Charlotte

Hi! Just thought id say that its the specific area we are looking at in Highland that normally stipulates 1/1.5 storey. Its pretty strict where we are looking, i think it just depends on the area not just what council its in

Looks like a lovely house! I’ve heard a lot of people giving figures of £2500 a sqm or similar recently which really wouldn’t be affordable for us. Its putting us off slightly as we were advised that £1500-£1750 per sqm was a good figure to look at. Obviously we are aware that price per sqm isn’t the best way to estimate but it can give you rough idea. Its nice to hear of someone who has built for a cost similar to what we’d be looking at. Thank you so much for your insight, theres so much to learn and its good to hear from self builders themselves!

Definitely another company to consider, thank you so much for your help!

Thank you for your insight! Yes I guess that is the issue with them only supplying the kit. It’s good to hear some of the problems people have had, lots to weigh up. Taking into consideration everyone’s points we’re thinking about getting a couple of local builders out to give us a price for them to build the whole thing.

Thank you so much for your insight! Yes we’re located in the highlands. We’re looking into the idea of a local joiner building the kit as well. We’ve got local builders coming out in the coming weeks. Very much keeping our options open at the moment

Thank you for your help, there aren’t a lot of kit companies in and around the area in which we may be building. We are keen to get a company with a local office and Scotframe is one of only a couple of these companies in our area. But we are looking at other companies in other parts of the country as well, thanks ?

Hi, we’re currently trying to come up with a figure for self building so we can decide whether it’s affordable for us. We’ve noticed that Scotframe are very popular so we’ve been looking into them. A few of the house designs have caught our eye but most of the houses are much too big for what we’re after. Just wondering whether anyone has any experience using Scotframe’s architectural service? We’d probably have to alter their designs quite majorly to fit what we need so just wondering if it might cost a lot to get those alterations made?

Thank you! Yes we’ve heard many horror stories about self building ? all the positive experiences with self building seem to come from people who are willing to put in the effort at the beginning! As you said the process is already stressful enough without having to worry about finance

Thank you so much for your insight! I’ll definitely have a look at the link you’ve included, even if the figures are slightly out of date I’m sure it would still have some good insight! ? like you said we’re definitely trying to investigate everything before we commit to a plot and encounter any nasty problems later on. We don’t have a big budget so we’re definitely trying to get a realistic price as even though we will have a decent contingency we certainly wouldn’t like there to be any financial disasters along the way! The plot itself is beside a few other houses. It is effectively in the garden of the sellers house. He is currently constructing his house and he has said that he didn’t have any problems with the ground but we will definitely be looking into this further, thanks again

That’s definitely something we need to consider! Thank You!

Hi, Thank you so much for all of your insight. We are currently considering a 1.5 storey house of around 100m2. Highland council planning are normally only willing to grant planning permission for a bungalow or a 1.5 storey so we’ve decided that a 1.5 storey would be the more economical option. We have tried to stick to a roughly square design based on the research we’ve done. We’re looking for quite a basic spec as we are realistic about our budget. We’d much rather spend more on making sure the house is well insulated and the basic as are done right that having an expensive kitchen or bathroom! ? We’ve narrowed down the possible building methods to between Sips panels and a timber frame kit. We understand that SIPS panels are more expensive in the beginning but there are definitely savings to be made in the labour side of it as it takes even less time to construct than timber frame, plus the long term savings on energy efficiency. At the moment we’re thinking about staying in a caravan during the build. The current owner of the plot is constructing his house just beside the plot we are interested in so he has offered us his caravan if he has finished his house by the time we’re ready to start. But we definitely won’t be renting! From our first initial conversations with the builders they have suggested around £1500 a sq metre but that was a very rough cost. We should be getting two builders up in the coming weeks to give us a better idea. A friend of the family has had various houses build by one of the builders in question and he is willing to help us source materials. We’re trying to complete this project for a total of £300k including the plot so we are definitely trying to be realistic about it before we embark on such a difficult task! We want to try and avoid any nasty surprises later on! ?

There are quite a few houses within close proximity of the plot. One of which is being built at the moment (this is one is effectively on same piece of land as the plot). They’ve told us that they didn’t have any issues with the ground but it might be something to look into. Thank you

Hi, We’re in the process of estimating costs for a self build project in the Inverness area. At the moment we’ve identified a plot and we would be grateful of any insight when it comes to estimating costs. Currently we’re looking at getting quotes for service connection so water, electricity and phone/internet. There is a overhead power line on the plot so we also have a quote for that. We should be getting a builder out in the coming weeks to give us a quote for the full build as well as installing a septic tank and digging the trench for the power line to be re-routed underground. Is there anything else we should be looking into at the moment? We’re still in the very earlier stages of this and are currently still deciding whether the project will be affordable. Thank You!

Yep very rare for Highland council to grant permission for anything more than a 1.5 storey which we’re happy with. We’re not looking for anything fancy. We’re local, the potential plot is just outside the village we currently live in.

Yep I assumed that. I think at this point we’ve pretty much decided on a 1.5 storey as it will definitely look better on the site and the savings are a bonus. I’m grateful for any insight thanks, especially in this early stage