Never again, unless... maybe...

[NSS]

Having completed our build in 2017, I've always said never again, unless we had a significant windfall and the perfect plot arrived.

 

Well we haven't, and it hasn't, but one of my offspring is currently eyeing a small bungalow on a large plot in rural southern England. Her initial instinct is to hugely extend, out and up, but retaining anything meaningful of the existing fabric will significantly compromise what might be achievable.

 

To me it's a tear down and replace, but the existing bungalow is habitable (albeit tired), so the vendor, understandably, is looking for more than it's value as a plot alone.

 

Assuming project management of individual trades, and a limited amount of 'self building' (primarily labouring and decorating), for a reasonably good quality, traditional block & brick build, circa 230m2 chalet bungalow, is £2.5k/m2 a reasonable expectation?

 

Much more than that and the value of the finished build will likely be below cost.

[BotusBuild]

Doable, but I think compromise would be required on materials, air tightness, insulation levels given the minimal involvement 

[torre]

I think 3k/m2 is more realistic to budget for if you want reasonable quality and aren't doing that much yourself.

 

How much can you derisk the project? Did you PM last time and did you go over budget last time and by much? Could/would you use the same builder/trades?

[NSS]

3 minutes ago, torre said:

I think 3k/m2 is more realistic to budget for if you want reasonable quality and aren't doing that much yourself.

 

How much can you derisk the project? Did you PM last time and did you go over budget last time and by much? Could/would you use the same builder/trades?

 

Yep, £3k is more what I thought. To clarify, this wouldn't be my build,  and whilst I might help pm it, my labouring days are behind me. My son-in-law is a grafter though, and can handle a digger, knock up muck, lay drainage, etc, etc. I'm just not sure how much of his week could be devoted to being hands-on without significantly compromising his income.

[Gus Potter]

3 hours ago, NSS said:

is £2.5k/m2 a reasonable expectation?

Is this figure including or excluding vat? 

 

3 hours ago, NSS said:

Much more than that and the value of the finished build will likely be below cost.

Even in Scotland say it's 2.5k inc vat. That is 2.5 / 1.2  = just over 2.0k ex vat.. unlikely to come anywhere near that. Or say its 2.5 plus vat  = £3.0 per sq metre.

 

At my end as a designer I would be looking at say 4.0k before vat if I was putting a high level budget cost on this. You have the designers fees, council fees and contingency. You are going to increase the occupancy so will have drainage etc, maybe power supply to sort out. 

 

It's a funny one as the land (large plot) has a special value, ammenity, so it's not all about the build cost of the house. 

 

I've concluded that I can't answer your question on the info provided.. so just made some comment.

 

 

[saveasteading]

12 hours ago, NSS said:

looking for more than it's value as a plot alone.

That's sentimentality to some extent, if the building is well past it.

 

Unless someone thinks that , yes the location is wonderful and i can live in the house.

Extenicd adaptation or incorporating into new is very much more expensive than new build.

 

But perhaps you can retain and reuse sone foundations, services, drains..... is the garden established and attractive.

 

There's a thing... if the drainage was approved at the time you can likely retain it.

 

But often a plot is simply overpriced.... it has been their life..  and there isn't much you can do about it.

[NSS]

2 hours ago, saveasteading said:

That's sentimentality to some extent, if the building is well past it.

 

Unless someone thinks that , yes the location is wonderful and i can live in the house.

Extenicd adaptation or incorporating into new is very much more expensive than new build.

 

But perhaps you can retain and reuse sone foundations, services, drains..... is the garden established and attractive.

 

There's a thing... if the drainage was approved at the time you can likely retain it.

 

But often a plot is simply overpriced.... it has been their life..  and there isn't much you can do about it.

 

As previously mentioned, the existing bungalow is tired, but habitable. It's been extended before, but not well - essentially a couple of random lumps added on that, if anything, just confuse the layout and usability.

 

I've not viewed it myself as yet, but I'd guess the original construction dates from the 1950's. The current occupants have lived there for much of the time since, so a degree of sentimentality is understandable, but it's worth what it's worth, and the fact is it hasn't yet sold. 

 

No doubt, with some relatively minor structural repair and modification, and a lot of cosmetic work, it would make a nice 2-bed bungalow for someone, but again, if the price were right someone would already have snapped it up to do exactly that (it's been on the market since middle of last year).

 

The garden is, like the bungalow, a little tired, but you can see it has been loved and is south-west facing and not overlooked from behind. There's plenty of parking at the front, and neighbouring properties have had fairly major remodelling into 1.5 or 1.75 storeys, so planning shouldn't be horrendously difficult. It just needs to be £100k cheaper!

[saveasteading]

2 hours ago, NSS said:

on the market since middle of last year).

 

That was to be my next question.

So nobody thinks it's the right price.

Time to have a straight talk with the agent.

The properly professional ones will give unbiased advice to their client about the market and realistic expectations.

The cowboy agents  want a sale and the commission and not be loyal to their client.

They might even hint at what might be acceptable.

Are you confident at that price? Have you any selling points such as having the cash, not needing surveys, quick completion?