cjackson129

I guess I was hoping for the same flooring throughout the ground floor as the layout is open plan. We don't wear shoes indoors anyhow. Thanks for the advice thus far everyone.

Good morning! I am looking for recommendations for either laminate, vinyl or engineered wood flooring. Looking for good quality at a reasonable price which won't look rubbish after a couple of years. So many products out there and so many mixed reviews. Any advice would be welcomed. Thanks.

I will also look into a soil survey, I wonder if the vendor has had one done, particularly as the custom build site is part of a wider new build development.

Sorry I didn't see that there were more comments - thank you. I will have a look at the land registry website, although as you say - at this stage the land may not be divided up as yet. I hadn't thought about when the council might adopt the roads, this is something that I will certainly ask about. As far as financing the project. We are using a mixture of cash and mortgage. I have asked buildstore about how best to approach this and got the impression that with the acelorator mortgages around, it may not make much of a difference. I however was wondering whether to pay for the plot using at least some mortgage with a bit of cash so that, at you say temp, we will have some cash kept aside to keep the build moving... We won't be dictated by the staged mortgage payments etc... I wonder then if we might need to place a deposit, get the planning permission approved, organise mortgage, pay for land with cash and mortgage..... Continue.... I will definitely read up on vat. We have been doing more reading around the build to water tight /weather tight option, hiring subbies there after. We have contacted a few timber frame companies in the South West but wondered if anyone could recommend any? Thanks

Hi Ultramods, thanks for your advice. We will need a mortgage and have moved into rented locally, the rent is a reasonable price and once we're ready to get started we are going to set aside cash to cover 12months rent, we have been advised that some lenders will discount rent payments from the affordability calcs if you have money set aside from the budget. With regards to the finer details on the plots - these are limited at the moment and we'll only get more details once they're on the market - we're very much at the ideas/exploring options/preparation stage at the moment. We are definitely going to explore the timber frame firm constructing to weather tight then arranging sub contractors route - this seems very logical. We have made an appointment to see a local and very reputable architect, mainly to get their perspective on the development, the plots and build route options. We are looking at the plots in Bovey Tracey. As far as I'm aware Teignbridge DC have not been put in special measures, I also have contact with them via my day job and have not heard anything about special measures. Thanks again everyone for your advice, all really helpful and I really appreciate it.

Temp - thank you, great advice. We have a solicitor in mind already, one which we have used before and I know she has experience in plots. I had wondered about getting a tape measure - will do now. With regards to the credibility of the plots, they're within teignbridge dc who are pushing self build /custom build. The road to the site is already being built, plots will be serviced and the site is being excavated currently. It seems as if they're going for a mini graven hill site, each plot will have its own passport with detailed permission to be granted within a shorter time frame (2 weeks I think).

Thanks everyone. Christine - I wonder which timber frame firm you have used?

Thanks everyone for your comments so far. I think a wind/watertight shell is a good idea, we know some reliable sub contractors in the area so would be able to get quotes from them. I will explore this route further. Once built, we hope that this would be our family home for the long term. Wise advice to get running costs down.

Hello everyone, my name is Claire and I live with my husband and our 2 young children in South Devon. There is a custom build development locally of 18 plots which should be available to buy in the coming months. Our plan is to buy a plot and build our own home there. We have been researching for many months, got the homebuilder's bible, magazine subscriptions, been to the shows....all the standard stuff. We have had mixed responses to our budget and I was interested to get any thoughts/advice that you may be able to offer.... We have some rough figures for the plots (yet to be confirmed) but our total budget minus the plot price will be somewhere in the region of £190k-£240k, this figure will need to cover everything else (professional fees, landscaping, foundations, build, 10% contingency....basically everything else apart from the land). The plots are already serviced. We are hoping to build a 3 bed, open plan living/dining/kitchen, downstairs study, possible small 4th bedroom if possible. My husband works full time, I work part time and look after the children so realistically the time we can dedicate to the project is limited, I am however willing and I am an organised person so I will do what I can. Neither of us have any experience in the building trade though. We have been looking down the kit/package firm route with firms that can provide a fixed price turnkey route as we need to stay within budget. We have however, been advised to use contractors/subcontractors so that we can drive prices down.... Anyway, as I said, any thoughts would be gratefully received.