Kesara

Thanks for all the informative replies guys, I really appreciate it. Will be taking everything into account.

I do think Italy is definitely the dream, however due to the distance, language barrier, and absolutely no idea where to start, I think its a bit too unrealistic of a goal. It would be ideal, however as I am only starting on my self build journey, and I plan on going through several properties in my lifetime, I think starting in an easier to get to location in a language I can speak, is more realistic. There are a lot of headaches that come with self builds, and I think I would rather go through it on home soil first before venturing into another country and dealing with a whole other environment. Rain is not an issue, I find myself to be quite a homebody and would spend the majority of the time indoors, working on personal projects. I can always escape back to London if the weather really does get to me.

Hi guys, I really appreciate all the responses. I probably should have reworded my initial post better, as I was trying to be funny and failing miserably. Fortunately, money is not actually an issue in any of this process. I already have/will have in the next couple years suitable funds to invest into my dream home, thanks to some smart investments and side businesses. My family will also most likely get involved, as we have always had a healthy relationship with eachother and money. But I appreciate the pointers and concern, definitely something to consider. I think the main problem I am trying to understand is the process behind finding a suitable piece of land. Whether it is a healthy risk to purchase land with a small/dilapidated dwelling, without intial planning permission, and then gaining it after the purchase. There are factors that can mitigate such risk, such as consulting with a planning consultant or contacting the local authority. I am just wondering if there are any further steps I can take to make such investment less risky. Worse case scenario, planning permission is denied and the property is renovated and sold. Is this the only way of attaining a sizeable piece of land (a few acres) and building a home on it? Buying bare land seems more risky, and every plot that I have seen does not meet the necessary requirement, or are in built up areas. Is there another avenue which I am missing? Again, thank you for the replies.

Hey, I am 22 year old currently finishing my masters dissertation, and procrastinating by thinking about my self build dream home. I have always wanted to build my own home (and by that I mean hiring people to do it), and growing up in America for half my life and seeing big homes on acres of property, I knew I wanted to make it a reality. Then I moved back to the UK and realised I drew the short of end of the stick in terms of the percentage of self build homes in this country, compared to our surrounding neighbours. The dream? Having a house in Wales, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nature, forests, a river that flows east and acres of land to roam on, with a newly self built house to replace the crumbling, derelict property currently sitting on the land. Is this attainable? I have no idea, but a man can dream. The plan? Find a derelict property for around 150-200k with a few acres of land with water and electricity already laid out. Design the most modernly beautiful home to ever grace the Welsh countryside with a long wooded driveway for another 200-300k. This will then be shortly followed by the adoption of a golden retriever and an escape from the constantly stimulating and overpriced London work life. If anyone can shed any light that will reinforce this dream, please do. If instead you've got bad news for me and that I am being unrealistic, give it to me slowly. Why Wales? Well, I'm in love with Italy, and fluent in french, so both are ideal options, however the distance, lack of knowing anyone, and the fact that this would be my first self build project, I'd rather be taken advantage of in a language I can negotiate in (I don't actually speak welsh, I did not think this through). Also, England prices are astonishing and I am not a fan of the north (sorry). So, the plan, I am reiterating with more detail this time. With a budget of 500k (I don't actually have this money, but I can beg the parents and sister and convince them this is also their dream), I plan to find a suitable property, with a rough sketch of a house or idea. Send that off to, I'm guessing a planning permission expert or the county's council?? to get their expert advise on the likelyhood of planning permission being approved. I'm banking on the fact that 86% of planning permission requests are approved. Once confirmation is given, buy the property, live in it for a month (or 4) and pretend i'm welsh whilst waiting for official planning permission approval, then absolutely demolish it to the ground, get a contractor, and build the new dream home. Seems pretty easy right? What am I missing. Thank you for taking the time to read this post, I'm sorry I cannot give you those 5 minutes back. Thanks, Kesara