So many stupid questions!

[Jengem]

Hello all,

 

Just starting out, based in angus Scotland. My parents built their own home using scandiahus 20 years ago and always fancied it. We sold our house in January planning just to buy another home in a more rural location, its not panned out as the market has gone nuts and so thinking this is the world telling us to build our own?! 

I have an 11 and 13 year old, run my own business. We have identified a plot (one of 4) and are negotiating on it. These plots so far have not sold and I am told by the agent its down to the phone/broadband signal being very poor.

 

Anyway, I suppose my list of initial silly questions are as follows:

1.The plot already has full planning permission , we would just need to make some design changes to meet our needs, how long could that take?

2. Anyone had success with getting decent broadband into a rural area? How did you do it? Running a business and 2 kids makes this as essential as running water!

3. Living on site? If we bought a static, how easy is it to get connected , permission to live on the site and can you have a caravan as an address so you can get post?

4. Self build mortgages for people who run their own business, where to start?

5. We intend to do a lot of the work ourselves, what is a realistic cost psqm? My architect reckons with current rise in costs the lowest we could aim for is 1500/sqm.

6. ANy other general advice?

 

Thanks

 

Jenny

[Ferdinand]

1.The plot already has full planning permission , we would just need to make some design changes to meet our needs, how long could that take?

2-5 months once you have your changes in your hand. Depends if they are minor or major.

 

2. Anyone had success with getting decent broadband into a rural area? How did you do it? Running a business and 2 kids makes this as essential as running water!

Yes Others will comment on your area.

 

3. Living on site? If we bought a static, how easy is it to get connected , permission to live on the site and can you have a caravan as an address so you can get post?

Living there seems to be JDI in most of Scotland. Usual for power on Buildhub is I think to connect to a kiosk at the boundary, then get your lecky to run what you want where you want it.  

 

4. Self build mortgages for people who run their own business, where to start?

Small building societies UK  wide, search on here, esp. try Ecology BS, or a broker. Avoid Buildstore. 

 

5. We intend to do a lot of the work ourselves, what is a realistic cost psqm? My architect reckons with current rise in costs the lowest we could aim for is 1500/sqm.

Others will comment.

 

6. ANy other general advice?

Take time to get it right in your head. Cheaper than building it and having to live with a cockup or redo.

[TonyT]

It’s time consuming so watch out when you say you want to do a lot yourself running a business and looking after the kids is hard enough, but then going down to site after family time and spending hours on site and sometimes not seeing progress can be demoralising.

 

Sometimes it’s better to earn and pay a trade. 

 

[Jengem]

Thanks both, very useful

[Ralph]

Hi jenny, were in rural Angus as well, our broadband has just gone in and we're getting 35mb down and 17mb up so not too bad. I work from home so was also considering 4g and https://www.starlink.com/ I have a friend that is going with this and it’s spendy but fast. Another option is https://www.marykirk.com/

 

I would also recommend Ecology for mortgages, there are not that many availble in Scotland compared to rest of UK. 

It sounds like your architect is being a bit more realistic than our orginal one was but I think you would have to do a fair amount to hit 1500/sqm

i think we will end up at the 1800/sqm including fees but not land. We are using a central contractor but we fixed priced the job some time ago. I reckon we would be looking at 2000/sqm if we were doing that today.

[Conor]

Dont over estimate how much you can do yourself. I regret taking on a lot of the "hands on" jobs myself. It just take so, so much longer. Arranging trades, buying materials, equipment hire, keeping site safe and tidy are almost full time jobs.

 

Ecology is THE place to go for a self build mortgage.

 

I was aiming for £850/m2 at the start of our build last August, looks like we're going to come out at about £1300. That's with me working part time and doing 12hr days on site. I think £1500 for a good quality, modest home is about right, assuming you'll be subcontract all of the works.

[Happy Valley]

Can only echo most of what has already been stated.

 

We budgeted at £1500/sq m and it looks like it's coming in at around £1800/sq m at present. We have an excellent builder on good rates but the increased cost of materials is the main reason for the increased build costs. Do not underestimate how much time effort and emotional drain that a new build places upon you.

 

I am project managing the built as am self employed (part time) from home and on most days you are going to have to make key decisions - some of which you may know or others you will need to research before coming to a conclusion. I am not hands on (build labour wise/construction jobs) with build other than tidying up and moving things around the site. We are building in our garden so lucky (or unlucky) enough to be on site all the time and living within an existing house. 

Edited October 8, 2021 by Happy Valley

[LA3222]

6 hours ago, Jengem said:

Hello all,

 

Just starting out, based in angus Scotland. My parents built their own home using scandiahus 20 years ago and always fancied it. We sold our house in January planning just to buy another home in a more rural location, its not panned out as the market has gone nuts and so thinking this is the world telling us to build our own?! 

I have an 11 and 13 year old, run my own business. We have identified a plot (one of 4) and are negotiating on it. These plots so far have not sold and I am told by the agent its down to the phone/broadband signal being very poor.

 

Anyway, I suppose my list of initial silly questions are as follows:

1.The plot already has full planning permission , we would just need to make some design changes to meet our needs, how long could that take?

2. Anyone had success with getting decent broadband into a rural area? How did you do it? Running a business and 2 kids makes this as essential as running water!

3. Living on site? If we bought a static, how easy is it to get connected , permission to live on the site and can you have a caravan as an address so you can get post?

4. Self build mortgages for people who run their own business, where to start?

5. We intend to do a lot of the work ourselves, what is a realistic cost psqm? My architect reckons with current rise in costs the lowest we could aim for is 1500/sqm.

6. ANy other general advice?

 

Thanks

 

Jenny

Not sold due to broadband sounds like a red flag and Billy bullshit to me. Its rural ...have you costed services? Getting water and in particular electricity to site can sometimes be silly money I.e. 25k plus if you are in the middle of nowhere with no existing infrastructure. 

 

Get them priced before you commit to buy.

[Ferdinand]

42 minutes ago, LA3222 said:

Not sold due to broadband sounds like a red flag and Billy bullshit to me. Its rural ...have you costed services? Getting water and in particular electricity to site can sometimes be silly money I.e. 25k plus if you are in the middle of nowhere with no existing infrastructure. 

 

Get them priced before you commit to buy.

 

Get 3 estimates and show him the biggest one and ask him to take it off the price .

[Happy Valley]

If none of the four plots have sold and have been on the market over the last 12 months I would personally avoid. Either the plots are massively overpriced or there is a serious issue maybe related to the utilities as discussed above. Alarm bells ringing as basically they are still for sale in the biggest sellers market for decades.

 

If one or two of the other plots had sold and you could discuss with the owners the various costs/issues involved then you have some comfort/knowledge as to what to expect. 

Edited October 8, 2021 by Happy Valley

[ProDave]

Re living on site in a static.  Strictly you should ask for temporary PP to do so as part of your planning for your final house.  You pay Council tax and band A and in our case for the council tax list (and also for the electoral roll) they prefix the address with "Caravan"........

 

How much and what size are the plots?

 

I would me more interested in the proposed drainage arrangements.  That is more likely to cause issues than broadband speed.  If wired landline broadband won't work, you might be able to get 4G mobile or (at more cost) satellite broadband.

[Jengem]

Thanks all, the plots have been on since 2016... there is a farmhouse behind the plots so services not too far away... is it possible to offer and withhold a percentage of the sale price for them to run the services in...? Then pay the balance once that is done. Drainage assessment has been done and soil stuff and other reports and all looks good. $G a possible solution but even the mobile phone signal is poor apparently. But I am sure the Broadband can be sorted...the plots range from 1200sqm-1800 sqm for 120-130k with the option to buy an additional paddock ranging from half an acre to 3 acres for an extra 10-20k. Also looking around at timber kit companies... Dan Wood has come up and their pricing seems quite incredible... sounds too good to be true... I dont like any of their houses though. I also like the look of flemming homes and they seem to have a good rep... but know nothing about dan wood. 

[TonyT]

Get a local joiner to build it !

[Happy Valley]

The services might not be far away but that does not mean that they are going to be adequate for 4 more properties or expensive to install. The utilities might want substantial funds to "upgrade" the infrastructure for 4 new properties as they may only just be suitable for the current farmhouse. 

 

If I was the vendor and they had been on the market for 5 years and the utilities were going to be simple I would put them into each plot, up the price and then they should sell. This eliminates any doubt/uncertainties over this massively important aspect of these plots working.

 

As others have mentioned I would first be contacting the utility companies to get an idea of costs and viability of connection before you go any further. Alternatively would the vendor consider an offer subject to them providing the connections.

[LA3222]

1 minute ago, Happy Valley said:

The services might not be far away but that does not mean that they are going to be adequate for 4 more properties or expensive to install. The utilities might want substantial funds to "upgrade" the infrastructure for 4 new properties as they may only just be suitable for the current farmhouse. 

Exactly.

 

Do not be naive and assume that because a building is nearby you will be able to tap in. I am at the bottom of a 60m lane with 3 more houses. I couldn't connect to the existing power cable, the entire run of cable had to be upgraded. I was lucky though because they chalked up as an opportunity to upgrade an old cable and only charged me 12% of the the total cost - about £7k.

 

If they had tried charging me for the entire thing you are looking at silly money. I have seen others on here over the years being quoted 25k plus, @ProDave had a battle where they were talking transformer upgrades before he dropped his kVa requirement to a level where an upgrade wasn't required (iirc!).

 

Service connection quotes are one thing you can do without actually owning the land so why wouldn't you? It may not be an issue but surely it is better to be in a position where you 'know' it is not an issue?‍♂️

[saveasteading]

A problem with multiple sites can be that the first buyer has to arrange services at high cost, that the subsequent buyers then get the benefit from. That is why the vendor should sensibly have already arranged mains to the site, suitable for connection. 

Electric, water, road access.

Why don't they? Cost (and they may not have the resources) wishful thinking, lack of project management skills.

 

A lot of plots were put on the market just too late for the boom, and the vendors are not prepared to drop to the current market price.
If you contact the water and electric companies, prepare to be shunted round lots of departments until you find the one person that will help, which they will. Phoning is usually the only way if the enquiry is preliminary and vague.

 

On 08/10/2021 at 08:50, Jengem said:

has full planning permission

 

You can legally start the approved works while you wait for the revisions to be approved. This would be a bad idea if the changes were to the geometry.

 

Broadband. Go on site with your phone and check the signal. If no good, then find which companies are better for signal round there.

Satellite signal should get better and cheaper??? somebody else advise?

BUT they will never put in fibre or even copper to your site, so you are dependent on any technological changes in future.

[Ferdinand]

13 hours ago, Jengem said:

Thanks all, the plots have been on since 2016... there is a farmhouse behind the plots so services not too far away... is it possible to offer and withhold a percentage of the sale price for them to run the services in...? Then pay the balance once that is done. Drainage assessment has been done and soil stuff and other reports and all looks good. $G a possible solution but even the mobile phone signal is poor apparently. But I am sure the Broadband can be sorted...the plots range from 1200sqm-1800 sqm for 120-130k with the option to buy an additional paddock ranging from half an acre to 3 acres for an extra 10-20k. Also looking around at timber kit companies... Dan Wood has come up and their pricing seems quite incredible... sounds too good to be true... I dont like any of their houses though. I also like the look of flemming homes and they seem to have a good rep... but know nothing about dan wood. 

 

You can do whatever you like, subject to any legal requirements and what the vendor is willing to do, and enforcement being practical.

 

But it needs the correct advice,  and professional drafting, and that costs.

[saveasteading]

13 hours ago, Jengem said:

I don't like any of their houses though

So don't consider them any further.

However I am guessing that the much cheaper houses look like prefabs or sheds, are on the small side and are standard units that can't be changed..

All of these things keep prices down.

 

If you can find a standard design that you like and NOT make any changes then it can save a great deal of money. These house designs have been perfected over time to be efficient and economical to build. This will also save a lot of Architect cost as there is nothing to be done.

[MikeSharp01]

14 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Go on site with your phone and check the signal. If no good, then find which companies are better for signal round there.

Satellite signal should get better and cheaper??? somebody else advise?

If you have a signal then it is likely you can get a better one by using a modem with an aerial and / or directional aerial. This one HERE is not massively expensive but has two sim card slots so you can be connected to two providers giving you more certainty of connection. Obvs that means having two accounts but I have an unlimited data 4G package from one of the big providers at £32 PCM, and I find it works very well I can work from it without a problem. Also as we are all with the same provider I can gift up to 100mB a month to my family which works well as they have limited data but I can top it up for them. It does mean we are on the same provider though which is all eggs in one basket!