Daydreaming again, wondering how viable this is for someone not in the relevant professions/trades?

My guess is the sticking point, assuming you can finance it (which is about getting the mortgage in stages after construction/certification?) is finding a plot?

And of course the risk you end up with negative equity.

My guess is the sticking point, assuming you can finance it (which is about getting the mortgage in stages after construction/certification?) is finding a plot

A plot at a reasonable price as well. Plots are around. Plots not at silly inflated prices, with services on or near, and option for planning or outline consent are very, very few.

Judging by the programmes on TV it’s perfectly viable without a background in it but the risk is that you significantly overrun on cost/time as you make beginner mistakes.

Building you own house is great, but you can reduce the scale of the task by buying an old wreck of a house or an extremely dated one and then knocking it around and extending etc. You can at least then move in somewhere you like and take the process slowly.

It depends whether you want to build a standard house in a standard way, or if you wanted to consider alternative methods and materials. I’m not talking about hobbit houses but something like straw bale. If you do it right it need not cost very much (but the plot is still the killer).

A plot at a reasonable price as well. Plots are around. Plots not at silly inflated prices, with services on or near, and option for planning or outline consent are very, very few.

This.

Even where we live in a low-population rural area there is little around – and then you need the patience of a saint to deal with the ‘authorities’…

Almost all of the cost / time risk is in the ground.
Unforeseen ground conditions and connections to water / electricity / telecoms / drains etc are where the process usually goes ” breasts ascending”.
Getting services to where they need to be can be a nightmare as statutory authorities are notoriously uncooperative and officious.

Once you have the services infrastructure in place and a foundation upon which to construct your house, then, barring design / specification changes ( which should be entirely within your control) or exceptional weather conditions ( lap of the gods…) you should be able to predict the cost accurately if your design is detailed enough.

Get a builder to contract on a fixed price based on a detailed design and agreed programme . Then they take the risk of the weather.

Make sure that the design is what you want before you strike a blow and then DON’T be tempted to change your mind about stuff as you go. This is where the uninitiated always lose big bucks. Variations to building contracts are where the profit is for builders in many cases as so many clients think they can design a project on the fly.

Busy building one now. Out of the ground and up to waist hieght at the minute.
Plot already had planning, changed a few bits but not the footprint so I just cracked on and let them worry about the silly stuff. The planners are mainly idiots that have been given a small amount of power and think they are gods but building control are quite chilled.
Services are costing quite a bit, esp the sewer connection.
Got 2 labourers on day rate and a bricky on a price and me doing every thing else.

In response to perchypanther, it can work both ways. To do that you need every detail nailled down by the architect and engineer and a watertight contract. You might not change your mind but if there’s a mistake in the plans then the builders responsibility ends with building whats on those.

In big engineering contracts this frequently ends up costing more than just doing it on a reimburable (materials plus day rates) as everyone sticks a margin on to cover themselves. The real advantage is you can go to the bank and say this is what it will cost and this is what it will be worth.

The 3rd way is to go to a company that designs and builds (HuffHouse etc) where you supply the slab with services then they build the house to an agreed design, this has even less risk as there is no chance of a disagreement between architect engineer and builder which is what you would have to contingency for even if all three were on fixed price contracts.

Been looking at this ourselves. Planners around here really do seem to have an odd agenda. They will allow someone to put a horrible driveway and stables on agricultural land in an AONB but refuse to allow a cottage that was used during WWII for pigs back into a house as ‘garden paraphernalia’ might be ugly to people driving down the M5 that you can’t even see as it’s cut into the landscape right through the AONB right on the boundary of the land. Despite it being surrounded by a lovely walled garden. They have also allowed a load of low cost (horrible) housing in an area with no public transport links, no amenities and no schools within walking distance but they refused to allow a barn conversion on a plot where the barn was no longer suitable for livestock and it was an 8 minute walk to the nearest bus stop and 10 minutes into the heart of the local postal town and was right over the road of a prominent local school…idiots.

As a result plots with planning go for silly money and to top it off any other land gets slapped with development clauses by the sellers which is often 25-50% of any uplift in value!

We are looking at the planning decisions of neighbouring councils to see if they are any better and maybe pick up some land in those areas.

Interesting, and much as I thought/have heard.

Just a pipedream, but straw bales and or containers would make an appearance!

Al – forget containers but I can put you in touch with a friend of mine in Stow near Galashiels who has nearly finished building a straw bale house on his land. He has plans for more and did the build with volunteers, which is a very good way to learn.

Not quite the same but last year I and our other farm worker converted an old stone barn into a flat/mancave for myself.

We had an electrician, plumber, carpenter for windows and external doors and someone doing the plastering.

Apart from that we did everything. I had no experience at all but learnt a lot. The other guy had helped with another we had done previously.

The only problems we had really were bloody useless tradesmen.

Hopefully will be doing one more this winter if all goes well.

I’ve done several over the years, and each one had some problems, but nothing major, and always come out of them financially better off. I had no background in the building trade, I worked in a bank during the first few, which helped with mortgage etc, but doubt it would be of any benefit now. Try plotfinder.com for a local plot, or just keep checking the local agents. Depending on affordability, also consider something with an wreck on, and knock down and start again. Always worth it in the long run, project managing yourself will be trying and frustrating, but give you a much better home in the end, and so long as you don’t get silly with finishes, will make a few £££ along the way.

I’m looking now for the perfect last one to give me the house I want, and be mortgage free.