What is the current self build market state?

[epsilonGreedy]

I am ready to make an offer on a plot and start requesting quotes for a self managed build, hopefully soon after. It would be helpful to know where in the expansion/contraction cycle we are.

 

Local indicators suggest the regular property market entered a negative phase summer 2017, this affecting detached council tax band E and upwards in particular. Completed sales are down 40% and asking prices are being revised down.

 

Do cycles in the main property market affect plot prices and self build sub contractors? My hunch is that plot prices will only be marginally influenced but the day to day need earn a crust should mean labour rates and materials costs will come down.

 

 

[Jeremy Harris]

We were plot hunting during the peak of the house market depression and saw very little sign of plot prices decreasing, or more plots coming on to the market, during that time.  I have a feeling that the self-build market is well-insulated from the general housing market trend, as it doesn't seem to change much in any given area.  There are massive variations between one area and another though, which match, or exceed, the ready-built house price variations.  There are also some exceptions, for example we had a brief look at some plots in inland Cornwall, and they were priced lower than I would have expected given the price of houses in the same area. 

 

Around here (West Wiltshire/Dorset border) plots are very expensive compared to house prices, so much so that I doubt that it's cheaper to self-build for the majority of people.  I did a great deal of work on our build (plumbing, heating, half the wiring, internal joinery, MVHR and ducting, fitting the kitchen etc) and came it at a build cost that wasn't much less than the market value.

 

Others here have managed to self-build for very low overall prices, well into the region where it makes financial sense to self-build, so it seems to be very dependent on region, perhaps even with some fairly big variations within a given region, from area to area.

 

One big impact of the main housing market is the availability of sub-contractors.  The housing market started to pick up part-way through our build and we suddenly found it much harder to get hold of good contractors.

[ProDave]

The housing market here went into recesion in 2008 and has never really recovered, just stagnated since, particularly for the large detached houses.

 

When I started plot hunting a few years ago, there were lots of plots for sale as there are usually here, but none were selling. In spite of not selling, nobody dropped their prices.

 

Before we found our plot (not actually for sale) I had looked at another, over priced. I offered what I thought was a realistic price (A bit more than we ended up paying for our eventual plot) and it was declined.  4 years later that plot is still for sale at the same price.

 

My plumber friend bought a plot (that we had rejected as too close to a busy road) that had been on the market at least 4 years.

 

Up here you will do really well if you self build and the house ends up worth what it cost you.

 

Apart from 3 of us locally that have or are self building, you don't see much self building going on around here.  Wind back to 2003 when we first moved here., part built houses with owners living in a static caravan were a common sight wherever you went.  That just highlights how much lower demand there is for people to want to live here just now.

[Hecateh]

People that want a bigger house but are unable to sell are frequently finding it makes more sense to extend than to move.  The cost of extending a property has far fewer variables for both the owner and the builder.  Utilities are already on site, can often be done under permitted development rules etc etc.  So the property market being slow doesn't necessarily mean that builders are struggling for work.  

 

My neighbours are just building a large extension and put feelers out to loads of builders.  Ones that came highly recommended were either ridiculously high priced c £1800 per sq m or more for a build that is 50% garage or weren't willing to quote as their books were full for up to a year - with a waiting list.

 

I got a 'good' deal as my builder hasn't built a house from scratch before.  He's been in the business for 15 years and previously had a business with his FIL and has plenty of experience of extensions.  I'm confident I will get a good house for what I am paying but there is definitely an extra risk involved if only that his company is fairly new.  

 

 

 

 

 

[nod]

We plan to spend 400K including land

Looks more like 430 if we go for a German Kitchen an electric gates

 Bit we should have 25k back in vat

Wgen we purchased the fields across the road had one house and a query Now there is several hundred With builders asking upto 

£520000 for a house that is two thirds the size of ours 

We’ve had a valuation as we were starting to wonder if we were spending to much As all these housing are coming with this assist to buy 5 bed detached 320000 But when you read the small print that’s not the true amount 

The owner of the estate agencie just laughed and said what you are building doesn’t compare to the mass produced C**P

Valued At 750

Sure you have Still to sell

But at least we know we would get our money back and bit for our time should we have to sell 

[SteamyTea]

Hunt around here and you can eventually find out all the prices paid.

http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/

[jack]

We bought a bungalow on a decent block of land on the Surrey-Hampshire border, surrounded mostly by much larger houses. We did this in 2012, just as things were starting to pick up. I reckon we're probably 10-20% ahead of what we spent, but that's solely because of the rise in property values since we bought and rebuilt.

 

Looking around now, I'd say you'd have little chance as a typical self build doing any better than breaking even with the same approach unless you could do a lot of the work yourself.