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.

Such as?

Welcome back by the way! This thread had become far too useful and productive, it’s about time someone returned to give me a bit of abuse.

My partner and I are doing a renovation/homebuild and we would recommend going to the Homebuilding and Renovating Show. We found it very insightful and we are heading to the London show and we have found some tickets https://www.homebuildingshow.co.uk/mumsnet

Thanks! Went to this yonks ago the first time we were renovating and loved it. I see it’s coming up to Harrogate near us. Will definitely try to get there.

From what my partner said there should be tickets for the harrogate show there as well.

I have kept things very slightly vague (to protect my secret identity 😜) but I don’t think I’ve altered any of the actual details at all. I’d be interested to know what you think doesn’t add up? Hopefully I can clear things up for you.

@ProfessionalPirate , it’s a traditionally constructed building but it’s very modern. We have lots and lots of patio doors and huge bi-folds a Spanish slate roof all costly but the walls are rendered which is a bit cheaper than brickwork I think. We have some aluminium (light wood effect) cladding and matching aluminium gates. We have three floors and the top floor was reinforced to take our gym equipment. All floors have underfloor heating and every room has reversible air conditioning. The downstairs floors are covered in large porcelain tiles and upper floors have engineered oak flooring, all doors are solid oak. The kitchen, bathrooms, utility room and bedroom furniture were all high end. We have a large resin bound drive and an extra large double garage all included in the cost as was a very sophisticated alarm system.
We felt it was cheaper in the long run than buying an habitable property and doing it up.
Warning! Have all your decisions made before you start because the pressure we were under was exhausting. Have fun!