Building your own home from scratch. Anybody got any experience ?

[Raymond Lin]

I've done a few for clients when i was working in an Architct Practice.

First, you need to get yourself a piece of land, or have a piece of land in mind.

If you have the land, then you can apply for planning permissiong. If not then you can always apply for planning permission, or even outline planning permission (cheaper in terms of architect costs as the drawings are much less detailed), and then once you get it, then buy the land. You do not need to own the land to apply planning for it, but you do need to serve notice on the land owner, the down side to that is if planning is granted on a piece of land that did not have planning for a build before, the value of it immediate goes up. Any land that already comes with planning will cost more than the piece of land next to it without planning. So it is a catch 22 situation, the way to "guess" if you can get planning is take a look at the surrounding area, are there any simialr new build happened there in the past few years? and you can always take some photos of the land, take it to the local planning office and speak to a planning officer and have an informal chat about your prospect of sucess of getting planning.

The other way is to buy a house with a large piece of land attached, preferably on the side of the house is a large garden. Apply for planning on the garden and split the land in half, sell the old house, a guy i worked with did just that.

So, once you have decided on the land you want, go speak to an architect. Have a brief in mind, the number of rooms, materials used, want underfloor heating, style of design etc. Then basically you can leave it all up to him, just make sure you budget well, as costs WILL escalate. Budget for the land, and then budget for about £1,200 per meter square and you are about right, then add 5% for contigency.

The whole process is a lot more detailed so good luck.

p.s. In 2 and a half years i never had a planning application rejected, kinda proud of that record

 

[cm1179]

feasability study and planning persmission should be done first

 

[Yurka]

So, once you have decided on the land you want, go speak to an architect. Have a brief in mind, the number of rooms, materials used, want underfloor heating, style of design etc. Then basically you can leave it all up to him, just make sure you budget well, as costs WILL escalate.

Costs don't have to escalate, they will if the Architect keeps signing off AI's or goes off on drawing something he likes the look of... PQSs will help you to keep you within YOUR budget

 

[regulus]

that's a very interesting statement. just out of interest - you say it was cheaper. in terms of the overall package price would you say it was a bit cheaper or like half the price for the property if bought now? with regards to prices now as i know my parents house is literally worth ten times more than what it was when they bought it in the 90's. i'm not after monetary figures, i'm just wondering if it was worth looking into in further detail.

also, how difficult was it with regards to water? were you on a main line or did you have to construct the entire amount for yourselves?

There was already water pipes connected to the main line so water was never a consideration, luckily.

As for money. The land was bought for £52k (around 60 000 Euro at the time) which was an incredibly generous price considering the local area and the usual prices for houses start from around 300k Euro and top out at around 600k.
We have family living there which oversaw the whole project for us and did countless miles of legwork whilst we couldn't be there.
Right now according to records we keep we've spent just over £92000 to date, with another £40000 or so needed for a complete house. That include furniture and the garden. If I so choose, and the economy pick up a bit, we can sell it for around 420k which turns a lovely profit. However, If I sell it within 10 years of formal completion, there is 50% Capital Gains Tax payable which is .... uncool.
Anyway, in short, it worked out far cheaper to build it ourselves and source the cheapest and best materials. The most expensive things apart from buying the land is the roof, outside rendering and windows/doors. The rest of the costs were expectable. I also learned tons about how a house is planned, designed and how the whole building of it business works.

 

[regulus]

feasability study and planning persmission should be done first

Agreed. Don't even think of buying a piece of wood unless the local authorities are happy with the proposed design.

 

[Glaucus]

Out of interest did any one use any of the self build software like 3D Home Designer to get a basic idea of what you want before you went to architect.

 

[regulus]

I used Google Sketchup to show him exactly what I had in mind.

 

[ichabod crane]

Out of interest did any one use any of the self build software like 3D Home Designer to get a basic idea of what you want before you went to architect.

It isn't a bad idea sketchup is a good place to start as it is a free download, it is nice when a client comes forward with a clear idea of what they want.

 

[bigredshark]

In general 1/3 of the cost should be the land, 1/3 build cost and 1/3 profit but in reality it does not work out that well. I think if you make 15 to 20 uplift on the completed project you have done quite well.

Also don’t forget you save on the stamp duty as you only pay in on the land and you can also claim back the VAT on all the building materials.

My worry would be that I'd spend the savings on the details, kitchen and bathroom fittings and the like. When you're building a place from scratch you're going to want everything to be just so and I can imagine it being easy to spend a lot trying to get it right...

 

[Glaucus]

My worry would be that I'd spend the savings on the details, kitchen and bathroom fittings and the like. When you're building a place from scratch you're going to want everything to be just so and I can imagine it being easy to spend a lot trying to get it right...

Yeah but I think you have to set a budget and stick with it, do a design and decide on all fittings/furniture before you build anything. And remember if it's budget house then you will have to keep it in check and remember it's not your dream house.

It's a massive shame government aren't building streets with water/gas and selling the plots of.

 

[York]

Like many other people I'd love to build my own house. Finding somewhere to build it though is a problem

 

[bigredshark]

Yeah but I think you have to set a budget and stick with it, do a design and decide on all fittings/furniture before you build anything. And remember if it's budget house then you will have to keep it in check and remember it's not your dream house.

It's a massive shame government aren't building streets with water/gas and selling the plots of.

In theory, I just think having built somewhere to my own design - I'd be really tempted to blow the budget to get the very best fittings and stuff. Maybe it's just my general lack of self control!

 

[regulus]

My worry would be that I'd spend the savings on the details, kitchen and bathroom fittings and the like. When you're building a place from scratch you're going to want everything to be just so and I can imagine it being easy to spend a lot trying to get it right...

Not at all. Most shops that sell bathrooms and kitchens will draw you up a detailed 3D design of what it will look like at the end. The art assists they use is from real stock they have in the shop/factory. You get to choose and discard as you please. My girlfriend kept the bathroom design shop busy for over two weeks until we had it nailed down. It's definitely not a trial and error thing when it comes to the actual build.

 

[Dr House]

Not at all. Most shops that sell bathrooms and kitchens will draw you up a detailed 3D design of what it will look like at the end. The art assists they use is from real stock they have in the shop/factory. You get to choose and discard as you please. My girlfriend kept the bathroom design shop busy for over two weeks until we had it nailed down. It's definitely not a trial and error thing when it comes to the actual build.

I think what he was saying is that when you build your own place you put in nicer fittings then a developer would normally and thus end up spending a lot of money on the finishing touches d

 

[andy m w]

Hi MrLoL I am a Bricklayer and also live in Wakefield . Do you have the land allready if so the next step is to get an Architect involved, Quite a few plots of land come with outline planning permission on them . this gives you an idea of the size of property you could build.If you are looking at plots of land then surrounding properties will give you an idea of size of property you could build.Actually manageing the project yourself isnt that hard its just a matter of time number crunching and schedualing .I can put you on to a couple of reps for materials you wouldnt believe how much you could save on materials by knowing the right people and the hidden deals the public rarely see.

 

[Fr0dders]

Hi MrLoL I am a Bricklayer and also live in Wakefield . Do you have the land allready if so the next step is to get an Architect involved, Quite a few plots of land come with outline planning permission on them . this gives you an idea of the size of property you could build.If you are looking at plots of land then surrounding properties will give you an idea of size of property you could build.Actually manageing the project yourself isnt that hard its just a matter of time number crunching and schedualing .I can put you on to a couple of reps for materials you wouldnt believe how much you could save on materials by knowing the right people and the hidden deals the public rarely see.

nowhere near ready to do it yet.

Was just posting to try and get some websites to visit. I rarely do things on impulse and like researching things first. Drives my other half mad, but i like going into things knowing exactly what i want and whats available and whats possible / whats not etc..

 

[Glaucus]

Out of interest if people are selling of agricultural land. Can you just rock up to the planning office and inquire what the chances of self builds getting permission for change of use and the building? If so what would you need?

Also on agricultural land what is the planning permission for putting up a small enclosed barn?

 

[sorn21]

I'm in my final year studying AT, my advice to you would be;

If you have a site in mind,
You obviously know what you want, so make a list of things you need/want in the house.
Download Google SketchUp, it's free unlike other software and is also extremely easy to use. Or if you prefer draw it by hand.
Plan out a rough layout, things you would like in each room, taking into account your list above, I wouldn't spend too much time on this however.
Once you're happy with this, contact a reputable Architects Office, pop in and have a chat, show them your proposed draft, they will be able to show you what will work and what won't, most likely turning your draft on it's head in the process! There's lots to go over, somethings you may not have thought about.
The Architect will most likely, depending on scale, be your go-to guy.

Depends on your level of involvement really, I'm not positive but I think you can actually cut out the Architect altogether if you're really hardcore. Chances are it will be a complete headache though!

 

[NeoReloaded]

I would suggest having atleast some experience in the building trade or be prepared for trades to walk all over you and take the p**s! Unless you go the architect route of course!

 

[JJKrista1]

There's a couple of self-build magazines published. I can't remember any titles but suggest a trip to WH Smith.