Self-build: what kind of house could I build for £1m?

[ProfessionalPirate]

DH and I have always dreamed of doing a self-build, and a plot has come onto the market that has got us interested. It already has a very run-down bungalow on it, so we’d be looking at knocking that down and starting again.

After land purchase our build budget would be around £1m. But I’m struggling to work out if that would be enough to build the sort of house we want. We’ve contacted an architect who we’ve worked with before for his opinion, but I know it’s going to be a difficult question to answer without actually going through the planning process and talking to a QS! So I’m wondering if anyone here who has been involved in a self build recently could share their experience with me?

Our minimum requirements would be 5 bed, 3 bath, dressing room. Large kitchen/diner/living. Separate sitting room. Playroom. Office. Plus landscaping / driveway. We favour fairly traditional- looking stone houses with modern touches. In the north of England, in case that makes a difference.

If I was starting from scratch, I would honestly be open to rethinking your preconceived notions about the kind of house and go with a prefab kit house. They're quick to build without the usual delays, super energy efficient, easy to customise, and can be really lovely.

https://www.huf-haus.com/en-uk/

Can’t believe you’re coming to Mumsnet tbh

Adding - I'm in the SE, but suspect you're going to struggle to get what you want on that budget with a traditional build.

Sorry - double post. I'm on a train with intermittent wifi

It depends on whether you want solid gold baths or standard B&Q stuff for example. It's a how long is a piece of string question.

I do think Huf Haus look really cool in the right setting, but this is a rural area with a certain vernacular, I can imagine it would create more issues with planning for one thing. I know that traditional stone will work out expensive though 😬

Exactly

and actually just the tip of the iceberg of questions that need answers before any kind of meaningful response

Why? Do you think no other mumsnetters have ever done a self build?

Start with the plot: the metric is the plot/land costs 1/3rd you spend another 1/3 on the build and value when finished is another 1/3.

does that fit this situation? if not it almost certainly isn’t feasible.

Have you looked at somewhere like Oakwrights?

https://www.oakwrights.co.uk

We briefly looked at them when considering a self build but couldn’t make the costs work with the price of land near us. They had a cost breakdown of one of their show homes somewhere on their website.

You would go over imo.
A rudimental finished figure of 3k per square meter, in and around 250sqm for a home of those requirements. You’ve hit £750k before add ons, professional fees, encountering problems, making up time delays etc.

And we have no idea what part of the country the Op is in. Costs very enormously

Is there any rush re the plot? Ie how long has it been on the market? Likely to arouse much interest?

Op is in the north of England.

Absolutely! That’s why I was hoping anyone who has recently completed a self-build could share their experience and include details of the size of house, standard of fittings etc. I’m awaiting a response from the architect but from previous experience I imagine he will be extremely hard to pin down (understandably!)

We recently completed a block of new offices for our company so I have some understanding of current building costs, but obviously the overall look and internal fixtures etc will be very different in a domestic property.

Do you have any contacts from builders you have used in the past? I did a massive extension and so when I bought my next place and wanted to make changes, I was able to simply call around the builder and Pm for their thoughts on the new place. I trusted them implicitly

So you must have an extensive network of trade contacts!!

Get around your builder and PM from your previous job!

I’m not sure I understand that equation 🫣
But the plot of land is a substantial small holding so possibly doesn’t apply. And final value also not a major concern as this would be our forever home.

Thank you! The houses on their website look gorgeous so will definitely look into that.

The PM was our architect, who we have contacted. Builder tricky as our company is based a 45min drive away, and the builders guys are mostly based another 45mins beyond that in a major city. So sadly might not be feasible to use the same company. Can certainly ask their opinion though.

A fucking big one!

You’d think so wouldn’t you?! But my experience of the office build over the last few years is that £1m doesn’t go as far as you might think these days.

Also remember that your £1m is gross so you actually have 800k to spend, take off contingency and you have closer to £650k as your budget.

Op for a big build… really high end builders that are very well respected travel all over the country! 1.5 hours is nothing. Pick up the phone and talk to him!

Nope, not around me on outskirts of London