Building our own house - pipe dream or reality? Advice much appreciated.

[Tizzylizzy]

I have no idea at all about building a house.

So...here's our situation.

Our current house isn't on the market. We have a mortgage of £200,000 and realistically the most it's worth is about £235,000.

The plot of land is £141,000. It's on an exclusive gated development. They have approved contractors and you have to pick from set designs of houses.

So what next? Can we get one of those weird mortgages before selling ours first? What about deposit etc?

Any advice welcome!

We looked into self builds. 75% less mortgage providers than 5 years ago. Very large deposit needed, money released in set stages, that may not tie in with the builders payment stages. Oh, and you usually needed to have already paid for the site.

I think that the developer has run out of money to build the houses - why is this not the same as buying off plan since you are not even designing your own house or choosing the builder/sub contractors? I would love to self-build but finding the right plot in the right location is the issue. Our compromise is to buy an existing house in the right location and gutting it! (Not exactly money saving but we get more or less what we want where we want it)

Self build only seems to work if you can buy the site and have cash left over to make a substantial start. The mortgage company will only then lend in phased amounts based on agreed work stages. My friends are doing this now and the stress seems phenomenal - and they are both building professionals! So it is not easy option - but possibly worth it if uou end up with a house you couldmt afford otherwise. Try the eco-building society for info. I think they lend on self builds and unusual projects. Good luck.

Ooh I'd love to build my own house... You can get self build mortgages but as Mrs A says they release money in stages. Have a look at Homebuilding and Renovating mag and website.

Hmm myron - you've set alarm bells ringing...

Custom build is the Govt's big new thing and they are about to launch an initiative for housebuilders looking to offer this to customers, similar to what you describe (plot on existing site with opportunity to customise) or if I'm being cynical a device as myron suggests to help developers who have run out of money and how it is structured means the govt will fund the development to completion so you would get to customise your house without the hassle of deposit, the mortgage and managing the money until the unit is ready.

Nothing will be available for a while but sites should start to become available over the next 12 months, but availability will depend on take up by developers.

Where are you? There are some interesting self build opportunities up and running already some of which are local authority funded which also means the staged payments/mortgages are not required.

Not exactly grand designs although Kevin thingummybob is involved.

I would hesitate to do it again; build costs seem to have risen with those contractors remaining in business charging silly prices. Material costs have also gone up. What Myron says makes sense - it doesn't really sound like a selfbuild - more like bankrolling the developer

After going through the process, I'd say it is not worth the stress unless you are getting a house that suits your family

My only experience was my fathers self build, which took ages and cost a fortune! But it was his design and used traditional methods etc to build a truely unique house that just wasn't available on the market. So it was worth it (he also built it on land he already owned so that took a chunk of money out of the equation).

I think the schemes Jcee mentioned are interesting, but presuming the site you are looking at isn't one of those, I think that it would be quicker, easier and less stressfull to buy an 'off the peg' new build up and ready to go. I also agree with myron.

I think that with the mortgage market becoming so much stricter and less products etc available it may be difficult to finance down that route, but again I haven't looked into that myself so can't really offer an informed opinion!

Jcee that's really interesting. How do I find out more? I'm in the North East.

tbh, I would only do that if I could get the plot for less (unless it's london and huge it sounds rather expensive) and design myself/get a design I really want (those restrictions are rather silly) and chose contractors myself.

You can find out more on the Homes & Communities website or DCLG website with it being a government funded housing programme.
It has only been soft launched to date, but as it is Conference week in the world of housing I would hazard a guess that an announcement will be soon.
Inside Housing seem to have a good nose for dates.

As anifrangapani says there should be more info widely available shortly seeing as its conference week next week but as in my earlier post it will depend on take up by developers as to availability.

I agree with mousy, it depends on how committed you are to the self build idea and how involved you want to be with the project, but I think its unclear at the moment as to how it'll pan out and whether you'll have the freedom of choosing contractors and design or if it's a case of buying a serviced plot and here are 3 house design options which do you want?