CD Hood commercial builders in Cambridge, are pleased to see that the government are introducing the new Help to Buy scheme as it could help to revive the market, it is aimed to help both first-time buyer and second steppers to move into a new home. 

The government, who has pledged to give £130 million into this new scheme, will offer people the opportunity to move up or into a new home with only a 5% deposit. Details of the new Help to Buy are still to be revealed, but it is thought that the government will be offering buyers the chance to borrow 20% of the deposit they need, at an interest free rate for 5 years.

There are two types of loans on offer:
• NewBuy
• Help To Buy mortgage guarantees  - available from 2014

The Help to Buy supersedes the New Buy scheme, where only first-time buyers were able to buy a new build home, with a cap of £600,000.

Osborne stated: “Deposits for a mortgage have put ownership beyond the majority of consumers. Not only is this a blow to home ownership aspirations, it’s a blow to social mobility.”

If you are looking to invest in a new build home, then why not give CD Hood a call and our team will be able to help you to plan your home build from concept with our team of architects to finish build.

CD Hood commercial builders in Cambridge have a vast experience of working with schools across the UK to enhance and improve outdated buildings, creating the best possible learning environment for children. However finding the right architectural team and builder is key to a successful school refurbishment.

Exploiting a school building to its full potential can take a lot of planning and experience to ensure that it meets a varied criteria. Refurbishment projects can take up 50% of the government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme so it’s important that these large sums of money are spent in the best possible way. 

In quite a few schools in Cambridge, Ely and Saffron Walden are either in listed buildings for are in a conservation area, which stops us from demolishing an existing building. It’s a good architects job to work with what they have, which quite often results in a more imaginative scheme. 

There is a general consensus among our new customers that school refurbishing, extending or remodeling an existing building will be inferior to creating a brand new one, but this doesn’t have to be the case. 

We have worked on many schools in and around the Cambridge area, and when a project has been careful considered both creatively and practically many of the buildings can be enriched by refurbishment. 

If you don’t want your refurbishment to look like a series of add-ons, littered with ugly ramps, then you will need to take on an architect and builder who has vision to see the whole site in its entirety. 

Refurbishment if carried out in the correct way can enhance the natural beauty of an existing building. If you would like to see some of the projects CD Hood have already worked on, then please visit our School page @ http://www.cdhood.co.uk/commercial/schools

CD Hood domestic and commercial builders in Cambridge are delighted to see that the snow has thawed out, as it was hampering us excavating foundations and filling in foundations for new buildings in and around Cambridge. 

With this in mind, we thought we would share with you what is involved when laying new foundations. First of all we need to inspect the site, then we start what we call sub-structural work, these are the foundations on which the house or building will sit. The first stage is clear the site and remove the top soil from under the buildings footprint, depending on the project this can take a few hours, but in some cases if the ground is not level it can take much longer. 

When we estimate the amount of work involved we will need to know the volume of earth to be removed from the area. The area will be the footprint of the building with at least 2m working space around the footprint, plus any hard standing areas. It’s difficult to specify exactly how much topsoil will need to be removed without seeing how the land lays, because you might need to remove much more soil, than if it is flat. The next stage is to set out the foundation trenches, in order to do this we will need to follow a structural plan. Every load-bearing wall of the house will need to have solid foundations to support it. 

After we have set out the foundations we then start on digging out the trench foundations. These will need to be excavated to a minimum depth of 1m below ground level. Once these trenches have been approved by the building control officer, we can then start to fill them with ready made concrete. 

If you are looking at extending your home or commercial building then why not call CD Hood Building contractors in Cambridge, we will be able to give you expert advice on all aspects of your build.

CD Hood specialise in modernising and extending commercial buildings and schools across, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Essex.

The most recent project we have been awarded is the to create a staffroom extension at Robert Arkinstall School in Haddenham, which we are due to start in two weeks time. 

CD Hood builders in Cambridge are recognised for their work with schools within the area, and they have won many school contracts, as their experience enables them to work closely with schools to offer them the ideal solutions for their building requirements. CD Hood can take care of every stage of the project from planning, to constructing to offering an on-going maintenance programme. 

All of their members within their commercial building team have been CRB checked, and they make sure that any of their subcontractors they use on our school projects have also been CRB checked to ensure a safe working environment for all of those involved. 

If you are looking for a commercial Cambridge builder to develop your school project why not give our team a call on 01353 658403, and we will be able to help you through every step of the process.

CD Hood, commercial builders in Cambridge, second year apprentice Jonny Gillingham, has been nominated for Apprentice of the Year Award by the National Federation of Builders (NFB). 

The Award ceremony is due to take on the 9th May at Trinity Park, Ipswich - in recognition of the high quality work and commitment delivered by its members. 

The NFB provides business and policy support to builders, contractors and house builders across England and Wales. The company has been build up by protecting the interest of both their members and their customers. 

The website also has a list of NFB-approved builders which the public can access. A division of the NFB is the House Builders Association, which is the only voice for small to medium sized house builders. It also has an extensive Training programme; discounted products/services through Associate members, advice lines, quality recognition through its logo and many other benefits to its members.

With so many shoddy builders around, it’s a good idea to choose one from their NFB list, as members are strictly vetted and have undergone a range of reference checks, giving people peace of mind. 

As a long standing member of the NFB, CD Hood are delighted that our apprentice will be given this opportunity to show case his work.