Self build - thoughts?

[sunja]

Some advice from those who have self built before please or those in the process/planning to do so soon.

It’s mine and DH's dream to do a self build. We are hoping to start work in a couple of years time so starting all the research now.

We have signed up to Self Build and Design for the monthly magazine and also plan to start going to self build/Reno expo’s and shows.

So far we know that it is difficult to find land (we are hoping for a plot in a village close to a city) so may need to look at run down houses with good plots for a knock down project. We were also thinking to use the architect as the project manager.

With regards to mortgages, how did you find the process as I understand it can be more difficult to get a self build mortgage than a normal mortgage?

Any other advice you have would be great please! Wanting to research in depth and get an idea of all the steps required and hear others experiences.

Thanks!

@sunja yup, there was a powerful motor and container in the utility room with pipes to outlets around the house. You just had a lightweight hose you plugged into to the outlets and off it went. It would happily suck up a pair of socks and never blocked. If it did get blocked you could reverse the suction to blow to shift the blockage but we never had to do it. Loved it.

I’d suggest having a look at Buildhub which is a forum for self builders. If you go down a kit build route it may not be appropriate but, there’s a book called the Housebuilders’s Bible that takes you through the steps required with costings (which did go out of date quickly, and probably even more so now, so an old copy off eBay would still be useful).

We built a 150m2 extension and, although I was a complete pain to our architect by specifying to the mm where I wanted things to go because I knew “exactly” what I wanted after designing it on paper myself for a year, during the build it was very helpful to be around as a few things were changed when installing the drainage and first fix plumbing and electrics, when I saw how it was working out.

We used Estimators Online to give a costing for the work after the plans were drawn up and they were fairly accurate (we came in under budget). My builder and I worked closely to project manage. He had us pay for materials he ordered to an account in our name at the builders merchant (so he didn’t have any liability and we had title to the goods) and we saved the VAT he would have had to charge us if he had supplied the goods. I shopped around for bathroom fittings, radiators, doors etc.

Good luck!

I did a timber frame self build in 2020 - started on 6 Jan & moved in the weekend before the first lockdown. My son is a carpenter though & did the majority of the construction - we contracted builders for the walls.

I'd have never done it without the support from the BuildHub forum.

I didn't need a mortgage as it's only a very small chalet on a tiny plot however I did get a 25k bank loan [at similar rate as a mortgage at the time] in order to finish it.

I love it but there are things I would change if it did another one - probably need 3 self-builds to get it completely right although I'm too old now to do another one!

Ah this is the dream, following

@LadyGardenersQuestionTime sounds very convenient but quite expensive! Also never come across one before! Maybe more people will start to get them

@Catname great advice, thank you!

@IVbumble that went up really quickly! Did you find it easy to find the land?

We live in a border oak house - we didnt build it - we love it. If i was going to self-build i would definitely look at them - they can build all the house or just erect the oak frame which is what they did here and a small local builder did the rest.

i believe they can help finding plots as well.

good luck.

@sunja - found the land first - it already had planning however I amended this after purchase [I would have been ok with the existing planning should any changes have been refused.]

Quick build entirely down to my son which was vital as we had no idea Covid would come along.

The local council website in the area you wish to build will have a way to register with them to be notified about land available as they have government targets to reach for supporting self build properties although I found my land via rightmove. It's also worth bearing in mind that the cost of building materials has significantly increased over the past year.

@IVbumble thanks for this. When is the best time to sign up if wanting to start in a couple of years?

Probably best to sign up as soon as you can - as it will be essential research to learn average plot costs.

@IVbumble okay perfect, thank you!

I haven’t used SIPs but a builder friend said I should. I’m not going to though!

We too started our build in early 2020, using one of the well known timber frame companies, and it has been a nightmare. We are still not finished after nearly two and a half years. The timber frame company have a great sales operation and their design team are pretty good but they only build the frame and not the rest of the house. The problems for us have been with the builder who we got from their list of recommended builders. We visited two of the builders’ former clients to get detailed references and thought that as they were also members of the Federation of Master Builders we should be OK. We really didn’t imagine that the timber frame company would risk their own reputation by recommending a poor builder but we have since found out that another client has had very similar issues. Sadly we have had many problems even though we have been on site most days. Also, as we contracted with the timber frame company separately from the builder they have tended to blame each other for any issues and so we have sometimes been left paying to put things right as there is nobody with overall responsibility. I still don’t know what else we could have done differently unless we were lucky enough to know a good builder already. One thing that might have helped was to get a quantity surveyor involved with the tendering process as with hindsight our builders’ quote was pretty vague on detail but we only realised this when they started saying ‘oh that’s not included’ about things, or ‘we only costed for such and such’. Advice to make sure your marriage is strong is also good. We had been through a lot of grief and loss together but this is up there as one of the most challenging things we’ve experienced.

@Selfbuilder3 that sounds absolutely awful!! Do you have an end in sight? What stage are you at currently?

Building should be cheaper...
The biggest cost by far is the land, and with building materials and labour prices going up massively this year, land prices will need to adjust downwards, but they may not as there are a lot of people out there who fantasise about building their own home.
We have built our own house from scratch once, but renovated the 2 before.
My Dh owned a construction company so had plenty of experience.
If you have no experience at all you will 100% need a project manager
The self build mortgages can be hard to get and expensive. Ideally you need the full cost of the land in cash and enough to build up to dpc level.
But as a minimum 50% of the value of the land with enough cash to build up to dpc level
Good luck
Also if you can find a builder who will do a turnkey finish and you plan everything before it starts and not change your mind it will be quicker and work out cheaper.

I don’t think land prices are going to come down for self build plots. Near me every plot (with a bungalow on it) is snapped up by a builder or small developed. Self build isn’t possible for most with “plots” at &800,000 plus. It’s mostly fantasy over reality. We do hand two friends that did it. Several years for one 10 years ongoing for the other. A nightmare.

Apologies for typos. You get the drift.

We've done two self builds, the first with no experience whatsoever, and we didn't use a project manager for either. Both were completed within two years and neither were that stressful overall. We did have a sizable budget and we both have excellent project management skills though.

We are frustratingly close to finishing but there has been nobody on site for a few weeks. We think the builder is short of money and might be waiting for other clients to pay them so they can afford to pay people. Or they would like us to sack them as they know the amount of work outstanding will cost them more than the amount outstanding from their quote. Labour and material costs have shot up since they quoted but if only they’d got on with things we could have finished a year ago.

@Selfbuilder3 that is soo awful! I hope you get it all sorted soon xx