Inflation is killing my build

[farm boy]

I am now in the uncomfortable position of needing £70k to finish with £50k in the bank to spend. The more I do myself to try a save money the longer it will take while price inflation continues eating away

Do I need flooring on the ground floor? Do i need a en-suite? Do i need a stove? Do i buy materials now to use later? What is the bare minimum i can do to get it signed off? 

These are the question i am asking myself. Next year i may be able to by a cup of tea for £10k!

What would you do?

 

Currently having it boarded out which I estimated would cost £6k but now looks its going to be £8K+

 

Plus twisted my knee last week and can currently do very little, feeling frustrated and exposed.

 

[Dave Jones]

timber prices coming down.

 

overspend suggests your initial budget wasn't realistic.

[Jilly]

Make it liveable and do the rest slowly.

[SteamyTea]

A lot of people get hung up on getting the VAT back.

You can, I'd you have time, easily save 20% on materials and labour.

Generally the big killer on any project is running over time.

Get the minimum you can afford, get it signed off. Claim the VAT back and move in.

[Nickfromwales]

18 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

A lot of people get hung up on getting the VAT back.

You can, I'd you have time, easily save 20% on materials

which will have 20% VAT, which you can reclaim.

[Nickfromwales]

44 minutes ago, farm boy said:

Currently having it boarded out which I estimated would cost £6k but now looks its going to be £8K+

 

Plus twisted my knee last week and can currently do very little, feeling frustrated and exposed.

Glass half full time  There are many, many people worse off than you. Struggling a bit to build your own home is par for the course. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, as you can't get off until it's ended.

 

Buy materials now, if you fear they may go up, but then repent at leisure if you find they then came down instead, or something better came out. Timber and inert stuff won't really matter, but if you extend over time then your salary(s) will chip away anyways.

 

You will need an electrical completion certificate, same ventilation and drainage. You'll need a very basic kitchen with an oven and hob ( free-standing crap 2nd hand electric job will suffice ) and one bathroom. That's it really. Heating can be via plug in radiators etc but sense should prevail around what you 'don't do' before occupancy, as moving in when massively incomplete is progress-suicide.

 

It is what it is, so preserve the bathroom(s) and flashy kitchen for later down the line, possibly funded by a remortgage post completion?

 

Concentrate on the fundamentals, and leave cosmetics for now.  Function instead of form, and invest wisely in the infrastructure as it will be daft to have to redo anything such as heating or hot water. Run cables for PV, install later etc.

[SteamyTea]

28 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

48 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

A lot of people get hung up on getting the VAT back.

You can, I'd you have time, easily save 20% on materials

which will have 20% VAT, which you can reclaim.

Thanks for reinforcing my point.

If you face having a failed project because you are 10 or 15% short on cash, then waiting for that 20% is definitely going to kill it.

It is like spending a tenner in the same pub every night, then, once in a blue moon, the landlord gives you a pint.

Not the best deal going.

[JohnMo]

It's never easy, everyone has to sacrifice doing a self build, they can be a money pit.

 

Spend your time getting the best price, you can do that sitting down. Search for best price, check online, ring for best price, play one supplier of the other, huge savings can be made.

 

Paint white throughout, can you close off sections, to do later?

 

Basic not flashy.

 

Ex display kitchen and bathroom? B&Q flat pack all save money and don't really mean compromise.

 

Don't scrimp on things you cannot change later, like insulation, windows etc.

 

Do you need a stove now - no

Do you need a flashy kitchen and multiple bathrooms - no

Do you need a heat pump installed at a stupid price, so you can save £5k. Shop around eBay etc, you will be supposed what's available for half price of less.

 

Do you need more than one toilet, shower or sink - no, except for completion you need the accessibility bathroom complete.

Do you need curtains and blinds, maybe, maybe not.

Floor covering, just seal the concrete floor if that's what you have to stop dust.

 

You are likely to need, electric install certificate, ventilation performance certificate, boiler installation certificate, air tightness certificate, drains test.

 

I had to sell cars and all sorts to finish ours, it's what you do.

 

[ToughButterCup]

1 hour ago, farm boy said:

...

twisted my knee last week and can currently do very little, feeling frustrated and exposed.

I think I can safely say that during the last 8 years of the build, I've had that feeling that you report once a year or so. I've just had my second new hip put in during the build.

 

Doing a self-build is a hardening off process. It's one where you have to make thousands of compromises that you didn't expect to have to when you were in the planning phase. But it's quite important, I always think, to remember that being able to do a self-build is a privilege which many people can't do because of the planning regulations or for other reasons.

 

Self-building is a real test of character.

 

And in the end the only thing that matters is that you just bloody do it.

[Pocster]

Mate don’t sweat it .

20k ‘over’ isn’t the end of the world .

Whilst you might not want a loan or use your Credit card as the great Mandy says “ This is the way “

[Moonshine]

42 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

Self-building is a real test of character.

 

I have failed mine

[ProDave]

This forum is full of people like me that had a unforeseen situation meaning we were short of expected funds.  We all found a way to resolve it.  Flexibility is the key.  Our solution was lay off the trades and do it all myself, thus began a 5 year "build as you earn" completion of our self build.

 

You don't need flooring for completion sign off, bare chipboard is fine, fit the proper flooring later.  Likewise curtains etc not needed.  You will need a functioning kitchen that could be second hand or the very cheapest flat pack units that you can upgrade later.  You don't need much in the way of garden completed, usually just a parking space and a hard path from there to the front door, usually with a ramp for wheelchair access.

 

We chose to do our VAT reclaim a little before the house was actually finished just to get the injection of capital for the last few items and to pay off some 0% borrowing that would have been due soon.

[Kelvin]

1 hour ago, SteamyTea said:

Thanks for reinforcing my point.

If you face having a failed project because you are 10 or 15% short on cash, then waiting for that 20% is definitely going to kill it.

It is like spending a tenner in the same pub every night, then, once in a blue moon, the landlord gives you a pint.

Not the best deal going.

 Not quite a comparable analogy. The VAT reclaim can be a lot of money that pays off credit cards, finishes the house, funds the landscaping. It’s part of the reason that makes self-build doable for a lot of us. 
 

I also figured 14 months ago that inflation was going to soar so consequently we started compromising before we even had planning. I really wanted a big garage/workshop with a room above, fully insulated and plumbed in clad and roofed to match the house. However I canned that and now building an insulated metal building that’s the same footprint for about half the cost. The house was going to be 3m longer adding another two rooms with a second staircase making it almost self-contained living room and bedroom and bathroom. We removed that which has probably saved £35k. Inflation has taken us from a healthy budget and easily doable to compromising and it being a little tight. Fortunately we do have other funds to access should the worst happen but that was never the plan as we wanted the proceeds from the house we sold to fund every aspect of the self-build. 
 

My approach has been different so far in that I’ve locked in the prices for a lot of the big ticket items last year by paying hefty deposits. It’s probably saved us £10k-£12k minimum.
 

While I am capable of doing a lot myself I don’t want to spend 5 years plus doing it so we are aiming to fund trades and go as fast as we can to reduce the impact of inflation. We’ll be in by Christmas 😂 I gave up a relatively highly paid job to manage all of this and will go back to work in some capacity once we finish. 
 

One thing I will be doing myself is rebuilding the 120m drystone wall that runs down our boundary. It might take me a year or so but it’s a cost we can’t swallow by bringing someone in. 
 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Kelvin

[SteamyTea]

2 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

The VAT reclaim can be a lot of money that pays off credit cards

Most of that will be spent at the start though, the 20% on the last small tin of gloss is neither here not there.

 

Having run out of cash and had a failed business because of it, hoping/waiting for things to change is a killer.

[saveasteading]

Virtual hearts to all the above.

Decide what is essential now, and do it full quality, once and for all.

Decide what you don't need to function right now, and postone it. That could be empty rooms. You can leave boarding off, even flooring if you shut the door.

 

That may leave some gaps where a temp solution will suffice.

Eg a basic kitchen

One bath / shower room 

These can be fitted out at a fraction of your likely budget. A toilet suite to basic standards is remarkably cheap. I think i saw £80 for wc and basin, with fittings.

 

Buy cheap carpet and fit it temporaily. £60 will do a room. Remnants are not usually the best vslue when allowing for waste. If you miscut it, double sided tape sorts it. Throw out next year.

 

That will not be ideal, but wins time and you have some comfort. 

[Kelvin]

4 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

Most of that will be spent at the start though, the 20% on the last small tin of gloss is neither here not there.

 

Having run out of cash and had a failed business because of it, hoping/waiting for things to change is a killer.

Sure and it’s a bugger if you’ve been at it for 8 years and an eventual VAT reclaim of £30k sitting waiting to be claimed. 

 

The last three years for the self-builder has been horrendous. I am in awe of anyone that built through COVID. Clearly it’s been horrendous for lots of people for different reasons but this thread is about the self-builder. 

[Moonshine]

7 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

Sure and it’s a bugger if you’ve been at it for 8 years and an eventual VAT reclaim of £30k sitting waiting to be claimed. 

 

The last three years for the self-builder has been horrendous. I am in awe of anyone that built through COVID. Clearly it’s been horrendous for lots of people for different reasons but this thread is about the self-builder. 

 

I started in May 2021, never going to build again!

[Kelvin]

32 minutes ago, Moonshine said:

 

I started in May 2021, never going to build again!

Don’t blame you. The impact of COVID on us has been about 6-8 months delay but that includes the royal PIA of selling our house in Cambridgeshire and then the crap service from timber kit company as we went through planning and warrant. Had I been braver I’d have started the planning process before completing on the plot but too risk adverse. We’d nearly be done by now. 
 

That said had there been fewer delays it would have meant starting groundworks in November last year which would have turned our site into the Somme. As it is we started mid Feb and it’s been exceptionally dry and mild so the site is tidy and clean the foundation mostly done. The current cold snap has stopped anymore concrete work but we’ve moved onto drainage etc so it won’t hold us up too much. 

[JohnMo]

1 hour ago, Moonshine said:

started in May 2021, never going to build again!

I started March 2020 (the start of first lock down) me and a man in a big digger, got the completion cert last week. 

 

Conversely I would love to do it again, but get other people to do the heavy lifting instead of me. I would manage them.

 

Loved the learning curve, looking for bargains...

[Kelvin]

I have hated all of the dealing with the so called professionals and their incompetence and lack lustre approach to everything. Now we are actually doing physical stuff it’s much more fun and rewarding. 

[farm boy]

All valid points from everyone. 

This is a build to let hence I cannot claim the VAT back which I knew from the beginning.

3 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Buy materials now, if you fear they may go up, but then repent at leisure if you find they then came down instead, or something better came out.

That's quite good statement as i have already bought materials changed design and not used them. It hurts. I once bought £300 of timber completely the wrong section and cursed myself, but ended up using it later in the build, one of few times an error turned good. 

Yes, white matt paint all over, and might end up with £15m2 laminate on the open plan ground floor, what am I going to do with all those natural stone and porcelain samples i got of the internet!

Recuperating this week while my plaster boarding guys make the inside look beautiful. Down but not out.

 

 

 

 

 

[Kelvin]

My other half plans on making some kind of mural with all the samples we have and we have loads of them. 

[saveasteading]

21 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

So called professionals and their incompetence and lack lustre approach to

There are lots of good people out there. Also plenty who aren't so good and don't give the best service because of a skill shortage. It must be very diificult to judge as a first yimer, when not from the so called industry.

 

Our family team were quite shocked when I said we must confront the SE to save £20k, and sack the groundworkers. 

The former had a perfectly reasonable principal who accepted my alternative, but our assigned guy was not happy to be questioned.

The groundworker,  whose main skill was charm,  turned nasty, but went eventually, and the family carried on and finished it. Slab &drainage.

But neither of these were possible to first timers, and I can see how problems and costs mount. 

 

Thats prob why most of us on here want to help. A few words can save a lot of money and pressure.

 

[Mr Punter]

2 hours ago, Moonshine said:

 

I started in May 2021, never going to build again!

 

Ah this captures the very spirit of buildhub!

[farm boy]

1 hour ago, saveasteading said:

There are lots of good people out there. Also plenty who aren't so good and don't give the best service because of a skill shortage. It must be very diificult to judge as a first yimer, when not from the so called industry.

I won't have anyone cold on site anymore, they have to know someone I know or i have employed previously. Always make conversation about the person in common and ask what tradesman they know for the next jobs. They will then know who will see their work.