Building your own house

[nicholab]

Has any one built their own house I am wondering if I could build at the end of my parents garden?

 

Any advice please?

[elsiegee40]

First thing to do is to talk to your local planning officer... an informal chat about "what if" to find out if you have any chance of getting planning permission and what conditions are likely to be imposed. You should be able to ring up and make an appointment for a chat. Without planning consent you will get nowhere.

[featured_spectre]

a friend of a friend built there own, but they had to buy the land, get building permission etc etc. Took just over a year, but he had the house how he wanted it. Phone port in every living area (bedroom, front room, dining room, study etc) 2 Cat5E network ports in every room, along with having 4 satellite dishes put up with quad LMBs so he could have Sky+ in each living area...

 

All told he got 1 acre of land and his house has 4 bedrooms, front room, study, dining room, kitchen, 2 on suites, 1 normal bathroom, solar panels on the roof and small wind turbine attached on the roof, cost him just shy of £700'000, however he is happy with it (even if it did cost him a fortune)

[mjs_mjs]

My dads a builder and he's done it before (not in our garden tho), What do you wanna know and i'll ask him. I expect you'll need planning for starters.

[nicholab]

Don't quite have £700,000!!

 

I am wondering if it can be done in £90,000 this is the mortgage+savings.

 

The space is 11m x 9m.

[Jamo]

Could have a look at a prefab house, not sure how much they come in at but they go up quicker than standard builds!

 

Anyhow you will also have to decide if its a good investment. Does it have good access from the road? Or will it be like a eyesore to have two houses in close proximity, limiting the value you could get for both properties. One thing you don't want to do is build a house which isn't worth the investment, otherwise you would bankrupt yourself if you needed to move out as the sale value would not be as great as the mortgage.

[mjs_mjs]

Don't quite have £700,000!!

 

I am wondering if it can be done in £90,000 this is the mortgage+savings.

 

The space is 11m x 9m.

 

Yes you can get a shell type house (a basic one) built for that sort of money. assuming you already own the land/

 

Could have a look at a prefab house, not sure how much they come in at but they go up quicker than standard builds!

 

Anyhow you will also have to decide if its a good investment. Does it have good access from the road? Or will it be like a eyesore to have two houses in close proximity, limiting the value you could get for both properties. One thing you don't want to do is build a house which isn't worth the investment, otherwise you would bankrupt yourself if you needed to move out as the sale value would not be as great as the mortgage.

 

around here you cannot build anything without having off street parking and access to the house.

[dhicks]

I am wondering if it can be done in £90,000 this is the mortgage+savings.

 

How much of a rush are you in, can you stay in your parent's house whilest working on yours? Will a partner and/or children be living with you, and how patient are they? My Dad built his own house on part of his parent's land - this was rural Suffolk, though, and the "back garden" was a couple of acres. Him and my Mum lived in a carvan on site, although Dad used to go to his Mum's every morning for breakfast. It took him around 7 years to build the house initially, although he was always adding bits on (and never did finish the patio - we just got used to the patio doors leading out on to nothing). There weren't really any neigbours to complain about noise or mess, and there was plenty of room to drive lorries and other large equipment in and out. If you're somewhere a bit more urban the neighbours probably aren't going to want a building site next door for the best part of a decade, and wives and children these days expect frills like running water and heating.

 

A wooden-framed house might be quicker / easier / cheaper to construct. Part of the reason my parents decided to build their own house was that they wouldn't have got a mortgage, but my Dad did have the neccesary skills and access to equipment and specialist trades people to help him (work let him borrow lorries and pick up building materials, and he knew people who were plumbers and electricians and so on). He wasn't a builder, though - he simply figured out how to do most stuff from books or short courses, so mosly you just need to get on and do it.

 

--

David Hicks

[tech_guy]

Some friends of ours have just completed a self-build project, using a plot of land 'donated' by his in-laws - effectively the bottom of their garden that backs on to a road. They bought a timber-framed kit house - and I've helped them along the way when they've needed some labour. They employed a plumber, electrician and plasterer to do that side of things. Getting the water / gas / electricity companies to bring the services to the property was expensive.

 

The hardest part was getting planning permission - the neighbours on either side didn't object but some miserable old so-and-so further down did but the application was eventually granted after some alterations to the plans.

 

They purchased the house in kit form from Robertson Timber Kit. When it was finished they had the property valued and they have saved around £40k by going down the self-build route.

[nicholab]

The garden has a road down the side of it leading into a close of houses. There used to be a bungalow at the bottom of our garden and it was demolished and 2 houses built selling for at least £250,000. Edited April 23, 2010 by nicholab