Anyone else contending with self build cost?

[gavztheouch]

We originally planned to build our house 3 years ago. Covid happened plus we had another kid so we put the house on the back burner. We got planning about 5 years ago, I delayed because I’m indecisive and now the build cost has gone from 350k to 600k for a turn key solution. 350k was already tight so I’m a bit confused as when I look around our area people are still pressing ahead with their builds. My only options now appear to be build it myself, doing say 50% of the work or buy a house in the village. 
 

Would love to know what the future brings for self build in the uk and how people are going to fund their projects. I reckon with the interest rate rise the monthly payment would be treble what I would have paid in 2019. This doesn’t seem sustainable. The only way forward I can see would be too build smaller houses with very simple detailing, in hindsight this is what I should have done. 
 

Anyone else finding the price rises overwhelming and unaffordable. What is your plan?

[Kelvin]

I started a similar thread early last year. Our budget has gone from comfortable to build everything we wanted to tight and compromised. First thing that went was the timber garage with space upstairs with cladding and roof to match the house to be replaced by a large insulated metal garage which was half the cost. I had a landscape budget but it has gone into the house. I was going to do full home automation professionally installed now I’ve scaled that back and doing it myself with the electrician. We wanted Abodo cladding but have swapped that to local Scottish Larch. The zinc standing seam roof is now a metal standing seam roof etc. I’m project managing and will be doing some of the work myself. Doing all that is what is allowing us to continue otherwise I think we might have been in trouble. 
 

Edited to add that our house is two simple rectangles totalling 202m² with a straightforward roof design. We had originally planned something more complicated but ditched that due to cost. 

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Kelvin

[nod]

Our previous build was started six years ago My wife 51 and myself 55 

We did virtually everything None stop for nearly two years and came in at £815 m for a very high standard of finish 390k spent 800k valuation 

Great Five years on we bought two excellent plots and a 2.5 acre field at the back

Lets do it again But with a difference 

Let someone else do most of the work 

We even looked at TF But the costs where considerably higher than Solid build and that was before timber prices rocketed 

We pushed the boat out with the design Three vaulted ceiling’s Two feature windows Arts and crafts design roof with a 50 degree pitch 

Then the price and labour increases hit 

We found ourselves at a similar position to you Whilst we had no borrowing It was pretty obvious that bringing in trades wasn’t an option 

Re designing the roof and using tiles as apposed to slates would save us thousands and lots of time

We decided to push on with the design we had 

Whilst we did the slating on our previous build We decided to get a quote for the house and workshop 

slating With over 60 meters of lead valleys we new it wouldn’t be cheap 

But over 30 k came as a shock But not an option 

We started putting the loose rafters in over three months ago and we still have about a 1000 slates to put in 

Both of us work full time but we will have to carryon in the same vein 

 

Suppliers are chasing us rather than the other way round 

There can be 50% difference in price between the same products as not all But many suppliers like petrol stations have jumped on the bandwagon and have and are overcharging 

Ill not bore you with examples but there’s lots of them out there 

Shop around 

[shuff27]

We moved in to our new self build about 3 months ago & the last inside trade has just finished.  Loads of decorating left for me to do but no more cost except decorating supplies.

 

Outside we have a usable driveway topped with mot type 1 but rest of landscaping still to finish (estimated cost of £10-15k depending on how much I take on myself).

 

Total house build cost came in at £383k including all fees for 218 sqm (including single attached garage) so £1757 psm.  I went over budget by approx £60k largely due to increased material costs & delays (started groundworks in Nov 2021).  Build process was self managed and employing subbies direct.  Expecting around £13k back in VAT reclaim...one day!

[ToughButterCup]

4 hours ago, gavztheouch said:

...

Anyone else finding the price rises overwhelming and unaffordable. What is your plan?

 

Yes. Add affordability to design errors, project management errors,  plain simple disasters, naivete, hip replacement(s) and

 

Beep "Hooston, we gat a prablum" Beep.

 

There's nowt else for it. Just Bloody Do It. Myself.

Both of us have faced (and faced down) and beaten huge problems before. This is just another one . We wince, grizzle and niggle regularly, but then Friday night comes along - (International Party Night) , Saturday recovering, Sunday planning. 

 

And then along comes a few successes:  (piling £6.5K when £22K was the average, successful insurance claim from a wall collapse, cracking architect, kind passers-by, good mates making stuff for me to dig me out of the soft and smelly, good local chippy, excellent orthopaedic surgeon) 

 

Not having enough money makes me think - much harder than I normally would. And thats an asset.

[Kelvin]

Yep. Necessity being the mother of invention and all that. 

[CalvinHobbes]

Just getting quotes for each stage, groundwork, superstructure , roof, windows, plaster package, electrics, plumbing etc and hoping it's ok. Changing from zinc probably to trocal and aluclad to upvc. Needs must.

[Kelvin]

24 minutes ago, CalvinHobbes said:

Just getting quotes for each stage, groundwork, superstructure , roof, windows, plaster package, electrics, plumbing etc and hoping it's ok. Changing from zinc probably to trocal and aluclad to upvc. Needs must.

Good stuff. Don’t underestimate the amount of time this takes. It’s taken me several months to work my way through every element. Also get several quotes for each element. ‘They’ say normally three but that’s not been working for me very well for some things (roofing in particular) so have been getting as many quotes as I can which has paid dividends. Many won’t reply  or go cold after initial contact. I contacted and sent the plans to 6 groundswork companies and got quotes from three and two of those took weeks to get.  Once you get someone on board have a chat to them about other trades. That’s really helped me. 

I’ve also had to be flexible on material choice due to availability in my area so worth finding that out early as it caught me out. 
 

I don’t know what your area is like but there’s no evidence of a slow down in demand in my area. Everyone is saying they have never been as busy hence the weeks for quotes coming back. I’ve also had three companies say their order books are full for the rest of the year! 
 

 

[nod]

43 minutes ago, CalvinHobbes said:

Just getting quotes for each stage, groundwork, superstructure , roof, windows, plaster package, electrics, plumbing etc and hoping it's ok. Changing from zinc probably to trocal and aluclad to upvc. Needs must.

Makes sense 

[ToughButterCup]

On 29/01/2023 at 08:10, gavztheouch said:

...My only options now appear to be build it myself,

... Anyone else finding the price rises overwhelming and unaffordable. What is your plan?

 

Do more and more of it on my own. It feels like hard-core DIY now, and after 8 years, getting a bit fed up of it. But, I never let myself forget how lucky we were to get permission at all. The guy next door didn't.

 

How?

Save up each month, cut back on the caviar and chips, try not to take things to seriously.

 

And JustBloodyDoIt.

[Pocster]

25 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

Do more and more of it on my own. It feels like hard-core DIY now, and after 8 years, getting a bit fed up of it.

😁 - does drag a bit doesn’t it . Tbh I just treat it as a job so just “ do it “ . Once ( if ever ) finished what would I do with my time ? 

[Gone West]

31 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

after 8 years, getting a bit fed up of it

I sympathise as it took us eight years and I was glad when it was finished. It is a nice feeling though once you move in and can enjoy it.

[crispy_wafer]

July 2020 we started.

 

Yes & No, We paid a builder to get up and roof on, I then bought the windows, so that took us to approx £165k.  I've got a little bit of capital left, so we are doing as much first fix work as possible on what's left of the salaries. Material costs are just about manageable if taking your time - take a month to do the studding out, plumbing the next month etc, I refuse to look at what it's cost to date in total, in a way it's almost meaningless to us (ofc it matters though), it will cost what it costs it's just a matter of how long it will take, and of course trades cost money as they've got mortgages and bill to pay too!   Trying to pick up bits and bobs from peoples finished projects also helps the pocket money stretch a bit further. 

 

I also refuse to become a slave to it.  If I start a part of the job, I'll finish it.  But, I do like to take some time out and spend it with friends and family too every now and then for my own sanity.  

 

Almost ready for FF electrics and plumbing.