Paragraph 84: Building an Exceptional Home in the Countryside
There is a clause in national planning policy that rewards exactly one thing: a building genuinely worth having changed the view. Here is what it actually asks of a design, and of the people making it.
Jersey Planning Reform 2026: What's Changing Under Boleat
Jersey's planning process is genuinely getting easier under its new Minister. Whether your project's ecology is safer is a separate question — one a Jersey ecologist has just raised publicly, and worth understanding before you start.
The Mansion Tax Is Coming: What a £2m+ Threshold Means If You're Building or Extending
A new charge on £2 million homes arrives in 2028. Before it shapes a single decision about your extension or new build, here's what's actually known — calmly, and without the scaremongering.
What New-Build Snagging Data Really Shows in 2026
Two statistics, both true, both from the same industry survey, that seem to contradict each other. They don't — but understanding why tells you almost everything worth knowing before you complete on a new-build home.
Does Passivhaus Really Cost More? What New 2026 Research Actually Shows
Everyone assumes Passivhaus costs a fortune more to build. New research says otherwise — and the real figure is small enough to make the question worth asking again.
Future Homes Standard Explained: What It Means for Your New Build
A new law now governs how every new home in England must perform — not in some distant future, but from March 2027. We look at what it actually requires, and why the homes worth building were already heading this way.
Building in Jersey: A Mainland Practice’s Guide to Island Planning
Jersey Architecture: A mainland practice's honest guide to its planning system, its property market, and what building well on an island actually asks of you.
New Build Snagging: Architect or Surveyor?
Snagging has quietly become an industry of its own — badges, certifications, marketing. Here's a more useful question: who actually knows your house well enough to check it properly?
RIBA Stages Explained: What Actually Happens When You Commission an Architect
From first doubt to finished home: a plain-English walk through the RIBA Plan of Work, and what each of its eight stages actually asks of you as a client.
Biodiversity Net Gain 2026: What It Means for Homeowners
Most extensions were never affected by Biodiversity Net Gain — and the rules for new builds and self-build plots just changed again. What the August 2026 amendments actually mean, beyond the headlines.