Charlotte Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Hi, We’re in the process of estimating costs for a self build project in the Inverness area. At the moment we’ve identified a plot and we would be grateful of any insight when it comes to estimating costs. Currently we’re looking at getting quotes for service connection so water, electricity and phone/internet. There is a overhead power line on the plot so we also have a quote for that. We should be getting a builder out in the coming weeks to give us a quote for the full build as well as installing a septic tank and digging the trench for the power line to be re-routed underground. Is there anything else we should be looking into at the moment? We’re still in the very earlier stages of this and are currently still deciding whether the project will be affordable. Thank You! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_L Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 37 minutes ago, Charlotte said: as well as installing a septic tank do you actually mean a sewage treatment plant (STP)? like https://premiertechaqua.co.uk/products/wastewater/conder-asp-sewage-treatment-plant.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 1 hour ago, Charlotte said: Is there anything else we should be looking into at the moment? what is the ground makeup like? troublesome ground might cause an increase in costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 6 minutes ago, Thorfun said: what is the ground makeup like? troublesome ground might cause an increase in costs. There are quite a few houses within close proximity of the plot. One of which is being built at the moment (this is one is effectively on same piece of land as the plot). They’ve told us that they didn’t have any issues with the ground but it might be something to look into. Thank you 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedreamer Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 I would make sure you install a treatment tank, rather than a septic tank. Lot's on here about them. I'm across the way in Skye, but there are few members on here around Inverness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redoctober Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Hi @Charlotte sounds as if you are on the right tracks before committing to a plot of land as you definately want to try and identify all "costs" beforehand. Estimates for Water connections and Electrical connections are paramount and various "estimates" can be gathered by asking members their experiences but remember not all plots are the same! BT should be able to get you connected for free providing there are no "substantial issues" with doing so. Look into getting a soil strength and porosity test done - this will be needed for foundations and also SEPA. Inform SEPA of your intentions and get registered with them as you will need that certification to all ow you to install a treatment plant etc once the build starts. Not only that, SEPA can advise you as to what sort of discharge they will accept for the plot. I appreciate my figures are a few years out of date now but have a look at this part of my blog for an indication of the likely costs one could incur depending upon circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJohnG Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 The finance costs is one of them that can creep up. If its a self build mortgage allow for that in your cashflow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 (edited) Welcome. Do you have a design, external finish and a build method in mind? The home builders bible has a good chapter on how design fundamentally drives cost - i.e a square house with gable walls and rooms in roof maximises the volume enclosed (i.e. your living space) for the amount of wall required. A two story house is more economical per m2 than a single storey house. Rectangular or L shaped houses are less efficient as more wall is required to deliver the same volume internally etc etc.This obviously does not take aesthetics into account but is a useful consideration. If this is confusing just think that a 10m2 box has internal area of 100m2 and needs 40m of wall. A rectangular building for the same floor area that was 20mx5m would need 50m of wall, so 20% more material / labour. Pretty much any external finish (brick, stone, render etc.. ) can be combined with any build method (block, timber frame, SIPs, ICF etc) and each has pros and cons. There is usually a trade-off between speed of build and cost of materials, timber framed buildings can go up very quickly, saving on site labour and accelerating your schedule but cost more upfront. Brick and block takes longer to do and you usually don't want to order size sensitive items (like windows) ahead but the materials and labour are widely available so more competitive on price. Inside you can spend what you like on bathrooms and kitchens so this is a trade off between budget and desire Don't forget to budget for landscaping - some of this will be required for the build itself (access, hard standing etc..) and then you put the nice driveway, paving, lawn etc when all other work is complete. If you really have no firm idea on any of this you can revert to a simple £/m2 back of envelope calculation - £1500/m2 is a keen price, for a fully managed build you'l be getting closer to £2000/m2 and if you're project managing and able to do work yourself then you may be able to get below £1500/m2, some here have even got below £1000/m2! Sometimes you work it backwards from a fixed budget - remove the cost of preliminaries (land, access, services, professional fees, finance costs etc) and then divide whats left by one of the numbers above to see what you get. Obviously no VAT for a new build. You also need to factor in living costs during the build - if you choose to live on site (once you have services) in a caravan or similar then you can add money saved from renting to your budget. For example, we bought a van for £1750+£500 to get on site and sold it after 18 months for £1000. Net cost was £1250 for 18 months so we saved about £25k on rent at least (SE England). Good luck! Edited January 5, 2021 by Bitpipe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 59 minutes ago, Bitpipe said: Welcome. Do you have a design, external finish and a build method in mind? The home builders bible has a good chapter on how design fundamentally drives cost - i.e a square house with gable walls and rooms in roof maximises the volume enclosed (i.e. your living space) for the amount of wall required. A two story house is more economical per m2 than a single storey house. Rectangular or L shaped houses are less efficient as more wall is required to deliver the same volume internally etc etc.This obviously does not take aesthetics into account but is a useful consideration. If this is confusing just think that a 10m2 box has internal area of 100m2 and needs 40m of wall. A rectangular building for the same floor area that was 20mx5m would need 50m of wall, so 20% more material / labour. Pretty much any external finish (brick, stone, render etc.. ) can be combined with any build method (block, timber frame, SIPs, ICF etc) and each has pros and cons. There is usually a trade-off between speed of build and cost of materials, timber framed buildings can go up very quickly, saving on site labour and accelerating your schedule but cost more upfront. Brick and block takes longer to do and you usually don't want to order size sensitive items (like windows) ahead but the materials and labour are widely available so more competitive on price. Inside you can spend what you like on bathrooms and kitchens so this is a trade off between budget and desire Don't forget to budget for landscaping - some of this will be required for the build itself (access, hard standing etc..) and then you put the nice driveway, paving, lawn etc when all other work is complete. If you really have no firm idea on any of this you can revert to a simple £/m2 back of envelope calculation - £1500/m2 is a keen price, for a fully managed build you'l be getting closer to £2000/m2 and if you're project managing and able to do work yourself then you may be able to get below £1500/m2, some here have even got below £1000/m2! Sometimes you work it backwards from a fixed budget - remove the cost of preliminaries (land, access, services, professional fees, finance costs etc) and then divide whats left by one of the numbers above to see what you get. Obviously no VAT for a new build. You also need to factor in living costs during the build - if you choose to live on site (once you have services) in a caravan or similar then you can add money saved from renting to your budget. For example, we bought a van for £1750+£500 to get on site and sold it after 18 months for £1000. Net cost was £1250 for 18 months so we saved about £25k on rent at least (SE England). Good luck! Hi, Thank you so much for all of your insight. We are currently considering a 1.5 storey house of around 100m2. Highland council planning are normally only willing to grant planning permission for a bungalow or a 1.5 storey so we’ve decided that a 1.5 storey would be the more economical option. We have tried to stick to a roughly square design based on the research we’ve done. We’re looking for quite a basic spec as we are realistic about our budget. We’d much rather spend more on making sure the house is well insulated and the basic as are done right that having an expensive kitchen or bathroom! ? We’ve narrowed down the possible building methods to between Sips panels and a timber frame kit. We understand that SIPS panels are more expensive in the beginning but there are definitely savings to be made in the labour side of it as it takes even less time to construct than timber frame, plus the long term savings on energy efficiency. At the moment we’re thinking about staying in a caravan during the build. The current owner of the plot is constructing his house just beside the plot we are interested in so he has offered us his caravan if he has finished his house by the time we’re ready to start. But we definitely won’t be renting! From our first initial conversations with the builders they have suggested around £1500 a sq metre but that was a very rough cost. We should be getting two builders up in the coming weeks to give us a better idea. A friend of the family has had various houses build by one of the builders in question and he is willing to help us source materials. We’re trying to complete this project for a total of £300k including the plot so we are definitely trying to be realistic about it before we embark on such a difficult task! We want to try and avoid any nasty surprises later on! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 1 hour ago, SuperJohnG said: The finance costs is one of them that can creep up. If its a self build mortgage allow for that in your cashflow. That’s definitely something we need to consider! Thank You! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 1 hour ago, Redoctober said: Hi @Charlotte sounds as if you are on the right tracks before committing to a plot of land as you definately want to try and identify all "costs" beforehand. Estimates for Water connections and Electrical connections are paramount and various "estimates" can be gathered by asking members their experiences but remember not all plots are the same! BT should be able to get you connected for free providing there are no "substantial issues" with doing so. Look into getting a soil strength and porosity test done - this will be needed for foundations and also SEPA. Inform SEPA of your intentions and get registered with them as you will need that certification to all ow you to install a treatment plant etc once the build starts. Not only that, SEPA can advise you as to what sort of discharge they will accept for the plot. I appreciate my figures are a few years out of date now but have a look at this part of my blog for an indication of the likely costs one could incur depending upon circumstances. Thank you so much for your insight! I’ll definitely have a look at the link you’ve included, even if the figures are slightly out of date I’m sure it would still have some good insight! ? like you said we’re definitely trying to investigate everything before we commit to a plot and encounter any nasty problems later on. We don’t have a big budget so we’re definitely trying to get a realistic price as even though we will have a decent contingency we certainly wouldn’t like there to be any financial disasters along the way! The plot itself is beside a few other houses. It is effectively in the garden of the sellers house. He is currently constructing his house and he has said that he didn’t have any problems with the ground but we will definitely be looking into this further, thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recoveringbuilder Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Hi Charlotte, I’m so glad to see you are doing all your research before making any commitments, there seems to be a sudden surge lately of people wanting to self build and going with what I’m seeing on other forums I can see a lot of trouble ahead for them , a lot of people have unrealistic ideas of what they are capable of financially and self building can be stressful enough without the additional grief of getting halfway through a build and not knowing how your going to afford to finish it. You seem to be going along the right tracks starting off with an affordable size of house, you have to learn how to walk before you can run and as is often said if self building was that easy everyone would be doing it! I wish you all the best in your venture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 8 minutes ago, recoveringbuilder said: Hi Charlotte, I’m so glad to see you are doing all your research before making any commitments, there seems to be a sudden surge lately of people wanting to self build and going with what I’m seeing on other forums I can see a lot of trouble ahead for them , a lot of people have unrealistic ideas of what they are capable of financially and self building can be stressful enough without the additional grief of getting halfway through a build and not knowing how your going to afford to finish it. You seem to be going along the right tracks starting off with an affordable size of house, you have to learn how to walk before you can run and as is often said if self building was that easy everyone would be doing it! I wish you all the best in your venture. Thank you! Yes we’ve heard many horror stories about self building ? all the positive experiences with self building seem to come from people who are willing to put in the effort at the beginning! As you said the process is already stressful enough without having to worry about finance 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 On 05/01/2021 at 15:34, Charlotte said: Thank you! Yes we’ve heard many horror stories about self building ? all the positive experiences with self building seem to come from people who are willing to put in the effort at the beginning! As you said the process is already stressful enough without having to worry about finance Absolutely crucial point. As it is a one off for most, you never get to correct your mistakes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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