Building own home

[Kittens97]

Just that basically, does anyone have any experience of self build kits and the turnkey process?

We are hoping to obtain some land with planning permission for a detached dwelling then will go from there in terms of design and getting everything prepared.

Any tips on project management, budgeting etc?

XDH and I did a self-build 15 years ago and I'd do it again in a heartbeat if the opportunity arose.

Do you have the land already? That's the hard bit. We found paying for a project manager to be excellent value (we were beginners, both working with youngish kids). We also found the endless decision making to be exhausting but worth it in the end.

The things I miss most about that house are the wet underfloor heating (upstairs and down) and the built in vacuum cleaner. The thing I wish I'd been able to have was a grey-water plumbing loop for the washing machine/loos.

I have done two self builds and project managed them myself. I worked with an architect to design and get planning them took over from there. No one can really advise on budget without knowing spec and space. Mine is 5000 sq ft and the bathrooms alone were 90k but some people could build a small house for 90k. The architect should be able to help advise. Keep receipts and records to claim back vat and budget carefully as you don’t want to find you have to save on the finishings.

I've looked into this in the past. The two things to keep in mind are:

• you need to live elsewhere for a prolonged period so if you need finance, you're paying twice
• everything takes a long time. Even preparing the ground is potentially months of work.

I would only consider it for a Haufhaus type build if you're not experienced in building projects unless you're hire a full-time PM which is expensive.