To ask for self build help/tips?

[Purplezebragoat]

In here for traffic as need as much info as possible!

As not to drip feed - OH is a farmer, (south wales) doesn't own a farm his parents do and he is self employed so works solely on his own, rents various fields around the village for sheep and has a workshop at his dads farm.
He no longer lives in the village as he was living with parents but for various reasons had to move out and now lives "up town" with me.

Since moving out he has been finding it increasingly difficult/tiring having to travel back and fall to the farm when various emergencies have arisen (sheep lambing, animals escaping etc) so we have been desperately trying to buy a house together in the village but they very rarely come up and when they do they are just so far out of our price range.

We bought a plot of land last year in the village, roughly 1.5 acres purely just for keeping a few sheep in, and now I have started to think maybe we should see if we can apply for planning permission for a small house, even a bungalow, so we are closer.

I have googled until my eyes are sore and I still don't understand the process fully.
The field has no water or electricity so obviously that will need to be taken into consideration.
The village is also on a green belt so planning laws are very very strict but we were hoping as he has a real need for being in the village there might be a chance it gets approved, even if its only a very small dwelling.
Would need to be at least 3 bed though as he already has one DC and we are trying this year for one together.

Building on his dads farm is not an option - no wiggle room on that unfortunately.

So, my question is, for those of you that have self built how did you finance it? I cant see us having more than around 20k upfront to play with so how did you pay your builders? How did you even find builders? I have seen horror stories of builders being paid upfront and then disappearing half way through the job - how do you make sure this doesn't happen?

What do we need from start to finish, i know we need an architect but do we need someone else like a planning person initially?
We arent confident enough to employ people ourselves and be there all the time as I work full time and OH is now working 14 hours a day into the summer.

What sort of up front costs are we looking at before planning has even been approved? Are there any mistakes you made you could warn us about?
What size did you build and how much did it cost?

Any info greatly appreciated, thankyou!!

Your first port of call needs to be planning. Round here where we are it is very hard to get planning permission on agricultural land. Every county seems different in terms of how planning works, but you need to phone them up and ask if permission is likely to be granted. There may be hoops to jump through to get this infirmary though.

After that I personally would go down the design build route, where you work with a builder to design the house and then get an architect to review and revise the plans.

Word of mouth recommendations are the best way to find a builder. Talk to at least 3 and look at their previous work. Good builders love showing off their work!

We got a big extension built and employed an architect first. They had their heads in the clouds and wanted to design something “amazing”. We couldn’t afford amazing, we wanted a nice, practical extension. Our builder was far more practical, sensible and knowledgeable!

Also I hate to be the voice of doom but £20k will not go far. But I’m sure you know that. It was a few years ago so I can’t quite remember but the plans and planning cost a few thousand (poss £1500 plans and a few hundred for planning).

Good luck x

Thankyou! Well we were obviously going to have to go down the self build mortgage route but before we even get to that stage we just needed to know roughly the sort of costs we are looking at before it even gets approved.

If we are going to throw 20k at this before anyone even says yes you can build then it's going to be a non starter really...

Our planning is costing about 3K. I'd start by talking to the local council planning officers and explain about needng to be local to look after the sheep esp when lambing. I'd imagine you might be able to build with an agricultrual restriction (ie you can only sell to another farmer if you do sell), if you have total holdings of a certain amount and so many sheep to look after (so a need to be on site for lambing) and they are all local.
You can buy kit homes which come and are assembled on site - advantages it is an easier process as often the kit home company will look after getting planning, arrange your mortgage, they're quick to put up and the cost is usually very fixed. Potton are a well know company and here's a guide to their fees for this: www.potton.co.uk/design-build/pricing-structure-build-cost-guide
£20K will not go far, but it helps you already have the land.

Yes, agree about talking to the planning department first. Potton offer lots of help and do seminars to advise on how it works. Good luck!

Thanks I will give the planning department a ring to see what they say :-)