To be seriously considering building my own house?

[ziggiestardust]

Am I completely out of my mind?

I'm not talking about restoration, I'm talking about properly buying a plot of land and building a house.

Do people really do this? I'm just starting to wonder how ill ever reasonably afford a decent house otherwise. It seems like you get a lot more for your money, and you get exactly what you want too.

Has anyone done this?

[megjswg]

Hi,
I know I'm a bit late joining this thread, but I was doing some browsing of topics!

We have been looking into building our own home and have completely fallen in love with Border Oak homes - //www.borderoak.com

We have spoken and met with them and they are absolutely lovely, friendly, helpful and they seem to really know their trade.

The houses are just gorgeous and we've seen others built near us that sell for a lot! The prices they gave us seem really reasonable and has made me realise our dream could be a reality.

I would definitely take a look at their website (but be prepared to fall in love!).

[Northernexile]

DH and I have done this- it is pretty common here (NI). We have a self-build mortgage, and we have saved money as DH, an engineer, bought land off family and project-managed the whole thing himself while working full-time.

It took about 3 years to get moved in, we had to spend the first nine months of married life living with MIL as we couldn't afford to continue to rent and pump money into the build, and then we went and had DD, meaning the outside is still a building site as we have no time to spare.

It has been manic, but hugely rewarding, and I now have a home I could only have dreamed of having growing up on a council estate in the north west!

[mistlethrush]

It depends where it is - because if its still in the Green Belt or the countryside outside a settlement, you might find there are restrictions on how much more floor area you can achieve. However, it does start with a good basis. Its not that difficult to check on this - you need to look at the planning policy section of the relevant Council and find it on one of their policy maps to see if there's any designation which covers the plot you're interested in. If it is within a settlement, then check whether there are particular rules that relate to house building or extending in that area etc etc etc.

[ziggiestardust]

Because obviously, there's already a dwelling on that land; you're not taking away the green and pleasantness, if you see what I mean.

[ziggiestardust]

mistle so for that reason, do you think a knock down/re build or a renovation is a better approach?

[mistlethrush]

ziggie - I'm a planning consultant and regularly help clients on whether a certain piece of land has any chance of gaining consent or a house has a chance of extension etc... Planning does control significantly - but without it suburbia would be significantly larger and our 'green and pleasant land' wouldn't be as good as it remains.

[GibberTheMonkey]

I thought about this
Mins fault actually as I 'know' a blogger from here who built themselves a beautiful house

[ziggiestardust]

I've been puzzling over the idea of a knock down/re build actually. There's a little 2 bed place for sale nearby for £150k on a big plot. Next door to it are currently extending (massively as well), and every house in the area is totally different. In the mean time, it is very liveable. Newish kitchen and bathroom, nice sized rooms. Definitely worth a further look?

[throckenholt]

As far as I am aware the only people who can get planning permission on arable land are farmers and the building then has agricultural restrictions on it - ie only people with agricultural connections can live there. The local farmers used to do it quite often.

Otherwise, pretty much you don't get permission for small building projects on arable land (only big developments where they build a whole estate). So you really want to keep an eye out for a building plot with outline planning permission. And be aware that mortgages can be tricky - they won't lend you much on the idea - you have to have something of value which can cover the value of the mortgage should you go bankrupt and they need to get their money back.

[Theincidental]

Sky space is beautiful d0g!

OP I'd start keeping an eye out for sites through the auction lists and estate agents if you are serious. Like I said, you can get architect's opinion on the possibilities of what planning permission the council would be likely to agree for an area. It's true that so much of the Cornish coast is designated aonb or ssi, but houses still get built! There are ways of creating a convincing application that meets the planning dept criteria and housing needs.

There is a lot going on in Cornwall on the construction side and if you scour through their website you might find some useful tips and potential funding sources too... Like the empty homes scheme.

You've missed this year but there's "get Cornwall building" event hosted by the council and "green Cornwall" which both focus on advice to potential home builders. Also coming up is the self build and design show in Exeter which might be worth a good mosey to get inspiration and find out more about the process. Free advice sessions and q and a with various suppliers.

[quoteunquote]

www.carpenteroak.com/

for those of you who like the oak frame.

I build, don't buy without planning, it would be silly.

www.huf-haus.com/en/home.html

^^ brilliant kit houses

[Beaverfeaver]

If I could I would in a heartbeat.

If I had the money and a plot wasn't available, I would then buy a run down building and either knock it down and start from scratch or redevelop it.

Oh the dream!

[ziggiestardust]

Yes not sure I'd buy land without PP, was just a thought. Although I suppose you'd then have to pay out for connection of services.

[Plomino]

As for getting planning for arable land , I know that here you won't get planning permission for grade 1 arable any more , because one of my farming neighbours tried and got basically laughed out of the planning department .

[ziggiestardust]

Oh really D0G? Now that's interesting. I'd definitely get myself on site as much as possible to lend a hand/be a general dogsbody. I suppose it would make sense that would save money.

[Plomino]

I live in the fens , and people do it here a lot , as land is relatively cheap , so you get a lot of plot for your money . My house is a self build , as are about 50 percent of the houses in our tiny village of about 70 houses . My neighbours are all individual self builds too , some of which we have watched go up , and some are obviously better planned than others . The most successful ones as far as we can tell are those who really really thought what they wanted , and then told the architect everything . Potten houses seem to be very popular here too .

[ziggiestardust]

Oh cailin I absolutely don't. For that reason I'd go for a turnkey self build with a large company. I'm sure there are loads of really great builders and contractors out there, but I wouldn't really want to go down that route.

theincidental I'm not anywhere near those areas not rich enough for that!!

[CailinDana]

From what I've heard building is real minefield. If you have good builders/contractors then it's great but one cowboy can send the whole thing tits up. It can be great but don't underestimate what a huge project it is.

[Theincidental]

It depends on where the land is. Permitted development rights re changing to include areas in the outskirts of towns/villages that includes some agricultural land.

Lmd in Cornwall can at a premium depending where, some towns like polzeath/rock can be upwards of 250k.

Sometimes a knock down rebuild can be a solution and easier with planning, though it adds costs in other ways.

[Tinlegs]

We did. Oops!

[ziggiestardust]

Add message | Report | Message poster mamabrownbear Mon 09-Sep-13 19:06:36
We are contemplating it. We've got some money saved up but don't want huge monthly payments, especially on a house where we've had to compromise on size plus we might find a house we like at the top of our budget and get knocked out by someone who can offer another £10k. That could happen time and time again so it would be cheaper and less heart breaking to build. Yes a lot of work, yes a lot of stress but in the end you get exactly what you want...don't you?


This. This EXACTLY is why I want to build.

[ziggiestardust]

Oh theincidental thank you SO much for that!! I'm ever so grateful.

Is there any mileage in buying arable land and just going for PP if you have the luxury of time? I'm only thinking that recently, farm land has been bought up by big companies (Taylor Wimpey et al) and turned into huge developments.

There is a massive housing shortage where I live.

Worth the risk? Or should I just pay extra and go for the plot with at least outline PP?