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Aaahhh, well apologies for my moody response! I do sometimes get wound up on here with folk saying you've not done this that or the other. I've had no personal influence on the "Green belt" decision, someone as lowly as me doesn't cut it, however I've seen it in action and sometimes I can understand the reasoning to give it, others, mmm? But that may be the nimby in me but I know first and foremost it's what's kept me in work for the last 20 years.
Has anyone ever bought a plot of land and built a home on it?
Yes, bought a plot with planning permission, gave up work and K and I built the house ourselves.
Wondering how difficult this is from a getting planning permission and approvals and getting electricity, water etc installed pint of view.
How long is a piece of string? We avoided the planning permission question. First thing to understand is plot pricing as it relates to the rest of what you’ve asked..
Value of plot = (market value of house on site) - (cost of building house) - (developers profit)
It’s in the sellers interest to assume the market value is high, cost of building is low. A developer will (usually) cut corners, build in the cheapest way possible (cheap kitchen and bathroom, minimum spec to meet building regs).
If the plot doesn’t have planning permission then the value is much lower but should reflect the probability of getting it.
You can add value by a) getting planning permission for an unlikely site (though often the sale contract will specify you pay a % of the uplift to the seller), b) reapplying for planning permission for a bigger/more valuable house than planning was for. C) building it more cheaply than a builder/developer or doing a load of work yourself.
Service connections are unpredictable. We’re in a gap between other houses but the drain in the street is deep level so connection was expensive. Gas and Elect were right there so rate card cost (though a lot of £ for 5 days of parking bay suspensions). If its an isolated site services can be massive - 10’s of thousands. There was a Grand Dsign in Malvern where they supposedly thought the electricity was going to be simple as they were near other houses but ended up being 50k 300m trench down the road.
any good websites or books I should read to get an idea of what is involved?
Self Build handbook recommended above was by far the best thing we found. The various magazines will help with product selection (seeing what’s available/new). Green building forum a good discussion board though a pretty small active membership.
want it to be unique and maybe see if I can get better valve for money by building my self?
Unique costs money - the more off the shelf parts you use and the more conventional the build the more predicable the costs. Every “interesting” or “innovative” feature you or the architect add increases risk and cost.
On the upside...
You can build a house that's designed for you and the way you live with everything to your taste, and money spent where you think it matters - you *can* make it unique. There are loads of things about our house that a developer wouldn't have put in and I've never seen another house that I could just move into and not want to change anything.
It was a lot of hard work, incredibly stressful but also very satisfying.
Thank you all for the info, I'll have a read of that book and other links. Being a total newbie to this stuff it'll take a while for me to get up to speed but hopefully one day I'll be back with an update.
"You can build a house that’s designed for you and the way you live with everything to your taste, and money spent where you think it matters"
This is what I meant when I said unique, to me it is more about the architecture, layout and how I use the house rather than the finishing or construction methods used or fancy interior.
And it's good to hear there are stories of planning being granted where the common thinking says it won't happen. So while it could be hard getting planning permission it is not necessary impossible.
We bought a 2.25 acre plot in Scotland a year ago. We have got an architect who is doing the Full Service because we live a long way away and have zero experience or interest in project managing. After exactly one year we got planning permission and now our architect is finishing the full technical drawings for Building Warrant approval. We have just received the drainage and foundation plans from the engineer today. The house (like most Scottish homes) will be timber frame and we have identified a local timber frame manufacturer and a builder. Next week we are going up for three days for meetings with ventilation, electrical, plumbing engineers and to view kitchens and bathrooms. We anticipate the builder starting work on approach track, groundworks and drainage by late summer and the timber frame to be erected early next spring. If we can be in by Christmas 2020 it will be very nice indeed.
The site already has water and electricity and the villagers are installing their own 1gb fibre broadband in the glen.
It all takes a frustratingly long time. Others we have met reckon it took them three full years from buying the plot to moving in.
globali, thanks for sharing your house building journey. Is the time taken for you to build because there are a lot of things to arrange and to plan for and the level of detail required. Rather than you chose to build a massive huge building? So the time scale wouldn't change dramatically if you went for a slightly smaller or bigger building?
No the size of the building has absolutely no bearing on the timescale. What takes the time is for the architect and the engineer to do the drawings; we are not their only client and we understand that they have to juggle clients in such a way as to derive a steady income from the work. The value of having an experienced local architect who knows all the local people like planners, builders etc. has already shown itself to us so we are quite happy to go along with their timescale. A month or so between trips to Scotland and meetings gives everybody time to think. We are absolutely amazed that any amateur would ever consider a building project without Full Service from an architect or at least a professional project manager; we know so little and we don't have the time or the energy to read up and research it all.
We have already seen first draft plans by the timber frame constructor and we were blown away by the level of detail. Now that we are seeing the first layers of the building warrant drawings (rather than the initial concept sketches) we are equally blown away by the amount of thought, research and experience that has to go into the building.
Space and insulation are relatively cheap but obviously the size of the building does have a bearing on the cost. However what really drives costs up is fancy finishes, fittings, lots of detail and changes. At the start of the project the architect begged us: "Please decide what you like then stick with your convictions; changes and alterations add massively to the cost of a project because we have to go back and re-draw or even re-apply for planning or building warrant approval."
It all takes a frustratingly long time. Others we have met reckon it took them three full years from buying the plot to moving in.
I'd say that's quick! I think it took us about 4 years to move in.
Bought plot and re-applied for planning permission (wanted to change layout and some details). So a few months to work on revised planning designs with architect, then a few more for the planning permission (not helped by Lambeth's offices having a helicopter crash into them adding delay). Then started on detailed design and getting quotes for groundworks - basement excavation started on site about a year after plot purchased. Detailed design took a long time - changes to staff at the architect didn't help and it was about 2 years after purchase that the timber frame went up, then c18 months after that we moved in and another 6 months to finish.
Massive 8 room new build went up in no time over the road from me, I think the fact the owner was a recently retired planning officer at the local council was a factor!
We built the dream about 10 years ago and to be honest it was the best thing we've ever done. Our house took 9 months not 12 and came in £23k under our budget of £250k. We had no problems but that was down to meticulous planning and tight control over spending, we also did lots of shopping around for bathrooms, kitchen, floors and heating.So it can be done, if you have the right mindset.
Also there's nothing truer than Location Location Location to quote Kirsty.