Cazza Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Hello have a bungalow in Kent, we have been told we could possibly do better if we knock it down and build a house. Never done anything like this in our lives and not sure where to start, we have no idea how much it will all cost either. Are we mad. The plot is about 1/3rd of and acre, the bungalow is rather small 2 beds, tiny kitchen dining room and sitting room. We have 3 sheds in garden with our furniture. Any advice will be gratefully received. We have had one plan refused and another being done for an extension and loft conversion, but the architect said we would get more if we knocked it down, he suggested to get one plan approved and then put in for a new house. Each one slightly larger than the last. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Welcome to Buildhub Cazza. I used to live in Kent before I moved north . I'm sure someone who knows more about planning than me will be along to advise soon but just watch out for mounting architect's costs. The strategy of putting in multiple plans seems to keep him on the gravy train for a while ... Have you considered asking advice from a planning consultant who knows your local area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazza Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 Hi he said he would do a sketch type thingy for us to ask the local agents, ours is probably the smallest property on this road, some are worth over a million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMitchells Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 I'd recommend looking at one of the building companies such as Scotframe, Danwood or Potton who can do everything for you, including the design and applying for planning. I have been to the Poton site near St Neots and it was very useful. I dont they are too expensive either - they hold your hand all the way through and the houses are lovely. I would certainly consider building new as you can have the house exactly as you want it (within reason) and make sure it is well insulated and efficient, something you may struggle to do with an extension and re-design. Are the bills in the future an important consideration? Anyway - sounds like a great project whichever route you take - Good Luck.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazza Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 thank you for the info. will look at them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 1 minute ago, TheMitchells said: I'd recommend looking at one of the building companies such as Scotframe I used Scotframe for my house and it was a great experience from them, very helpful. As @TheMitchells said they did everything for us (apart from the planning as we already had PP) up to the delivery of the frame and then we took over to get it erected and the house built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazza Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 Pls can i ask the approx. costs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeSharp01 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Hi Cazza - Welcome to THE forum fellow Kent type. We live in West Kent, know Sevenoaks planning very well and are building in Whitstable so know Canterbury planning quite well now as well. Look forward to hearing more about it and helping if I can. Costs can be anything you like realy but you probably need 250k for 130m2 as a starting point doing the finishing work yourself, more if turnkey or less if doing much of the work ++ if you have exoensive taste in fittings. Don't tell the architect that budget go in much lower to constrain their fee expectations. The big unknowns are getting out of the ground and if the old house had any asbestos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMitchells Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 cost for a new build vary enormously and while we have not built ourselves, we did a huge amount of research and I'd recommend in the region of £300k at a minimum, but that could go up or down depending on size, design and materials used. Get hold of some of the self build magazines - some of them give ideas of costs, visit the Self Build Centre at Swindon and maybe read the Housebuilders Bible. then you will have a much better idea of what is invovled. Certainly, i have seen some lovely houses built for £300k but most are more than that as the owners want their 'foreve home' and therefore tnd to make it better quality than a general house would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Depends how much you do yourself TBH. A turnkey type affair where others are doing most of it will be more expensive than if you project manage, buy supplies and arrange trades yourselves (comes with a health warning though). There are lots of threads about costings here and much of it depends on your spec (minimum vs passiv standard, designer kitchen vs budget for example), but as a rough guide use circa £1200 - £1500 per m2. That's the footprint x 2 for a 2 storey property. https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/forum/104-costing-estimating/ You have the land, access and service connections already that can all be big headache / cost areas so that's one thing in your favour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazza Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 hi thank you for the info. dont quite have 250k, maybe 200k without finance, too old for a mortgage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Just now, Cazza said: hi thank you for the info. dont quite have 250k, maybe 200k without finance, too old for a mortgage. Time for a very nice extension and some upgrades . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Hi and welcome to the forum Cazza. We have just finished building a house in the garden of our bungalow in East Kent. We are now in the process of dismantling the bungalow after having lived in it while we were building. There are endless types of build structure and it took us a long time to decide want we wanted. Don't rush into it and think about all the options open to you. Our blog is copied to this forum so if you want to see what you may be faced with have a look. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivienz Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 If you haven't already done so, have a good snoop on the local authority planning website to see what gets approved and refused to give you more of a feel for what you might succeed with in any application. It's also a good source to see the work of alternative architects and architectural technicians and have a chat with others. Don't feel obliged to stick with the same architect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizzie Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Hi Cazza and welcome. If it were me I would have a chat with a local planning consultant about it. Save yourself a lot of hassle. What was refused - a new build or an extension? 200k is not a lot of money to build a house unless you do a lot of the work yourself. The Potton type offerings can be very expensive as turnkey and they do need you to do quite a bit yourself if you have a tight budget. Has your architect given you any ball park figures for what he is suggesting. You could easily find demolition/site clearance and prof fees take up 50k of your 200k. Is a new bigger house in that particular location you want or just a new bigger house that could potentially be funded by the sale of your existing to a developer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Welcome..! what were the previous grounds for refusal ..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 1 hour ago, Cazza said: hi thank you for the info. dont quite have 250k, maybe 200k without finance, too old for a mortgage. Welcome. These days mortgages can go into your 80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazza Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 the refusal was size bulk, CS19 i think. we were told that we may get a plan in for a new house and it may go through. We want 4 bedrooms upstairs and living accom downstairs. This is our second architect, our first one was not up to it. He said i put the plans in and wait, he wouldnt phone the case officer or communicate with them at all, it was so stressful, mainly as he was not helping us. So i found a local architect who was too busy for us and he recommended the one we now have he is a technician, but was put onto him by a local architect. He has already told us he will chase the case officer at the 6 week mark. They claimed to have conversed with us over the plan the only thing they did was visit the site the day before decision and then asked for an extra 9 days and at 4.45 that friday afternoon refused it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazza Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 so looks like wrap around with loft conversion, hopefully. We do not want to borrow money for this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazza Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 19 minutes ago, Ferdinand said: Welcome. These days mortgages can go into your 80s. omg... work work work. wanting to retire soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizzie Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 8 minutes ago, Cazza said: omg... work work work. wanting to retire soon Thats where we started from.....2 years on LOL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Let me throw a different slant on it you say you are too old for a mortgage you say you would like to retire so why build a two storey house? I would think a nice large bungalow with wet room with wide doors, and then maybe guests bedroom in the loft area. How long are you planning on staying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazza Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 3 hours ago, Ferdinand said: Welcome. These days mortgages can go into your 80s. omg... work work work. wanting to retire soon Bought the bungalow as an investment, do up sell on make a profit, hubby retires, i am self employed and not doing much at the moment as everything is in storage. We really just want to add value to this property and move on to something smaller to finish our days in. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 1 minute ago, Cazza said: We really just want to add value to this property and move on to something smaller to finish our days in. lol Building a house for profit if you have no experience can be a risky strategy. If you read some of the stories on here it will put you off for life, but mostly people soldier on and get through it because they are building their dream / forever home. I don’t think many people here would embark on a self build for profit unless they had a stack of building experience. I would go back to the drawing board and see what you could do most easily that may make you some cash. That might be a large extension rather than a new build. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizzie Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 @Cazza with not a lot of cash for a build of the size you are talking about if its just something to turn and make a profit you might be better spending your time and a bit of money and selling on undeveloped with a permission. Make a bit - low risk in terms of expenditure. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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