| Anyone built their own house? 09:58 - Aug 15 with 4434 views | stickymockwell |
I'm thinking of going for it. I've found a plot with planning and drawings for a three bed.
I would have a build budget of 150k. I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience and am I dreaming with that budget or will I end up with a half built house? |  |
| |  |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:01 - Aug 15 with 3949 views | clive_baker |
I haven't but I did a pretty big extension / converted my basement. All I would say from that experience is whatever you think it's going to cost, add 15% and make sure you're still comfortable with the outlay. |  |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:02 - Aug 15 with 3944 views | Guthrum |
Will you actually be doing the work yourself, or hiring a builder? If the former, it'll be a very steep learning curve, unless you have experience already. |  |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:04 - Aug 15 with 3935 views | stickymockwell |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:02 - Aug 15 by Guthrum |
Will you actually be doing the work yourself, or hiring a builder? If the former, it'll be a very steep learning curve, unless you have experience already. |
Builder. I can't even put up a shelf. | |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:05 - Aug 15 with 3925 views | stickymockwell |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:01 - Aug 15 by clive_baker |
I haven't but I did a pretty big extension / converted my basement. All I would say from that experience is whatever you think it's going to cost, add 15% and make sure you're still comfortable with the outlay. |
I'd love to do it, but I would be stretching it I reckon, plus a long stint living with my parents. | |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:08 - Aug 15 with 3904 views | Cotty |
Have you got detailed building regs drawings or just planning drawings? If the former, it doesn't hurt to get some quotes, does it? |  | | |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:09 - Aug 15 with 3901 views | Guthrum |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:04 - Aug 15 by stickymockwell |
Builder. I can't even put up a shelf. |
Speak with lots of people to make sure you hire a good builder. Be prepared to potentially wait for one who is busy.
There are others on this board who can give more specific advice/recommendations. | |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:10 - Aug 15 with 3896 views | TIB |
Not done it but is something me and the wife have considered of late...either through a local firm or getting a “flat pack” home. Just seems whenever the sort of house we’re after comes on the market it sells instantly...we’ve missed out on 3 now hence the consideration of just building our own. Finding land seems the trickiest part. |  |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:11 - Aug 15 with 3887 views | Cotty |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:09 - Aug 15 by Guthrum |
Speak with lots of people to make sure you hire a good builder. Be prepared to potentially wait for one who is busy.
There are others on this board who can give more specific advice/recommendations. |
I think this is good advice. We got permission for a large extension this week and have booked in a builder who can't start till January. | | | |
Login to get fewer ads
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:16 - Aug 15 with 3861 views | stickymockwell |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:08 - Aug 15 by Cotty |
Have you got detailed building regs drawings or just planning drawings? If the former, it doesn't hurt to get some quotes, does it? |
Just what's on rightmove.
I've got to move, as I'm living in a 2 bed with 2 kids and my lad is now 18 months and getting bigger. I just cant find what I want on my budget and this seemed ideal as both myself and my wife would both be happy with it. She want's a cottage, I want a new build. She's a snob and doesn't want to live on an estate.
I have about 300k to find somewhere. | |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:20 - Aug 15 with 3843 views | Deano69 |
Check the value of the most expensive property in the road (where the plot is), is there a ‘profit’ if you buy the land and then build? It’s just a way of making sure you can get the value back at some point.
As others have mentioned, 15-25% over budget is not unrealistic. We did a large 3-sides extension about 4 years ago and our budget ended up 55% over, partly our fault for ramping the spec up.
Builders are a funny breed (I know that coming from a family of them and the in-laws too) will need tight project management and time control. Wait for the right builder, anyone available to start right away would be suspicious in my book.
If you can avoid living in the new build before FULL completion then do so, we still have bits requiring finishing and that’s almost 4 years later!! But like you I hate diy and have already spent upwards of the figure you mentioned, so the pot is a bit dry!!
Having said all that, we have (within reason) got what we want to live in for a few more years. |  |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:23 - Aug 15 with 3829 views | clive_baker |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:05 - Aug 15 by stickymockwell |
I'd love to do it, but I would be stretching it I reckon, plus a long stint living with my parents. |
What I'm trying to say is allow some slippage, otherwise you'll end up with a house but no kitchen. You might be told something will cost £150k, but it would be prudent to have £170k. Alternatively, if you have a finite £150k, proceed with a project of £135k, to bake in that slippage to your budget. It's rare to bring anything in on budget, there's always unforeseen costs, so hold a bit back. That's what I was trying to say.
FWIW I don't think that's a bad budget for a 3 bed. 2 storey will be more than single storey but it still sounds feasible. Needless to say the cheaper you can get the land for the more wiggle room you'll have with the cost of the build, so haggle over that especially if it's been sat on the market a while. | |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:36 - Aug 15 with 3780 views | itfcjoe |
I basically did, but budgets go out of the window as everything more expensive than you realise.
How big is the house you are looking at in m2? That will give you a better guide as to what is achieveable for the budget.
And how much will you be doing yourself |  |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 11:06 - Aug 15 with 3701 views | Deano69 |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:36 - Aug 15 by itfcjoe |
I basically did, but budgets go out of the window as everything more expensive than you realise.
How big is the house you are looking at in m2? That will give you a better guide as to what is achieveable for the budget.
And how much will you be doing yourself |
And no one will be held accountable for a budget either. In-laws had to move a main drain, cost £20k in the end, all because the council wouldn’t let them move the build 450mm to the right, on a corner plot making it further away from an existing house.
They also were instructed to install eco heating and hot water system, quoted price £30k for a small 3 bed detached. Plus solar panels. Absolutely crazy.
New services, much more than you expect too, if not already laid on.
You tend to account for the big stuff e.g walls, roof, plastering, Windows, kitchen, bathroom etc but things like insulation for the loft cost us £2k, interior doors £2k, then door handles etc £500, the list goes on. Unless you draw the line somewhere and plan for everything and every eventuality which is impossible. | |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 11:12 - Aug 15 with 3672 views | itfcjoe |
| Anyone built their own house? on 11:06 - Aug 15 by Deano69 |
And no one will be held accountable for a budget either. In-laws had to move a main drain, cost £20k in the end, all because the council wouldn’t let them move the build 450mm to the right, on a corner plot making it further away from an existing house.
They also were instructed to install eco heating and hot water system, quoted price £30k for a small 3 bed detached. Plus solar panels. Absolutely crazy.
New services, much more than you expect too, if not already laid on.
You tend to account for the big stuff e.g walls, roof, plastering, Windows, kitchen, bathroom etc but things like insulation for the loft cost us £2k, interior doors £2k, then door handles etc £500, the list goes on. Unless you draw the line somewhere and plan for everything and every eventuality which is impossible. |
I'm a builder so more used to it - but good point about the services if it is just a plot.
It is much, much easier to buy something existing that needs sorting as everything is already there for you - even if you knock it to the ground you still have water, gas and electrics already there which could cost you £15-20k. | |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 11:24 - Aug 15 with 3639 views | Weekender |
£150k sounds quite light but depends on the location/size/spec of course.
Make sure you understand procurement.
When you say drawings, what drawings? - planning, tender, contract?
Make sure the contract with the builder is right. Amazing how many people enter into an arrangement to spend huge sums without a detailed written agreement.
Get good professional advice and a good contractor.
Best of luck! |  |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 11:27 - Aug 15 with 3632 views | clive_baker |
| Anyone built their own house? on 11:12 - Aug 15 by itfcjoe |
I'm a builder so more used to it - but good point about the services if it is just a plot.
It is much, much easier to buy something existing that needs sorting as everything is already there for you - even if you knock it to the ground you still have water, gas and electrics already there which could cost you £15-20k. |
Especially in this market where there are some properties that have been sitting around for a while and could probably pick up at a decent price. Sounds like it might be more appropriate, especially if his cash is liquid which is very attractive to a seller. As you say I would make some rude offers on some properties in a horrible state of repair and throw money at them, rather than start from scratch which can certainly be a false economy. Each to their own though. | |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 11:36 - Aug 15 with 3611 views | hampstead_blue |
We have just knocked down a house and are building 6 to replace it.
Look at http://www.beattiepassive.com/ Ask for Martin who is there senior site chap.
Their product is amazing. We were going to have it for our development but couldn't find a builder to build it and we'd already had drawings done.
You might want to head to Swindon to the National Self Build centre. It's amazing and stacked full of really good ideas and experts. Well worth a full day mooching.
£150k is a decent budget. |  |
| Assumption is to make an ass out of you and me.
Those who assume they know you, when they don't are just guessing.
Those who assume and insist they know are daft and in denial.
Those who assume, insist, and deny the truth are plain stupid.
Those who assume, insist, deny the truth and tell YOU they know you (when they don't) have an IQ in the range of 35-49.
| | Poll: | Best Blackpool goal |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 14:02 - Aug 15 with 3452 views | MedwayTractor |
Bought an infill plot 25 years ago and had a Potton kit house built. I paid about 20% directly, for things like fees, planning, service connections; the Potton kit & their add-on cost for erecting was about 40%; the builder's contract for the rest was the other 40%.
If I had to give you one piece of advice only, it would be that you must be sure of your builder's financial status. If possible, get a a bank reference. I found out too late that my builder had cut his costs so far that he was operating at a significant loss and he ran out of money before he had finished. Effectively, he was using my stage payments to settle with his subbies for their previous jobs. We are still catching up even now. He was a good builder, but a hopeless businessman.
Other things. like the early 90's recession, putting two sons through university, then redundancy, have held us back from having the money to finish what he started.
On the other hand, we have a lovely house which we couldn't have afforded at the time. |  |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 14:19 - Aug 15 with 3414 views | dirtyboy |
Consider where you'll live when the build is in progress.
VAT reclaim on new builds (not on all items, but most)
If you're in need of a mortgage, rates will be higher but only released in stages.
I built two extensions (managed myself and laboured for whoever was on site) First was a 7m x 3m two storey (2small bedrooms above a long garage, the other was a 6m x 5.5m single storey lounge off the back) and between those they cost £55k which was about £20k less than the most expensive quote I had from a builder to do the lot and £10k cheaper than the cheapest quote. Took me ages though as organising labour is a nightmare. |  | | |
| Anyone built their own house? on 17:43 - Aug 15 with 3302 views | Throbbe |
Always wanted to do it, and recently a run down place on a decent sized plot just where we want to be came up. Unfortunately, being such a good bet it got snapped up by a proper developer in a matter of hours, and not having half a million in cash lying around, we didn't have a chance.
I had vague romantic notions of a huge dream house, but actually could have knocked down the existing, built 3-4 houses on the plot, lived in one and used the sale of the others to cover the costs. I seem to recall someone on here did similar and effectively got a free house. However, you do need to be able to borrow a significant amount, knowing that it will take some time to get the other houses to market. As always, if you've got a load of money, there are ways to make more - I'll let you know how it goes if I ever manage the first part! |  |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 17:59 - Aug 15 with 3282 views | fergalsharkey |
| Anyone built their own house? on 10:11 - Aug 15 by Cotty |
I think this is good advice. We got permission for a large extension this week and have booked in a builder who can't start till January. |
That’s good, any builder than isn’t busy isn’t any good. |  |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 18:06 - Aug 15 with 3270 views | vapour_trail |
Yes. I built one for about 130, ten years ago. It was in London but we liked this builder from Lincoln so hired him and he sent a crew down who stayed mon-fri each week, was cheaper than getting a London firm.
Builder is key. As is a contingency fund. We had a good few unforeseens along the way that our builder helped us through. I became an expert on Japanese knotweed and cantilevered foundations.
Set up a company to own and manage it. Do your market research.
Great of luck, it’s a lot of work but quite satisfying. |  |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 18:20 - Aug 15 with 3232 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
Mrs Slave has been told to allow £2000/sq M if that helps? |  |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 18:23 - Aug 15 with 3214 views | lowhouseblue |
what final m2 do the plans give? you can get a ball park figure from that - but there are still lots of exclusions - services, particular planning conditions, road access, etc. it also relies upon you constraining what you choose as you add detail to the plans. as others have said it can all then fall apart with the wrong builder. having recently bid on what was largely a new build opportunity and been through the process of costing and budgeting for that, i have ended up with what is a very extensive refurb instead, and i have to say i feel a lot more comfortable with that. the risks are easier to quantify and there are far fewer big unknowns. |  |
| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
| |
| Anyone built their own house? on 19:51 - Aug 15 with 3113 views | TVRBlue |
Hi Sticky.
I've sent you a PM.
Cheers.
TVRBlue. |  | | |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
