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I am looking into the idea of doing a self-build and trying to get an idea of the costs involved before actually committing to it (e.g. by buying land or paying architect fees). I would like to know if the whole thing is at all feasible before investing a bunch of money in it. I have seen all the usual £/m² estimates, but these seem to vary quite a bit and don't always include all of the associated costs (e.g. architect/SE fees, applications, warranties/insurances etc.), so I'm wondering if there's a way to get a more accurate idea of costs at this stage of the journey, or is this just what people go on to start with and only get more accurate estimates as the build progresses, e.g. after land is purchased and designs are drawn up by an architect etc.? I have seen cost estimating services such as estimators.com mentioned in this forum, but it seems that these require designs which I presume would only be done much further into the project and after already having invested quite a lot of money. Any tips for how I should go about initial budgeting/estimating would be greatly appreciated 🙏

Hello everyone, Occasionally a lurker here over the years but finally decided to change things up and join up and ask for advice (and maybe add some in the future?). My wife and I are looking at how realistic it is to do a self build (ICF preferred) of approx 100m2 (either 1 or 2 storey) with a total budget of £150K (excluding plot cost), right down to the kitchen /bathroom fittings (midrange). I intend to DIY as much as possible, paying trades for the skilled aspects etc. Now I know it's a how long's a piece of string question and I suspect that I'm missing something / seriously underestimating costs but some "rough" calculations look like this (excuse the ordering!) : Carpet etc inc. fitting £3,000 Electrics £5,000 Plumbing & bathrooms £10,000 Triple glazed windows £15,000 Kitchen complete £10,000 Stairs £3,000 Foundations £12,000 Fencing £3,000 Heating, solar, pump, etc £15,000 Legal fees etc £10,000 Roof £11k ICF walls & concrete £25,000 Flooring frames £3,000 For a rough total of £125,000. How wrong (or right) am I? I appreciate any answers because currently I'm reading so much that one moment my budget seems reasonable and the next it's nowhere close!

Hi all We're at the very beginning of our self build project and wondered if anyone has a budget spreadsheet template they'd be willing to share with me (remove figures if preferred)? Ideally I'm looking to track quotes, spend, materials, specialists, trades etc and also use it for the VAT side of things. I've found a few older posts on here asking the same but the people I reached out to haven't replied, probably because they're now finished and no longer use this forum! I've also looked online but everything is very US based so not ideal. Thanks so much!

Hello all! I have been reading the wealth of information (thank you ?) from this site for months & finally joined yesterday, don't know what took me so long! My husband, 6yr old daughter and I began a project on our tired 1950's bungalow (which we have lived in for 9 years) in May, which has involved pulling half of it down, and putting up a two storey extension in its place. We have gone for blockwork construction (dense externally, lightweight internally with 50mm PIR part fill in the cavity) and will be cladding in larch. We have lovely views all around us and so glazing has been key for us, but without wanting to go ultra-modern with the design. Our budget is very tight so we are putting our money into the structure with any fancy finishing touches just having to wait. Any advice is greatly welcomed.

Due to a second property in London being badly down valued prior to re-mortgaging and in the light of Brexit (I dread to think what they'd value it right now, mid corona), I am going to be short about £60k to construct an 147m2, 4 bed in place of 2 existing, crumbling outbuildings (albeit said outbuildings have electricity and water already). With this squeeze on budget, I am going to need to cut every corner going (within reason) to get this over the line. Throw in the fact that this is my first build of any description, and it's going to be "interesting" times! From other threads, it appears that Closed Panel Timber Frame as opposed to SIPS may offer the best shot at delivering a combo of quality and real value. Appreciate that this is a bit of a how-long's-a-piece-of-string Q, but by getting properly creative, what's the least you'd back yourself to bring this 147m2 structure in for, and how?

I'm currently at the stage of building a detailed budget as we are now in for planning and interfacing with self build mortgage lenders. I do have a high level spreadsheet and have a full development cost understood, however I need to break the build cost section out with real numbers just now as I just have my magic 'finger in the air' 1200/m^2 figure at the moment for the build. I have various prices back for all the windows, the house kit, MVHR, etc however I have basically been procrastinating as hard as I can before building the full budget spreadsheet and cashflow (albeit I have a very good idea of what I want it to do). I have a terrible habit of avoiding these things, rather than just eating the frog and getting done. I have downloaded a number of spreadsheets from on here, which I have attached for reference for anyone else who is looking. I can't remember who posted them (one is definitely by @Jeremy Harris) but thanks to those who shared. I am going to build a budget spreadsheet using the 'self build - cost estimate' attached. I seems to make sense and uses pivot tables to allow the data to easily broken out. I've a little learning to do on those but, I spend most of my day costing and estimating on spreadsheets for large engineering projects so should be fairly straightforward. Then I plan on adding a cashflow tab and actual costs vs budget. Hopefully so it's all easy to update and doesn't take up too much time throughout the process. However, I wanted to check if anyone else had other examples they would be happy to share and that worked well? And also any tips? extra functions or info to add that you would add in hindsight? I do plan on adding a column for reclaimable VAT so I can track this and also an easy way to add a column to monitor costs during build easily to see if we are on track. Sample_Costbook.xls Self Build - Cost Estimate.xlsx Simplified costing spreadsheet - 050421014.xls

Evening, So we are hoping to start getting an architect on board soon to get some plans drawn up, size of build and budget is high on the agenda the moment as are the cost of the preliminaries. Ideally our house would be: 200m2 ICF construction two storey dwelling £200,000 build budget, ex fees etc Vaulted ceilings 4 Bedroom House Master Bedroom with en-suite, walk-through wardrobes etc 3 further bedrooms capable of growth. Family Bathroom Remote or attached storage area/plumbers workshop? Attached 2/3 berth garage Attached hair salon / utility Open plan kitchen dining and living space Separate lounge room Ground floor wc Pantry/utility space Dry store of the kitchen Additional storage on both ground and first floors In an ideal world the build work completed would be done by the following people: Who’s doing what??? (in theory) Ground work: Me + Labourer / Chargehands Underground Drainage: Me + Labourer Foundation: Me + Labourer ICF: Me + Labourer Roofing full: Sub-contractor Windows/Doors: Manufacture install UFH/Boiler : Me Plumbing : Me 1st Fix electrical : Me Above ground drainage: Me External brickwork: Sub contractor (friend) External cladding: Me Internal joinery : Sub-con (friend) 2nd fix plumbing : Me 2nd fix electrical : Sub-con (friend) Dry lineing : Sub-con (friend) Me Plastering: Friend Decoration: Me Snagging: Me Landscaping: Over time / me Speaking with several lenders, (Buildstore / ecology) once we line up all our ducks its looking like we will be able to borrow between £250-£350k, the maximum we want to borrow is £280k as after all this is a loan we have to pay off before we retire, 30 years on a repayment with a general bank remortgage once its built Im going to be looking about £800-900 a month which is at the top end of what I would want to spend on a mortgage. Out of the 280k we would need 40k to pay off our outstanding mortgage on the plot, 40k contingency budget & 200k for the actually build. I've been looking into the cost of getting this project off the ground and what sort of money we need to put in from the start. Attached is my schedule and its looking like most of it is going to be needed to be paid upfront out of our own hard earned cash before the build commences, I am sure that we have missed some unforeseen cost's such as lending / broker fee's so any advice would be greatly appreciated if their are any hidden fees that I may need to add it would be great to know? and I am yet to be given an estimate for building regs plans yet? Another concern I have is about the land itself, we are in a local high risk coal mining area and although there are no pits nearby and we are building replacement dwelling, the neighbouring self builds and private developments have all had to have invasive ground investigation reports done and some bore holes drilled to check the land quality. I have had this priced up and am of the thinking it maybe wise to have this done first to ensure that we would be able to continue our build knowing that we will be able to afford the foundation type (strip or raft) as I cannot see us being able or wanting to pay 40k + for pile footings? After all we are not millionaires and this is not grand designs so we want advert the expensive why! moments and hopefully have a fairly straightforward build. Financially our project plan is Move up to ou

I’ve had varying conversations and trawled hundreds threads of built cost /m2 to try and rationalise my budget and reduce my overall anxiety towards price and also to be realistic. I think it’s important to be prepared upfront and if its not going to work reduce the house size from the outset. I’m shooting for £1200/m2 because it suits my ‘ideal’ budget of 240k for a 200 m2 house, which I believe to be a decent size, to suit my family, I have also allowed the obligatory 10% in reserve which will be ring fenced and only come into play if required. So theoretically you could say I’ve allowed £1320/ m2 But my concern is that it is my 1200 is driving that budget and house size. I’m aware that I wont know until the end that actual costs which could be much less going by some peoples build…but also could be much more. (I doubt I would breach 1700/m2). As much as I’d love an answer to exactly how much it costs I know those answers are purely subjective. But what I do want to understand is how others have approached this from the outset? Did you wing it and pray for the best? Did you plan thoroughly and then knowing you wouldn’t meet your budget reduce the house size before starting or did you plan to use that contingency? For context. My plan is to use a kit supplier to supply and erect a closed panel system, whether it be SIPS or Valutherm, get it wind and watertight then proceed with managing my own subcontractors. I don’t want the build to last years…ideally no more than 12 months. I will also correctly plan the build, schedule, cashflow and take the time to do this before even thinking of breaking ground to ensure we can derisk and identify as many problems beforehand rather than on the fly. I work full time, so it will be very difficult and we are prepared for this, ideally I’d use a main contractor but I want to avoid this to save costs…or is this just a false economy? So really….I’m asking how long is a piece of string??! I suppose my worry/anxiety/ panic is based around…what happens when it costs more…how did you deal with it. If you’d been naïve and hoped it would cost less but it cost more how did you remedy that situation?? Any pearls of constructive wisdom…greatly appreciated.

I am performing a fabric upgrade on our house. Work to be done includes: - EWI - New windows, doors - Establishing AT layer - Digging out foundations for EWI - Designed ventilation - Resizing of window openings (enlarging and shrinking) I have done: - Overall aesthetic look (it's not really changed much, but thicker walls and more contemporary look to the joinery) - Energy model - Generic details for important installations, e.g. window installation, treatment of eaves (before deciding on manufacturers) What I need to do: - BC approval - Planning approval (don't think there'll be much of this, not listed nor in conservation area) - Choose suppliers and products - Update details to follow systems chosen - Arrange finance What should my ordering be next? I don't want to get BC approval only to find our budget won't work for what we have got approval for! Should we finalise the entire design first?

Here it is: as accurate as I can get it. No pretense of getting it done cheaper than anyone else. Just the raw numbers and a few words to explain context if necessary (why did I buy a chain-hoist for example). Yes, you'll probably get it cheaper. That's excellent. The point is openness and telling it like it is. March 2014 Home Building and Renovation Show NEC: £100, including fuel and tickets Phone calls about £15:00 extra, and about £70:00 fuel. July 2014 Land: already owned Planner: £1050, plus £70 initial consultation fee, (in cash). LPA Outline Planning Application fee £770 Phone calls: about £15:00 extra, and about £50:00 fuel. August 2014 Ecologist: £1390.15 (works out at about £1 per Great Crested Newt – a further £2000 budgeted for. But see below June 2016) November 2014 Topographical Survey: £540 January 2015 Trips to Timber frame companies and various local suppliers : £50 fuel Subscriptions to various magazines: £70(ish) February 2015 Architect: £4000 (design plus all other matters up to and including submission for Full PP application) QS: £630 – feasibility study Legal: £360; altering title LPA fees: £385 Structural Engineer: £1782; foundations calculations Land registry Fee: £40 Contamination Desk Study and Geophysics : £1260 (plus possible indeterminate decontamination costs) Phone calls: about £20:00 extra, and very little fuel. March 2015 Discharge of Conditions Fee £97.00 Health and Safety Services are being handled for free by a colleague: I’m coding his website in exchange. Notice: no site insurance yet……. :huh: I’m just too mean. Projected cost £568.65 (May 2015) August 2015 Architects fees £2000; from award of Outline PP to Full PP (6th of August) and £40 for bottle of champagne to thank our him: his judgement in relation to what would pass was exactly right. Read paragraph 9 of the Delegated Report (here) Trip to Swindon to visit the NSBRC Fuel £36, overnight stay £85 Strimmer: Polycut head, and set of knives for strimmer £46.60. (No lawn for Salamander Cottage: at last, no mowing…… bliss) September 2015 Legal Fees; alteration to title status £232 October Purchase a four wheel trailer (new) £2500 Purchase a Mutts Nuts (Nick’s term, not mine) Bosch Laser Level £250 First Aid Course (ref. H+S policy) £80 Chainsaw Course £130 December Off mains drainage legal agreement Legal fees and £1000 for access to the land to discharge to stream (wayleave?): £1862 (£300 over budget) Cladding Preparation for processing the wood; Serious Stihl saw (660) and ancillary equipment £2000 (resale value £1000) Trips to open passivhauses £50 + Off – road parking (ground matz) £2800 (resale value £2500) January 2016 SPONS Architects and Builders’ Price Guide 2016. Can’t do without it. And there’s an App that goes with it. £150 Small shipping container (for tools) £300 (resale value £400) Base for container: 4 tons of 20 mm to dust from my mate: £35, yep £35 New wheelbarrow £97 (French made Hammerlin: two flat tyres (in 2 weeks) and a stupidly forward C of G so the damn thing tips forward ON ITS OWN... sodding thing) Local Oak trees (for the shakes and cladding) £1200 (1 square meter of oak shakes retails for £100!) T.K Knipe Allithwaite. £100s of pounds worth of free advice. 1 Sweet Chestnut tree (high tannin content) £140 5 local oak trees £100 (they were going to be cut up for fire wood - I kid you not) Another container (you can't have too many): £1000 (resale value £1000) February 2016 Small hand tools and boys toys £1500 May 2016 2.5 tonne Mini Digger = £14,000 (PV Dobsons, Levens) EPS Licence £1200 (I still haven't paid the bill - because of some really unprofessional behaviour.) Red Diesel £15 120 meters of Temporary Amphibian Fencing (TAF), 80 stakes (37 by 37 by 700) £267.37 Lifting gear: a 2 tonne chain block and tackle 2 shackles, and two beam clamps £181.03 (to run on the RSJs below) 2 RSJs, (6 meters long to span between the two containers) £230 +VAT Filing frame to assist sharpening my chainsaw chains £97 Site signage (ebay) £10 for several (more needed) Plastic Barrier Fencing Safety Mesh Fence Netting Net With Metal Pins £50.95 (for the edge of the car park and pedestrian walkway) Three stillage cages to store material on the site (one cage fitted inside the container) £50 Another two stillage cages today. £25 And £80 worth of 2 inch wire mesh so I can weld it to the stillage cages: slows light fingers down Two (full-on-big-boys) deck brooms £24 A grease gun for my digger and two cartridges of grease £22 Another High Security Digital padlock and hardened, sheathed, hardened chain to secure the buckets (that aren't hooked up) for my digger £55 A 2 Tonne x 1.5 meter Leverhoist £79.95 2 off 2 tonne Beam Clamps £25.98 4 off 2 Ton Alloy Bow Shackles, with Safety Pins £11.96 The above is initially for lifting trees and heavy objects safely off the trailer (on my own) Later the hoist and clamps will do the same job, but in a small purpose-built workshop. 100 meters of 16 amp electricity cable. £71.89 Building Control Fees £600 Red Diesel £18.21 June 2016 Two more stillage cages £25 A Douglas Fir tree and a Larch tree. £40 (Fir tree £10) Will produce stock worth about double that (conservative estimate) 20 8" coach screws £4. 4 sheets of reinforcing mesh £20 (16 by 8 foot for welding to the stillage cages to slow down thieves ) Structural Engineer £1774. And worth every penny (so far) First Aid Kit (10 person HSE Approved) £7.57 (tried getting one locally, couldn't get one for love nor money) Security marker pens £1.99 (a requirement of the Site Insurance: all scaffolding poles must be security marked - not the digger or the saws!) "Curiouser and curiouser" Wood for lining my container £81 HERAS panels, feet, clips, struts, pins for the struts £200 Some steel stock to practise welding £12 (making a small tool table for my SuperJaws clamp: cost on the open market £30) Four Point Lifting Chains ('shorten-able') £139. Fed up of worrying about the webbing strops - they are quite worn already Site H+S sign. £24 ( and I begrudge every penny: it's expensive wallpaper... why do I say that - read on - last but one point) 2 tins of Hammerite for the rust spots on the container. £28 The ecologist had the good grace to halve his bill given the less than prompt approach to fulfilling his contract. £900 July Builder's Merchant bill: £704 - bits and bobs, sand 25mm water pipe and stuff like that August Builder's Merchant bill: < £100 all sorts of tiny things September Builder's Merchants bill £1379.24, Ply wood for the stillage and to make some internal storage in the container, a DeWalt nailer (luxury beyond compare) It starts to get serious now........... Piling will be about £6000, Groundwork price yet to come in, site clearance - I've hired a lumberjack who's coming from Canada - muscles coming out of his ears - off mains drainage and site drainage.... Off to Harrogate next week. (4th of November)