Price per m2 excluding plot

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

I'm in Scotland and considering buying a plot. New to building etc so a bit clueless.

 

What do you think is per m2 for a 100m2 bungalow, built via ICF or cavity block? Excluding kitchens, bathrooms fittings and using mid range windows, not top of the range. Including all fees, connections, under floor heat pump heating etc.

 

 

[nod]

&830 m2

253m2 

two story traditional

Finished to a high standard 

[ProDave]

I think @nod build is exceptional.  I am expecting to complete for £1000 per square metre.  Many end up with higher figures than that.  It all depends how much you are prepared to do yourself.

[Conor]

Consensus is that in the north of the UK you can complete a modest house for £1k/m² (if you get your hands dirty) or less. We're in NI and are aiming for £1k for finished areas and £500 for basement as it will be a shell only, so £850/m² overall for 300m² = £255k. And not a penny more lol.

 

Bear in mind there are economies of scale.... A 200m² two story house will cost 50% more than a single story 100m² house (before furnishing etc) rather than double.

 

(I could be totally wrong)

[Guest]

 

Ideally I think I'd go for a main contractor, did you guys? Do you find the best ones through the architect? Can anyone recommend a good contractor in Central Scotland for ICF or Blockcavity?

 

What's the/was your turnaround time from giving the go ahead to completion? I realise some of these questions are how long is a piece of string!

[ProDave]

I chose a contractor to build the shell only, based on personal experience (I had worked with them on another build before)

 

Since bare shell I have done everything myself bar the plastering and a small amount of joinery.  Just into year 5 and another to go probably. But it's been slow due to drip drip finances.

[SuperJohnG]

It is a hotly debated topic on what is and is not included in the magic /m^2 price. Unfortunately you will not find a reasonable resolution to it., some people include plot, services etc. when  others don't

 

 

My advice is to read read read on here and you will find some answers and get a better feeling for it. However to give you an idea, I have excluded plot costs, utilities and all professional fees, architect etc.   My budgeted build costs projection is basically to go from bare plot to a fully finished house ready to move in (building only , not including landscaping or acess). 

 

I'm south of Glasgow, aiming at 1200/m^2. I  will be a mid-high quality standard build. Supply and erect from a kit company and then project manage myself with local subcontractors and do a good portion of some work myself such as all the plumbing, help with first fix electrics (possibly do my own insulted raft). That's my budget plus I have 10% contingency allowed on top. If i don't build for that then something has went wrong. 

 

Complexity (house shape) and finish standard and build route play a large part. If you can do lots of work yourself, then cost comes down. 

 

The housebuilders bible is a good book to read, (edition 13 out now). One thing to note that everything is linked to the 'triangle'  TIME / QUALITY / COST. You can have any two of the three but not all. E.g I can be cheap and high quality, but its going to take a long time. or It can be High quality and done quick its going to be expensive. 

 

If you are in Scotland I would say the figure sin the homebuilding and renovating self build cost calculator work well for a starting point (Google it). 

 

But you can be anywhere from 1000/m^2 (Lots of your own time and effort) up to 2200/m^2 (main contractor full build). 

 

Enjoy learning.   

[SuperJohnG]

11 minutes ago, newbuild20201 said:

 

Ideally I think I'd go for a main contractor, did you guys? Do you find the best ones through the architect? Can anyone recommend a good contractor in Central Scotland for ICF or Blockcavity?

 

What's the/was your turnaround time from giving the go ahead to completion? I realise some of these questions are how long is a piece of string!

Look up Econekt in Glasgow. I have not used them, but have talked to them and they do ICF with the Izodom system. 

[nod]

6 minutes ago, newbuild20201 said:

 

Ideally I think I'd go for a main contractor, did you guys? Do you find the best ones through the architect? Can anyone recommend a good contractor in Central Scotland for ICF or Blockcavity?

 

What's the/was your turnaround time from giving the go ahead to completion? I realise some of these questions are how long is a piece of string!

The materials will be the same price where ever you are lactated

Inner London will have a congestion charge 

Labour will vary 

Manchester and surrounding areas are not cheap 

But probably less than the SE

Like Dave we did most of the work ourselves So it wouldn’t of really made much difference if we had been located elsewhere 

Labour is a massive chunk of your budget 

We pushed the boat out with the German kitchen spending 18k The fitting cost would have been 6k (Specialist )I fitted it myself IN two days 

It was the easiest kitchen I have ever fitted 

[Guest]

What are the basic steps? 

 

Foundations

Walls and Roof

Windows

Plasterboards

Plumbing and Waste

Electricity

Then fixtures and fittings eg doors, kitchens.

 

Is that accurate?

[Thedreamer]

For us 

 

Planning

Services - water, electricity

Access

Site clearance

Foundation/Drainage

Ground floor

Walls

Trusses

Windows

Roof

Insulation

External skin

1st fix

Outside painting

Plasterboard

Taping/filing

Stove

Stairs

Internal Painting

Flooring/skirting, doors

Treatment tank/landscaping

Kitchen/Bathroom

 

I work on a subcontractor basis and supply materials. 

 

Not a tradesmen or that good at DIY. Just done labouring, painting and fairy easy jobs.

 

I have very little interested in m2 cost just to keen to keep my overall monthly mortgage/utility cost to a minimum. 

 

As @SuperJohnG  mentioned first step for you is to go on Amazon and buy the home builders bible.

 

I keep a blog here that documents the different stages.

 

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by Thedreamer

[Guest]

Thanks, will take alot at the book.

 

Why use a subcontractor, and not just main contractor, main contractor more expensive?

 

What was the average time from the first day workmen start on the site, to your completed home?

 

 

[Thedreamer]

41 minutes ago, newbuild20201 said:

Thanks, will take alot at the book.

 

Why use a subcontractor, and not just main contractor, main contractor more expensive?

 

What was the average time from the first day workmen start on the site, to your completed home?

 

 

 

Using subcontractors:

 

Allows me to pick and choose who does the work and when I want them to.

It very likely that a main contractor would charge a higher price to cover their overheads and profit margin. 

I like to choose the spec of materials used in the build

 

It is more work as I have co-ordinate the trades, research materials and also have more delays. 

 

But as @SuperJohnG mentioned earlier, the self builders triangle, cost, speed and quality. You can only choose two of the three.

 

Most members here would choose cost and quality. 

 

Your second question can't really be answered until you work out what you want. I.e. you can pay more a pre-modular type construction where the house is constructed very quickly but this typically comes at a cost.

 

But as you asked I started our build process 11 years ago when I was 22. But we broken ground in March 2018. Not finished yet, but should be fairly quickly after the lockdown in Scotland is relaxed.