What did your build cost come out at 2024/25!

[AliG]

I haven't seen the figures, but I would guess that self build numbers have fallen recently due to build costs. Land prices do not seem to reflect the increase in costs. I know one person who was planning to build, owns land and had estimates pre COVID. They then looked again post COVID and decided it was too expensive.

[JohnMo]

2 hours ago, Oz07 said:

Even the nice houses round here aren't going for much more than £4000m

Means I would double my money - 💰 in the bank. I built during COVID the most expensive time you could build. Very limited people allowed on site one trade at a time. Material in short supply and a sellers market.

 

Really depends if your self builder or just paying a builder or where you sit anywhere in-between to the final bill for the build. As mentioned previously, spec and how you buy has a huge impact on costs, but overall how you source has biggest impact. I sourced everything for our build except the cables and fittings supplied by the electrician, and roof was an agreed fixed cost.

[Oz07]

@JohnMoare you including land costs in the 1800 or is that on top? I was just making the point that here you can buy all signing dancing properties on good plots for 4k m2 all done and dusted. 

 

Annoyingly I'm interested in a plot which is currently available at auction, and it just seems a terrible time to buy all things considered. They are rare round where we live at the minute in a good school catchment so might have to hold my nose and buy it. 

[JohnMo]

2 minutes ago, Oz07 said:

are you including land costs in the 1800 or is that on top?

No too many variables our plot is 2 acres in Scotland not comparable to London.

 

Our ground work other than foundation, isn't included either. We are on the side of hill had to carve out a road etc.

 

The point of a well designed self build, it isn't anything like a developer house, so price wise not comparable either.

[SBMS]

1 minute ago, JohnMo said:

No too many variables our plot is 2 acres in Scotland not comparable to London.

 

Our ground work other than foundation, isn't included either. We are on the side of hill had to carve out a road etc.

 

The point of a well designed self build, it isn't anything like a developer house, so price wise not comparable either.

Is 1800 include all fittings as well - flooring built in furniture etc as well? These things quickly add up

[JohnMo]

39 minutes ago, SBMS said:

Is 1800 include all fittings as well - flooring built in furniture etc as well? These things quickly add up

Yes, full kitchen, 3 bathrooms, decking patio, solar, heating etc all floor coverings, basically house ready to use and passed final inspection.

[MikeSharp01]

Watch today's Grand designs - 2000 sq M 7+ million and we are not at the end of the program yet. It will make your eyes water....

[SBMS]

25 minutes ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Watch today's Grand designs - 2000 sq M 7+ million and we are not at the end of the program yet. It will make your eyes water....

Just watched it - absolutely crazy! Unfinished and on the market and the program is the biggest advert for it now as well. Hope they finish it and get to keep it. 

[MikeSharp01]

Yes I think I hope they get to keep it, such drive - the site manager was the best bit, ground worker to project managing a 7m build over night.

[Mike]

1 hour ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Watch today's Grand designs - 2000 sq M 7+ million and we are not at the end of the program yet. It will make your eyes water....

Very entertaining! Never has I seen such cheer in the face of such financial pain. Great architecture though and yes, the site manager was a star. Looking forward to the follow-up in 5 / 10 / 15 years time...

[Bluebaron]

I'm getting quotes in now for a pretty standard 150m2, 4 bed home (including internal garage) build.

 

Around £500k plus landscaping! I already own the plot, re-sale looking at £650k.

 

This is around £3500m2  ballpark for southeast. 

 

Thinking I might be better selling the plot for £200-£250!

 

[Redbeard]

43 minutes ago, Bluebaron said:

Thinking I might be better selling the plot for £200-£250!

I think either you need a 'k' on there or you'll have a hugely long queue!

[Crofter]

I've been hearing that in my neck of the woods, for a main contractor project, it should be minimum £2500/m2 including fees etc but excluding plot.

That's a bit of a jump from when I built in 2016-17, which worked out at about £1000. I was entirely DIY but the small size of the project counted against it- things like kitchens, driveways, septic tanks don't really get any cheaper on a smaller build.

[Oz07]

Is there any mechanism for build costs to come down? Nothing looks deflationary to me. Even if house prices cool I don't see how build costs reduce

[ProDave]

Self build here has always (at least since I have lived here) been uneconomic if you just pay a main contractor to build a house on your plot ready to move into.

 

Both our self builds here have only made economic sense by us doing a LOT of the work ourselves to keep costs down.

[Kelvin]

There was an article I read a few weeks ago saying that certain areas of the country had become uneconomical for building companies to build in as a consequence of the slow down in the housing market and increasing inflation. That is where self-building could help if the land was sold off to self-builders who could still be able to build a house of better quality without focusing on making money out of it. 

[Crofter]

1 hour ago, Oz07 said:

Is there any mechanism for build costs to come down? Nothing looks deflationary to me. Even if house prices cool I don't see how build costs reduce

 

We could rejoin the EU and then importing high spec windows and kitchens would be a bit cheaper...

[Crofter]

Another money saving idea which I like, and I admit that would be a bit of a niche, would be if the government would create a library of free plans and technical drawings that would be guaranteed to pass building standards. I know most people do use architects, ATs, SEs, etc, but for those of us who like to go it alone, it would be very helpful.

I'm not saying we'd have to all build the same design of house, but for the finer details of wall, floor, and roof buildup.

[Kelvin]

Just now, Crofter said:

Another money saving idea which I like, and I admit that would be a bit of a niche, would be if the government would create a library of free plans and technical drawings that would be guaranteed to pass building standards. I know most people do use architects, ATs, SEs, etc, but for those of us who like to go it alone, it would be very helpful.

I'm not saying we'd have to all build the same design of house, but for the finer details of wall, floor, and roof buildup.

Devil is in the detail though. I was chatting to one of the Heb Owners about this very point. When they started Heb Homes they figured that they could take a cookie cutter approach to reduce the design and engineering costs. In reality though most of their clients wanted to change the designs enough that they were essentially all ending up closer to bespoke. This was especially the case with our house. He said they intended to tighten up on the changes that could be made to their standard designs. 

[Crofter]

1 minute ago, Kelvin said:

Devil is in the detail though. I was chatting to one of the Heb Owners about this very point. When they started Heb Homes they figured that they could take a cookie cutter approach to reduce the design and engineering costs. In reality though most of their clients wanted to change the designs enough that they were essentially all ending up closer to bespoke. This was especially the case with our house. He said they intended to tighten up on the changes that could be made to their standard designs. 

Fair enough. But I expect that they reuse the same details in places like window reveals, wall/floor joint, etc.

All stuff that seasoned joiners probably do in their sleep, but for me doing it for the first time there was a lot of head scratching.

 

MAKAR, in Inverness, are offering an affordable kit for £128k and are claiming that it will cost £5 a week to run.

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, Oz07 said:

any mechanism for build costs to come down

Yes. With an absence of work, the trades will charge less..   perhaps a lot less.

This usually takes a year though for realisation, expectations and pride to change, and perhaps some nagging to reduce the day rate and get earning.

Land prices can also drop, but big landowners are less likely to need the money.

Bigger contractors may also reduce margins in the short term, but this is only a few %.

[Kelvin]

10 minutes ago, Crofter said:

Fair enough. But I expect that they reuse the same details in places like window reveals, wall/floor joint, etc.

All stuff that seasoned joiners probably do in their sleep, but for me doing it for the first time there was a lot of head scratching.

 

MAKAR, in Inverness, are offering an affordable kit for £128k and are claiming that it will cost £5 a week to run.

You’d think. Except that wasn’t my experience. On window installation day there was a lot of head scratching and disagreement on how to do it. The installation team wanted to do it one way, the joiner I had on-site said he wouldn’t do it that way, the generic construction drawings said something else that didn’t quite reflect our build. In the end we did it the way I decided to do it based on what I’d read on here. I think the only way to achieve consistency of build using generic construction drawings is to also mandate what is built other than size and shape assuming simple shapes. 
 

We went kit build for speed and reduced risk and we enjoyed neither benefit as it turned out. But we were probably just a bit unlucky with the choice of kit supplier. 

Edited 3 hours ago by Kelvin

[Crofter]

29 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

You’d think. Except that wasn’t my experience. On window installation day there was a lot of head scratching and disagreement on how to do it. The installation team wanted to do it one way, the joiner I had on-site said he wouldn’t do it that way, the generic construction drawings said something else that didn’t quite reflect our build. In the end we did it the way I decided to do it based on what I’d read on here. I think the only way to achieve consistency of build using generic construction drawings is to also mandate what is built other than size and shape assuming simple shapes. 
 

We went kit build for speed and reduced risk and we enjoyed neither benefit as it turned out. But we were probably just a bit unlucky with the choice of kit supplier. 

Well that makes me feel a lot better actually. I had my own idea of what to do and every passing joiner who popped in for a nosey said I was doing it wrong...

[Kelvin]

13 minutes ago, Crofter said:

Well that makes me feel a lot better actually. I had my own idea of what to do and every passing joiner who popped in for a nosey said I was doing it wrong...

Good. 😂 As it turns out my insistence on doing it the way I wanted was the right decision too. 

[Oz07]

What about materials. I think you need cheaper energy for these to cost less. Energy prices effect everything.