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Episodes
Practical conversations with Tina Patel and Bart Kolosowski, and the people who help home projects happen.
Foundation Series
A 12-episode guide to your home project, step by step. Start at Episode 1, or return to the stage you need.
Before you start: agree your brief and budget
Define your needs, agree priorities and be honest about the money and time you can commit.
Episode 1
How does your brief become a home design?
From everyday habits and future needs to layout options, planning, technical detail and decisions during the build.
Episode 2
Who does what on your home project?
Understand who works for whom, and agree who coordinates the design, manages the budget and checks the work.
Episode 3
Planning approved. Ready to build?
Understand how building regulations, planning conditions, party wall matters and other consents fit into your project.
Episode 4
How do you choose the right design team?
Compare the process, capacity and working relationship behind the fee when appointing your architect and wider team.
Episode 5
Is your budget keeping up with your design?
Keep the budget connected to the developing design, test what estimates include and plan cost checks before tendering.
Episode 6
RIBA stages: is your project ready to build?
Understand the project stages, the decisions behind them and the preparation between finishing design and starting construction.
Episode 7
Who carries the design responsibility?
Compare procurement routes and clarify who designs each package, which requirements are fixed and how the agreement will be managed.
Episode 8
Look beyond your builder’s first impression
Check older work, references, capacity and complete tender returns before choosing the contractor for your particular project.
Episode 9
Who is managing your build—and its changes?
Understand who manages the build, how changes are assessed and what your team needs from you during construction.
Episode 10
Getting the keys is not the end of your project
Plan completion, handover and aftercare, including when to move in and how to use and maintain your finished home.
Episode 11
What makes a home project succeed?
Bring the whole journey together: clear priorities, suitable teams, useful tender information and honest decisions through to handover.
Episode 12
Latest conversations
Who is managing your home renovation?
Neil Kahawatte explains how to agree responsibilities, compare fees and make timely decisions.
Episode 23
What is your structure asking you to spend?
Compare supports, beams and foundations, and understand the knock-on costs of structural choices, with engineer Alison Wallis.
Episode 22
Party walls: start with the neighbour
Understand party-wall notices, neighbour conversations and the information needed to keep your project moving, with Jonny Callard.
Episode 21
Which savings quietly cost you more?
Spot false savings in surveys, early quotes and rushed decisions, and invest in a home that works, with architect Uwe Schmidt-Hess.
Episode 20
Budget or design: which comes first?
Keep your brief, design and budget moving together, and avoid a late tender surprise, with George Charalambous and Tina Patel.
Episode 19
Where does your project start wasting money?
Check readiness, choose useful space and systems, and understand uncertain costs before construction, with Sam Wiseman and Tina Patel.
Episode 18
Do you need an extension—or a better layout?
Test an extension against a better layout, realistic costs and the way you want to live, with Andrew Dobson and Tina Patel.
Episode 17
Planning: choose the route to the home you need
Compare planning routes against the home you need, your appetite for risk and the preparation required before building.
Episode 16
Where do planning delays actually begin?
Identify survey timing, validation requirements and planning conditions before they delay your project, with Geoff Megarity.
Episode 15
Permitted development: what can you build?
Check your house's history and permitted development rights, then compare the routes to a useful design with Geoff Megarity.
Episode 14
Planning permission: where do you start?
Choose a planning route, understand the risks in your proposal and prepare a clear case with Aaron Zimmerman.
Episode 13