House Planning Help Podcast

Guy Harris from AccessiblePRS explains why accessible housing is important, what the key considerations are and how to deliver it well. He also shares his experience of designing his own house as a wheelchair user. Check out the show notes for more information.

Toby Cambray talks about the experience of working on his own retrofit project, and the lessons learnt in the process. Check out the show notes for more information.

Toby Cambray talks about the risks associated with moisture in buildings, and the modelling techniques – like WUFI® – that can be used to assess those risks. Check out the show notes for more information.

Mike Whitfield shares his experience of running a local construction company that specialises in Passivhaus. He explains how the business is structured, and what tasks are tackled on a daily and weekly basis. Check out the show notes for more information.

Mike Eliason talks about his book, Building for People, and the massive opportunity we have to create better places through being more intentional and thoughtful. Check out the show notes for more information.

Laila Dudhill explains some of the challenges she faced when planning her new build home at the bottom of a sloping field. Not only did she have to deal with drainage across the site, diverting the natural flow of water away from the house, but also come up with a foul drainage strategy that would off-set phosphate discharge into the local watercourses. Check out the show notes for more information.

Katherine Adams and Connie Spoor talk about the circular economy and construction, and practical strategies for making reuse a priority on housing projects and self-builds. Check out the show notes for more information.

Chris Brookman from Back to Earth explains what wood fibre insulation is, how it could be used on a project and why careful specification is required. Check out the show notes for more information.

Florence Collier, founder of Humblebee, takes us step-by-step through the deep retrofit of her 1970s home. She explains the costs relating to each measure and the cumulative total as the project advances. Check out the show notes for more information.

Toby Diggens explains what it takes to meet the requirements of the Living Building Challenge, and working to the standard when renovating an existing building. Check out the show notes for more information.

Toby Diggens, founder and co-director of Digg and Co outlines how we can all contribute to creating ecologically diverse and resilient landscapes to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. Check out the show notes for more information.

Furniture maker Lucinda Leech shares her story of building a modest, but beautiful eco home. Check out the show notes for more information.

Howard Johns, founder of One Zero, outlines their home energy transformation service which includes topping up insulation and adding solar PV, battery storage and a heat pump. Check out the show notes for more information.

Cypren Edmonds, a housing activist and advocate for bio-based building materials, describes the challenges he has faced living in social housing in London, and the health benefits and energy efficiency that can be achieved through building with straw. Check out the show notes for more information.

Kareem Dayes, co-founder of RUSS in Lewisham, explains why setting up a Community Land Trust was a route to deliver genuinely affordable housing and create a better neighbourhood. Check out the show notes for more information.

Greg Byrne from RB Asbestos Consultants explains what asbestos is, why it was used so widely in construction, its potential impact on health, and how you go about identifying and removing asbestos products. Check out the show notes for more information.

Clare and Ross Booth from Coldwells Build share details of their prefabricated, turnkey Passivhaus designs that aim to simplify the delivery of high performance homes in Scotland. Check out the show notes for more information.

Paul Testa from HEM Architects explains the difference between renovation and retrofit, using his own home as an example of a deep retrofit. Check out the show notes for more information.

Richard Hollas from 21 Degrees explains why regular MVHR maintenance and servicing is essential, what it entails, and we accompany him step-by-step as he services a unit. Check out the show notes for more information.

Paul Morris from Solar-Shield explains how external shading can help control solar gains and reduce internal temperatures, keeping your home cool as temperatures rise. Check out the show notes for more information.