Cost m2

[nod]

After being asked on several occasions for a breakdown of what we spent

We are doing our budget for our next build and using the spreadsheet from the one that we are in 

The gist of it is 

409000 spent - 19000 vat claim 

Leaving 390000 

-185000 plot purchase (Fees& services included in build cost 

268m2 = £764 m2 

 

Big spends apart from the usual Slates steel much away 

 

Windows 33 sash and bifolds doors French doors 33k

Kitchen 18 k

Tiles 10k 

15 k for paving 

Wood-burner 3k 

 

Electric gates and oak porch 8k

All above fitted by myself and my wife So just materials 

 

 The spreadsheets we did should help us with the next one All be it prices will have gone up a little 

I could have easily fitted a much cheaper kitchen But went with A German kitchen with one eye on selling 

We had no choice but to use sash windows due to Heritage being involved 

 

 

[recoveringbuilder]

Interesting to see what it has cost you with buying the plot, we’ve never had to pay big money for a plot, so if it’s not being too cheeky what is the house valued at?

[nod]

54 minutes ago, Christine Walker said:

Interesting to see what it has cost you with buying the plot, we’ve never had to pay big money for a plot, so if it’s not being too cheeky what is the house valued at?

Just had a valuation of 750k

A surgeon that works with my wife has already offered 725 

He wants to downsize ?

We are hoping to not have to sell to we have built the new one 

 

[recoveringbuilder]

2 minutes ago, nod said:

Just had a valuation of 750k

A surgeon that works with my wife has already offered 725 

He wants to downsize ?

We are hoping to not have to sell to we have built the new one 

 

Well done that’s a good return!

[Gus Potter]

Just to chip in.

 

Christine. A good few years ago in Lanarkshire (Biggar area etc) a good check to do as a contrator was this, at the last minute before you send out the price. I still use this as a rough check, it's an old rule of thumb to some extent.

 

Lots of folk work on a price per square metre.. but is that internal floor area, external foot print area (includes the wall thickness) or actual floor area (minus the internal wall thickness).. very confusing.

 

As a rule of thumb for an average house a check you do as a contractor on an average self build is to say the labour cost is about a third of the cost of the build. You cross check this against the square metre price. The key thing is that it's easy to make a mistake and this can put you out of business. So if the two values of the sq m price and the labour  / material ratio look off then you need to sleep on it and look again in the morning. It does not matter too much at what point you add in the profit margin.

 

Once you have that ( the basics) you add in the high end kitchen, bespoke stuff, ground conditions etc. Then check again.

 

For the first time / average self builder I found that overall over a period of time that the average saving for self building and project managing your self was about 15% compared with buying off the shelf. Buy that I mean that you buy a plot and get a builder to do the lot... Yes, I'm using a broad brush approach.

 

The same rule applies if you are trying to get a handle on what your return will be. If you are a more experienced self builder then you can increase the return.. or as we are normal folk.. you spend a bit more on the stuff you like?

 

I think I can see where you are going with this Christine in that the land value varies so much depending on location and so on and see why you are looking to strip that out to get a like for like comparison.

 

 

 

 

[nod]

14 minutes ago, Christine Walker said:

Well done that’s a good return!

Thanks Christine 

We had originally aimed for 650 

Still a good return 

It’s a tidy profit Tax free 

Like you we where always going to do another one 

[nod]

3 minutes ago, Gus Potter said:

Just to chip in.

 

Christine. A good few years ago in Lanarkshire (Biggar area etc) a good check to do as a contrator was this, at the last minute before you send out the price. I still use this as a rough check, it's an old rule of thumb to some extent.

 

Lots of folk work on a price per square metre.. but is that internal floor area, external foot print area (includes the wall thickness) or actual floor area (minus the internal wall thickness).. very confusing.

 

As a rule of thumb for an average house a check you do as a contractor on an average self build is to say the labour cost is about a third of the cost of the build. You cross check this against the square metre price. The key thing is that it's easy to make a mistake and this can put you out of business. So if the two values of the sq m price and the labour  / material ratio look off then you need to sleep on it and look again in the morning. It does not matter too much at what point you add in the profit margin.

 

Once you have that ( the basics) you add in the high end kitchen, bespoke stuff, ground conditions etc. Then check again.

 

For the first time / average self builder I found that overall over a period of time that the average saving for self building and project managing your self was about 15% compared with buying off the shelf. Buy that I mean that you buy a plot and get a builder to do the lot... Yes, I'm using a broad brush approach.

 

The same rule applies if you are trying to get a handle on what your return will be. If you are a more experienced self builder then you can increase the return.. or as we are normal folk.. you spend a bit more on the stuff you like?

 

I think I can see where you are going with this Christine in that the land value varies so much depending on location and so on and see why you are looking to strip that out to get a like for like comparison.

 

 

I would always aim higher than a 15% saving 

The next one that we build should be worth around 900k with a 450k total spend 

 

[Gus Potter]

That's some good numbers Nod.

 

The thing is that you have a lots of experience / knowledge and know your way about.

 

When land values are on the rapid increase (or you get a repossession, contaminated site, or overcome any burdens) it's not so hard to make a good return as the mistakes you make on the actual build get kind of lost. But what if you live in an area where you don't have that benefit. Then when you get your build cost wrong there is no cushion.

 

To encourage all is there not merit in starting when you don't have the experience at the 15% .. yes that's tax free too and work from there, if you get it for less then that's a bonus. If you do another and gain experience you can make the kind of savings / profit that Nod mentions.

 

 

 

 

[nod]

You do make a good point 15 % is a good target Especially when you think most large commercial projects aim for 5%
 

I think you have to choose your plot carefully Even if you think it is your “Forever Home” You never know what’s around the corner 

Further North this can be difficult 

Further south would be much easier If we were to move three miles up the road (Quite rural) You expect to knock at least 100k off the sale price Plot price about the same 

 
Groundwork’s   should be the only unknown If you run over on this something has to go off your wish list Bifolds fancy kitchen and bathrooms expensive flooring All can be reined in 

 

TF is convenient but expect to pay 

We have looked again at TF for the next one It would be nice to just have a shell to fit out But the numbers are much higher than traditional 

 

Yes I have some experience 

I run a plastering/ Tiling/Framing company 

But there was lots of things that I had no experience of Roofing wiring and plumbing Most was just a case of taking your time 

Yes we do have employees But apart from getting my son to help for a week with the rendering and and skimming My wife and myself tackled most things 

We wanted it to be as much of a self build as possible 

 

Cost of Labour and shopping around for materials  is the key 
You can make lots of savings on both 

and don’t get carried away with professional fees 

 

At the end of the day your getting a house exactly how you want it at an affordable price 

 

 

[recoveringbuilder]

We have never built with an end gain in mind as we have always wanted a new house, the first one we stayed in for 14 years and sold when prices were high so we were lucky enough to get a good return which set us up for the next one,  our biggest achievement then was that we had a house we would never have been able to afford buying off the shelf. When we sold the second one we bought a ready made house which we could pay outright for and it had land. The third one was never meant to happen but because we had bought a house so much smaller than our previous one and couldn’t settle for the lack of space we had in a way backed ourselves into a corner because we wouldn’t be able to buy something bigger in our preferred location, we were lucky we had the land ( there must have been some foresight when we bought it) because the only solution was to self build again.

I don’t know what this house will be worth but I would hope the choices we made in upgrading finishes etc will see us realise a good profit but since we didn’t pay for the land it will be hard to work out exactly. Once again we are lucky that we are in an area that usually commands decent prices but when I look at some houses recently built by self builders and now on the market I wonder if they are even going to clear their feet because of the area they’re in and the ceiling price for property in that area , I spotted one on the market for under 300k same sq metreage as this but in a less desirable area and wondered what it would have cost the vendor to build . I would be very nervous about buying a plot ( there are some for sale near us , priced from 120-150k) then building  a 300sq m house, those of us willing to have a lot of input can keep the build cost down but your average first time self builder could end up paying a total of maybe 600k and I’m not convinced  that the property would ever realise this price in this area.

[nod]

We intended staying 

But you never can be sure 

The plot that we are purchasing 

If the seller hasn’t already pulled out was 250k We struck a deal for 220k Now the seller has an offer for 250k But we won’t go any higher 

The offer is from a turn key self builder so may back out when they get a quote 

We have given the seller till Saturday to take it or leave it