Buy or Build?

alexpete80

I came across a topic couple of days ago in my class where discussion was about buy or build, dilemma of having your own abode. I had only 2 points to present at that time in the favor of buying a house instead of building it.

-Cheaper due to community style and standardized materials
-Saves time and avoid hectic details

I would like to have more detailed opinions and it will great if discussion is beyond the financial perspectives

Fuzzyness

not everyone is cut out to buidling thier own house in terms of project management and dealing with the finanical issues of managing a build.

similarly people buy houses because the house has character or some quirky facet that they like. also houses next to good schools get snapped up. you cant just build a house next to a good school for example so the choices you have are much more limited.

borkid

A couple of years ago we were thinking of building our own house. Looked into it and thought definitely do able. Then we tried to find a plot of land in the right place for us. Couldn't find anything suitable, 30mins from family, edge of village with shop/ pub etc. I used to look on rightmove to get ideas for room layouts etc and spotted a newbuild, energy efficient house which nearly fitted our criteria so went to have a look, also under that listing was another with the same EA so asked for details of that to be brought along.

The house we went to see wasn't suitable and we discovered that one neighbour was very anti the build and had blocked permission to add garage. The details of the second place looked interesting. Buying off plan on a small estate 33 houses, centre of village backing onto fields owned by the village.

Spoke to the developers who were very helpful re changing the spec and fitting what we wanted where possible. They waited a year before we were able to exchange ( market very slow here) and then lent us one of their houses to live in rent free until ours was built. They also negotiated on the wood flooring we wanted through out. We were able to see the build at different stages and could choose all the internal fittings, the layout was ideal for us so we didn't need walls moving. Seeing all attention to detail I don't think I would have been up to project managing myself. Even if we had self built I doubt we would have paid much less for the house and even though its a new build it sold for less than comparable houses in the village, the only difference being the amount of garden. We wanted a smaller garden than in our last place but nearly the same sized house.

The greatest difficulty with self build is finding land with planning permission.

Fuzzyness

borkid wrote: »

The greatest difficulty with self build is finding land with planning permission.

in some ways this is true, but i'd say finding any sort of land with or without planning permission for self build is tricky. recent noises from government have indicated that self build is one way that they are looking to increase the supply of new housing but i remain to be convinced that it will have any impact. you'll still have a load of nimbys trying to stop you building something.

whalster

As a developer aswell as many other things as has been said above you have to be the right type of person to do something like this however what I would say is that land is very cheap at the moment find a plot with full/ detailed planning this means you inheret the plans and are ready to go don't set your heart on things ,you will be able to fit out the internals as you wish don't get anything outline planning other than that you should do ok oh and one other thing get all the trades in not a builder you will loose all your margin ( I have just cut my own throat )

alexpete80

The land is the problem and it is difficult to find land with planning permission, it means if you have purchased a land than it will take time for Govt to give the planning permission and commencement of construction. Buying a house smoothly by pass this maze and secondly I think purchasing a land is not the only solution just because it is cheaper for now, there are other major costs such as material, labor and overheads which are significantly high which again takes me in the favor of buying it.

ash28

alexpete80 wrote: »

The land is the problem and it is difficult to find land with planning permission, it means if you have purchased a land than it will take time for Govt to give the planning permission and commencement of construction. Buying a house smoothly by pass this maze and secondly I think purchasing a land is not the only solution just because it is cheaper for now, there are other major costs such as material, labor and overheads which are significantly high which again takes me in the favor of buying it.

The land is the problem - it depends on where you want to build. if you want to build in the home counties or parts of the south east then the land will cost an arm and a leg, I've seen a plot to the west of Reading for £350k with planning applied for to build a 5 bed detached house, and another in Maidenhead for £450k (the one in Maidenhead if you went ahead and built the house, a 4/5 bed detached, it could sell for up to £900k), if you are flexible in where you build, land can be very reasonably priced.

You can buy a plot with planning for less than £70k in other parts of the country.

We looked at this a couple of years ago.

The main cons we found were:

Costs can spiral if you aren't very very careful - you need to seriously plan
You need to have a substantial contingency fund - for the unexpected.
Prime plots will be snapped up quickly, either by other self builders or developers.
The type of house you want can be impacted by planning restrictions.
Fees can mount up.
Mortgages can be difficult to get for self builders even at the best of times.
The weather can have a huge impact on a self build project - take this summer for instance.
You will need somewhere to live during the build process - could be rented or could a static caravan on site (if you are allowed to have one).

Pros
Can be a lot cheaper than buying an existing house.
Can be designed to your own spec - so you can have a unique house
You can buy a kit house - there are plenty of suppliers out there.
Can be more energy efficient - it's easier and cheaper to install energy saving methods as you build.
You can build it in an urban or rural area
You can either get a builder in or use individual tradesmen and you can do some of the work yourself, if you're that way inclined.
Self build is vat free
You can be involved in everything from design to the actual building.

Ultimately we decided to buy an existing house, partly for financial reasons, the seller was desperate to sell, the house ticked all our boxes - 5 beds, 3 bathrooms, double garage already fitted out (insulated and plastered walls and ceiling, floor laid etc) so that it could be used as a workshop. On the edge of a village - it's worked out pretty well - even if we have an "off the shelf" house.

alexpete80

ash28 wrote: »

The land is the problem - it depends on where you want to build. if you want to build in the home counties or parts of the south east then the land will cost an arm and a leg, I've seen a plot to the west of Reading for £350k with planning applied for to build a 5 bed detached house, and another in Maidenhead for £450k (the one in Maidenhead if you went ahead and built the house, a 4/5 bed detached, it could sell for up to £900k), if you are flexible in where you build, land can be very reasonably priced.

You can buy a plot with planning for less than £70k in other parts of the country.

We looked at this a couple of years ago.

The main cons we found were:

Costs can spiral if you aren't very very careful - you need to seriously plan
You need to have a substantial contingency fund - for the unexpected.
Prime plots will be snapped up quickly, either by other self builders or developers.
The type of house you want can be impacted by planning restrictions.
Fees can mount up.
Mortgages can be difficult to get for self builders even at the best of times.
The weather can have a huge impact on a self build project - take this summer for instance.
You will need somewhere to live during the build process - could be rented or could a static caravan on site (if you are allowed to have one).

Pros
Can be a lot cheaper than buying an existing house.
Can be designed to your own spec - so you can have a unique house
You can buy a kit house - there are plenty of suppliers out there.
Can be more energy efficient - it's easier and cheaper to install energy saving methods as you build.
You can build it in an urban or rural area
You can either get a builder in or use individual tradesmen and you can do some of the work yourself, if you're that way inclined.
Self build is vat free
You can be involved in everything from design to the actual building.

Ultimately we decided to buy an existing house, partly for financial reasons, the seller was desperate to sell, the house ticked all our boxes - 5 beds, 3 bathrooms, double garage already fitted out (insulated and plastered walls and ceiling, floor laid etc) so that it could be used as a workshop. On the edge of a village - it's worked out pretty well - even if we have an "off the shelf" house.

I have already been inclined towards the buying of already built house and I had limited knowledge about Land with/without planning permission but your experience is quite enlightening and I have already maintained that buying a house mostly ticks most of the marks depending upon funds and real estate market.