Very early cost estimate...

[Mulberry View]

We anticipate selling our current home to fund our self-build. By the time our home is sold (assuming we get within £10k of the valuation), settle our current £100k ish mortgage and buy our plot, we should have about £100k to get started on the build.

 

We have a savings account with about £12k currently to enable us to have cash available for design, architecture, planning and clearing the plot. That figure is improving as we continue to save ahead of kick-off.

 

We would like to have the whole project designed, including landscaping, but we aren't looking for a 'turnkey' build even if we could afford it. Part of what we love about our current home is the blood/sweat and tears that lead to it. We'll have the advantage of living practically on-site for most of the build time. My Wife and I are fairly competent DIY'ers, having renovated a totally derelict 1920's Bungalow to what the Estate Agent described as being of 'Wow' status, we thought it would be our 'forever home', it's worth 2.5 times what we paid for it. We did that without increasing our initial mortgage. She is a tough/driven Project Manager by trade, not in construction though she knows how to handle tradesmen. I'm very level-headed and practical. Our skills complement each other perfectly for this type of project.

 

We think we'll be building around 150-160m2, probably a 3 Bedroom Chalet Bungalow with a Detached Garage, to a fairly high-spec.

 

I am confident enough to take the kitchen and bathroom from a bare shell to completion, bar a couple of details (worktop etc). I can confidently do electrics and plumbing up to the extent that I'm allowed to by the associated regs (one of my best friends is a sparky, I'm sure I'll be doing the first-fix at least under his guidance). With respect to them, I have a level of attention to detail I wouldn't expect from a tradesman, even though I know I'll take longer. We can paint, tile, fit most types of flooring and we can/will both labour as required. We both work from home, so odd bits of time here and there during the week is practical and full commitment as needed other times.

 

There'll be a large hard-standing driveway and front to the property, which I know will be expensive. We aren't looking to necessarily tackle the landscaping as part of this, the plot is large, it'll have to be a more leisurely thing once the house is almost done.

 

I know this is rough but...

 

Q1. What do you think our finished m2 cost will be?

 

Q2. Do you think we could get it stood up and watertight within our initial £100k?

 

Q3. How long from planning approval to being liveable (even if not complete)?

[ProDave]

I can only relate my own build.  We started off with a similar sum to "get us started" before the old house sold.  

 

Only the old house didn't sell.

 

5 years later we are living in the house and the end is in sight. It is amazing where you can magic up money from and how if patient enough you can "build as you earn"  I have been doing almost all the work myself.

 

We are expecting to complete for £1000 per square metre, the bare wind and watertight shell was just over half that. 

 

We lived on site in a static caravan until the house was ready to move into (far from complete when we moved in)

 

Money saving tips.  Buy your own digger, use it and then sell it. Very handy to have it there for whenever you need it. And we bought our own Kwikstage scaffold as well

 

Build the garage first. You can never have enough covered storage / work space on a self build.

[Alex C]

1. Somewhere between 1200 and 2500 m2. varying from doing lots to not very much yourself. People idea of high spec varies a lot.

 

2. Depends so much on site and groundworks. You could be spending 30-50k on windows on a high spec build.

 

3. Not many people get done within a year. If you are doing lots yourself then who knows. You have watched grand designs where self builds go on for years havn't you?

 

 

[Mulberry View]

21 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Money saving tips.  Buy your own digger, use it and then sell it. Very handy to have it there for whenever you need it. And we bought our own Kwikstage scaffold as well

 

Build the garage first. You can never have enough covered storage / work space on a self build.

 

These are some good tips for sure. Thanks.

 

You've done well to achieve that spend, I'd love to achieve £1000/m2 but I think it's optimistic.

 

21 minutes ago, Alex C said:

1. Somewhere between 1200 and 2500 m2. varying from doing lots to not very much yourself. People idea of high spec varies a lot.

 

2. Depends so much on site and groundworks. You could be spending 30-50k on windows on a high spec build.

 

3. Not many people get done within a year. If you are doing lots yourself then who knows. You have watched grand designs where self builds go on for years havn't you?

 

 

 

I have indeed seen Grand Designs, but we're not looking to builds an eco-warrior glass house in the side of a hill on the Yorkshire Dales. This is a fairly conventional build in a roomy plot.

 

Honestly, I had in my mind that £1700-1900 would get us to a decent spec without us having to do much and that we could drive that cost down, perhaps under £1300-1500 with our own efforts.

[nod]

Budgets on here vary wildly and so does the spec 

As Dave has pointed out much depends on how much you do yourself 

Paying for trades can soon rack up 

 

We finished ours in two years 

While holding down full time jobs 

We worked Friday to Sunday and I went to the house for a few hours each evening 

Every week 

We didn’t scrimp on the finish 

All German Bathrooms and Kitchen 

we came in at 830 m2 On a 5 bed 

285 m2 house 

My wife is a theatre manager in a hospital and has helped out with roofing plastering wiring Fitting windows and doors etc The list goes on 

Don't underestimate how much you can save by doing a lot of the labour yourself 

 

[ProDave]

Remember the old saying.

 

There is quick, good, and cheap. You can only ever have two of those.  I am aiming for good and cheap, I have definitely missed quick by several years.

 

The definition of "good" is very open to interpretation.  I have aimed for "good" as in lots of insulation, good air tightness, good triple glazed windows (though not too many of them) and mvhr and ASHP. Good quality oak flooring and doors etc.  But I have not wasted money on what might be called "bling"

[Ferdinand]

What do the Estate Agents say wrt when to sell?

 

When I buy houses to let, it is often about now as people discount their prices.

 

What is your strategy and timing?

 

 

[Mulberry View]

Just now, Ferdinand said:

What do the Estate Agents say wrt when to sell?

 

When I buy houses to let, it is often about now as people discount their prices.

 

What is your strategy and timing?

 

 

 

We could potentially get ours on the market soon. We can move into the temporary (on site) accommodation immediately if needed.

 

When is a good time to sell?

[recoveringbuilder]

I was an estate agent some years ago now and the dead time was always around November until the end of January as people weren’t thinking about moving then and similarly July til September however our local agent assures me this is not the case now?! Problem is if you have it listed during one of these periods it becomes stale and then your prospective buyers are looking for a price reduction.

[Ferdinand]

15 minutes ago, christianbeccy said:

 

We could potentially get ours on the market soon. We can move into the temporary (on site) accommodation immediately if needed.

 

When is a good time to sell?

 

(assuming not Scotland)

 

Classically you would enjoy Christmas, then declutter, primp and prepare in Jan in cahoots with your chosen agent.

 

Then list in mid Feb and push from March, with a concentrated promotional period.

 

Then you need to match what you do to your requirements - price, speed etc.

 

You need to choose the best agent to sell your house, not necessaerily the one who promises the best price.

 

F

Edited November 12, 2019 by Ferdinand

[nod]

16 minutes ago, nod said:

Budgets on here vary wildly and so does the spec 

As Dave has pointed out much depends on how much you do yourself 

Paying for trades can soon rack up 

 

We finished ours in two years 

While holding down full time jobs 

We worked Friday to Sunday and I went to the house for a few hours each evening 

Every week 

We didn’t scrimp on the finish 

All German Bathrooms and Kitchen 

we came in at 830 m2 On a 5 bed 

285 m2 house 

My wife is a theatre manager in a hospital and has helped out with roofing plastering wiring Fitting windows and doors etc The list goes on 

Don't underestimate how much you can save by doing a lot of the labour yourself 

 

Finishes 

31 sash windows 

I set of French doors 

1 set of bifold 

5 mtr orangery with glass roof lantern 

150 m2  of UFH 

Covered with a 150 m2 of top quality Italian porcelain 

Large Nolte kitchen with £7000 worth of appliances

120 m2 of Italian tiles used on to bathrooms One with free standing tub 

and one ensuite 

All German Fittings 

Two double garages

400 m2 K rend 

Electric gates and garage door 

400 m2 of Tobalmoore paving

Paid for out of some of the vat claim

 

We have a warm well insulated house 

I should point out that we have built out of Block and block 

So we where always going to come in less than if we had taken the easier option of TF 

 

We where able to build without selling our own home or borrowing

Largely due to spreading the cost over two years

 

Im sure I’ve missed something

We chose not to install MVHR 

If not sure it would have made any difference one way or the other 

Perhaps in the next one 

If only to have it and not need it 

 

If we had lowered the fitting out spec we could have knocked 

40 K off the cost and still had a nice house 

[Mally]

12 hours ago, ProDave said:

Money saving tips.  Buy your own digger, use it and then sell it. Very handy to have it there for whenever you need it. And we bought our own Kwikstage scaffold as well

@ProDave great advice. Where would I pick up a digger ?

[ProDave]

2 hours ago, Mally said:

@ProDave great advice. Where would I pick up a digger ?

I got mine from ebay. Gumtree is another place to keep an eye on.  You really want to find one fairly local otherwise transport costs to get it delivered can soon rack up.

[Ferdinand]

On 12/11/2019 at 16:22, christianbeccy said:

eco-warrior glass house

 

that is probably a contradiction in terms :-)

 

My tip: in high spec airtight houses managing overheating is likely to be a larger problem than under heating.

 

F

[Redoctober]

On 12/11/2019 at 16:22, christianbeccy said:

Honestly, I had in my mind that £1700-1900 would get us to a decent spec without us having to do much and that we could drive that cost down, perhaps under £1300-1500 with our own efforts.

 

We moved in this month last year - the build [TF] from ground being broken to moving took 9 months - the build route we opted for was builder and sub contractors - I swept up, made the tea and did the painting - internal and external.

I like to think we have an upper end spec and all this came in at about £1800 - £1850 per sq metre. [Landscaping included]

Take a look at my blog which details the build - which was a 165sq metre 1.5 storey TF house with natural stone external wall and stand alone oak frame carport.

 

 

 

[Mulberry View]

19 hours ago, Redoctober said:

 

We moved in this month last year - the build [TF] from ground being broken to moving took 9 months - the build route we opted for was builder and sub contractors - I swept up, made the tea and did the painting - internal and external.

I like to think we have an upper end spec and all this came in at about £1800 - £1850 per sq metre. [Landscaping included]

Take a look at my blog which details the build - which was a 165sq metre 1.5 storey TF house with natural stone external wall and stand alone oak frame carport.

 

 

 

That's a lovely build and a very helpful blog. Looking forward to spending a bit of time looking through that. ?