Is Cavity Wall Insulation A Legal Requirement On A New Build?

lydia_dustbin

Hi there

I live in a Bellway home which I moved into new in May 2005. The house is freezing and I had a warmfront man surveyor come round today to tell me that the house does not have cavity wall insulation. My partner is disabled and apparently we can have a grant to have this done free.

Does anyone know if Bellway had a legal obligation to add cavity wall insulation to our external walls? Should warmfront really have to cough up for cavity wall insulation? could we get bellway to pay or fit it? could we get bellway to pay towards our hefty energy bills these last three and a half years?

Would be grateful for advice

many thanks

lisa xxx :mad:

TJ27

The Building Regulations require walls to achieve a certain "U-Value" but the builder can do this in many different ways. Cavity insulation is the usual way though and in 2005 it woud be fairly rare to see a traditionally constructed house with none.

Regarding getting money out of the developer now, I don't fancy your chances. NHBC guarantee perhaps?

Personally I'd take the grant, get it done and forget about it.

Cat695

another reason NOT to buy a new build

I really can't understand why people would pay way over the top for a house that is a well built as my shed.....ok my shed isn't that badly built

POSSETTE

Cat695 wrote: »

another reason NOT to buy a new build

I really can't understand why people would pay way over the top for a house that is a well built as my shed.....ok my shed isn't that badly built

it really annoys me when people who have never lived in a new build slag em off....well im laughing at ya living in mine...we pay £13 gas a month and £30 elec and STILL get around £100 in credit at end if year!! due to its insulation and cavity wall and combi boiler. i have lived in 3 new build and 1 used! i know where im better off..my previous used house was awful cold downstairs but boiling up with old rads you couldnt alter..on or off that was it!

when we had high winds last year..i drove 5 miles home..passed 12 houses with tiles off etc..all older houses...got to our new small estate(3 cul de sacs) and not one house affected.
and if you call £137k for a large 3 bed 2 bathroom 3 car drive semi in quiet derbyshire village over priced..then what do you want ??:rolleyes:

POSSETTE

also i will agree different builders have diff standards..Wilcon Homes 12 years ago were ok..not a bad little house,we had no probs except 1 tile on roof which they fixed then Haslam Homes were next, better built as they took longer and more picky about things, but bedroom was too small,double bed only just fit in width of room! But this house by Griffths a small local builder is fab, our bedroom is huge (superking bed at last) walk in wardrobe even Estate agent said little room was very big!!! if ya get me..i have heard pf horror stories, but some people just dont research right!

space_rider

I have a 3 year old Barratt and they were very good at coming back to put things right. Massive main bedroom with 10x6 dressing room and other bedrooms are all big doubles too. Downstairs size wise isn`t as big as upstairs but you can`t have everything unless you can afford to build it yourself. Mine is nice and warm too.

To Possette. How do you manage to get your gas bill so low! Mine averaged at £43 last year.

POSSETTE

DONT REALLY KNOW !! we are 2 adults who work opposite shifts so always someone in, even had step daughter live in too for 6 months..water meter is approx 13 a month too..we have a shower each 5 days and bath twice week (shared of course!);) ,washer on as normal for 2,dishwasher on twice week. i know the insulation in attic is REALLY thick.we had to shift some of it over to other side of house to lay floor up there,boards wouldnt get anywhere near joists with all that foam in way!:rolleyes: .heating is on around 19 deg downstairs,dropping to 13 overnight but temp guage says its at 16 anyway without the boiler on.. we only put gas fire on approx 5-6 times in winter when really cold.We do have open staircase off lounge so make sure we shut all upstairs doors as heat rises into bedrooms,we have radiator gauges set at 2out of 5 in spare rooms and 3 in ours,and we dont put anymore than 1 towel on heated towel rail rad in bathroom,so that room is warm.im with edf on an online account paying DD monthly..so no real secret really..just simple things..elec would be lot lower if DH would turn out lights when he's done in room!!!:D :mad: anyone else got any tips?

space_rider

I see how now! I like to be warmer than that. My loft insulation is really thick too. I looked at the wall requirements for Barratts and it does state that all of their houses have to be cavity insulated. I also found out why all the downstairs doors are so wide. It`s for wheelchair access. Silly me!

POSSETTE

yes correct..you will also find your plug sockets are higher than in an older house and light switches lower..to help disabled too...We are frivolous sometimes and go to 21degs!! We def have cavity wall ins too and this was built 2005/6 and it was the last to be built,all others have it too..Bellway need to say why they didnt do it..id contact them at least Lydia also taking any grant you can get...your bills WILL be lower!

PasturesNew

My friend bought a new build in 2001. She invited her brother round to fit her curtain poles. After that he hung about 20 pictures for her.

Job done, she hung the curtains up, made a coffee and sat down to read the "Welcome to Your New Home" pack.

In there it explained that you must not bang things into the walls except at pre-determined spots and heights. It advised the EXACT height down from the ceiling where she should have drilled to fit curtain poles.

It went on to say that to achieve the u-Value, the house had effectively been built inside a big plastic bag - and drilling/bashing any other part of the structure could puncture/pierce this insulating bag and reduce the u-Value.

I bet there are very very few houses of that construction that have maintained the integrity of this form of insulation.

It was built by Persimmon I believe.

POSSETTE

wow thats really interesting..didnt know all that..fancy having house in a bag!!!!your prob right about not many being built like that..never heard of it before..as long as everything is put up with correct rawl plugs it will stay up..somepeople dont use the proper ones, but didnt know that they could compromise insulation..they say you learn something new every day....