Has anyone gone through the process of a self build and regretted it or has any tips or things they wish they knew before taking up the build. I'm talking about the overall scope, ie wish they had a bigger or smaller plot, less or more internal space etc. Upped the budget etc.
I'm highly interested in renewables and the passivhaus standard. I realise this isn't the right forum (self build forums all over the web) but thought I'd ask here to get an unbiased point of view.
Hopefully someone out there has some experience/knowledge from doing it.
Cheers,
Stephen
I can't comment on the self build process as such but how far have you looked into things yet or is it still just a thought you're having?
Have you looked at plots of land / redundant buildings yet to purchase? You're just down the road from me so this link may help?
https://bit.ly/2C8yDR1
Architects and Engineers Fees to be considered, depending on the firm, they may charge a percentage of the total build cost or on an hourly basis to produce the drawings. Also allow for a variety of possibilities depending on the land / property you buy e.g bat survey, contaminated land survey etc
Rough costs for a house in the area would be between £1800 - 2500 per square metre. But these figures change depending on the area you're looking in as well as finishes in the rooms of the house. E.G MDF is cheaper than Oak skirting etc
Mortgages - if its a self build mortgage you're more than likely only going to get a max of 60% as the bank needs you to prove you can fund at least part of it and also the mortgage amounts only get released at certain stages after a segement is completed so you have to self fun the start of the process. Contigency - Allow at least a 10 - 20 % overspend within your budget because if Grand Designs has taught us anything, everyone's budget will be blown by 'unknowns' which are thrown up during the build, crap ground conditions resulting in more expensive foundations / fancy taps for your bathroom etc
As mentioned by Kai, landscaping is sometimes forgotten about, who wants to live in a fancy house surrounded by mud and weeds!
Services - depending on where you buy it could cost £1,000 to get an electric supply but it could also cost £10,000 and this applies to all services so be aware that your location could be great for views but dire for getting the basic water, electricity etc to you!
In terms of renewables / passivhaus design, I produce EPCs for our clients so like yourself I'm very interested in that side of things as well (not a passivhaus designer though) I do have a book on passivhaus design but not read too much into it yet. I did see there is a table relating to a house of 78m2 (2 bedroom house) which based on 2015 figures estimated that a normal house would have cost approximately £98,000 but the passivhaus equivalent would have been £115,000 so about 15 - 20% more expensive than a normal house (better insulation etc). Renewables are a tricky one as there has been a fair reduction in grants / funding for the various options as its becoming more normal due to the way the regulations are geared up. E.g PV panels for electricity have pretty much run dry on any incentives (ability to get paid to feed back into the grid) and if you're paying £10,000 for panels on the roof you want some benefit which the majority of people wont unless you install a battery pack to store it for the evening when you will be at home (perhaps different in the current climate though!)
Think that's all off the top of my head so far.
Edit
When designing things think about space. E.g compare room sizes you want / require for furniture etc in comparison to where you are now. So if your bedroom is too small add an extra metre or two so it's the size you want. Disclaimer - this will increase costs!
The property we bought we are the 3rd generation to own and came with a considerable plot of land so had a sentimental connection and plots this size are difficult to find or are snapped up by developers quickly in our area.
