An Inspector calls
- May 4, 2016
- 2 min read
Steve was back on site bright and early this morning. A grabber truck came and removed the urbanite from the front garden and Steve moved the pile of top soil to the rear boundary.
Around midday a Building Control Inspector, the wonderfully named Mr Kitcatt, came to perform the commencement inspection. Having peered inside a hole that Steve had scooped out with the digger he said he would be satisfied with 1m deep foundations. He also advised against us relying solely on rain gardens to deal with surface rain water because the soil has a high clay content and another property he inspected found that water drained too slowly and they were plagued with mosquitoes. I though it prudent to keep the thought that this would be good for the bats and swallows to myself. We will probably go for a belt and braces combination of crates and rain garden.
After Mr Kitcatt's departure Steve began to mark out the foundations and I chased the architect who had not got back to us about the CIL commencement form. There followed a stressful few hours. As per the architect's instruction when we gained planning permission I had advised him in early April that we were about to start the demolition of the Nissen Hut and requested that he send in the CIL commencement form. We discovered he had not done this but had simply sent me a copy of the form that needed to be sent in when the development was complete. As a result we were in breach of the conditions for self-build CIL exemption and became immediately liable for the full levy plus a 20% surcharge. There is also interest payable on the amount due from the date we receive the demand until payment is made plus further draconian penalties if payment is not made within 30 days. The amount, nearly £1600.00, represents close to 2% of our budget and I am incandescent. The form itself was very simple, little more than our names and address and I could have easily completed it myself.
Elsa was also stressed by all the activity in her garden but took solace from my slipper and fleece.
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