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PhD Dissertation Survey - Understanding Challenges and Opportunities in the Self-build Industry


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Posted
On 26/01/2025 at 12:44, G and J said:

Of course after the event one thinks of the things one should have put.

 

To make self building easier:  allow suppliers to zero rate vat for supplies, not just when it’s supply and fit.  That would help our cash flow a lot and I suspect we aren’t the only ones. 

Thanks for the input! Did you mention this in the survey? There is this question in the survey: "What would you change or improve about the self-build process in the UK?"

Posted
11 minutes ago, CemCet said:

Thanks for the input! Did you mention this in the survey? There is this question in the survey: "What would you change or improve about the self-build process in the UK?"

Ummm, no.    After the event I thought of the things I should have put.

Posted
On 29/01/2025 at 12:18, Bancroft said:

Done.


Would have been nice to have a final 'comments' box to input some personal thoughts on the process.

 

I recognise that hundreds of complaints about planning departments might not help the core work but it could lead into other areas of study.

Thank you for your input! Actually, I was thinking about that too. I thought including 'Other' boxes as one of the answer choices would be enough. I'll mention it to my supervisor and see if we can add it :) 

Posted

I've just completed survey too - would be interested to hear more about your findings one you've completed your research.
Also agree that an 'additional comments' could yield even greater insight/nuance within the self-build process

Posted
On 03/02/2025 at 17:59, Wuey said:

I've just completed survey too - would be interested to hear more about your findings one you've completed your research.
Also agree that an 'additional comments' could yield even greater insight/nuance within the self-build process

Thank you! :)  I'm currently working on the additional comments section. However, if I cannot include it, I might conduct interviews after the survey research instead. That said, I’m not sure how many people here would be interested in participating in an online interview :D 

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

Hi everyone,

First of all, thank you all for your support and participation! I just need 6 more people to complete the survey, and once it's done, I’ll draw a £50 Amazon gift card for one lucky participant. For those who did not participate and are interested in self-building, I’d really appreciate it if you could take just 7-8 minutes to complete it.

 

Self-Build Research Study Survey

 

Thank you! :) 

 

Edited by CemCet
Posted
40 minutes ago, CemCet said:

I’d really appreciate it if you could take just 7-8 minutes to complete it.

Done.

Posted
On 07/02/2025 at 15:46, CemCet said:

Hi everyone,

First of all, thank you all for your support and participation! I just need 6 more people to complete the survey, and once it's done, I’ll draw a £50 Amazon gift card for one lucky participant. For those who did not participate and are interested in self-building, I’d really appreciate it if you could take just 7-8 minutes to complete it.

 

Self-Build Research Study Survey

 

Thank you! :) 

 

Hi all, just four more people are needed to complete the survey.

 

Self-Build Research Study Survey

 

Thank you! :) 

Posted

Done. Good job there wasnt a comment box, you would have got me started. I say one word PLANNING!! Some of the unreasonable requests for the silliest reasons has cost us dearly in internal space and insulation, difficulty in laying out bathrooms. No storage which was caused by roof requirements losing no end in bedrooms. They ask for efficiency and create inefficient buildings by means of their requests for 1.5 storey houses. 

  • Like 2
Posted
On 09/02/2025 at 19:17, Fallowfields said:

Done. Good job there wasnt a comment box, you would have got me started. I say one word PLANNING!! Some of the unreasonable requests for the silliest reasons has cost us dearly in internal space and insulation, difficulty in laying out bathrooms. No storage which was caused by roof requirements losing no end in bedrooms. They ask for efficiency and create inefficient buildings by means of their requests for 1.5 storey houses. 

Thank you for your feedback! I’m glad you shared your thoughts here, though the survey did have a comment box where you could have expressed this as well—it might have been easy to miss. We may also conduct follow-up interviews later, and I’d love for you to participate if you’re open to it. Thanks again for your input! :) 

  • Like 1
Posted

Yeah planning was a PITA for me too. We bought a plot with planning on and wanted to change the design for something much more sympathetic with the area. It took 2 years to get permission, via a bunch of planning cul-de-sacs ... for the the thing we first thought of. So, I'm now a couple of years older and I've lost a bunch of enthusiasm trying to push something simple uphill with a bunch of unelected, impractical, difficult people who love to say no ... trying to slow you up or stop you at every point. 

 

A big part of the problem is the '20 questions' nature of planning rather than a dialogue. For instance, a late added condition for us was a particular design of entranceway to a standard design by the LPA. We're on a single-track road so we could never get delivery vehicles past this standard entranceway design without driving over the soft verges. Could we radius it more to avoid this problem? Well ... we refuse to answer you - you need to submit an NMA. Is it an animal? Does it have 4 legs? etc

  • Like 1
Posted
7 hours ago, CemCet said:

Thank you for your feedback! I’m glad you shared your thoughts here,

One more to go by the looks of things.

 

@CemCet I'm sure there will be folk happy to do a follow up interview.

 

For all. Gathering raw and real life data can be exceptionally difficult at times for a researcher / someone studying for a masters or doing a thesis.

 

A lot of the manufacture's for exampleclam up when you ask for the numbers behind say their load span tables.. commercial confidentiality and so on. You start with your subject.. get enthused, funding in place and acceptance onto the course and then find that there are an awful lot of uncharitable folk in the real world.

 

 

 

 

Posted
On 11/02/2025 at 12:14, CemCet said:

Thank you for your feedback! I’m glad you shared your thoughts here, though the survey did have a comment box where you could have expressed this as well—it might have been easy to miss. We may also conduct follow-up interviews later, and I’d love for you to participate if you’re open to it. Thanks again for your input! :) 

Yes happy to help you

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
19 hours ago, Gus Potter said:

One more to go by the looks of things.

 

@CemCet I'm sure there will be folk happy to do a follow up interview.

 

For all. Gathering raw and real life data can be exceptionally difficult at times for a researcher / someone studying for a masters or doing a thesis.

 

A lot of the manufacture's for exampleclam up when you ask for the numbers behind say their load span tables.. commercial confidentiality and so on. You start with your subject.. get enthused, funding in place and acceptance onto the course and then find that there are an awful lot of uncharitable folk in the real world.

 

 

 

 

So, I realized yesterday that I need 111 survey responses for the data in my thesis. Right now, I’ve got 85 responses, so I just need 26 more people🙏 It is difficult to reach people but I really like working with real data, and I’m hoping it’ll make a positive difference for self-build processes.

 

For those who haven't participated yet, here is the link, I would appreciate your input: Self-Build Research Study Survey

Edited by CemCet
Posted
1 hour ago, Jilly said:

Completed, I answered retrospectively, so I hope that’s ok!

Yes, you can participate whether you are already involved, currently involved, or planning to be involved in a self-build project. All levels of involvement are welcome! :)

 

And there is a £50 Amazon gift card draw at the end of the survey for those who wish to participate in it as well!

  • Thanks 1
Posted
On 11/02/2025 at 13:07, Alan Ambrose said:

Yeah planning was a PITA for me too. We bought a plot with planning on and wanted to change the design for something much more sympathetic with the area. It took 2 years to get permission, via a bunch of planning cul-de-sacs ... for the the thing we first thought of. So, I'm now a couple of years older and I've lost a bunch of enthusiasm trying to push something simple uphill with a bunch of unelected, impractical, difficult people who love to say no ... trying to slow you up or stop you at every point. 

 

A big part of the problem is the '20 questions' nature of planning rather than a dialogue. For instance, a late added condition for us was a particular design of entranceway to a standard design by the LPA. We're on a single-track road so we could never get delivery vehicles past this standard entranceway design without driving over the soft verges. Could we radius it more to avoid this problem? Well ... we refuse to answer you - you need to submit an NMA. Is it an animal? Does it have 4 legs? etc

Oh wow, that sounds incredibly frustrating. Two years is a long time! I can definitely relate to the planning struggles. It's amazing how much time and energy it can take. These problems can be seen in the survey responses too and I will try to mention these problems in my thesis.

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