Am I crazy to consider a self build?

[CJ1967]

Here's the bottom line: I'm 54 years old with Parkinson's; my wife's 53 years old with M.S; my daughter's 21 years old at Uni. We're currently living in a 1970's house inherited from my parents worth between £350,000 and £400,000. We want to downsize for two main reasons: 1) to release as much cash from the property as we can; and 2) to have a new home that's future proofed for our needs e.g. wider doorways for wheelchair access; no stairs; etc. 

 

I'm not wanting an older house as it may require more maintenance etc. I've searched for new build bungalows and have found them few and far between. So I started looking at self build. WIth our health problems, we wouldn't want to project manage the build ourselves; so I've looked at companies like Scotframe., and Norscot who build and manage for you. 

 

We'd only new a 2 or 3 bedroom bungalow. The kits are around £50,000. Build cost is around £100,000. And there's the plot on top of that. (And probably lots of other things I haven't considered.)  We'd like to be within an hours drive of Edinburgh as my daughter is at Uni; and my wife and I attend a Parkinson's/MS clinic in Edinburgh too. 

 

Here's my basic question: Am I crazy to consider a self build?

 

[CharlieKLP]

No of course not! It’s not as difficult as people imagine. 
 

Although it is very involved, and you will have to manage to sell a house and find land and a lot of other things - it shouldn’t be physically taxing and the rewards will be worth it. 
 

As you have specific needs, I’d suggest that you get a designer that is experienced in this kind of design. Not sure who you would be using and if they have ‘inhouse’ designers, but consider investing in an architect if the company you chose doesn’t have one. It’s quite specialist and most frame companies are used to standard design requirements.

 

Even saying ‘wider doors’ is not the limit of creating a home for someone who has more complex needs, it’s about the spaces, the flow and the whole system. So my advice, get a specialist designer. 
 

This will be your pay off, a lovely easy-to-use home that will be a joy to live in.

[JohnMo]

Not mad.

 

If you can get the best insulation you can, get much better than building standards.  You would end up with house that cost next to nothing to heat.

 

 I found with both companies if you go too custom, the price goes up dramatically.

 

Using their standard designs, with optional best insulation, would give you the least stress.

 

Knowing what you want is key, get a list together of wants, early, prior to tender.

 

Wide door, level threshold at all entry exit points, all showers with completely level entries, all ensuite accessible etc.

 

Don't get carried away with room sizes, go around show houses, see what suits you, measure up

 

[epsilonGreedy]

26 minutes ago, CJ1967 said:

Here's my basic question: Am I crazy to consider a self build?

 

 

You deserve some thoughtful answers to this question.

 

My hunch is the high stress of such a project could exacerbate the medical conditions you are dealing with. Given the assumed cash situation you will also need to think about temporary accommodation during the build.

 

I would look to purchase a bungalow and renovate it to suit your requirements, this will still be a large project but an order of magnitude less stressful than a whole selfbuild.

 

What internal living area are you contemplating or is specified in the kit house you have found? With this internal square meter target others can provide better advice.

 

 

[ProDave]

Hi and welcome to the forum. 

 

Plenty with health issues self build though obviously not full hands on.

 

You plan is good,  your idea of budget sadly is not.  £100K might get someone to build and erect a timber frame but that is a long way from being a habitable house.  With the recent rise in materials cost allow £2000 per square metre for a finished house. 

 

The economics are not always in favour of a self build, it is more about getting the house that you want built how you want it.  Going forward that should also mean very very well insulated and air tight etc so you get low running costs.

 

Edinburgh is probably the most expensive part of Scotland, others will have to advise where you might find a sensibly priced plot within an hour. Start by looking at https://espc.com/

 

 

[Mr Punter]

I am not sure about Scotland, but many new homes in England are either wheelchair accessible or adaptable.

 

You could buy this https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117720371#/?channel=RES_NEW

 

for £210,000

 

or this https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/77826207#/?channel=RES_NEW

 

at £325,000

 

I think if you start talking to agents you may just find somewhere that will suit without the stress of self build.  Some developers may be obliged to provide fully accessible properties on a scheme and may welcome your custom.

[ToughButterCup]

1 hour ago, CJ1967 said:

...

Here's my basic question: Am I crazy to consider a self build?

 

At this remove, I sense the answer could well be No. 

'... Considering...'  means (to me anyway) that Yes - mad as a Hatter  is as useful an answer as No (not crazy). We started older than you (60+) , both of us with multiple comorbidities; two of them now each burning brighter than they did back then.

 

The key thing is: in terms of building a house, how well-organised are you ? Errors and crises are the norm for this sector. How resilient are you? I see you're considering a Turn-Key approach. Then it's more of a numbers game. 

 

We've now built our home, and each day,  we are glad we JustBloodyDidIt . We can see the house we lived in before this one. So I can easily visualise the difference our new house makes: the access issues, the stability of internal temperature, the light, the ease with which we can clean stuff.

 

This self build has cost a good deal more than we anticipated in mental wear and tear, but that needs to be seen in the context of the privilege of being lucky enough to be able to self-build in the first place. 

 

You need to be able to take a joke. However unpleasant that joke is at the time.

[joe90]

Welcome, very interesting conundrum, stress is a funny thing, I suffer health issues linked to stress but found our build completely non stressful and  in fact found it empowering after two bouts of cancer on top of my previous health problems. I was lucky and had a brilliant builder who built the shell etc and I did all the internals but he was capable of doing the lot through contacts with other trades. Stress is different things to different people. I think it all depends on what you want, what you can find and what you can afford!.

[Jilly]

Getting the right people is crucial. My first builder gave me nightmares and serious stress, it's better now I have finally got good, reliable people. It's sooo stressful when people let you down and there's a chain of interdependent events. Hence it's easier and cheaper to build slowly, but the rent costs can spiral and be a significant hidden cost. Most self builders live on site ij a static to save money.

[epsilonGreedy]

53 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

 

At this remove, I sense the answer could well be No. 

'... Considering...'  means (to me anyway) that Yes - mad as a Hatter  is as useful an answer as No (not crazy). We started older than you (60+) , both of us with multiple comorbidities; two of them now each burning brighter than they did back then.

 

 

I can identify with your saga of burning brighter through dealing with the adversities of self building. I am stronger and fitter now than 3 years ago.

 

In the middle of a rising winter storm at 1am in the morning when I was battening down a tarpaulin on a temporary roof while perched on a wooden DIY roof creeper ladder, I remember thinking I have not enjoyed such a physical challenge since I was single handing a yacht across the English Channel at night and the boom tried to break away from the mast. Another day an elderly telehandler driver got the tonges stuck on a  scaffolding pole and partially pulled the scaffolding off the wall with me standing on second staging.

 

One of @ProDave's favourite self-build war stories is about crawling around under his static caravan like a potholer during the beast from the east, trying to thaw out frozen pipes.

 

A common theme to these stories is being physically able to respond and resolve such problems. The OP might in similar situation find himself forced to be an observer while trying to fix problems with a wadge of ££ notes.

 

There is a difference between bouncing back from less than optimal health compared to managing the effects of a progressive disease.

Edited January 25, 2022 by epsilonGreedy

[ProDave]

2 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

One of @ProDave's favourite self-build war stories is about crawling around under his static caravan like a potholer during the beast from the east, trying to thaw out frozen pipes.

And my other, trying and failing to sell our old house in a depressed market, resulting in a "plan B"  a 6 1/2 year very much more hands on "self build as you earn"

[AliG]

Hi CJ, I am in Edinburgh and just starting our second build which is a house for my parents.

 

My advice would be that it would be too much cost and stress.

 

One hour from Edinburgh gives you most of central Scotland, but assuming you mean within commuting distance of Edinburgh then your budget just won't stretch to it.

 

Looking at our current build and others I am seeing in the area, basically by the time you buy the land and build the house you will be lucky if it is worth what you have spent. The upside though for most people is they do get the house that they want.

 

Build costs have soared with rising materials costs. Indeed I would go further than @ProDave and assume a cost nearer to £2500 a square metre once you take all costs into consideration such as landscaping, professional fees etc.

 

The 1970s bungalow behind my house just sold for over £700k. The buyers are going to knock it down and build a 200sq metre house. There is no way it will be worth the £1.2-1.3m they will need to cover their costs(The design looks very expensive). That is what you are up against, there are very few plots and people are willing to pay over the odds for them.

 

But I feel your pain of wanting a house that works for you and your wife as you get older. We have designed a house with a bedroom downstairs for my parents. The vast majority of developer built houses have no bedroom downstairs and too many bedrooms upstairs. Wholly unsuitable for an older couple.

 

Occasionally I do see a Bilder do something that might work for you. Bellway are building some bungalows and cottages in Livingston for example which would probably be in the £3-400k range. You might also find some houses in the Shawfair development which looks like it will be very nice in a few years or in Winchburgh where there is a lot of building going on. But it would just be a matter of being very focused on looking for the right thing. I would also look at developments by Dandara. What you are looking for is surprisingly unusual, it shouldn't be.