished and rebuilt instead. 

The action went unreported for more than a decade due to the farm’s rural location and no reports of the demolition from neighbours.

This building work, Kirklees Council ruled, was unauthorised, as was the extension of another property on the same site that had not received planning permission.

Mr Cropper, who was formerly chairman of Holme Valley Parish Council West Yorkshire, was taken to court where he admitted the planning breaches. 

Clr Rob Walker, the council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, said of the prosecution: “Taking action in this instance, despite the time that had passed between the act and its discovery, shows just how seriously we take the protection of listed buildings.”

Planning Permission: Plan Ahead

This case highlights the potential risks when you undergo build project without planning permission, and the steep fines that can be imposed.

While it is possible to apply for retrospective planning permission, it is always advisable to secure approval before the work begins.

Should your planning application be rejected, remember that it doesn’t have to be a death knell for your project. The planners may suggest changes that need to occur in order for it to be approved, and you can subsequently apply again.  

If no changes are suggested in a council’s rejection, the matter can be taken to appeal where around 40% of householder applications that are refused are later granted.

Earlier this year it was revealed that 40 retrospective planning applications are made each day, and the majority are approved.

An innovative 100% hydrogen boiler has received an international award for its sustainable method of heating homes and buildings.

BDR Thermea Group’s hydrogen boiler design scooped the VSK 2020 Audience Award, indicating increased public awareness of the benefits hydrogen boilers could provide. 

The VSK Awards, which celebrate developments in the world of installation, took place in Utrecht, the Netherlands between 4-7 February. 

Hydrogen is being widely explored as a solution to the UK’s heating problems because the main by-product of burning hydrogen is water, a carbon-free fuel source.

BDR Thermea Group’s Remeha 100% hydrogen boiler has previously been tested in Rozenburg, the Netherlands. It is now being assessed in a large-scale field trial in the UK, with more than 400 hydrogen boilers set to be installed in the next two years. 

BDR Thermea Group’s boiler burns pure hydrogen that has been produced by wind of solar energy, without releasing any carbon dioxide.

The simplicity of the design means that it can replace natural gas-fired central heating boilers in homes with very few installation adjustments.

In November 2019, Kiwa (an independent testing, inspection and certifying body) certified Remeha’s range of domestic gas boilers in the Netherlands for up to 20% hydrogen admixture. 

Peter Snel, technical director for the BDR Thermea Group, said of the boiler: “The operating principle behind the hydrogen boiler is the same as a boiler running on natural gas. In the future, we will be able to replace conventional gas boilers with hydrogen boilers on a like-for-like basis, provided that hydrogen can be supplied by gas pipelines.”

Are Hydrogen Boilers the Future?

Hydrogen boilers could help to decarbonise heating and hot water systems in the UK, and ease the transition from natural gas. When pure hydrogen from renewable energy sources is distributed via a dedicated gas grid, this allows boilers to provide heating and hot water to homes with zero carbon emissions.

From 2025 it will be illegal to install a gas boiler in new builds, and HB&R expert David Hilton is one of the leading advocates of hydrogen’s benefits as a replacement. “Early investigations have found that it is likely that hydrogen boilers can run on natural gas until the day hydrogen becomes available, and a much smaller, almost seamless, conversion of the appliance can then be undertaken,” he said. 

Last week, boiler manufacturers Worcester Bosch unveiled a new hydrogen gas boiler prototype, and earlier this year Keele University launched the first pilot project in the UK to inject zero carbon hydrogen into a gas network to heat homes.

Proposed changes to the Building Regulations for new homes are not ambitious enough to positively impact the environment, according to The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

The proposed changes to Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power) and Part F (Ventilation) of the Building Regulations for new homes will be introduced this year, laying the framework for the Future Homes Standard.

The Future Homes Standard is a new set of Building Regulations, set to be implemented by the government from 2025, which will ensure all new build homes are future-proofed with low-carbon heating systems to encourage environmentally-friendly building practices.

A public consultation on the changes to Part L and Part F closed on 7 Feb, and the government will now collate the public feedback before publishing its outcome. The proposals were criticised last week, and RIBA president Professor Alan M Jones has added his voice to the growing displeasure over the government’s unwillingness to go further. 

Jones said: “The proposed changes to building regulations are simply not ambitious enough to meet the scale of our environmental challenge. If we are to stand a chance of meeting net zero by 2050, the government must urgently embed much clearer and more demanding targets on operational energy and embodied carbon into building regulations.”

Building Regulations Proposals Fall Short

A prominent criticism of the proposed changes to Part L has been the proposed removal of the fabric energy efficiency standard.

During the consultation RIBA warned, “Keeping the fabric energy efficiency target is a positive measure to ensure that energy efficient fabrics are chosen for new homes.”

The fabric energy efficiency standard is the proposed maximum space heating and cooling energy demand for zero carbon homes, and removing it has led to concerns that the energy performance standards of buildings could drop.

RIBA says that this would hide the use of poor building materials, and risks homes being built with less insulation than was required in Part L of the 2013 Building Regulations.

RIBA also asserts that the government should be tackling three key measures within the proposed changes:

• Using ‘operational energy’ (energy used at the meter) as the primary metric to determine a building’s energy efficiency
• Embed embodied carbon targets into building regulations
• Cracking down on loopholes which are exploited by developers to build new homes according to ‘out-of-date’ regulations 

To help architects meet net zero (or better) whole life carbon for new and retrofitted buildings by 2030 RIBA has developed the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge. This includes a series of targets to reduce operational energy, embodied carbon and drinking water.