Our Process
Enquiry & Fact Find
When you make your enquiry to IHUS via the website or by phone, you will be given a warm welcome by a member of our iHUS team. If we can assist you in any way straight away we will; or one of our specialised team members will call you back at a time to suit you to discuss your enquiry further. This will help us to develop a greater understanding of what you want to do, your needs, circumstances, timelines and budget.
We will also answer any of your initial questions to give you a better understanding of what is involved with building an annexe in your back garden, and if required we will also arrange for a free on site consultation at your home and carry out a complete garden site survey.
Free On Site Consultation
One of most popular services is our free on site consultation service. We will arrange for one of our expert annexe consultants to visit you at your home (or the at the site address if different) to:-
- Carry out a full site and garden survey to assist you with choosing the right style, size and layout of your proposed annexe. It’s helpful and stress free.
- We will explain the processes involved in applying for the required permission from your Local Planning Authority to allow your proposed annexe to be built and explain the planning and build time lines with you.
- We will discuss your annexe requirements in greater detail with you so we can advise you which annexe style and range will suit you and your garden or plot the best.
- We will run through the various finishing and personal choice options that are available for you with regards to our kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, heating, lighting and decoration.
- Where required we will design your annexe [custom range] to fit the best available space in your garden that suits your budget.
- Where possible we will detail the associated costs for all the options selected for your proposed annexe and provide you with a detailed budgetary quotation
Quotation
After the free on site consultation we will prepare a detailed quotation and proposal detailing what we have discussed with regard to your proposed annexe which will detail:-
- The process of obtaining the build permission from your LPA [local planning authority]
- The warranties and build guarantees.
- The build time lines and what to expect.
- The annexe build specifications.
- A full set of CAD footprint and elevation drawings of your proposed annexe as discussed.
- The fees required for the build permission application.
- A detailed cost breakdown for your proposed annexe.
- Any extra costs for additional works [should you decide to have them done]
- The payment schedules for the build.
- You can expect to receive your written quotation and drawings within 7-10 days of our free on site consultation visit.
Planning & Building Consent
iHUS offer a complete turn-key service which includes the sometimes daunting and stressful process of obtaining permission to build your proposed annexe from your LPA (local planning authority). We work with industry specialists to ensure we stand the best chance of obtaining permission to build your annexe. On average it will take between 8 and 13 weeks to receive the decision back from your LPA.
We select the best possible planning permission route for you, whether it is a regular planning permission application or an application under the Caravan act. We often use a dual approach which means that our success rate in obtaining permission successfully to build your annexe sits at over 95%.
Finally your annexe will be signed off under current building regulations [this is different in Scotland] for which you will receive a final build pass certificate, this is normally a month after we finish on site.
Project Management
From your initial enquiry to the handover of keys, iHUS is the single point of contact. We manage all aspects of your project from start to finish, to take away the stress normally associated with a major build; which an annexe project typically is, involving multiple build processes over a relatively short period of time.
During the build our Project Management team will be in constant communication with you so you are kept up to date and aware of what is happening at each stage of the build and what needs to be completed to finish your annexe with as little disruption to you as possible.
Manufacture & Installation
Your annexe will be constructed in a cassette format [unless we tell you otherwise] in our 2,000SqFt factory on the edge of Doncaster, Yorkshire.
At the same time one of our ground works teams will be building in the foundations and services connections on site. The annexe is then delivered as a “flat pack” on a Hi-Ab waggon and erected on site.
We then fit out your new home both internally and externally to the specification we agreed at the consultation stage
The build process from breaking ground to handing over your keys will normally take around 6 or 7 weeks, for small annexes it may be 5 weeks and for the larger builds we may need 8 or 9 weeks at the outside.
Since moving into his custom-build annexe, this iHUS Community member is keen to share some practical advice for those considering an annexe.