Home Improvement

rhi1978

Hello
I am about to buy my first house with my partner. As you can imagine, money is tight. Coupled with things going wrong and eating into our improvements savings we are going to struggle with getting anything done in our new house. We have plenty of family and friends that are qualified to give us free or cheap labour, but will struggle with paying for supplies etc.
Does anyone know of any help available to us, or any tips?
Thanks

davenport151

What age of house are you looking to buy as that will make a lot of difference in regards to maintenance.

Don't try and do it all at once if a lot needs doing. Spread things out over a period of time so your finances can cope with it.

Its tough for everyone when starting out, so you are lucky with lots of family to help you.

southcoastrgi

yes i agree lots of things can be done for not alot of money, try not to look at the whole house as a big project but lots of small ones, the two most expensive will be the kitchen & bathroom but as long as all the bits are there & work then a touch of paint can do wonders, just do bits as & when you can afford it after all you will have your own home & that's the most important thing. Good luck.

budgetdiyer

As the others have said depending on what needs doing most jobs can cost very little in materials.

If you need any bulky building supplies i can recommend http://www.building-supplies-online.co.uk/ so much cheaper than my local builders merchants would give me (because i was'nt 'trade') and much cheaper than B&Q / wickes etc for plasterboard etc.

cyclonebri1

rhi1978 wrote: »

Hello
I am about to buy my first house with my partner. As you can imagine, money is tight. Coupled with things going wrong and eating into our improvements savings we are going to struggle with getting anything done in our new house. We have plenty of family and friends that are qualified to give us free or cheap labour, but will struggle with paying for supplies etc.
Does anyone know of any help available to us, or any tips?
Thanks

I have to focus on that bit.

Use any free labour you can, you can pay back in beer parties /labour later.

But, if you can't afford then don't do.

Figure if you are staying or just transient, ie, your spend depends on if you are putting down roots or making a few bucks by improving your living accom.

The only no no is gas and elecs, if anyone other than you yourself do this stuff in your own home then they are liable, and if you get it wrong then it's you that are liable.;)

Lube

If you are struggling to pay for materials what hope have you when interest rates rise as they will eventually. Whilst rates have been historic low for several years now they will at some point go up. You use to get help with renovation grants but that ended years ago. There was another grant but it would depend on whats needed and income but as councils have had to cut back some now put a charge on your property thats assuming you can get help

keystone

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

and if you get it wrong then it's you that are liable.

or dead.

Cheers

keystone

and I have to pick up on this bit:

rhi1978 wrote: »

...............but will struggle with paying for supplies etc.

Does anyone know of any help available to us....

Melinda Messenger only heaves over the horizon on her dashing white charger when its expedient (from a programming perspective) to do so and the people who "give" so freely of their products and chargeable services (why does the builder paid by the TV Co anyway always charge top whack but she always manages to get other stuff out of local business for free?) only do so for the resultant free publicity. Sorry if that appears harsh.

Welcome to the real world of home ownership. You will always have your hand in your pocket with a property but despite that it will still be the best long term investment you have made or will make.

So my advice is start small - do the things that absolutely have to be done and live with the rest until you can afford to do it. Bear in mind you'll forever be changing, redecorating, whatever something.

Very best of luck with your new home.

Cheers

cyclonebri1

Lube wrote: »

If you are struggling to pay for materials what hope have you when interest rates rise as they will eventually. Whilst rates have been historic low for several years now they will at some point go up. You use to get help with renovation grants but that ended years ago. There was another grant but it would depend on whats needed and income but as councils have had to cut back some now put a charge on your property thats assuming you can get help

But we can't help the op with that, just the issues they have presented, which kind of falls in line with my "how long are you planning to live there?", issue ;)
And yes, I do get what you are saying;)

Mojisola

List the jobs that need doing and then sort them out so that you don't do them in the wrong order.

It's very frustrating to get one job finished and then realise that a later job will mean undoing some of the work you've done.

ed110220

We also bought our first home recently (last Dec) and have started doing it up. If you can get someone to show you what to do, you can do a lot of yourself. My dad is a builder and showed me how to build studwork, put up plasterboards etc.

If money is tight, it may be a good idea to buy a house like ours which was cheap because of very shabby granny decoration, old, bodged kitchen and bathroom etc but which doesn't need anything expensive done to it immediately. For example a usable if not attractive kitchen and bathroom, working if old boiler and central heating system etc.

We've been redecorating one room at a time leaving the kitchen and bathroom till later. It also helps if you find a house with a layout you like of course, which doesn't need knocking about and also maybe one that doesn't need radically changing to suit your taste.

Eg our house was built in 1949 so all the original features like staircase, doors, built-in cupboards etc fit the 50s theme I'm doing with bright coloured feature walls and mid-century furniture I've inherited or found in charity shops, Ebay etc.