Prof. Benfield

Embedding Sustainable Development Across Government

Government’s ‘Green’ Watchdog The Sustainable Development Commission is due to lose its funding next year. Currently it acts as an advisory watchdog on Green issues for the Coalition Government. The ‘Green’ Agenda With MP’s raising concern that the ... Read >

The New Buildig Regulations 2010

The New Building Regulations (2010).Conservation of Fuel and Power - New Part L On 1 October 2010 the new UK building regulations came into force and replaced the previous 2006 version. They apply to non-residential and residential buildings, includ... Read >

Glamping Today

Sounds like some form of Radio or TV programme, or maybe the title of a special interest group magazine, doesn’t it? In fact it just refers to the latest ‘state of the art’ provision for the growing preference to ‘holiday at home’, that is to say, in t... Read >

Will My Local Planning Authority Accept A Timber Frame House?

Copyright (c) 2010 Professor Michael Benfield PhD Design, Planning & Timber Frame While your Local Planning Authority, Parks, or Conservation Area officer will wish to consider appearance and siting, the structural form of your building is not their... Read >

Should I Buy a Greenhouse? - Ann-Marie Russell gives gardening advice from HGC

Copyright (c) 2010 Professor Michael Benfield PhD GREENHOUSES, WALL GARDENS, or LEAN-TO-GREENHOUSES Many Greenhouse manufacturers have come up with cleverly designed Wall Gardens or Lean to Greenhouses. These enable people with limited space to have... Read >

What can I use to Grow my Own Veggies? - Ann-marie gives HGC's latest "How to ..." tips

Copyright (c) 2010 Professor Michael Benfield PhD I WANT TO GROW MY OWN VEGETABLES. How do I get started? Lots of people are turning to 'grow-your-own' as a solution to healthy living and cutting food bills. If you get it right you can produce a who... Read >

Timber CarPorts protect and free up storage space

Timber Car Ports - your professionally good looking, value adding, answer to improving your home's weather protection and releasing your garage to provide essential storage space, extra rooms, granny flat, exercise room, or home office, etc. Easy to Bu... Read >

Planning Permission for an Extension - 2 - Improving your property value by building more

Recap Part 1 considered Playing by the 'rules' to increase the value of your property. Part 2 continues with important considerations for anyone considering development. Planning Permission is not Building Regulation Approval Before moving on it ... Read >

Planning for Conservatories, Pools, Patios, Driveways and Small Works - adding value to your home

Tapping the hidden value in your home In an earlier article (Understanding Planning & Property Development in the UK), I looked at how to improve the value of your home by getting a better planning consent. This showed how important it is to understand... Read >

Wet-weather DIY Kit Car-Port Solutions replace Garage Stores

Let's Get It Right Garages are out - car-ports are in! That's right. Storage Space Because most small UK houses lack space to store things, garages are increasingly being used for putting other things in. Things like sports and exercise equipm... Read >

Obtaining Planning Permission for Ancillary Structures - Extensions,Garages,Carports,Garden Cabins

Minor Works You can carry out minor works, like fitting an alarm box or other small changes, without planning permission. Subject to them falling within particular guidelines you can also carry out things like Loft conversions, Roof alterations, and l... Read >

Planning Permission for an Extension - 1 - Improving the value of your property by building more

Playing by the 'rules' In the first of these brief articles (Understanding Planning & Property Development in the UK), we considered how you can improve the value of your property by improving the 'quality' of its planning permission. This showed the i... Read >

Greenhouses, glasshouses, wall gardens, cold frames and horticultural poly tunnels

Trusted Brand When you're about to spend out hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds on your long awaited new greenhouse, glasshouse, wall garden, cold frame, or horticultural poly tunnel, you can't do better than investing your hard earned cash in our t... Read >

Understanding Planning & Property Development in the UK - How to increase the value of your property

Land Conversion Values for arable land in the UK recently hit new highs of £5,000 and in some case £6,000 per acre. But with possibly 15 houses being able to be built on an acre, this is nothing compared with the £250,000 that you can expect to pay ... Read >

Wise up .... on Grass, with Jai Cheswick

THE GRUNT If, like me, your teenage chore was to mow the lawn or if your partner kicks you out of the house to cut tracks through a jungle of growth before Sunday lunch you will soon have realised the importance of regular maintenance to keep your gras... Read >