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.

Please do tell. I’ve been posting on mumsnet for decades but I didn’t think there was anything too controversial. I’m too much of a good citizen (and not interested enough) to search through yours.

Mind you, if you think a simple thread opening a discussion for house build prices is ‘scary stuff’ then your threshold must be set fairly low.

Looks like build costs are around £3k per sqm for a decent spec in a higher cost area. You can probably make that £4k/sqm (and the rest) for a fancier spec or a headache site.

There isn't a standard answer to the thread though, as you've seen. You could build a very big, standard off the peg spec house on a simple site for your £1m, or you could build one for a quarter/third of the size with lots of eco features, future-proof smart tech and individual bespoke design and engineering details, on a complex site. It's all relative.

Thank you, I’m not fussed about smart home as we went for full automation with our current one and wouldn’t do it again. I do want to go as eco as possible though. What was throwing me was that online build price calculations seem to be based more on off-the-peg styles and we were looking more at a bespoke build. Realising that may be out of our budget which is useful, we can look at more standard builds or just shelve the project entirely.

why on earth would she want to do that? She has a really healthy budget. A prefab kit house doesn’t retain its value compared to a traditional build. People only build kit houses when their budget is tight!

A high end spec, traditional build, with energy efficient features, you’re talking £4k per sq m. A generous family home is circa 300 sq m. Your budget is healthy, but not high enough to allow you to lose control and go wild! Just spend wisely, try and freeze your key features early on (change costs), go with recommendations, ask to buy materials directly from builders merchants (super easy as you can set up an account and your builder can order from it, so no mark up). You’ll also qualify for zero rate VAT on your build costs if you’re demolishing and building new, so a huge 20% saving. (Make sure you get that squared away with your VAT registered chosen builder before your works start.) Shop around, design your kitchen and bathrooms yourself (DIY Kitchen company’s cabinetry is fantastic quality and value and looks bespoke), use independent suppliers where you can, and challenge costs all the way through….I had two quotes of circa £25k for my solid wood flooring; found an independent localish supplier - better quality product and half the price. Good luck and try and enjoy the journey! (Oh and don’t let your builder persuade you to put shower trays in, nor tile trims, chrome hardware, or builder standard internal doors! All of those fixtures and fittings will definitely cheapen the high end look you’ll achieve with your budget!).

Wow, you seem to be getting a hard time on here. I think the best thing to do is get your builder to just come look at the land, tell him (or her) your must-haves and ask if it's feasible. You're not looking for someone to lock in specifics, you just need a ballpark right now, and I'd say a builder will be more reliable than an architect. I do feel your budget is going to be tight.

High end kit houses do retain their value.

Thanks you very helpful. I’ve just checked and our current house is 340 sq m (according to the sales brochure when we bought it). I don’t think we’d want to go much smaller so need to look at ways to saves costs.

DH has spoken to the builder that did the offices and it’s looking like the distance would be too far for him (obviously it’s not just him but all his team that would need to get there) which is a shame but not surprising. I think he found the office bad enough as it is because they are all based in on the other side of a major city and traffic could be bad at times. Probably looking at a potential 2 hour journey at least. Shame because he’s done a great job and has become quite a good friend through the process.

Could he recommend someone?

Yes I think it will be tight, we might have to review our requirements. A lot of posters have been focusing on the details of the site but I think that’s a bit beside the point, because if it’s not this site it might be another one. I think the question in my mind is whether it’s worth us looking out for potential building plots at all or is the house we would like to build just totally beyond our reach.

Honestly - it sounds a lot (it is), but to build a home the size you want and landscaped etc - no you’ll be hard pushed. Someone else send factor in £3k per square meter finished - that’s roughly accurate for a moderate finish. That’s the house, not landscaping and other internal fixtures etc. you won’t have much change.

We did ours around 2.5k price point Covid times. Labour costs and material costs have gone up substantially.

people have also said factor in costs in the area - that is not how it works. Your issue will be market value. Build costs are the same - labour and materials are the same. What you sell it for thereafter will determine if it’s worth it. If properties in your area don’t go for that price you need to seriously reconsider the build design/quality/size.

Worth asking! He came to us through the architect who project managed the build but as they are all based in and beyond the city that I mentioned that’s miles away, I’m not sure what contacts they would have this way. I will be getting in touch with the retired builder who worked on our current house as being more local he might have some useful insights. I’m not sure we’d be wanting to use our existing architects particularly, as they mainly specialise in modern eco commercial buildings. So we might be looking at getting a whole new set of professionals on board. Daunting!

So would 3k per m include flooring but not kitchens and bathrooms etc? I’ve seen these guide prices before, of course, but they seem hard to interpret! Obviously so much variation depending on the type of build etc. We’re definitely not too worried about the final value as that’s not our motivation, but I feel confident that if we were to manage to build a decent family home on a large equestrian acreage for around our budget we wouldn’t lose any money on it. We’ve been looking at houses for years so got a pretty good handle on current values. It’s a sought-after area.

The question is, can it be done?!

I’m wondering whether it’s possible to save some work for later to cut costs now - like not fitting out a bathroom or postponing the landscaping etc. Is that a mad idea?!

I think you’d need a bigger budget for a higher spec finish, eg, bespoke kitchen, granite work tops, oak flooring, oak or other hardwood doors and windows, high spec showers, no plastic plugs or light fittings. Friend spent 750k on high spec new build 15 years ago but house size was half yours and prices have gone up. As another poster said, definitely get an account at local merchant and buy as much as you can yourself, as many builders have a huge mark up on lots of items. However, some builders will not accept those terms and want to source everything themselves. Once you’ve found the right builder, make sure you have a watertight contract and watch the figures like a hawk, particularly the contingency fund and take detailed videos and photos of every state of the build ! Good luck !

In my experience I think it's do-able but potentially tight for that size. You could probably reduce that size by 1/3 to 250sqm and still have a really good house then go for higher end finishes. I've looked round oakwrights and they were gorgeous so worth a look. I've found offices to be more per square foot than houses to build so you might be pleasantly surprised.

My go to was the homebuilding and renovation magazine which has cost breakdowns for builds.

yikes, £750k sounds very spendy for a small house 15 years ago! This is my worry, I don’t need super luxury but I do want a nice finish. When the online cost calculators talk about ‘medium spec’ it’s hard to know what that actually means, but I would want things like hardwood flooring and bespoke kitchens. And everything is so much more expensive than it was last time we were doing this. I think our current kitchen would be at least triple the cost of what it was 10 years ago when it went in!

We could look at reducing size slightly. Are there any Oakwrights houses that you can actually go to look at? It would be great to see some in real life. I like the idea of a house from Oakwrights (or similar) being slightly more prescriptive in terms of costs (possibly?) than a bespoke build from an architect, having had bad experiences in the past where the plans have gone to QS and turned out way over budget.

It wouldn’t include kitchen for those, but windows/doors etc.

landscaping is mega mega money - driveways too are obscene money (that one shocked me doing our build).

I would also consider if building a larger property future proofing your bills - ie ensuring aircon with heat/cooling function because heating a larger home is astronomical, so making it more efficient economical upfront costs more but works out better.

I would also phone a builder and ask them for an indicative cost in price a build.

It isn’t impossible but you’ll need to manage it properly.

As someone else has said - very clear agreements on what’s included and expired and to what spec.

Also consider payment scheduled. I’ve done a few properties now and the teams I’ve used always say “if you get asked for a lot of cash upfront, they have cash flow problems.” Majority of builders will have accounts at merchants so don’t pay when they procure the product. If you’re doing a house of this size, presumably they will be a larger outfit not a one man band - so ask them also to see previous clients work. The majority will be happy to show you former clients building projects.

plus another hidden cost is where will you live while the work is going on.

Rent is extortionate, so you could need a further £15K depending on how long it takes for the build to become a habitable property.

We already have an appointment at the weekend but as I say, it’s slightly beside the point as obviously we are looking out for a plot to develop so if it’s not this one it might be another. Trying to work out if it’s actually achievable. Might call up Oakwrights etc and get some ideas on build prices from them

We've done two self builds of the size you're talking about in the North West - main contractor with us managing all subcontractors. Eco build, high end finish on both, bespoke kitchen/larder/utility, 3G, MVHR, etc. We sold our first one for almost 40% profit (remember self builds are VAT free). Your budget is doable but I would recommend living on site (we built a garden room and included that on the planning application) and managing the project yourself because no one cares about your money as much as you do! Get everything fully costed by a QS before you submit your application so you're sure you can afford to build to your plans. Personally, I would avoid kit homes and turn key companies. I don't agree with some of the comments on here - heating costs for our home are very low with ASHP, solar and UFH throughout. Spend time to find a builder you trust and feel you can work closely with - you need to be able to get on with them. Ours costed independently using his own QS and his estimates came in very close to ours. I would recommend a healthy contingency (20%) because you can add a lot of extra cost to your budget if you decide to change your mind on things and you don't want to feel constrained. It's a great experience - go for it! One point to add is that someone needs to be on site all day to keep an eye on things IMO, otherwise timelines will slip because the builders knows he can get away with prioritising other jobs.

Oh god yes driveways are horrific, I should remember this as we did ours about 5 years ago 🫣. Def want to go eco our current house bills are eye watering (as you’d expect being a large, draughty Georgian house! Our offices have an air to air heat pump which cools in summer, seems great. All useful things to consider, thanks.

My house in a rural location. Surrounded by listed buildings it is a one of designer house it’s apparently very American all glass and high ceilings not as big as what your proposing. For couple who built it it was meant to be their dream home to retire too and they started out using high end stuff granite work top a £300 tap in the downstairs loo £6000 cooker etc. They started in 2012 we bought it in 2020 and it was very clear they just simply ran out of money it wasn’t completely finished and the last bits they did do were just average price stuff. They completely underestimated the cost and prices for work kept rising and oh yeah the stress ruined their marriage and they are now divorced! I own a stunningly beauty house with a breathtaking view (not just my opinion but everyone who come here) and only stress I had was choosing the flooring!!!
Personally I would t do it.