Tony99

I think we will get a much better idea when the tenders go out/come back...I'm not in a particular rush to build-much keener on waiting for an outfit I have confidence in! No idea what labour market is like in the East Midlands.....our build is, I think, relatively straight forward on paper i.e. very good access, level ground, fairly uncomplicated design etc so hopefully builders won't be put off!

Yup-it is easy to get swept away with all the promotion of these bigger TF companies!

Yes-I get the idea of the architect doing what they want instead of listening to the paying client....tail wagging the dog!! Actually, i like the idea of high thermal mass-so block would probably be better than timber frame...our house orientation means it will be in the sun a lot, so I presume a high thermal mass may even out temp fluctuations?? And, yes I'll speak to our architect to make sure that we are factoring insulation/air tightness that exceeds the regs! I'll certainly have a look at JSHarris's blog!

Thanks. Being a novice with this, I initially presumed block construction but there is far more promotion of timber frame in the magazines and forums and trade shows that I did consider this method. The research is difficult to do in an impartial/unbiased way as everyone who I speak to has their own take on things! Ultimately, one has to trust someone with advice and as our architect is very well known to us and has done some good work locally and for friends, we have taken on his advice. As Joe 90 says, we will see what the architect comes up with!

After several months we are good to go with tendering our new house build and our architect is drawing up detailed plans for this....our architect is advising block construction (mainly due to familiarity, I think) rather than timber frame (which is what I was considering-mainly because that is what is most prominent at self build shows and it also seems very popular on this site!). We are planning on finishing with a timber cladding e.g. cedar/larch etc. I understand that most people building their own homes want to exceed the building regs in terms of insulation/air tightness etc. My (naive!) questions are: What do people recommend using for the actual construction method and insulation to achieve better than building regs values? Do we simply state in the tender that we want to achieve a value of 'x' and see what builders come back with? If we are using timber cladding and not brick, what is generally used to form the outer leaf to attach the cladding to? Thanks!

Thanks. Agreed- difficulty to sell a house with building works in the garden! I suppose what I need is a loan for a year that I could pay off when I sell my current house- aren’t the self build mortgages for people who are looking to pay off the loan sum over many years?

Thanks. We’re in Leicestershire.

Looking for advice: I have got planning permission for a new house in our garden. It’ll cost around £500-550000 all done (incl some contingency etc). I was going to fund it by selling my house ( worth about £650000 which we own outright) then renting or caravan while the house is being built. But for various reasons we are now looking to stay in our house while the new one is being built in the garden. We will need to borrow around £500000 for the build and then pay it back once the new house is built and we’ve sold our house. What are my best options??

Hello! Just got planning permission to build a house in our garden. Will be looking for help and tips as this is very new territory for me!!!