My SELF-BUILD Project.

[3_me]

Hello all,

 

I'm glad I have come across this forum, and hope to be able to draw upon it for assistance. 

 

I am planning a self-build project, and as it will be my first time - I am not exactly sure where to start.

 

Let's pass the point of planning permission - and consider that done. 

 

What would be the sequence of events necessary, from this point onward.

 

I feel confident to manage the entire project, including negotiating contracts for various aspects of the development, including procurement etc.

 

I of course am yet to design the building, and would need assistance with this, to ensure it complies with planning permission and building regulations.

 

I intend to build a low cost 3/4 bed home - as cheap as possible, while maintaining decent standards and being eco-friendly and sustainable.

 

 

I know this post may be rather broad, and not offer much specifics, but I hope you guys can point me in the right direction, and as this thread progresses the finer details will emerge.

 

I also ask if any one knows of any self-build mortgage providers which cover London. 

 

Kind regards,

 

J.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by 3_me

[Jeremy Harris]

Welcome.

 

I had no self-build experience when we started out, either.

 

I designed our house, once we'd bought the plot so could understand all the inevitable plot related, and planning related, constraints on the design (these always apply, as so much depends on location, orientation, access, services, planning restrictions etc).    I had a fair bit of project management experience, but not in the domestic building environment, so I didn't feel confident enough to manage the risky ground works stage of the build, especially as we needed a lot of work to level our site and build a big retaining wall.  I placed a firm price contract with a ground works company, to do all the work needed to get the site level, put in the services and build the retaining wall and temporary access drive.

 

I then contracted with a frame supplier who also laid the foundations, as doing this reduced the risk of the foundation dimensions not being an accurate match for the house structure dimensions.  This company provided the watertight, insulated shell, and I contracted separately for the supply and fit of the doors and windows, roofing and guttering, and external cladding.

 

I did pretty much all the first fix work myself, plumbing, heating, ventilation system, and some of the wiring.  I contracted a plastering firm to plasterboard and skim the interior.   I also installed the kitchen, bathrooms, WC, flooring, etc.  This saved a fair bit of money, but did take a fair bit of time, as it's not quick, working on your own.

 

Our build came in at a bit under £1,350/m², which is fairly cheap, but this was a few years ago.  Today I'd guess that around £1,500/m² might be closer to the cost, perhaps more if you aren't able to do much yourself, maybe less if you are, or if you live in an area where costs are lower.

 

[3_me]

Wow, thank you Jeremy for such detailed information, and I believe I will be following almost the exact same formula here - with a difference or two.

 

1 - the site is full of small trees so these will need to be removed, would the ground works company be able to take care of this, or do you think I will require another specialist for this?

 

2 - I studied electrical installation when I was younger, so could do some of that work myself, and worked briefly fitting kitchens and bathrooms, so I can attempt this work myself, but must admit I'm not an expert, I would probably require some help with this.

 

 

Did you use a self build mortgage at all? 

 

If so, I know the funds are typically released in blocks as the build progresses. But I am keen to understand two things:

 

1 - Do the self-build mortgage re-payments start being repaid upon the completion of the build?

2 - If not, is the total repayment amount due from the first release, or will repayments increase as more funds are released?

 

Thanks for your help and support.

J.

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by 3_me

[Jeremy Harris]

Our ground works guy cleared our site, there are details of our build starting here:  http://www.mayfly.eu/2013/04/part-one-in-the-beginning/ and the bit showing the site and initial clearance is here: http://www.mayfly.eu/2013/06/part-five-trials-and-tribulations/ that may give you an idea as to the sort of stuff groundworks people can clear.  There is a cost associated with this, though, as soil that's full of small trees, large shrubs etc costs a lot to dispose of, as it's treated pretty much as if it's contaminated.

 

The electrical installation not only has to comply with the regs in BS7671:2018, but also has to comply with Part P, and be certified as such.  The simple way to do this is to use an electrician that is accredited by one of the Part P cartels, as they can self-certify the installation and lodge the IEC on a database that can be accessed by building control.  The alternative is to DIY the installation and then try to find someone who can do the mandatory inspection and test.  Some building control bodies may be able to do this, some may not.  It does mean that all wiring must be accessible for inspection, too, which may well mean at least two inspections, one at first fix and another inspection and test after second fix.

 

We had a small self-build mortgage from the Ecology Building Society .  They were pretty good, and very easy to deal with.  In our case we had the funds released as a single lump at the beginning, as it was a lot less than the plot was worth, and repaid the mortgage after the sale of our old house when the build was completed.  All we paid during the build was the interest on the sum we'd borrowed.

 

 

[3_me]

Thanks again Jeremy - I will look in to the information provided.

 

I forgot to mention half of the site is classified as Zone 3 flood risk, it sits right next to a stream, so in my plans I have to include how the flood risk will be mitigated, along with the preservation of some mature trees. Some improvement to the stream corridor is required. Although you may not have had to face this, do you know of how particularly I would go about this?

 

I would really enjoy designing the house myself, did you use a particular software?

 

Also your build costs of £1,300/m2, I assume this did not include the cost of the land? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by 3_me

[Jeremy Harris]

We have a stream alongside, so had to submit a flood risk assessment.  I found the EA helpful when I asked them about flood risk, and they provided a flood risk plan that was a reasonable place to start.  The planners wanted more, so I spent a few days trying to understand the topography and modelling the likely 1 in 100 year flood risk level on to a large scale plan, that included the changed levels on our plot.  The EA set a minimum finished floor level for the house, and a minimum level for the parking area, to mitigate the flood risk, so the house, garage and drive were restricted as to where they could go on the plot, because of this. 

 

I did a blog entry covering my approach to the design and dealing with some of the bureaucracy here, that may help: http://www.mayfly.eu/2017/01/part-forty-five-architects-and-consultants-what-are-they-likely-to-cost-and-can-you-save-money-by-doing-some-of-this-yourself/

 

I did all our plans on an old 2D version of AutoCad, only because I'd used AutoCad for years and had a copy of it.  All CAD software has a pretty steep learning curve, but if you're familiar with traditional drawing principles then getting to grips with some of them isn't too hard.

[ProDave]

We too have a burn running right through our plot.  But we were not asked to provide any flood risk analysis as looking at the SEPA flood maps our plot is not at risk.  It correctly shows that the field behind us does indeed flood (though little more than a large puddle)

 

I just applied common sense.  Make the finished floor level of the house much higher than the rest of the plot.  Basically the vehicle entrance is o the highest point of the plot and that sets the garage floor height and then there is a step up into the house.  this puts one part of the house a metre above the ground level.

 

We then used all the excavatred soil to raise the ground level on the house side of the burn, but deliberately left the other side of the burn at it's original level, so if the burn is in spate and is going to over top, it will flood the other side first.

 

The obvious things are keep the building as high on the land as possible, even to the extent of raising the area where the house is built.

 

It is also worth considering the local topography and how the land will flood.  The road we are on slopes significantly down to the river that is about 1/2 a mile away and 100 metres lower.  It is impossible to imagine any event that would result in standing water here. Whatever level of flooding occurs, it will be running down hill.  So obviously don't put anything in the way that would block it.

 

I think flooding on flat, low lying land is very much harder to predict and do anything about.  With standing water, it seem sand bags etc are just about next to useless.

[3_me]

Thank you so much for this information. I have contacted the EA to provide the flood maps so I can determine the risk.

 

If I have to keep some trees as part of the permission to build, how will trees affect the development. I thought the roots of large trees can cause problems for buildings. 

 

So I'm not entirely sure what's best to do in this type of situation.

[Moonshine]

7 minutes ago, 3_me said:

If I have to keep some trees as part of the permission to build, how will trees affect the development. I thought the roots of large trees can cause problems for buildings.

 

The can in a number of ways, if tree roots are in the vicinity of the foundations then there may be some soil stability issues depend on ground type.

 

the other thing is larger trees can have large root protection zones which you can't incur too much into, IIRC correctly, its a circle of a radius around the centre of the trunk, twelve times the diameter of the tree.

[Ralph]

On 02/03/2020 at 18:56, ProDave said:

I just applied common sense.  Make the finished floor level of the house much higher than the rest of the plot.  Basically the vehicle entrance is o the highest point of the plot and that sets the garage floor height and then there is a step up into the house.  this puts one part of the house a metre above the ground level.

 

We then used all the excavatred soil to raise the ground level on the house side of the burn, but deliberately left the other side of the burn at it's original level, so if the burn is in spate and is going to over top, it will flood the other side first.

This pretty much the approach we're taking. This was the digger onsite yesterday building up the bank.