Fredd

get one. you may want to raise a mortgage on it yourself at some point, we dont know whats coming down the road at us! You will still get a mortgage without it but lock yourself out of the best rates. Alternatively an Architects certificate is a fallback but not recognised by many lenders now.

you haven't mentioned size, number or lifts, tables for gables etc so a bit hard to quantify. but yes you are being bent over. large 4 bed with 3/4 lifts some tables on site till build is done would be looking at half that figure in the midlands.

Self built couple homes, now full time developer for last 10 years. Only build to sell never build for others as I am greedy about profit! Learnt a lot over the years in the trade, feel free to ask questions you may not get an answer you like but it will be honest. First tip. If you are using timber frame and not completing your build withing 4 months you are throwing £10000's down the drain for no reason. I've yet to see a case for small builds (less than 5 on a site) where there is a business case for anything other than block brick or block render. cheers!